The Hilton Sukhumvit is located near the Phrom Phong BTS and Emporium malls, offers some of the best value in the Hilton portfolio in town and a nice Executive Lounge to boot. If you are Hilton Honors fan, you should consider it on your next visit to the City of Angels!
Location: The Hilton Sukhumvit is located less than 5 minutes walk from the Phrom Phong BTS station, giving you access to all the sights in Bangkok by SkyTrain as well as to the Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) in under 1h by train or 45+ minutes by taxi. You can walk to the Emporium Mall in less than 5 minutes and connect to the new EmQuartier mall for plenty of shopping, coffee and dining options. The Benchasiri park is nearby to relax, some jogging or outdoor exercise!
Service & Rewards: Service at the Hilton was a mixed bag. The front desk had messed up our reservation, despite this being a corporate event, including direct email contact with the manager! They did initially did not have a room for us, but eventually found one for us. It took quite a while to get this arranged. As a Hilton Honors Gold member, they offered us either a standard King Room or an upgrade to an Executive Twin room. We first tried the Executive Room, but switched to our preference, King, after one night – you’ll see from the details below why! We did receive access to the Executive Lounge and had a choice of having a full breakfast at the restaurant as well!
The bell desk was a similarly mixed bag – some staff offered the service with big smiles and attention you’d expect from an upscale hotel in Bangkok, others seemed to be bored, doing their best to ignore customers.
Housekeeping did a good job throughout, cleaning the room and restocking supplies as appropriate. They paid less attention to maintenance needs, something I’d expect house keeping to do, but even upscale hotels frequently fail to do.
The Executive Lounge team in contrast was delightful and delivered consistently excellent service. They were attentive, always ready to assist with any requests we might have. Breakfast and Happy Hour were a joy, with staff ensuring we had a pleasant time.
Executive Twin Room: Our first assigned, upgraded room had a large bathroom and a tight bedroom with twin beds. It’s held in non-offensive, beige/brown decor with carpeted floors. The two beds were set against one continuous headboard that is padded in the lower section and glass above – clean but about as inspiring as the Microtel Manila! The beds are too small to accommodate two people, but have very nice sheets and are comfortable for one person. A high-end alarm clock and speaker is provided between the two beds and there are universal power outlets as well!
There is a work desk and chair against the opposing wall, a wall-mounted TV, a cupboard for the coffee/tea facilities and fridge, a luggage bench and closet. The rich, brown furniture looks nice and is functional.
The bathroom was the highlight and much more spacious: There is a separate toilet closet with a frosted glass door for privacy and a Japanese toilet with electronic bidet seat – a nice feature you find in more and more hotels in Asia! In the center is a large, sink-in-countertop with plenty of space for your toiletries. Separated from the bedroom by a glass wall with electrically operated blinds is a combination of shower and a deep, soaking bathtub, fully glass enclosed. This is my favorite bathroom set-up, allowing you to take a shower after a bath without flooding the room and giving you plenty of space to shower. Unfortunately, Hilton seemed to have cut some corners during construction, leaving the room with a constant sewer smell!
While the Executive Rooms are on a higher floor, giving you city views, they are not on the same floor as the lounge.
Standard King Room: Due to the beds and sewer smell, we asked to switch to a standard room next day instead. It uses the same decor and furniture and appears to be the same size. With the single, king-size bed, there is room for a single padded chair in the corner and the room feels much more spacious. The bathroom is the same size and layout as in the Twin Room.
The only features missing from the “upgraded” room are the bidet toilet seat and the alarm clock – not much differentiation, so don’t be too disappointed, if you are not upgraded – I consider this a “fake” upgrade and wouldn’t be willing to pay for it.
Restaurants, Lounge and Amenities: The Hilton Sukhumvit offers a nice rooftop pool, with great views over the city. Unfortunately, it’s small for the size of the hotel and offers very few loungers, so you’ll have to be early/lucky to snatch a seat. If you are planning on pool time, the comparatively priced pullman King Power offers a much better pool!
There is a gym next to the pool with enough cardio and weight equipment for a basic workout.
The main restaurant of the Hilton Sukhumvit is large and busy. We tried it for breakfast and the buffet offers a wide variety of food, similar to other upscale hotels in Asia. There is a wide variety of pastries, fresh fruit, yogurt and cereal, as well as hot dishes from different regions of Asia as well as Western dishes. You can order custom egg-dishes from the cooks in the open kitchen.
Our preference during this weeklong stay was the Executive Lounge. It offers a smaller selection of breakfast foods in a much quieter, more peaceful setting and with better service. You have a smaller selection of pastries, fruit, yogurt and cereal, as well as hot Western dishes. If you are looking for specific Asian hot food, your choices are much more limited than in the restaurant. The quality of the food is the same. There are also fresh juices and an automated espresso machine for very good coffee!
The Lounge also serves an afternoon tea with drinks and small snacks – my favorite were the scones with clotted cream and jam! In the evening, there is a happy hour with hot snacks, soft drinks, wine, beer and even cocktails. The cocktails were made right in front of you (from a choice of three daily options) and were delicious. The staff clearly had fun with this and did a great job!
The lounge is large and well designed. It has a concierge desk at the entrance, conference rooms and lounge seating up front. There is bistro style seating in the center, near the buffet, as well as an outdoor area that also allows smoking.
Bottomline: The Hilton Sukhumvit is in a good location at the “newer” end of Sukhumvit. The rooms are a little boring compared to other upscale options in Bangkok, but have comfortable beds and great bathrooms. The pool and gym are small and feel like “checkbox exercises” that have to be there, but were an afterthought. Considering the mixed service from the front desk, the Executive Lounge came to the rescue and turned our stay into a positive experience – it’s delightful! If you are a Hilton Diamond member, this is an excellent choice for a Hilton stay in Bangkok! The Hilton Sukhumvit is frequently available around $100, making it decent value, although you pay for the brand!