Glow Pratunam Hotel (Bangkok)

Glow Pratunam Hotel (Bangkok)

Glow Pratunam Hotel is a hotel with a modern theme, located within the Shibuya 19 Fashion Mall, between the 7th to 20th floors. There are about 169 rooms and the hotel provides free WiFi, pillow-top beds, and iPod docks. Other amenities available to guests include LCD TVs, minibars, and room service.

This hotel can be considered as one of the most convenient hotels within the Pratunam shopping belt - opposite Platinum Fashion Mall and walking distance to Pratunam Market, Palladium Night Market and the new Neon Night Market. Glow Pratunam Hotel is also within walking distance of of Pantip Plaza, Central World Mall, Big C Supermart, Siam Paragon Mall and Siam Square. It is a hotel which can be quite budget-friendly if you book during the right season, otherwise you might be better off booking another hotel within the vicinity.
Tip: If you get a rate ranging from S$90-99, it's a pretty good deal. So remember to check online platforms like Hotellook or Traveloka to get your money's worth.
Since this trip was a super short one with shopping being the main activity (as usual), we decided on Glow Pratunam Hotel for our 2 nights in Bangkok. One of the major deciding factors was the rate, which at about S$94++ per night, and the location which is right in the heart of Pratunam; directly opposite The Platinum Fashion Mall and near the night markets. There might have been some hits and misses, but overall it was a good  stay.

Here is an overview of how our stay went, from getting to the hotel from the airport to the room, service and breakfast.

Getting there from the airport

Taking a taxi to the hotel from Suvarnabhummi Airport would be the most convenient way, and cheaper than getting a hotel airport transfer. Of course, it would not be as cheap as taking the train, but it does save the convenience of lugging your luggage and making an arduous journey from station to hotel over uneven dirty pavements in the humid hot weather.

Getting to the hotel via taxi was simple: after collecting our Pocket Thai WiFi device, we made our way to level 1 and queued up in the taxi queue. There were machines to help regulate the flow of the taxis and passengers. All we had to do was to press the green button on the screen when it was our turn, wait for a bit and a receipt with the details of the taxi (e.g. driver name, car plate, parking lot that the taxi will be waiting) was printed out. The ride to the hotel from the airport cost us 345 baht and took about 45 minutes (traffic was quite bad that evening).

The ticket machine

Through reviews and before booking the hotel, we noted that taxi drivers might have some difficulty getting to Glow Pratunam Hotel. So in order to minimize such a mishap from happening, we got the address in Thai, and were prepared to just tell the driver Shibuya 19 Fashion Mall, instead of the hotel name (Thanks Apple for the address!): 

919 อาคารชิบูญ่า19 ถ.เพชรบุรี แขวงถนนพญาไท เขตราชเทวี กรุงเทพฯ 10400
กรุงเทพมหานคร 10400

 
Thankfully the address in Thai did the trick and we were soon on our way to Glow Pratunam Hotel. The entrance to hotel is located at a side lane besides the Starbucks cafe. There is also a 24 hours Macdonald’s outlet between the entrance of the mall and next to the Starbucks café. So fast food junkies you can get your fix almost anytime throughout the day. 😊

Glow Pratunam Hotel (Bangkok)
The entrance's located right next to Starbucks. There is a little alley that sells stuff and transforms into a seafood restaurant at night.


Facilities:

  • Restaurant
  • Outdoor Pool
  • Fitness Center
  • Café
  • Sauna 
  • Relax Spa - Located right next to the reception counter. If it gets too crowded you might get sent downstairs at the 6th floor where there is an extension. A foot massage costs 350 baht, 300 baht if you visit during the happy hours (11am-8pm). While some might deem it too pricey, it's a small price to pay for convenience and comfort.
Glow Pratunam Hotel (Bangkok)
The spa area and the table where you can book for tours and a taxi to the airport.


Check-in / Lobby 

Once we alighted from the taxi, we made our way to the entrance past the make-shift night seafood restaurant. There were no bellboys or concierge to greet us or open the doors for us at around 7pm. Perhaps it was late, or they were on break, but this subtracted from the experience a little.

We took the elevator and located the lobby on the 7th floor which also acts as the transfer area between hotel guests and their rooms. This setup is similar to Novotel Platinum Pratunam Hotel, where guests, in order to get to their rooms, have to transfer to the elevators at the lobby level. The main difference is that there were hotel staff greeting guests at the ground level (e.g. you get what you pay for).

Glow Pratunam Hotel (Bangkok)
Checking-in
Glow Pratunam Hotel (Bangkok)
The lift lobby to the rooms

It was a quiet evening as we checked-in at the counter. Check-in was efficient (kudos to Tide) and we were soon handed our room cards. As we found a good deal on Traveloka, it stated that our rate came with breakfast but no WiFi. But to our pleasant surprise, we were provided with WiFi access - user account and password for 2 devices only.

While the gesture was appreciated, the WiFi had the 'habit' of dropping and we had to re-connect each and every time we returned to the hotel.  Not only was it troublesome as we had to key in the username and password from scratch, it is not exactly efficient if you ask me.

But no no worries as we had the Pocket Thai WiFi device with us throughout our short trip and it was a lifesaver! It was more stable than the hotel provided WiFi! [Read about our Pocket Thai WiFi review here]

[Read about our Deluxe Room Review here
[Suite Room Review]


Breakfast

Breakfast was actually included in our rate, but we only had breakfast for 1 of the 2 mornings we were there. The area for breakfast is not very big, but adequate. And the spread, while nothing fantastic, would be more than enough for a normal breakfast experience.

Glow Pratunam Hotel (Bangkok)
At night
Glow Pratunam Hotel (Bangkok)
Breakfast area in the morning.
Glow Pratunam Hotel (Bangkok)
The decorations were nice and the spread while not fantastic was adequate.
Glow Pratunam Hotel (Bangkok)
Foods like sausages, noodles, rice etc... were kept on warmers.
Glow Pratunam Hotel (Bangkok)
Fruits, cereals, cold cuts and cheeses.
Glow Pratunam Hotel (Bangkok)
Bread, butter and jam, with a toaster at the side for those who like their bread toasty.
Glow Pratunam Hotel (Bangkok)
My favorite station of the all - the Egg Station! 😋😋
Glow Pratunam Hotel (Bangkok)
The presentation for the wontan noodles (in a cup) was adorable and it was quite yummy.

The Check-out Experience

Check-out time is usually 12pm, but we had an early flight (at 12 noon) so we checked out at about 9am. We handed over the envelope for the return of the Pocket Thai WiFi device to the counter and that was it for the return of the device. So simple! 

The hotel has a counter (just a table really) at the lobby area were you can (pre)book transport to the airport. Oddly for the past 2 days we saw that the prices for arranging a taxi to Suvarnabhummi Airport ranged from 700 - 1200 baht. But as it turns out, there was another option at 500 baht which we failed to notice - signage to the airport for a normal taxi for 500 baht was placed at a blind corner.

Initially we thought that hailing a taxi on our own or getting one via the Grab app would be simple, but what we failed to factor in was that it was perk hour and to top that off it was also raining! Hence, we could not get a taxi via the Grab app. So we gave up and approached the hotel concierge to help us get a taxi for 500 baht.

Basically what the concierge guy did was try to hail a taxi for us, and it took him about 45 minutes before we got a taxi. He was there standing in the rain with umbrella in tow trying to hail a taxi, while Ms.D and I were somewhat panicking that we would be late for our flight. When he finally got us a taxi, we rejoiced and of course gave him a tip.

The overall experience was slightly marred by the deteriorating condition of the room and a slightly underwhelming check-in (i.e. no bellboys to assist with luggage upon arrival), but it was a positive experience nonetheless as service was prompt and efficient. If the price is right, I'd definitely consider staying here again for my future shopping sprees. 😊

Booking: Via the website OR online for a better pricing 

Hotel address: 
919 Petchburi Road
Kwang Thanon Phayathai, Rajdhevi
10400 Bangkok





Related Posts

Share on Google Plus

About TravelBytez

When travel collides with a byte, a unit of information made up of bits, TravelBytez is formed: snippets of ramblings on travel, food, shopping, living and anything else that comes to mind.

0 comments :

Post a Comment