Thailand Bangkok Regency Park Sukhumvit

[Chris26WI]

Just wanted a place for around 9 hours after the check-out of the Westin to put my bags, have a shower and some rest before taking my 2.35 am flight. So I ended up in the Regency Park which was near to the Westin, but all over not a great deal, and not a 3-star hotel in my eyes.

We checked in at 2.30 pm, and the room was not yet ready (though we said the bed size doesn't matter). 30 Minutes later (no welcome drink served, though there were welcome drink vouchers behind the counter) we got a non-smoking room (wanted a smoking room) which should have been turned to a smoking room ("We will bring you ashtrayes later.." - which never arrived) on the first floor. Check-in personnel made a light remark towards "priceline", but was not really unfriendly.

The room was a twin bed room, and looked really run-down. Very dark (window towards a near wall, no view at all) and the funiture dated back to the 80s. There was still a third bed in the room (apparently from the customer before) which unnecessarily took space. Otherwise, all the usual stuff was there, TV, desk, chairs, table, minibar, but no in-room safe. Coffee-/tea facilities were available, but the tea/coffee packs seemed to be counted (2 of each per day). The bath room had seen better days as well, but was ok. Bath amenities were sparse (only one shampoo and one soap). The beds were really unformatable, old old mattresses, luckily I didn't have to sleep there all night.

Room-service is availabe, but after 10pm only a reduced menu (around 5 dishes), at quite high prices (not much below the level of Westin/Marriott in Bangkok), food is ok, but nothing special.

The nice highlight of the hotel is the interior atrium with a lots of plants and some water. No wonder, this photo is displayed everywhere in the official sites of the hotel (or the sites of travel agents), it's the nicest place of this hotel.

There seems to be a rigid joiner's fee policy in this hotel, as there was a large security desk in front of the main entrance to the rooms part of the hotel. After around 8pm there was a security guy present who seemed to feel very important, unable to go to the room without passing him. Luckily the staff at the front desk (which is in sight of the security guy) recognized us when coming back in the evening, but however my Thai friend was looked at as a prostitute by the security guy which is not a nice thing. There are no keycards available, only the old keys which should be returned to the front desk when leaving the hotel. Upon getting the key back, they ask your name and check it in the computer before handing the key... I don't understand why this hotel tries to be a high security zone - where 5star hotels in Bangkok don't seem to care about that.

There's a sort of karaoke bar in the front part of the hotel (direct access from the hotel lobby), with hostesses... so the anti-guest policy of the hotel really seems to be only a sort of making money, not to be a sort of "family-friendliness".

I wonder why Mercure didn't invest something in this hotel after taking the management some years ago... well.. at least a good deal for the owner of the hotel, which should bring him a lot of European guests using the Accor chain...

The location is okay, in Sukhumvit Soi 22, around 5-10 minutes walk to Emporium and "Phrom Phong" Skytrain station, but nothing special. The hotel from outside is not very recognizable.