I’ve followed the progress of The St. Regis Bangkok ever since the hotel opened more than two years ago. I’ve stayed there on numerous occasions because I really enjoyed the service and the attention that they used to pay to the details. However, over the last one year, I began to notice all the cost-cutting measures implemented by the management.

The St. Regis brand epitomises refined luxury, elegance and grandeur. Unfortunately, the Bangkok property fails to meet the mark. And nothing annoys me more than a cheapskate trying to disguise herself behind a mask of generosity.

Suite and Room

For the most recent trip, I stayed one night in the Metropolitan Suite and another two nights in the Grand Deluxe Room.  The Metropolitan Suite is a complimentary upgrade using the voucher that came with my Astor Card membership.

The Metropolitan Suite is approximately 60% bigger than the Grand Deluxe Room. The first impression of the Metropolitan Suite is less than favourable. To get into the living room, you need to first walk past an approximately 10-metre hallway.  You will not think much of the hallway until when you need to answer the door. It’s just impractical design.

The interior design of the Metropolitan Suite does not exude elegance.  The colour palette is a mix of silver, gray, bluish gray and beige. While the colour palette is well coordinated, it makes the suite looks old and tired. It does not help when the view you get in the suite is a block of old apartments.

Considering the rates that the hotel charges for its suite, I cannot believe that it still charges for Internet access and non-alcoholic drinks for the suite guests.  Many hotels that I’ve stayed have already waived off the Internet and non-alcoholic drinks in the mini bar for the suite guests! Anyway, for SPG members, you can choose to have free internet access from the list of entitled privileges.

Honestly, I would rather downgrade my stay to a Grand Deluxe Room. The room rate is about 23% cheaper than the Metropolitan Suite. The room is smaller but you receive the same service at a low rate.  And, why not?  And also, the room is much nicely decorated with its beige, brown and gold colour palette. Even my guests, who visited me on both occasions, agreed that the Grand Deluxe Room is a much better pick.

Breakfast spread, if there’s a spread at all

But the thing that really irks me the most is the deteriorating standard of its breakfast spread. It was luxurious in the past.  They used to serve premium French yogurt, La Fermiere, and have a breakfast menu which boosted steak bagel.  But now, the breakfast menu is gone and so is the steak bagel.  La Fermiere yogurt is replaced with mass market brands and reduced to two miserable shelves in the bottom rack in the fridge located at the back of the Viu restaurant.  One observation that I took note recently is that even the fridge at the back of the Viu Restaurant is more than three quarters empty when it was filled with juices and yogurt as recent as the beginning of this year. The Viu Restaurant has been reduced to a mad house during breakfast. I’m not looking down on tour group guests (from a certain region) or bargain hunters but I believe that we must conduct ourselves appropriately in a public place.

As for the restaurants, both Jojo (an Italian restaurant) and Viu (an international restaurant), are good quality restaurants. However, Jojo has a better overall standard as compared to Viu.  Viu still requires more work to improve on its dishes (it’s embarrassing that Viu cannot execute a decent Thai Red Curry).

Excellent Spa Facility – Elemis Spa

The only facility that still upholds the integrity of the St Regis brand is probably the Elemis Spa. The spa is very well maintained and the facilities in the spa are top-notched.  However, the treatments do not come cheap. That could be the reason why they are able to maintain the high standard and not compromise on its service quality.

In my humble opinion (especially when I’m not from the hospitality industry), I feel that the management made the mistake of offering the rooms at a cheaper rate in order to boost revenue. This strategy should not be adopted by luxury brands such as The St Regis.  This is when the standard falls and loyal customers who don’t mind paying a premium to enjoy exclusivity feel short-changed.

The St Regis, Bangkok
159 Rajadamri Road · Bangkok 10330, Thailand