I had a lot of hotel options for my two nights in Bangkok. I narrowed my options down to Hyatt for a couple of reasons. I had a Category 1-4 Free Night Certificate expiring in August so I wanted to try and use that on this trip. I also am trying to requalify for Globalist for next year and I was well on my way with 44 qualifying nights headed into this trip and 60 needed by the end of the year.

Looking at the Hyatt options, they range from a Park Hyatt (which looks nice but is a Category 6 so I could not use my free night certificate) down to a couple of Hyatt Places, which I’m sure are a level above those in the US, but I was looking for something a bit nicer. After briefly considering and dismissing the two Standard properties due to their location (as they had just joined World of Hyatt), I narrowed my choice to either the newish Hyatt Regency Sukhumvit or the older Grand Hyatt Erewan. Both were Category 4 and in a similar price range ($220-250) so would provide a pretty good value for using the certificate and points for the other night. The Hyatt Regency is a bit further out from the river near the red light district, but directly on the BTS Skytrain for easy public transport connections. The Grand Hyatt is closer to the main tourist attractions and also on the BTS Skytrain.

After reading a bunch of reviews and getting some feedback from friends who had stayed at both properties recently, I decided on the Grand Hyatt Erewan. Based on my limited time in Bangkok (basically a day and a half) plus what I wanted to do (visit the National Museum and some of the malls and a spa), it made sense to base myself there.

When I arrived on my Emirates First Class flight from Dubai, I quickly got through immigration with the new e-gates. There’s a short arrival form you fill out within 72 hours of arrival and that gets linked to your passport. I had no checked bags so I quickly found the Klook representative who had my name on a sign. This is a great app/website to use for airport transportation and tours in SE Asia. It cost me about $17 for the ride from the airport which is similar to the cost using Grab. The difference is that your driver will come in and meet you in arrivals and lead you out to the car, avoiding the taxi and Grab drivers yelling at you to use their services. While I waited for my driver to pull around, I quickly exchanged $100 for some Thai Baht.

The ride to the Grand Hyatt started out fairly quick and easy on the toll road from the airport. Once we got off the toll road on to the surface streets, things slowed to a crawl. I think it took about 1/2 hour to get the last 1/2 mile. I was tempted to just get out, grab my stuff and walk the last few hundred yards to the hotel, but I resisted as I was tired and the A/C was nice and cool in the car.

Before I arrived, I had been upgraded twice in the Hyatt app from the basic King room that I had booked, first to a King Deluxe room with club access, then to a Grand King Suite, a standard suite which if available, is generally given to Globalists per Hyatt terms and conditions. I made the mistake of waiting to check-in at reception, where they told me to go ahead and check in at the lounge on the 17th floor. When I did that, I was given the card key for my suite on the 22nd floor and given some information about the club. As a Globalist, I could either have breakfast in the club or in the main restaurant on the ground floor.

My suite was very nice, if a bit dated. The furnishings in this property are a bit older, but have held up pretty well. Sorry these pictures were taken at night.

The bathroom had double sinks, a tub and a separate shower. There was also a welcome amenity of some snack mix and fruit along with a note left for me.

One thing I liked (in fact all the hotels on this trip had this) was the universal controller on the nightstands. It controlled individual lights and other functions in the room. The best thing was a master on/off switch that made it easy to not miss an annoying light in the bathroom or bedroom that would still be on when I went to bed.

I was fairly exhausted when I arrived around 9pm, so I went to bed. Of course, I woke up at 1:30am, so I ended up watching more of Gavin & Stacey, which I found on Britbox through my Amazon Prime Video subscription. I eventually fell back asleep for a few more hours.

The views from my room in the morning were quite nice, although no real iconic sights were visible. The BTS runs right past the hotel and they provide earplugs although I was on a high enough floor not to need them.

Breakfast in the restaurant was from 6:30-10:30am and I was down there just before 7am. The breakfast buffet was great as you would expect in Southeast Asian Hyatts. There was also a small menu you could order from.

Each day there was a board with the special dishes of the day from each area of the buffet.

For some reason, I forgot to get a picture of the small made-to-order menu, but it was mostly egg dishes and things like French toast. Here are some of the items I enjoyed over the two mornings, including the made-to-order omelet and French toast.

I’ll have more on my adventures in Bangkok in the next post. The weather was mostly cloudy and rainy during my time in Bangkok, but I knew it was rainy season as we had been there almost the exact same dates seven years ago. I managed to grab some pictures of the pool and gym areas although I didn’t use them.

On the first evening, I stopped by the lounge to see what was on offer. They had a pretty extensive buffet and you could absolutely make a meal of it if you were so inclined. There was also beer, wine and other drinks available. I had a small sampling and a Singha beer.

On the last day, the hotel asked me to move to a regular room at noon in order to honor the 4pm checkout. I really don’t mind this as it gives the next Globalist or whomever booked the suite the ability to get in there at the regular check-in time, but still honors the 4pm checkout benefit, which I really needed considering my flight wasn’t until 8pm.

As I had something booked in the morning, I asked if I could just move rooms around 10am and they said that was fine. I gathered my things (they would have moved my bags if I asked, but I traveled light) and went to the lounge to get my new room key. I was moved to a King Room on the 7th floor. The room was pretty spacious and well-appointed.

When I came back to the room, I was able to catch a nap and take a shower before I headed back to the airport. This time I used Grab and that area near the hotel again caused traffic issues. It took 1/2 hour for the Grab to arrive, but getting to airport a slightly different way was a bit quicker.

The hotel has a bunch of restaurants on the level below the lobby but I didn’t have time to check those out. There’s also a way to get to the Skywalk via a mall next door which definitely helped when it was raining as you can access many of the malls and the nearby BTS station without getting soaked.

Overall, I made the right choice staying at the Grand Hyatt Erewan Bangkok. I only used cars to get to and from the airport. The rest of the time I either walked or used public transportation, which was easily accessed near the hotel.

Up Next: Two Days in Bangkok

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