Hilton Millennium Bangkok review. Nice nice
This is not just any review, with this trip report I reviewed all the Hilton group hotels present in [...]
Thailand
This is not just any review, With this trip report, I have reviewed all of the Hilton group hotels present in Bangkok. And I will be compiling my own ranking soon. The other 5 hotels of this chain in the city are:
In this article:
Do the same with Marriott is more complicated since it has as many as 22 facilities in the city and at the moment I have reviewed "only" 7 of them and the best one at the moment is the newest one: Marriott The Surawonse.
Reservation
The best bonuses
We stayed at this hotel the last night of our crazy first-class itinerary with Emirates, and I have to say I was a little bit sorry because we didn't live it to the fullest.
Of course, I prented through the app, direct booking is the only one possible if you want to get status-related benefits, points and qualifying nights. Of course sometimes you can find the same room for sale on bookings or similar channels at a lower price, and this is when you can trigger the BRG, or the Best Rate Guarantee, which ensures that the customer gets the best possible price and in case elsewhere the same room costs less you will get discounts, points and other benefits.
And for Amex Platinum cardholders. these benefits mean. free breakfast at all Hilton hotels in the world (excluding the U.S.)
Location
The hotel is a little bit outside the center, although objectively I have never understood what the "center" of Bangkok is. It is located in the Khlong San district on the bank of the Chao Phraya River., exactly in front of the Sheraton Bangkok, which I will review soon, next to the Mandarin Oriental and a 4-minute walk From the Icon Siam mega mall, the largest in Bangkok, one of those worth visiting as well as in Dubai you have to go to the Mall of Dubai. It is therefore in a very lively area and suitable for both newcomers and regulars.
To move faster, the river is also taken advantage of.. The hotel has its own private pier and has a boat that serves as a shuttle between the facility and the BTS Saphan Taksin station.
The trip takes about 10 minutes and there is a ride every 30 minutes to/from the hotel from 6 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and is completely free for hotel guests.
There is also a public pier with a service to get from one side of the Chao Phraya bank to the other.
Check-in
We arrived via river, not using the hotel shuttle but the service that connects the two banks of the Chao Phraya, this is because we had spent the night before in the Sheraton.
Upon our arrival around 12 noon, we headed to the reception desk. Here as soon as they saw the Diamond status, they invited us to continue the registration process in the Executive Lounge on the top floor of the hotel. Checking in at the lounge is something that happens to me often, but only in Asia and never anywhere else.
When we arrived at the lounge, we took a seat on a small sofa and we were offered a glass of fresh juice and an iced napkin to refresh ourselves. A really appreciated pampering given the humidity outside. After a few minutes we were handed the keys and informed that we had received an upgrade to an Executive room on the second-to-last floor of the hotel with a view of the city and river.
Have Gold status, free of charge, thanks to American Express Platinum gives not only free upgrades and breakfast for all guests, but also small attentions that change from hotel to hotel. If then, as in my case, you get to go up to Diamond the attentions are even more important.
The room
The same attendant who escorted us from the front desk to the lounge then walked us to our room. The hotel is not brand new, in fact. The room was a classic Hilton standard room. There was everything that is logical to expect, without much imagination or any touch of Thailand. Quoting a well-known advertisement, I could say that this room did not sell dreams, but solid certainties.
King bed, crossbow pulled [quote Barbieri] sofa, desk. In short, the standard decor for a hotel of this category.
Assorted minibar, coffee maker, kettle. Iron, safe, nothing more nothing less.
Renovated bathroom with tub and shower, nice spacious and bright. Zero presence of plastic in both bathroom and room, with lots of glass water bottles available for guests.
The view by day is nice, but nothing much. At night, on the other hand, with the lighted boats on the river and the BKK skyline lit up, it is really nice.
Honorable mentions to the "master" button that turns off all the lights, saving you from having to go on a scavenger hunt to locate how to turn off the last bulb, and to the power strip to cater to travelers from all over the world, or nearly all over the world.
The structure
The hotel is huge, looking like a pin seen from the river, but it is only an optical illusion since it is developed not facing the river but in the opposite direction.
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On the ground floor is the main restaurant, the lobby which is gigantic, a bar, and meeting rooms.
The outdoor area is covered, which means that you will not die of heat on your way out the hotel door and you can walk to Icon Siam without suffering too much from the heat and humidity of Thailand's capital city, and on rainy days you will not shower when you get out of the cab.
The pool, it's on the 7th floor, it's not very big, but if you want a big pool the only hotel I found in BKK with this feature was the Conrad, everyone else has a more or less beautiful and scenic space to cool off and go.
Of course it is not a rooftop pool, but it has a beautiful view of the river and being far enough away from the big city arteries it is also very quiet.
On the same floor as the pool, which is open until 10 o'clock at night, is the gym, which is open H24 instead. As you know I attend these places only for duty, you will never see me risking my life on a treadmill.
The hotel has a beautiful spa in a separate building from the tower and a small play area for children near the restaurant terrace.
The roof top
What makes the difference, however, is the rooftop.
On the top floor is the lounge (on two floors) with the 360-degree panoramic room from which there is a crazy view from every point and an outdoor bar on the opposite side accessible to everyone, even those not staying at the hotel.
The bar is called threesixty and has a really nice view of the whole city. There is also an elevated floor that houses the landing strip for helicopters, I have no idea if anyone actually lands there either way it would be perfect as an event location.
On the opposite side as mentioned is the Executive Lounge.
The Executive Lounge
In hotels that offer this service, the lounge allows you to have breakfast, eat some snacks at all hours, and always drink for free. To gain access you must book an exevutive room or hold Diamond status.
Pernsonally it is the main benefit that drives me to renew the membership, when I travel it allows me to have a place to work in peace without putting myself in makeshift places. Also when I travel with my daughter it is a lifeline that allows me to have access to free snacks and free drinks, because as always the purpose of the reward traveler is to travel by scrounging and being able to have a free snack, appetizer or even dinner is a great gain.
The hall is spread over two rooms. There is a panoramic room and a terrace on the main floor, then in the evening everything changes with the opening of the tower.
To be perfect it should be on a rotating platform, but even so it is perfect. A circular, comepletely glazed structure that allows you to view the city from a unique observatory, and being able to take advantage of it for free is worth the extra on the cost of the room.
Breakfast
As mentioned we could not enjoy this hotel much, in fact Marika could not even have breakfast since she had an early morning flight to Helsinki. So we booked a "packed breakfast" picked up before jumping into the cab towards BKK.
I, on the other hand, was able to sleep a few more hours before embarking On the flight to Zurich And so I was able to have breakfast. Since it was not too hot, I chose to eat on the terrace, avoiding the super crowded and noisy hall.
Again, it did not cost me a single bath, thanks to the status. Needless to say, breakfasts in Asia are in a category apart from the rest of the world, certainly that of the new HIlton Singapore is difficult to achieve, but this one comes close.
Classic buffet offering everything, when I say everything I really mean I can't think of anything that could have been added except maybe fried squid or oysters, otherwise there was just everything even the maritozzi with cream.
In conclusion
Perfect hotel for families with children for many reasons. Perfect location even for those who have never been to Bangkok. Of course there is no BTS station nearby, but you take the "shuttle" and get to the station where you take the monorail and move quickly (and coolly) to the livelier parts of Bangkok.
Pro
- Breakfast buffet
- The lounge and rooftop bar
Against
- Small pool
- Children's area sacrificed