After the 3 hour drive from the Intercontinental Hua Hin, we were excited to arrive in the bustling metropolis of Bangkok. 

When you arrive at the hotel, at street level there’s Igniv and Zuma, the Swiss and Japanese restaurant and The Lounge coffee bar. Reception is on the 12th floor, along with Viu restaurant and the St Regis Bar, and our bags were whisked away and we were escorted to a reception desk. 

I’d booked this hotel via Amex Travel as we had a £200 credit which came with our Amex Platinum card. The St Regis is part of the Fine Hotels & Resorts programme, so we got free breakfast, an upgrade on the room and a $100USD (3200baht, £70) food and beverage credit. Probably the best thing for us on this trip though, is the 1600 check out. 

We were checked in and told about our benefits whilst enjoying a lovely chilled drink before being personally escorted to our room. Our butler came to introduce himself and offered to unpack for us and offer his assistance for anything else we might need, but as we were only here for 2 nights, we didn’t need anything other than lunch!

I’d booked a city view room and I don’t think we got much in terms of the upgrade. As we have Gold status with Marriott Bonvoy (free with the Amex Platinum card!), I’d hoped for a view of the golf course but the room was nonetheless amazing!

On the 19th floor, we definitely had the city view, over towards the shopping malls at Central World and Siam Paragon. Both vast buildings with floor upon floor of retail and food outlets. Central World has more high street stores such as Zara and H&M whereas Siam Paragon has more high end options, like Dior, Channel, Hermes. We did have a side view of the golf course, so I guess a mini upgrade.

With a 2 seater sofa, writing desk and 2 chairs, double sinks, a huge bath and separate shower, I was gutted to be only staying 2 nights! The other half had emailed in advance to let them know we were travelling for my birthday and the flowers and cake on the bed were a lovely touch. You can watch a walkthrough video of the room here, and make sure to like and follow my page for more reviews and trip reports!

After settling in a bit, we had lunch in The Lobby, a nice selection of sandwiches and salads, but really, it’s all about the cakes! When we ate there on our last day, I didn’t expect the coconut water I ordered to still be in the coconut, but then this is Thailand! This being high end Bangkok, expect high end prices – our lunch of club sandwich and salmon Caesar salad with a drink each was around 1800baht (£40)! The tasting menus at Igniv and Zuma run to double that, per head. The menus weren’t to our taste either way so the prices didn’t both us. 

We were lucky to have a spectacular sunset on one night whilst enjoying a pre-dinner drink in the St Regis Bar, and the view over the openness of the golf course and horse race track is a rare treat is such a densely built city. The balcony at the St Regis Bar is also where they perform the sabrage ceremony at 1800 every evening. It’s a nice piece of theatre and includes a free glass of champagne. Drinks, otherwise, are appropriately priced for the audience and a glass of sparkling wine was about 600baht (£13).

On one night, we had dinner at Viu, which was very good. I had Cantonese noodles with strip steak and the other half had a 3 cheese pizza. It wasn’t especially cheap, but considering the food credit we had from Amex, total dinner and drinks expenses came to about 4500baht (£100) and that also included the coconut lunch at The Lounge shortly before we checked out so we effectively ate for free! They also surprised us with cake in the Viu restaurant when we had dinner and a lovely souvenir photo. Little touches really do make a big difference. 

Breakfast is also served in Viu and the choice of western and Asian options was mind blowing. Every flavour fruit juice you can imagine, fresh fruits, yoghurts, noodles, eggs and bacon, pancakes, waffles! It’s all here, and it’s all delicious!

We’d made no plans for our time in Bangkok. It was the end of our trip and we just wanted to have a wander around this very modern part of the city, having previously stayed in the backpacker district last time we came to Thailand. The hotel made a perfect base for that, and is even connected to a BTS train station so it’s easy to get around. The malls were about 15 minutes walk away. We did venture out one night and had a few drinks in Silom and it was about 200baht (£3) each way for a taxi. 

As we had 1600 check out, we didn’t need to rush in the morning and didn’t actually leave the room until 1430. Having the room so late was a game changer for our last day. It rained all day so whilst I’d planned to sit by the pool, I instead chilled and read a book on the 2 seater sofa. Our flight was at 1900 and being able to chill in our own space meant we were refreshed and relaxed to enjoy the last hurrah of our luxury birthday holiday, our First Class flight home. 

Date of Trip; March 2024

Price Paid; £475.00 for 2 nights booked through Amex Travel, but we had a £200 credit so only cost us £275.00, and we had £70.00 of free food!

Points earned; 475 Amex points for paying with our Amex Platinum Card.