U Sathorn Bangkok — Hotel in Thung Maha Mek Subdistrict

This is not a 5* hotel. It's a 3* hotel with a nice pool.

Their advertising says this hotel has a spa. On hotels.com it even says, specifically, it has an on-site spa. This, plus the promise of a relaxing pool area and gardens, are the reason I booked to stay for 2 nights at U Sathorn. The advertising was a lie. There is no on site spa. There is no spa at all - they just pretend, and then drive you to another building about 10 minutes away.

The outsourced spa accepted my booking (made via hotel reception) for a deep tissue aromatherapy oil massage, and then once I got there told me they didn't actually do that service.

The drive is done in a tuk-tuk. Whilst this is a fun bit of Thai heritage and culture, it's totally missing the point of the relaxation and tranquility most people desire with a massage or similar. Any spa treatment benefits will immediately be undone by the noise, uncomfortable vehicle, pollution and heat on the journey home, assume you managed to be in the mood for them by the time you arrived. You won't return to the nice pool relaxed and ready to read your book, that's for sure.

But then you probably wouldn't be able to relax by the pool anyway, as it's chock full of disgusting pigeons pecking away and fluttering off, dousing the place in their droppings. It looks nice, but it's not a nice place to be. The staff COULD put in an effort to deter them, but don't. The pigeons are clearly eating something that's been left on the ground - meaning that even the area outside the pool isn't clean. Which makes sense, really as all the corridors and lifts and stairwells around the hotel are pretty filthy too. I got a good glimpse into this when the only lift was out of service.

The first room I was given had a revolting smeary substance on the floor, so I was offered a second room. This one had someone in it already, who was shocked when I popped open the door.

I was upgraded to a larger room, but I don't value large empty space and the decor leaves a lot to be desired. Especially the greasy stains on the headboard from previous occupants' heads. It's clearly tired - some of the light switches and aircon panels need pressing several times to get them to work, and the floor is so old that dirt is engrained into the scratches and dents beyond any possible cleaning. And for some reason they're still using cold, mismatched fluorescent lights from the late 1990s.

Of the two restaurants, their flagship was shut when I tried to go, leaving only a soulless lobby-restaurant. The staff at the restaurant were very pleasant and the food was nice enough, but the wine list was appalling and overpriced, given the new legislation removing taxes on wine in Thailand.

My requests made via the hotel app for towels and tea bags went completely ignored, despite U Sathorn advertising their "customisation" I Choice package. When I reiterated the request by email (with my surname in it) they said they had no booking under that name - even though I was already checked in and they had copied my passport.

When I told the man on reception that I wanted to cancel and go to another hotel that could provide the services that I wanted (and that U Sathorn had promised online), he told me my booking was non-refundable and that he wouldn't consider a refund.

Yes, they have a nice garden and pool in the middle of Bangkok and you can, indeed, hide from the bustle of the city here, and the bed is comfortable. Sure, the land can't have been cheap and it's got to be expensive for 86 rooms to cover that bill - but you have to deliver the services to meet the price point and U Sathorn simply fails to do so. The hotel really is not anywhere near as luxurious as it's marketing suggests and doesn't actually have the amenities required to make a hotel worthy of 5 stars.

Eventually they promised me a full refund, but only if I retracted or adjusted this review. I chose to be honest to the public instead, but no wonder their score is high if this is...

Not the checkin experience I was expecting from one of Bangkoks premier hotels. Pre Covid this hotel was second to none in Bangkok but sadly no more. Today the staff are rude and arrogant to the point of bullying.

All the 5star reviews are from people that have only left one review. They’re clearly paid for and fake.

The checkin staff were incredibly fast to push a credit card machine into our face and when it didn’t work they told us it was our fault and we had to use a different card. It turned out, however, that one one of their card machines didn’t accept international credit cards. So not our fault but they behaved like they’d done us a favour trying a different machine.

During our stay;

None of the emails we kept receiving requests to confirm ahead of our stay were delivered to our room. For example types of pillows, tea, soap, etc. it’s simply pr spin and obvious that all these emails are automatic and the staff don’t bother reading the responses. The hotel shuttle didn’t turn up so we had to walk to the hotel. You won’t want to do that in the dark or when it’s hot and sunny! It’s a long walk with nothing on the way and no pavements for protection. The hotel shuttle, which you definitely cannot rely on, is supposed to run every two hours. Other hotels are three times every hour and you can trust other hotels to collect you. As with checkin the reception staff were very fast to talk down and argue. It seems it was our fault for believing other staff who told us the shuttle would collect us when we arranged it. Breakfast in the Michelin Star Restaurant was surprisingly average. Eggs Benedict, for which the hotel was famous, turned out to be one raw and one hard boiled egg on toast. Did someone say Brioche or English Muffin? Not in this restaurant! Plus there’s no working a/c in the restaurant. The pool is nice but was closed during our stay due to a private function, which also took over the restaurant. At checkout the holding deposit had also been changed to our credit card as well as the full amount of the bill. This explains demanding two different cards at checkin. The hotel were unable to provide any statement detailing the second charge so we need to report this charge as fraud.

This is a hotel that has lost all sight of customer service post Covid. They exchanged Service and Pride for Arrogance and Rudeness, and you’d get a better customer experience at a Travelodge.

I’ve blocked this hotel group within our corporate travel policy. —- UPDATE; Your response contains lies including the fact you didn’t apply a holding to one of the cards used at checkin. You charged the card and now we need to dispute that charge as it’s not...

My wife and I stayed here for part of our honeymoon in Thailand. This place was amazing. The staff is super friendly and accommodating to everything we asked. When we arrived a staff person met us at our taxi before we even opened the door and grabbed our bags while we checked in. The person that checked us in was very welcoming and even gave us a free drink while they checked our room to make sure it was ready. The person that helped get our bags out of the taxi also brought our bags to our room. Our room was super nice and over looking the pool. Our room was spacious. When we walked into the room to see my name on the tv welcoming us. The tv was also an interactive guide to the hotel. It gave information on all of the options at the hotel. The shower had both a regular wand shower along with a rain shower head that I loved. The pool was amazing. It was a 25 meter pool so it was great to swim laps in the morning. The gym had all the essentials so you could get your workout in on vacation. Breakfast was included every morning and included the basic items like pastries, toast, jellies, ect., but also had thai items and a noodle station. They had a tuk tuk (shuttle) that would take you to the metro station and certain times which was great. My wife and I also asked the desks for a place to get a Thai massage and they setup an appointment for us and even took us there before the appointment. I had asked the front desk about how to mail out some post cards from my trip and they told me to bring them to the desk and they would do it for me. What hotel does that?!? During one of our days there the GM Jason came up to us to welcome us and ask if there was anything that we needed to contact him directly and he would have it taken care of right away. I don't know of any hotel that has this type of service. It was impressive to say the least. They made us feel like we were the only guests at the hotel and that all the staff was there for only us. If we are ever back in Bangkok we will definitely...