137 Pillars Suites & Residences Bangkok — Hotel in Khlong Tan Nuea Subdistrict

Tucked way in a central soi in Phrom Phong like an oasis. 137 Pillars Residences and Suites are one of the more fascinating places i have had the pleasure to stay in.

Location-wise, while it's not as ideal as Sheraton Grande or Rosewood, where BTS line station is just outside the property, they compensate for this by having a shuttle services (using a van or a more iconic London blue taxi) to ship property guests to EmQuartier on hourly (or bihourly) schedule. You can forgo all that by exploring on foot, which takes 17 minutes to Phrom Phong BTS, but the humidity can eat you alive. Be sure to call ahead to the concierge desk to reserve a shuttle slot for ease of mind.

Now we come to the property itself. Disclaimer: I havent stayed in 137 pillars chiang mai, so i cant compare it to their sister property.

As we are celebrating our anniversary, we did slip that detail in order 'to be surprised'. And indeed we were surprised by balloons and decorations that can only help to set the proper mood, together with a handwritten welcome note from the manager 'Lily' together with a delectable salmon snack. Most astonished to find that multiple floral arrangements (e.g. orchids) are freshly cut and set. That is attention to detail.

Our butler Khun 'Genji' accompanied us from check in and gave us a brief tour of our Sukhotai suite. We'd like to praise him for making the duration of our stay refreshing and more memorable, it must not be easy to balance being professional and also approachable so effortlessly.

SUKHOTHAI SUITE

What a lovely suite! Expansive room area, headlined by their spacious signature bowl bathtub, and their Posturepedia bed mattress. Both these fixtures have 1 thing in common, they require great effort to get out of them! I'm impressed by their huge dresser table, smart toilet (toto washlet), and a fully stocked bar with your own bar mixology kit. Two TV sets grace the suites a large smart TV across the bed and a small one facing the tub, also provided - a Bose sound system. Balcony extension offers a great view of the skyline, you have a day bed and a rocker for when you want a whiff of the outside air. It's noteworthy that the lighting controls are thematic (Romantic, Accent). Tip: must try their complimentary longan moringa green tea. Bubble baths are offered but it requires an appointment and your butler would arrange it. Housekeeping gets the last word, they are simply amazing, courteous and thorough in their duties, really deserves recognition.

ROOFTOP POOL (SUITE GUESTS ONLY)

Located on the very top of the building, the infinity pool with views to die for. A picture speaks more than a thousand words. So just look it up. It's available 24hours. I found myself wondering is it hotel policy to chase you back in when stormy weather moves in.

NIMITR

Exquisite fine-dining is on offer in the property's premium restaurant. Every dish was an experiential journey and lapiz lazuli decor with the elegant high ceiling tamps down the energy seeping in from the balcony seating and pool outside. The servers especially 'Tong' exude warmth and we are happy to be served by her. The executive chef that greeted us take palpable pride in his menu and exudes confidence. They also seem to have stocked every wine under the sun. Looking out over the evening skyline, it did feel like an epicurean dream.

NITRA SPA

Bit of a last minute decision for us to pamper ourselves after days of frenetic exploring but boy were we in a for a treat!

Me and the missus picked Traditional Thai Massage and it was one of the better massages we had, after a cleansing herbal drink, our two masseuses gave us a proper work over. Twisting every limb and untwisting every knot and strand. Really intense but strangely soothing.

All in all, wholeheartedly recommend you to stay here. The staff that runs the place day-to-day really understands the meaning of hospitality and live it out. You do shell out a lot of money, but you won't have hard time to see why.

Other Hotel Facilities: Golf Range, Gym, Bkk Trading Post,...

I would consider this a 4 star hotel, it is beautiful looking but there are major service and quality issues in my opinion. We came here for the rooftop pool and luxury-seeming suite but I would recommend staying at one of the more established hotels, resorts, or chains in Bangkok. ROOM: We stayed in a Sukothai suite which was beautiful and “smart” (lighting + toilet features) but had several quality issues.The windows are quite dirty which can take away from the view. The bed is large but lacks support and sinks in. The pillows are terribly flat and uncomfortable. I have never had such a terrible pillow at any hotel. The robes and slippers are cheap and thin for a suite where you would expect more luxury. The showerhead requires maintenance and water shoots out in various directions. SERVICE: The bell desk men who work at the entrance are the best part of the hotel. They always greet you politely, open doors and car doors for you, and look after your safety when getting into taxis. They truly deserve to be recognized as the only 5 star part of the hotel. The rest of the staff we encountered unfortunately we could not say the same. On the last day, we were just 10 minutes late for checkout before they called our room to nudge us. Ive never been called due to being late for checkout ever. We were actually moving our luggage out as they called and they did not offer to help us bring our bags down. Upon checkout, they dont ask how your stay is and the lady came off as quite rude. At this point, i didnt bother saying anything myself about our experience because i felt they wouldnt care or do anything about it and i didnt want to put a damper on my mood. She charged us for room service which we then paid for with credit card, but then she proceeded to write down my credit card details without my consent. I asked her why she was writing it down when i already paid and they already had a card on file with a pre authorized deposit. She didnt give a clear answer and continued to write it down. Needless to say i will be changing my credit card number. POOL SERVICE: There is a bar on the 27th floor pool but nothing on the rooftop pool except a menu. No waiter at the rooftop to take your order either so you must go to 27 to order and go back to the rooftop. The server who brought our order lacked manners and food safety. She/he brought a drink with a wrapped straw, and then opened the straw with her unwashed hands, put it in my drink, and started mixing my drink with it. I told him/her to stop immediately as i was disgusted. When my partner ordered a drink, he/she asked me if i wanted anything, i said no, he/she said ill bring you a water and i said i didnt want it and he/she said dont worry ill bring you a small one. I thought they would bring a complimentary glass of water that is free of charge already at the pool… They then charged 150 baht +17% taxes for the water i didnt ask for or want! The water bottle even arrived opened already. How do i know this isnt tap water in an empty bottle?! This really rubbed me the wrong way and tarnished my opinion of the hotel. FOOD: Extremely overpriced and bland. We tried room service pasta and pool bar food and both tasted terrible. We didnt finish it. Burger was undercooked but luckily they took it back and removed it from the bill. Although the interaction with the same server was a bit bizarre when we said the burger was undercooked. Like he/she didnt believe us and inspected it in front of us and took photos even though the patty was clearly red inside. POOL: the rooftop pool is beautiful. On the rooftop, there is 1 hot jacuzzi and 1 cold. Limited seating areas but luckily there are not too many people around. A couple of times we were the only ones up there. Guests leave their belongings and garbage on the beds and no one cleans it up, so if you want to enjoy a seat by the pool, you most likely need to clean up after someone else. LOCATION: Lots of traffic! I recommend getting a motorcycle taxi for this location unless you are patient with...

Last time I stayed at 137 Pillars Bangkok was before covid and quite a bit has changed since then. Unfortunately service levels have been cut back, the breakfast which used to be the best in the city has been downgraded, and with the opening of several new luxury options in Bangkok such as Rosewood, Capella, and Four Seasons, the competition has increased. While 137P still has some great features like the roof top pool, it is becoming a less attractive option than in the past.

Our room was pretty much the same as before and nothing notable had changed. We had a couple of nice welcome surprises in the room to celebrate a special occasion which was definitely a nice touch and highly appreciated.

Breakfast used to be absolutely fantastic at 137P but now the Baan Borneo Club is temporarily closed for renovations so we had the choice of having breakfast on the ground floor at the Bangkok Trading Post restaurant or as in-room dining. The menu no longer had luxury options such as steak & eggs, crab omelets, seafood salad, or sushi. The free-flow sparkling wine is also a thing of the past unfortunately. The current a la carte menu is not bad, but I can no longer claim that 137P is the best breakfast in Bangkok, in fact based on our stay at Park Hyatt a couple weeks ago that one clearly beats 137P, as do some others such as Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, Capella, Sukhothai, Waldorf Astoria, etc.

When 137P informed me about the closure of the Club and that happy hour would be served at the swimming pool on the 27th floor, I expressed my concern about the venue which is shared with guests of the residences, therefore not as private as what the Club used to be. As an alternative they suggested happy hour near the roof top pool on the 35th floor which is for guests of the suites only. It turned out to be a completely private happy hour in a great venue overlooking the city, a perfect peace haven for social distancing despite our stay overlapping the weekend when hotels tend to be busier at the moment. Our butler came by regularly for refills or we could just call using the phone near the pool because there was no other staff (or guests) on the roof.

The swimming pool is still open 24 hours per day and one of the strong points of the hotel. I went there on three different afternoons and twice I was all alone so it beats having a private plunge pool at Capella, Rosewood, or Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit.

Service is very good at this hotel, that said, I noticed some cutbacks. First off they no longer provide the mobile phone with internet and direct chat access with the butler which I personally do not need but I am sure it was useful for some guests. Also not having the Club open limited the interaction with the butler and our breakfast was served by different staff on different mornings which also reduced the personal aspect. On Saturday evening we came back to the hotel at 7:30pm and there was no door man - not a big deal, but I do not recall other ultra-luxury hotels in Bangkok having the front door unmanned and it never happened at 137P in the past. Also some of the breakfast orders were bungled for example salmon was supposed to come with rice but they forgot, and they also brought noodle soup without condiments which is normally not a miscue that hotels in Thailand make. All of these are admittedly minor issues but 137P’s competitors set the bar quite high so some missteps stand out.

In conclusion, I booked at 137P for a stay during the weekend specifically to avoid the large crowds at some other 5-star hotels which have staycation promotions and my objective was met with flying colors with the in-room breakfast, the fantastic private happy hour, and the pool which was almost entirely for our personal use only. However some cutbacks were a bit disappointing and with the increase in new hotel openings which will compete for travellers’ attention, I am not sure things are looking...