While prices have gone up as much as 50% or more in the last two years, it is still a very good 'bang for the buck.' I don't mind the walk up to Sukhumvit Road and in fact enjoy it, but some may not agree. Of course with 'the love of your life du jour' in tow you may want to use the hotel Tuk-Tuk or hail a taxi.
I found the service staff to be excellent, but you have to watch the administration/front office people like a hawk. I've stayed in 3 of this chain's hotels and the front desk staff in all three were...shall we say....less than honest?
Still, all said, it is my first choice in Bangkok.
The first photo is from their web site, the rest are mine.



















This post has been edited by sexy beast: Dec 16 2006, 12:07 PM

This chain is owned by personal friends of mine so accept a little bias please.

Of the four in BKK I like President Park best although it is the furthest away from the action areas. President Park has 4 pools, gym (including climbing wall) squash, spa, tennis, restuarants etc - even a small nightclub.

Solitaire offers that extra bit of luxury.

I have stayed at President Park many times but Solitaire only once and the other two never. Personally I have never found the reception people any less than friendly and honest buit maybe its because they know I know the "boss". I DID get the 3% credit card scam tried on me one time but that was all. This pissed me off big time even though it is a common (though illegal) practice. It was the very first time I stayed there and I just said I would inform the owners and, if necessary, the tourist police - amazing how quickly the 3% charge was dropped by the suddenly appearing manager.

Back to Solitaire - it has large wall mounted falt screen TVs and (allegedly) was the first hotel in the world to have u8ndewater music in the pool LOL. How much can be attributed to that claim I have no idea.

All in all I would heartily recommend the "President" chain - certainly when you consider that they are similar priced (Solitaire being the exception) to total dumps like Ambassador and Nana.

I don't get as upset about the nonsense as I use to, but off the top of my head.... ....about 4 years I went to check into the Grand President, with a comfirmed reservation in my hand, and they still tried to jack up the rate several hundred Baht a day. I stood my ground and they finally acquiesced. They then, maybe because I refused to be scammed, showed me to a room across the street that was worn out and the only resemblance it showed to the pictures on the Internet was the placement of the furniture. The door wasn't even painted. I immediately went back to the front desk, asked if they still had the paper work, and they said, "yes." I asked to see it and they handed me the entire file. I folded it, put it in my pocket and went out the door and up the street to another hotel.
I've gone through a couple of minor things with the front desk at the Solitaire, including being quoted one price when I inquired and then bumped up, again several hundred Baht, when I checked in the next day. I was in the Royal President on Soi 15 where they had given away my reservation, even though it was written right on top of the paper work I was arriving on a late flight. Long story, but it went straight down hill from there. I put up with it for 2 nights and walked over to the Solitaire where I've stayed many times and spoke to a lady at the desk. As I said above, she quoted me one rate, in writing, but when I checked in the next day they jacked it up. At that point I was too tired to argue.
However, that is nothing compared to the what happened last March, IMHO. It was a small amount of money, but that isn't the point. It was nothing short of a deliberate attempt to steal money straight out of my pocket.
As I was only staying two nights, rather than give them a credit card, I paid cash in advance. The change was suppose to be 700 THB.
The young lady, who I had not seen before, took the receipt that came out of the printer, drew a bracket on the paper with a pen between the net amount and the amount I gave her, wrote in a percent figure, which wasn't even remotely correct for the amounts involved and told me my total bill was the amount of cash I gave her and there would be no change.
Hell of a system the Thai have. They can do anything they want to you and you are not suppose to get mad about it.
Well, I got mad. That sleazy, oily, "front desk manager" came out and tried to defend the girl's actions. The head reservation clerk, who I've met in the past came out, said hello, said something to him, and then, to save "face," I assume, he suddenly changed tactics and said, "Oh, I see. You would like your change now."
"That will work," I said.
Almost everytime I came back to the room there was another letter under the door asking for suggestions on how to improve service and wishing me a pleasant stay, etc., etc., etc., at least 6 of them, which I still have here in my file for that trip.
Isn't that chain owned by C.B. Ellis, which is a large real estate investment company or do I have them confused with someone else?
The 42" plasma TVs are not walled mounted, but nice.
Unless the CBRE has rolled back the price hikes of the last two years, which isn't very likely, their prices are not even close to being competitive with The Nana and The Ambassador.
BTW, I've been told the building the Solitaire now occupies was once the Cominsky Hotel and at one time was considered one of the best hotels in the world. How true that is, I don't know.
Oh, one more thing, the 3% "surcharge" on credit card transactions is not illegal, however it is in violation of the merchant's agreement with VISA and MasterCharge and they could pull the merchant's account, but I've never heard of that happening.

This post has been edited by Khun Scalawag: Dec 9 2006, 12:58 PM

What type of prices are we talking here to stay And also the

Famous Question Do they charge for Over night stays lol with bar girl

And also do you think they will give discounts lol for Pattaya Addicts members as i am always looking for a motel to stay in whilst in Bangkok

As there is a guy on here who is a personal friend of the owner so perhaps he could pull strings

Prices here:
http://www.presidentsolitaire.com/z985/promotions_01.html

No joiner fee. They are very girlfriend friendly. At least they have been in the past.

This post has been edited by Khun Scalawag: Dec 8 2006, 07:11 AM

CB Ellis are the management company.

Sadly I can't pull strings as they dont get involved.

I think President Park is the best but that is probably too far from action to suit BMs here anyway.

They never had a problem with guests and let you walk through the lobby with them.

But the two times I stayed there they always grabbed the girl infront of the elevator which is out of sight of the lobby and took her id. They were a bit too zealous about it once and I spoke to the manager the next morning. Told him she had been with me my entire stay and there was no reason for their aggressive behavior, sighting her loss of face and all. He nodded. muttered a bit and then shuffled off to his office again. A bit of a twat but the hotel is beautiful. The dvd player went tits up on me once around midnight and I called the front desk about it. They had two guys up there within 5 minutes and after ten more minutes and swapping major parts of it, they had it up and running. You're not likely to see that in very many Thai hotels!


~Sa-teef

I say the President Solitaire is a great experience for me. I didn't have any issues with this place. The only fault I can find about PS is taking my "guest" ID at the elevator. I heard one time that if your "guest" leave without you in tow, they will direct them to leave through the back. I had asked my regular TG about it but she said she didn't have any problem leaving through the front. Hmm... I don't know then...

tango

The President Solitaire is my hotel of choice in Bangkok. It is indeed very GF, but they are also security conscious. I had a word with the management and told them I knew all my overnight guests, so there was no need to take their IDs. There's never been a problem since. Of course, tipping the security guy 100 baht doesn't hurt, either. But be careful what you wish for - if you don't know the girl well, you should be happy that security takes her ID. It's for your protection.

My regular TG loves the PS because the staff treat her so respectfully. Of course she registers with me and comes and goes as she pleases. In all the times I've been there, I've never seen or heard of the security guys asking a girl to leave by the back entrance. I can only imagine it would happen under very special circumstances, i.e., the way she dressed or acted shouted hooker and there was a group of people registering at the time who might be concerned by this.

Evil

I stayed at PS last year thanks to the recommendation from Evil. I registered with a Girl I know from Phuket and had no problems and loved the Platinum Suite.

My last night I was alone and brought back a BG. No problems with this but she had to leave the back way.

Great hotel tho!

I would recommend this hotel. Stayed here in June 08, based on this review and other comments (thanks to all posters). Room was spacious and high quality, staff was very friendly. Checked in with my TG who just drove in from up north, and they treated her as a guest for the duration of our stay. Never had any problems security giving her any shit - big plus in my book.

My girl generally dresses better than your average BG, but is from the country and looks pretty young, so I constantly have to defend her from security guys and snotty hotel staff treating her like crap whenever we are near a tourist area (I think many hotels should treat BGs better than they do). Nobody at this hotel gave us any problems and in fact were quite courteous to us both (in English and in Thai). I know most mongers don't care about this point, but I think it goes a long way to show the hotel staff has a good attitude.

Summary:
Good location - not right on top of the action, but near enough
Great room - Clean, huge (some of the bigger suites are gigantic), well appointed, really nice, has Wifi
Staff - Friendly, courteous, see above
Amenities - Didn't use the pool or other facilities, so not sure, pool looked nice though.
Price - High. I think I paid 4K or 5K/night. But worth the expense if you want something better than the usual

/my 2cents

I have walked past this place in my strolls around the area, and it looks very good as do the pics but it is out of my price range.

No problem though, as i stay just down the soi at the grand president which is cheaper and in a better location, i think anyway.................lol.