Hotel review: The Continent Hotel, Bangkok (Sky Room)
Bangkok, October 2017
Introduction
I decided on trying out the Continent Hotel due to a friend's suggestion, and as I took a closer look at the hotel information and reviews, I wanted to give it a shot.
As I went through different booking portals, I also contacted the hotel directly and got a decent offer for a two-night stay in a room with what they call "Sky benefits", or like some other hotels have it: "Club/Executive product". I was very pleasantly surprised about how good, friendly and fast the communication was with them. My booking included a round-trip airport transfer with the hotel's own car, which I appreciated.
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| The Continent Hotel |
Transportation, check-in and lobby
I took a Qatar Airways flight to Bangkok, and QR834 arrived in Suvarnabhumi airport at about 12.30, and it took about an hour to walk from the gate, clear the immigration and retrieve the luggage.
Hotel's representative was waiting at the B-exit and asked me to wait for a few minutes. Then she took me to the vehicle waiting outside and I found out there were no others joining me this time so I had plenty of space in the minibus. It was clean, nice and spacious with complimentary water which is always great in a hot and humid city.
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| Hotel minibus |
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| Hotel minibus |
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We arrived rather soon to the hotel since traffic wasn't too heavy. Saturday to blame I guess :)
My bags were taken care of by staff and I was escorted in to a lobby for the check-in. Some juice was offered and I took a look at the lobby, which was quite pleasant although very small. There is a section for guests who have booked a room with Sky benefits, and in the small corner bar you can get soft drinks, coffee etc - free for Sky guests. There are magazines to read in case you need to kill some time in the lobby.
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| The Continent Hotel, lobby |
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| The Continent Hotel, lobby and check-in desk |
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| Section for Sky customers |
Sky Room
The Sky rooms are located on levels 22-32, and I was assigned room 3105 on the 31st floor.
There aren't many rooms per floor so the hotels facade makes an impression of a big establishment, but it's quite deceiving actually. It doesn't feel massive at all. There are only two lifts, but it seemed to be enough even though the hotel was quite full when I arrived.
So, back the room. You get all the basic stuff like a wardrobe, a safety deposit box, minibar, WiFi etc.
In case you book a Continent Sky room, the minibar is free as well.
There was a fruit platter waiting in the room when I arrived, and a few complimentary bottles of water.
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| Corridor to the elevators |
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| Corridor to the room |
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| Fruit platter |
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| The Continent Hotel Sky Room Double Bed |
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| The Continent Hotel Sky Room Double Bed and TV |
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| Safety deposit box, slippers and an umbrella |
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| Minibar and a water kettle |
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| Minibar |
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| Sky Room bathtub with a view |
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| The Continent Hotel bathroom |
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| The Continent Hotel shower cubicle |
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The bathroom was light and quite spacious, and I liked havaing the bathtub next to the window. I couldn't get very hot water but sufficient for a bath anyway. Water pressure from the shower wasn't top notch either but it is a minor complaint.
Theos brand bathroom amenities were present, and I liked the scent a lot!
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| Theos bathroom amenities |
There's an air conditioning unit with a controller, but I guess it was a little old already, since I had a hard time trying to get it react to the buttons. That's not too big an issue, but the real problem was that the unit was rather close to bed and pointing towards it. On the second night I switched the whole unit off so that I wouldn't catch a cold due to the cool blow.
The double bed was comfortable and obviously big enough for one person. There are big windows towards Sukhumvit road, and from the high floors you do get a nice view of Bangkok. There is a BTS Skytrain line that goes along Sukhumvit road, and the traffic can be heavy at times, so expect some noise in the room. If you're a light sleeper, I suggest ear plugs since it not silent in the room.
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| The Continent Hotel, view from the room |
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| City view and BTS Skytrain |
Continent Hotel Sky Lounge (Axis & Spin)
Sky Lounge is located on the 38th floor. Free beverages and snacks are included in the Sky benefits.
The lounge is open from 6am until 10pm, and breakfast can be had until 11am.
In the evening there's a happy hour form 5pm to 7pm when there are cocktails, wines and beer available as well as different things to eat. On the first evening there was lasagne, pasta, steamed rice with some Thai food, fruits, a few desserts and small sandwiches.
You could have easily stuffed yourself with it, but I held back, trying to save some space for dining in the close-by Terminal21 shopping mall's food court.
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Sky Lounge
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| Sky Lounge Happy Hour |
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| Sky Lounge Happy Hour |
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During the happy hour you could have a drink menu upon request. I guess it wouldn't hurt to have it on display on every table since the lounge is rather small and there aren't that many tables there anyway.
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| Sky Lounge Happy Hour drink menu |
I found the staff to be quite friendly, although their English left a bit to be desired. I.e. when asking about the laundry services included in the Sky benefits I got a reply half in Thai, half in what I guess was English. But never mind, you're bound to run into language barrier in Bangkok at some point.
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| Blue Kamikaze, Continent Hotel Bangkok |
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| Tequila Sunrise, Continent Hotel Bangkok |
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| Sky Benefits |
Breakfast, pool and other services
A buffet breakfast is served in Medinii Restaurant on the 35th floor from 6am until 10.30am. A lighter breakfast spread with less choice is served in the Sky Lounge, but there is also an added a la carte menu you can order from.
There seemed to be enough seating even though the hotel was operating near full capacity. In the right corner there is also a designated area for Sky guests, which is more private. The downside is that you might have to wait for staff to come over. On the second morning there I had to wait quite a bit before anyone came there and they weren't too proactive in asking for hot drink preferences.
The buffet spread is obviously much larger in the Medinii, but on the other hand you'll get a more exclusive, calmer atmosphere and better service in the Sky Lounge.
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| Entrance to Medinii at breakfast |
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| The Continent Hotel, Medinii, breakfast spread |
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| The Continent Hotel, Medinii, brekafast items |
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| The Continent Hotel, Medinii, fruit |
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The buffet consisted of salad ingredients, bread and croissants, waffles and pancakes, an egg station and warm dishes - especially the Thai dishes were really tasty!
There were also fruits, yoghurt, muesli and a few kinds of juices. I think there were enough choices for a two-day visit, even for a bit longer one. While there wasn't an incredible spread like in some more lavish Thai hotels, this was good enough and what's most important, the quality seemed fine.
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| The Continent Hotel, Medinii, breakfast |
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| The Continent Hotel, Medinii, breakfast |
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| The Continent Hotel, Medinii, breakfast |
A smaller buffet was available in the Sky Lounge, and you could also order some eggs and omelets from an a la carte menu. I tried one from the menu, and was quite happy with it. The ingredients were fresh and tasty, and presentation was nice.
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| Breakfast menu, Sky Lounge |
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| Breakfast, Sky Lounge |
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| Breakfast, Sky Lounge, The Continent Hotel Bangkok |
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| Sky Lounge, fruit salad |
From the Sky Lounge you can take the stairs one level up to a bar called Bangkok Heightz. I only visited it briefly for a few photos.
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| Sky Lounge |
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| Bangkok Heightz |
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| Bangkok Heightz bar |
The pool area is on the 37th floor, and you can see part of it from the Sky Lounge one floor above.
The area is small, but quite unique with an incredible view. There are only a handful of sun loungers (7-8?), and four of those are under a semi-shielding canvas. You can get towels from a basket so no need to carry one from your room.
There's an honesty bar which was sometimes manned by one of the staff.
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| Pool area, The Continent Hotel |
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| Pool area, The Continent Hotel |
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| H2O Bar |
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| H2O Bar and the pool area |
You'll find a gym called O2 on the 36th floor. As you can expect, it's a novelty to do a little workout with a view like that. The gym itself is very small. There's an exercise bike, treadmills and some free weights but that's about it. You can definitely get something done, but for a serious sports enthusiast it may not be good enough.
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| O2 Gym, The Continent Hotel |
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| O2 Gym, The Continent Hotel |
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| O2 Gym, The Continent Hotel |
I really liked the location of this hotel. Being so close to Asok BTS station is great, and there's a large Terminal21 shopping mall just across the road (not Sukhumvit) with a lovely, cheap food court on the 6th floor. There are lots of different shops and services scattered around Sukhumvit Road close to the hotel, such as 7 Elevens, Dahra Spa etc. With the BTS you're only a few stops from Siam Square with many malls and you'll be able to avoid the sometimes dreadful traffic along Sukhumvit.
Upon checking out I ran into a problem I was half expecting. See, I had told earlier - when checking in that is - that I would be going to another hotel after checking out of the Continent Hotel. Then I asked if I could have the complimentary return transportation from that hotel to the airport. That did cause a little confusion and the person taking care of the check-in wasn't that proficient in English... she said that would be OK, but I felt she wasn't completely sure of what was happening. So, when I checked out, I was told that it wouldn't be possible to have the transportation from another hotel but for "a compensation" I would get the hotel's own car to take me to the next hotel. This wasn't a big surprise, but a bit of a disappointment anyway since I did give some value to the comfortable transportation to the Suvarnabhumi airport which is about a 35min drive away. It's not a big deal per se, but I just don't like that a customer is promised something that won't be honored later on.
The service was OK. I was a little surprised it wasn't more than that. This hotel charges a premium and I would have expected the service to be up to the price tag. The staff weren't particularly friendly or smiling.
From all the hotels I've visited in Thailand this was the low point. Perhaps it only reflects the overall good standard of service, because I can not honestly say that the service in The Continent Hotel was
bad. It just didn't give any sort of a memorable experience.
The selling points for this hotel are the location, and an intimate and quaint "boutique style" atmosphere.
The Sky Lounge was cosy and quiet, and the serving rather good.
There is room for improvement concerning service and friendliness, and the competition is rather hard in this price category in Bangkok. Hence I would really put emphasis on improving service for the hotel to be able to stand out in a positive way.
If you're able to get a bargain on the room, it's a good choice, especially if you're not into big chain hotels.
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| Sky Lounge decorations |
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| Sky Lounge decorations |
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| Sky Lounge fuits |
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| A photogenic watermelon |
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| Pineapple, Sky Lounge |
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| Hotel services. All are on high floors except the lobby lounge. |
