Source: Conrad BangkokTomorrow, I could be staying in the Conrad Bangkok, Hilton’s luxury end hotel with the cheapest room costing easily more than RM500 per night. Instead, I opted for a budget hotel taking a family suite with 2 bedrooms and a small sitting room for only RM170. A single small suite cost only RM75. Money is not the reason because I don’t have to pay for either.
Source: Conrad Bangkok
I had stayed in Conrad Bangkok before (not out of my own pocket!). You are pampered from the moment you arrived at the front door. Everything is designed for the guest’s comfort and out of the way efforts are made to make you feel welcome and special. Including small touches like the generous complimentary fruit basket to leaving the small silk elephant on your bed. I loved the luxurious bed, smooth sheet, and the rain shower from the ceiling. I looked to going back there but I chose the Atlanta instead.
The Atlanta could not be more different. It is one of oldest hotel in Bangkok with the oldest hotel swimming pool. Whether that is good or bad depends on your perspective. Everything about how you view this hotel depends on your perspective. You may not notice the hotel even if you are in the right street for it is hidden away at one end of a nondescript street among drab concrete buildings. This fact is a proud badge of honor for the hotel who openly declares:
Source: The Atlanta
The hotel never advertised. All who have heard about it are through words of mouths and reviews in travel magazines, travel blogs etc. It fact, it seemed to go out of the way to discourage certain types of guests. In the world of the most cliché business phrase “the customers are always right” (and my most hated one for most people who used it neither really meant it nor knows what it means – “are you going to strip your pants for your customers?”), here is one business that says it loud and clear. As much as the customer has the right to choose us, we too have the right to choose our customers.
Source: The Atlanta
If you want to do it, do it in your own country, it said. It declared a 'zero tolerance' policy with regard to trouble-makers and all illegal activities, including the use or possession of illicit drugs. And it will not hesitate to report the police without advance warning, without hesitation and without apology. It does not hesitate to refuse rooms to persons unsuited to the prevailing ethos of The Atlanta nor will it apologizes for its mistakes. And anyone who objects should just stay away. It is not interested in dissenting public opinion or what the business world calls 'customer feedback'. I loved that. It is not afraid to do what it think is right and believe it has enough value for money that you will accept its conditions. It doesn’t even want to waste time arguing with you. “No Discussion. No Compromise”.
Source: The Atlanta
Wow! Wow! Wow! Have you ever even heard of any business that had such attitude? Not everyone likes this though. Some thought it over-bearing, arrogant (sure, there is a smack of it), matronly etc. Generally, all the reviews of the room are just bearable or bad. But everyone agrees it has history and a uniqueness of character you will not find anywhere else. Whether you think this is enough to put up with its demands all depends on the individual guest. You either love it or you don’t. I can’t wait to find out.
Source: The Atlanta
I know I’m taking a chance. It is no guarantee I won’t regret my decision choosing it over the Conrad. But it is a hotel I MUST stayed in. I must savor its charm and then decide if it appeals to me. I have stayed in a number of 5 stars hotels but I don’t remember much of them short of having a pleasant stay. I can bet I will never forget this – for better or worse and this fact alone will make it worthwhile. But more than that, the Atlanta has something that money cannot buy. It has History. And I will gladly pay for that with 3 days of my life.
(After my trip and finishing the Terengganu posts, I’ll write about my stay in the Atlanta. So watch out for it in the coming future…)
Source: Conrad BangkokI had stayed in Conrad Bangkok before (not out of my own pocket!). You are pampered from the moment you arrived at the front door. Everything is designed for the guest’s comfort and out of the way efforts are made to make you feel welcome and special. Including small touches like the generous complimentary fruit basket to leaving the small silk elephant on your bed. I loved the luxurious bed, smooth sheet, and the rain shower from the ceiling. I looked to going back there but I chose the Atlanta instead.
The Atlanta could not be more different. It is one of oldest hotel in Bangkok with the oldest hotel swimming pool. Whether that is good or bad depends on your perspective. Everything about how you view this hotel depends on your perspective. You may not notice the hotel even if you are in the right street for it is hidden away at one end of a nondescript street among drab concrete buildings. This fact is a proud badge of honor for the hotel who openly declares:
"This is the place you are looking for, if you know it.
If you don't, you'll never find it".
Source: The AtlantaThe hotel never advertised. All who have heard about it are through words of mouths and reviews in travel magazines, travel blogs etc. It fact, it seemed to go out of the way to discourage certain types of guests. In the world of the most cliché business phrase “the customers are always right” (and my most hated one for most people who used it neither really meant it nor knows what it means – “are you going to strip your pants for your customers?”), here is one business that says it loud and clear. As much as the customer has the right to choose us, we too have the right to choose our customers.
Source: The AtlantaAnd they are not shy to shout it out -
SEX TOURISTS ARE NOT WELCOME
If you want to do it, do it in your own country, it said. It declared a 'zero tolerance' policy with regard to trouble-makers and all illegal activities, including the use or possession of illicit drugs. And it will not hesitate to report the police without advance warning, without hesitation and without apology. It does not hesitate to refuse rooms to persons unsuited to the prevailing ethos of The Atlanta nor will it apologizes for its mistakes. And anyone who objects should just stay away. It is not interested in dissenting public opinion or what the business world calls 'customer feedback'. I loved that. It is not afraid to do what it think is right and believe it has enough value for money that you will accept its conditions. It doesn’t even want to waste time arguing with you. “No Discussion. No Compromise”.
Source: The AtlantaWow! Wow! Wow! Have you ever even heard of any business that had such attitude? Not everyone likes this though. Some thought it over-bearing, arrogant (sure, there is a smack of it), matronly etc. Generally, all the reviews of the room are just bearable or bad. But everyone agrees it has history and a uniqueness of character you will not find anywhere else. Whether you think this is enough to put up with its demands all depends on the individual guest. You either love it or you don’t. I can’t wait to find out.
Source: The AtlantaI know I’m taking a chance. It is no guarantee I won’t regret my decision choosing it over the Conrad. But it is a hotel I MUST stayed in. I must savor its charm and then decide if it appeals to me. I have stayed in a number of 5 stars hotels but I don’t remember much of them short of having a pleasant stay. I can bet I will never forget this – for better or worse and this fact alone will make it worthwhile. But more than that, the Atlanta has something that money cannot buy. It has History. And I will gladly pay for that with 3 days of my life.
(After my trip and finishing the Terengganu posts, I’ll write about my stay in the Atlanta. So watch out for it in the coming future…)
To be continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment