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| W Hotel Bangkok- fashion meets culture |
“Wow!” It’s the first word I uttered when I entered the suite of the W Hotel Bangkok. This made Apple Yantawattana, the hotel’s Assistant Director for Marketing Communications smile and said, “Yes, this suite is named the WOW Suite. Wait until you see the EXTREME WOW Suite.” How appropriate and ingenious, I must admit, of them to name the space as such.
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| Scandalously indulgent- the W Hotel Bangkok's one and only WOW SUITE's spacious bedroom with a chic living room & 'livable' bathroom (below) |
All of the guest rooms and suites in the 31-floor contemporary glass tower of the W Hotel Bangkok surely have the WOW factor, just like every space in the design-led lifestyle hotel. The “wow-ness” just gets better as the rooms get bigger. So, it’s just fitting that they name the 407 chic pad with the exclamation and its synonyms—244 Wonderful Rooms, 106 Spectacular Rooms, 19 Cool Corner Rooms (my crib for the two-night stay), 20 Studio Suites (it’s gorgeous still even if the adjective in the name was missed out), 2 Fantastic Suites, 10 Marvelous Suites, and for the serious WOW-factor, 1 Wow Suite and 1 Extreme Wow Suite.
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| Serious WOW factor in the EXTREME WOW Suite. |
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| Extreme WOW Suite Living & Dining areas |
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| Only 10 of this dig- the Marvelous Suite with a living room (below) |
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| 20 Studio Suites with a sassy bathroom (below) |
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| 106 Spectacular Rooms |
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| Say Wonderful (Room) 244 times |
This was one of those visits that I wanted to spend more time (or as much as I could possibly can) in the wow-ness of my corner room, as exciting Bangkok may be. I am pretty sure I am not the only hotel guest with this sentiment.
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| My crib for a couple of nights in Bangkok- the Cool Corner Room. There are 19 of this room category. |
But coming home to the suite was something to look forward to after a day of exploring the nooks and crannies of the Big Mango, and bagging the seemingly endless fashion and home finds. Who doesn’t want to hurry back, take a refreshing rainforest shower or a warm, bubble bath in the bathtub, slip in between the luxurious, crisp white sheets of the signature W bed and catch the latest news on the 40” flat screen LED TV or fill the room with soothing tunes from your iPod via the docking station on the sound bar system while posting selfie shots of the day on the social networking sites with the room’s high speed internet access?
The rooms may be packed with sleek, custom furnishings and modern technology (the bedside control tablet made me the master of my domain with a touch of my finger)...
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| The power is ini your hands.... Apple Yantawattana, W Hotel Bangkok’s Assistant Director for Marketing Communications shows how to work the room control tablet. |
...but what I found quite charming was how W Hotel incorporated the vibe of Bangkok into the room’s design—enlarged glamorized Muay Thai boxing gloves (yes, it’s wearable and can be taken home as a souvenir- for a reasonable price, of course) on each bed with “Lights” and “Out” patched on the pair, and the epic battle of the mythical creatures of the Himmaphan Forest, the tiger and the phoenix, printed on the signature bed covers, the artful twist is both are wearing boxing gloves—in gold.
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| Boxing dragon & tiger. A modern take on traditional Thai art |
Sometimes the most amazing feature of an establishment is intangible. In W Hotel’s case, this feature can be accessed with a press of a button—the Whatever/Whenever dial on the room phone. Some call it Room Service, Housekeeping or the Concierge, but at this hotel, it goes beyond all these services combined. W Hotel’s Whatever/Whenever service transforms the ordinary into extraordinary. Ask for a safety pin or a helicopter ride over traditional temples and skyscraper tips, a needle and thread or a personal shopper to navigate the fashion mecca for the finest tailored suit, sate a chocolate chip cookie craving or an indulgent dinner banquet while cruising the famed Chao Phraya River, any or all of these can be at your beck and call 24/7 while staying at the W Hotel.
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| Call for Whatever/Whenever. |
It’s not only the guestrooms that draw out exclamations of amazement.
It’s the same with the rest of the “rooms” of this fashion meets culture haven— from the lobby, where the jaw-dropping experience all starts, to the WOOBAR, the cocktail lounge; from the Kitchen Table, the all-day dining spot, to Great Room aka the ballroom; from the leisure areas, AWAY Spa, SWEAT Fitness Center, and WET DECK, the pool area, to every corner of the hotel, each area has been conceived with stylish and dynamic design elements that guarantee to elicit the word WOW—repeatedly, normally—from anyone who visits the W Hotel Bangkok.
W Hotel Bangkok is at 106 North Sathorn Road, Silom, Bangrak, along the prestigious Embassy Row of Bangkok, Thailand, and a minute’s walk to the skytrain- Chong Nonsi BTS Station. Visit their website at www.whotelbangkok.com
For great deals on this hotel, visit http://www.agoda.com/asia/thailand/bangkok/w_bangkok_hotel.html
Also published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on August 15, 2013.
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