For my most recent Bangkok trip, I was quite lucky to find and book a hotel online on the same day of my trip. I really didn't have time to research much but based on the
website, it looked alright so I settled for Merisess Boutique Hotel.
Booking
The website allows you to make a booking by emailing them directly which I first did. One advantage of booking with them is that they provide airport transfers for free for stays of 3 nights or more. I got a prompt reply informing me that they are fully booked. I then checked
AsiaTravel and it appears that there are rooms available. I booked using AsiaTravel and was able to receive a confirmation immediately. It was weird as to why they would say that they are already fully booked when they're not. The obvious answer would be because they are not too keen in providing the airport transfer, if that's the case, then why offer it in the first place?
General Impression
The boutique hotel seems to be family owned, the lobby is quaint with one working elevator. Everything looked nice in the pictures but upkeep is needed to ensure that the hotel is properly maintained. The hotel staff are all very friendly and go out of their way to help you out. I forgot his name but the man in charge at night pointed out all places of interest and even drew me a map on my first night.
Room
For the price of S$56 (1800) per night, it was value for money. It was by far one of the biggest rooms I've stayed in for that amount. The bed was quite big and surprisingly, the sheets were very nice.
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Apart from the usual amenities in a hotel room, it also has a small kitchenette with a stove top and a microwave. They also have plenty of power sockets for all your charging needs. Wifi is consistently fast as well so no complaints there.
The bathroom was also quite spacious and water pressure is strong.
I'm not really picky when it comes to hotel rooms especially if I'm going to out most of the time but I did notice a few things.
1, The room smelled faintly of smoke, it was actually overpowering at first but you kind of get used to it after a few minutes.
2. The light bulb in the toilet is busted which never got replaced so it was quite dark.
3. If you look closely at the picture above, you may notice that there is no door in the shower area which floods the entire toilet after you take a bath.
4. As I mentioned earlier, upkeep is needed, check the ceiling of the bathroom and the curtains from the first pic above.
5. They provide you with plenty of hangers but they were mismatched.
6. Lastly, the key to my room wasn't working. I had to ask them to open my room for me for the first two days.
I did ask to be transferred to another room but I was told that they are fully booked so I really had no choice but then again, everything was very minor. All in all it was a very comfortable stay for me. I also expected it to be noisy as I was right by the staircase and the elevator but it wasn't.
Location
The hotel is located at a quiet street in Sukhumvit, make sure to print out a map when taking a taxi from the airport as you might have a hard time finding it.
The hotel is pretty central as both the BTS and MRT station are just about 10 minutes walk. If you're not too keen on walking, you can take any of the motorcycles parked almost right by the hotel to take you to the stations for 10THB (S$0.40).
This is the view when you exit the hotel, just walk along this long stretch of road till you see the Exchange Tower.
Turn right when you reach the Exchange Tower and it opens to this busy major intersection.
The entrance stairs of the train stations are on every corner of the said intersection and they're all connected by a walkway up top so no need to worry about having trouble crossing the street as I did on my first night. Most of the major shopping centers are about 3 - 4 stations away.
There are also a few places of interest nearby. There is a 24-hour fully stocked grocery along the small street where the hotel is located and Long Table of The Column, a classy dining place up top the 25th floor is a few paces from the hotel as well.
From the Exchange Tower, going straight and crossing the major interaction would take you to Soi Cowboy.
To the left of the intersection, there's a "night market" as well with a Robinson's and small mall nearby.
There's also a Starbucks right at the Exchange Tower and a True Fitness, True Spa and another classy looking massage place.
Anytime you're too tired to walk back to the hotel just look for the motorcycles to take you. They're parked in almost every corner of that busy intersection so there's nothing to worry about.
Breakfast
Breakfast consists of your choice of bread, salad, yogurt or milk, two mains, fruit and your choice of drink. It's not a buffet and it's served at the Brownery which is just across the lobby. I was up at 7am the first day and the restaurant was still closed.
I informed the front desk about it and as it turns out, he's also in charge of the restaurant.
I checked out at 6am and it was painless. I was initially worried that there might not be cabs passing by but there were plenty.
