During out last two days in Bangkok on our recent trip, we checked out of Hilton Sukhumvit and moved to Movenpick Sukhumvit. I like to move hotels every two days because I find that to be the best way to truly explore different areas in a city. However, because we were so unfamiliar with Bangkok, having a hard time finding pork-free food, and relying heavily on the Skytrain station that was only a stone’s throw away from Hilton Sukhumvit, we tried a total of only two hotels on this trip.

Check-in: Movenpick Sukhumvit was a beautiful, quaint and very charming hotel which reminded of of my cousin’s condo in Singapore. The traditional touches were subtle but tangible, yet the hotel had a modern feel to it. The entrance to the hotel was especially charming. We were welcomed with chilled chrysanthemum tea, which was refreshing. Be warned that if you’re using the Entertainer vouchers, you need to book at least a week in advance and inform them that you’ll be using the vouchers, otherwise they won’t be honored if you just surprise them at check-in.

Room: Our room was very, very small. Between the bed and the furniture, we could hardly find space to place our prayer mat. It was, however, refreshing to see that there was a Qiblah mark in the closet, informing us of which direction we need to pray in. This suggested that perhaps this hotel is popular with Arabs, as I didn’t see this at Hilton Sukhumvit. I liked that instead of carpeting, there were wooden floors in the room (I always feel that carpets contain more germs), and I also liked that the bed was plain and simple white on white. Although it wasn’t the softest bed ever, there were no gross cushions on the pillows that hotels are notorious for washing only once a year, so that’s a win. The view was again of an eyesore of a construction site. Are there good views anywhere in Bangkok? Please leave a comment below if you know of any.

Bathroom: Oh the bathroom. This was unpleasant. At first glance, it looked sparkly clean. A second glance revealed how repulsively dirty the rubber bath mat was. Throughout our stay, however, the bathroom stank so bad, that I felt like I’m standing on a street next to an open sewer. I did not complain about this, because we only had two days left in Bangkok and we didn’t want to waste any time with getting the front desk involved and the possible relocation, and also because we were spending most of our time outside anyway. Holding our breaths in the bathroom and keeping the door shut tight solved the problem. On the upside, the bathroom was very clean otherwise, and we wanted to break out in happy song and dance when we saw that there was a shower bidet! Happy times!

Breakfast: Breakfast at their all-day-diner was much, much better than I expected. It was at breakfast that I realized how very right I was about assuming that this hotel is popular with Arabs, because I saw lots of Arab families there. After all my years of being a foodie and eating at hundreds and hundreds of restaurants, cafes, and bakeries, it was here that I had the best pain au chocolat and danishes EVER. They were so freshly baked that the chocolate inside was still warm and the pastry was so soft and flakey it just gave away.

There were also a lot more pork-free options, but all I really wanted to have was platefuls of the gorgeous, orange Thai papaya that I knew I wouldn’t get to have much of back in Dubai. The size of the papaya platter (as well the guava, pineapple and watermelon platters) was as big as a mandi tray and I swear to God I was making snow angels in my head. I think I had so much of that buttery, melt-in-your-mouth, sweet goodness that I shot up my blood sugar levels to borderline diabetic. I exaggerate. Maybe. You get the idea.

Location:  Movenpick Sukhumvit was less ideally located than Hilton Sukhumvit, although it was only one Skytrain station and only a half dozen soi away. It was far deeper into soi 18 than Hilton Sukhumvit was into soi 24, so the walk from the nearest BTS station was longer, 400 meters to be exact. This was expertly addressed by the hotel though, as they provide a free, 24 hour tuktuk service to the nearest BTS station and mall (which are Asok station, and Terminal 21 shopping center). Also, soi 18 was more deserted than soi 24, so I felt a little unsafe walking there after sunset. One exciting fact though, is that Soi 18 is (obviously) very close to soi 15, which is where you’ll find the notorious Nana plaza and the prolific thrills of questionable nature which Bangkok is notoriously famous for. On our last night in Bangkok, I convinced M to yolo and take a walk down soi 15, but just as the Movenpick Sukhumvit tuk tuk dropped us off on the main road, I chickened out (much to his relief), and we headed back. True story.

Nearest BTS station and Shopping Mall: The nearest BTS station to Movenpick Sukhumvit is Asok on one side, and Nana on the other. The nearest mall is Terminal 21.

Price: We got the Deluxe Room, which was going for roughly AED 350 at that time, with Entertainer. Keeping that in mind, this hotel was excellent and a very great bargain. If I had to pay the real price of AED 700 per night, I would have been quite unhappy.