Having stayed at St Regis New York, and eaten in St Regis Doha, I was thrilled to be invited to the St Regis, Bangkok for lunch with Mrs Chutimaporn Kasemsuk (Director of PR for Four Seasons Thailand). |
Having stayed at St Regis New York, and eaten in St Regis Doha, I was thrilled to be invited to the St Regis, Bangkok for lunch with Mrs Chutimaporn Kasemsuk (Director of PR for Four Seasons Thailand). Since Four Seasons Bangkok closed, Bangkok based Four Seasons staff are located in the St Regis, next door to the former Bangkok Four Seasons. The St Regis, Bangkok has a very refined atmosphere. The hotel is only 5 years old but has a feeling of substance and class that the Doha St Regis lacks. There is a Zuma restaurant off the lobby but Kee had picked the Italian restaurant (Jojo) for our lunch. It is a rather formal restaurant but staff welcomed us with warm smiles. It was a Buddhist holiday in Thailand and so alcohol could not be served. We got our starters from the ‘buffet’ and the cold meats, prawns etc were excellent. We then each got small plates of pasta that were equally appetising and fresh. For our main course we chose from a board and dishes were cooked individually to order. My pork dish came quickly and was excellent. Over lunch Kee and I discussed why Four Seasons Thailand’s Twitter account is not currently Favouring or reTweeting and posting little. Issues related to the fact there will be no Four Seasons Bangkok again until 2018 were to blame. It was a very relaxed and enjoyable lunch in perfect surroundings. After lunch I met Ms Michelle Lai (the St Regis Bangkok Director of Marketing Communications) and Ms Warddaw Getsaratham (St Regis Bangkok Online Marketing Manager) for a further Social Media discussion while we toured the hotel. The bar area was under renovation during my visit but its ‘traditions’ were explained to me (eg the Sabrage - saber - opening of a champagne bottle each evening NB a practice with history connected to Madame Clicquot!). One of the main assets of the hotel is that it overlooks the Royal Bangkok Sports Club's golf course, an impressive area of green in the commercial district. It was explained that the hotel’s customers are mainly business related at present but it wants to expand its leisure client base. Every room at the St Regis, Bangkok gets a butler, rather than just suites. The rooms and suites I was shown were lavishly furnished with stunning views. The 15th floor swimming pool is also very stylish and elegant. I congratulated the St Regis, Bangkok on their active Twitter account and we discussed the wide variety of travel blog styles around. I explained that my own blog was new and Four Seasons Head Office in Toronto, and staff working on the Four Seasons Magazine, had helped me by providing examples of blogs they read and I was still developing my own style/format, along the way now also getting help from Mandarin Oriental and The Goring hotel in London. The afternoon ended with me being presented with a St Regis, Bangkok teddy bear that I have decided to call ‘Reg’. Overall 5 out of 5 'teddies' for the St Regis, Bangkok. A very impressive hotel that I am surprised is not better known in Bangkok. People taking a trip to Bangkok should seriously consider staying there. | |