lebua at State Tower — Hotel in Si Lom Subdistrict

I think the problem with Lebua at State Tower is the gap between expectations and reality. The website led me to believe I would have the most luxurious, snazziest stay of my life. I was massively looking forward to it - until I arrived.

The entrance is strange - either through a dated shopping mall or the car park; I had to ask the parking attendant if I was in the right place. Check-in was a major hassle that took ages. I didn’t have a credit card on me (had booked with debit card), so was frogmarched to nearest ATM (for security deposit) as if I were under arrest. I began to wonder how nice my room would be when I saw how old and grubby the lifts were.

My room was big and… fine? It was like a 1990s American Holiday Inn. Felt more 4-star than 5-star. With nicer lighting, a little update and a few more luxury touches, it could be really lovely. The bathroom was nice. The famous balconies are now, apparently, permanently locked so you can’t go out on them.

I then planned to go to the sauna (listed in the hotel information as being, along with the steam room, in the fitness centre). I got to the fitness centre and was told there was no sauna or steam room.

So I went to the 64th floor to look at the view. It was nice. I might have stayed for a drink but couldn’t get staff’s attention so just headed back downstairs.

I ordered room service for dinner. A £40 (!) hamburger was fine, nothing special. The mashed potatoes I ordered on the side were really good.

After midnight, when I went to get in bed, I moved the pillow and saw about 10 ants. As it was so late and I was in my pyjamas, I thought about not saying anything, but really couldn’t sleep as I kept spotting more ants in the bed. So, I went to the front desk and a bored young man said he would call someone. Knocky, the night manager and the nicest member of staff I encountered, came up with me to see the ants and moved me to another room. He was very polite and quite apologetic. It was now about 1am and I went straight to bed in the new room.

In the morning, I hoped for a better experience. Again, the website claims that the breakfast is ‘legendary’ and ‘the best in Bangkok’. I would describe it as adequate.

When I checked out and was asked how my stay was, I said ‘not great’ and explained to the receptionist what happened. I asked if a discount on my dinner might be appropriate, as I’d been up in the early hours dealing with an ant problem, and was told I had already been given an upgraded room as an apology. I really had no need of an upgraded room at 1am. I asked the (quite rude) receptionist if there was someone else I could speak to and she said no. I had to leave and didn’t think it was worth the fuss, so paid my bill and asked for a taxi to the airport. This took so long I started to worry I would be late for my flight.

In isolation, none of these things are a big deal, and pointing them out makes me feel like a bit of a Karen. In a 4-star hotel, or even one billed as a regular business-stay 5-star, I wouldn’t care. But I had been told to expect the experience of my life. I had saved it for the last night of my trip, and was really looking forward to it as a treat. It did not end up feeling like a treat in any way, which was a real shame. I was working during this trip and stayed in two other excellent hotels; one was a two-star at less than a fifth of this price, which I genuinely enjoyed more than this. If I come to Bangkok again and want to go somewhere nice, I’ll go back to the Chatrium Riverside.

(The two stars are for location, which is good, and the couple of nice members of...

Let’s get one thing straight: Lebua has some serious aces up its sleeve—but sadly, it seems to be playing them like it’s never seen a deck of cards before.||Why? Honestly, I’m not entirely sure. Maybe it’s a master plan so sophisticated that mere mortals like us just can’t grasp it. More likely? A case of outdated leadership and an unwillingness to adapt.||Let’s start with the good cards:||Location:||Central and easy to reach. But don’t expect charm or vibrancy just outside the door. The neighborhood is unremarkable, there’s a lot of traffic noise (thanks to a nearby hospital and sirens galore), and the ground-level shopping center is more or less a ghost town.||Status:||Still holding on to its five-star status, though it’s starting to fade. Lebua lives on past glory—but unfortunately, its current management style seems determined to sabotage the legacy.||Breakfast:||One of the highlights—especially if you have lounge access (recommended). There’s a good selection when fully staffed, but quality fluctuates depending on who’s on duty. Some days it’s delicious, other days, not so much. Watching kitchen staff prep food while scrolling through their phones? Not exactly appetizing. Or sanitary. But overall, the breakfast earns a solid pass.||The Property:||The building itself is striking, towering above the city with multiple bars and restaurants on various levels. Rooms are spacious and decently equipped. Ours—and some of the shared spaces—are showing signs of wear and could really use some TLC. The balcony? Great view, but totally unusable—no furniture and two loud AC units humming away like industrial turbines.||Pool Area:||Small, worn, and frankly unremarkable. Functional, but not the kind of place you linger.||Staff:||Friendly, helpful, and well-presented. Exactly the kind of warm hospitality you expect in Thailand.||The Real Issue: Atmosphere & Value for Money||This is where Lebua falls flat on its overpriced face.||The prices for food and drinks are utterly absurd. And no, I don’t expect cheap—but no one likes to feel robbed. It’s clear the hotel has completely misread its guests. The result? Nobody eats or drinks at the hotel’s bars and restaurants unless absolutely forced to. The atmosphere? Dead. Zero vibe. If they slashed prices in half, they’d still be expensive—but at least people might actually order something.||Case in point: we tried to visit the rooftop bars—what a circus. From start to finish, it’s one big push to sell overpriced food and drinks. And if you don’t comply? You’re out. My wife didn’t want a drink, but I did—and we were politely (but firmly) shown the door. Ridiculous. Paying guests deserve better.||Final Thoughts:||I do not recommend staying at Lebua. The vibe is cold, the value is poor, and the disconnect between what the hotel thinks it is and what it actually delivers is glaring. There are plenty of better hotels in Bangkok—more charm, better upkeep, and prices that make sense.||Want to see the rooftop? Go as a visitor, get overcharged like everyone else, and be on your way. But no, I will not be paying 470 baht for a tiny beer or 380 baht for a Coke by the pool. Not now, not ever. And by the looks of it, neither is anyone else.||We’re tourists, yes—but our brains didn’t...

My partner and I stayed here anticipating a relaxing and peaceful end to our vacation, however unfortunately our stay fell short of our expectations. We hope staff will treat all guests equally regardless of what they look like in the future.

Overall impression: Comfortable and spacious room with stunning views, however overall atmosphere of hotel felt stuffy and pretentious.

Pros: Lovely spacious room with stunning view of Bangkok from the balcony. The room also had great soundproofing. We could not hear anything from our neighbours or the bustling city of Bangkok from our room.

Cons: Despite some staff (such as Julian the trainee concierge) being lovely, other staff treated us with a haughty and condescending attitude ( which may have been due to us appearing on the younger side and dressing casually). We have never been discriminated in such a way at any of the other 5-star hotels we have visited.This starkly contrasts with our experience at the Siam Kempinski, where the atmosphere was cheerful and staff were extremely friendly and accomodating. Furthermore my personal experience checking-in was a huge hassle. Despite the room being prepaid, it is Lebua hotel policy to charge and refund 1 baht onto the credit card on which you booked the hotel to verify your identity (advice for future patrons of this hotel to bring the credit card on which you booked the hotel to avoid the hassle my partner and I faced at check-in). I understand Lebua’s hotel policy regarding check-in is to prevent fraud and my personal situation was especially unfortunate, having cancelled the card on which I had made this hotel booking due to my credit card information being stolen earlier this year, however this hotel policy information was not explicitly detailed anywhere on our reservation, not even in the fine print, thus I was unable to sort this out with the hotel prior to our arrival to Bangkok. During check-in, staff offered contradictory information about what I should do to sort out the issue, and made me feel like a fraudster during the check in process. I understand that this is not an issue staff will run into commonly and my dissatisfaction with the staff could have been partly due to some miscommunication I had with staff due to language barriers.

My partner and I were also dissatisfied with the room service operator. The process of ordering room service felt harder than it needed to be. We ordered a chicken spaghetti bolognese, however we were barraged with calls to our room regarding the order, firstly to inform us that they did not have chicken mince and ask if they could prepare the dish with grilled chicken breast instead, secondly to inform us that they did not in fact have the chicken breast, and finally to inform us they could not prepare spaghetti bolognese with chicken because their base sauce had beef and pork. If this was the case, we wish chicken bolognese was not listed as a menu option , or if this could have been communicated with us earlier to avoid being barraged with multiple calls when we were trying to settle into our room. On the other hand, the staff who delivered our room service was lovely and room service food was...