The Royal Splendor of Vimanmek Palace

One of Southeast Asia’s shining stars will always be Bangkok, Thailand. With its flamboyant colors and a charming east-meets-west vibe, the city embodies Thailand’s nickname as the “Land of Smiles”.

In the thirteenth annual World’s Best Awards Readers’ Survey of globally leading travel magazine Travel + Leisure, Bangkok was named as “World’s Best City 2008”, beating 2007 winners Florence, Italy and Bali, Indonesia. With an diverse offering of rich culture, fantastic food, excellent shopping, vibrant sceneries, nightlife, and more, Bangkok has no doubt, have become a well-loved destination – a city which one would go back to, again and again.

For one in constant hunt for new travel discoveries, perhaps visiting the temples, the Reclining Buddha or the Grand Palace may no longer be as exciting. But just recently, we were lucky to find the Vimanmek Mansion located in the Dusit area of Bangkok with the main entrance on Ratchawithi Road.

One of the less popular and underrated tourist sites in Bangkok, the spot has been attracting a lot of tourists lately and is touted as the world’s largest teakwood palace. It was built in 1901 by King Rama V (Chulalongkorn) and has an astounding 72 interior rooms – all using teak wood!

Inaugurated in March 1901, the Vimanmek Palace was used as a royal residence by the King for five years until the completion of Amphorn Satharn Villa in 1906. By 1932, Vimanmek Palace became only a storage place of the Bureau of the Royal Household.

In 1932 however, Queen Sirikit was authorized by King Rama IX to renovate the teak palace and in turn, converted it to a museum to commemorate King Rama V.

The mansion became a historical attraction with an impressive collection of royal photographs and personal effects – a grand showcase of Thailand’s rich national heritage. Many of the gifts and treasures that King Rama V collected during his travels are also displayed in the museum.

Today, one can walk through, albeit without shoes, to marvel at the former palace of the King of Thailand. It is absolutely a unique experience walk along the grand staircase where many royals of many nations have walked on and to be awed by the ivory pieces, musical instruments, the preserved deer heads and antlers which were once conversation pieces during many royal gatherings.

For an entrance fee of 100 Baht, one can get an exciting tour of the Vimanmek Mansion as well as the other buildings in the palace grounds such as the Abhisek Dusit Throne Hall and the Grand Palace. The tours are coordinated and with English – speaking guides to boot. The place is open daily from 09.30am to 4.00pm with the last tour usually at around 3:15pm

A word of caution though – as Vimanmek is a royal mansion, it is considered sacred and dress regulations are in place. Shorts, skimpy tops or tight skirts are not allowed for ladies and men should wear long trousers and shirts with collars. For unplanned visits, Sarongs are available for sale if your attire is deemed to be inappropriate. It is a must that shoes are removed and stored in a designated area before entering the teak-wood building.

The administration also do not allow mobile phones, bags and cameras into the palace. But they provide secure lockers at 20 Baht per locker. You can only bring a wallet or small purse inside the palace where an airport-style security is in at the main entrance to check visitors.

So if you ever get tired of Bangkok’s red-hot charm, visit Vimanmek Mansion for a change and be prepared to be amazed with a little taste of history and some reserved royal opulence.

Hotel Review: Novotel Hotel Mangga Dua Square Jakarta

NOVOTEL HOTEL JAKARTA MANGGA DUAJalan Gunung Sahari Raya No 1
14420 JAKARTA
INDONESIA
Tel (+62)2162312800
Fax (+62)2162312900

Touted as a 4 Star business hotel which is near the manufacturing complex area of Jakarta, Novotel Mangga Dua Square Hotel is a clear choice for first timers. With its dependable brand and affiliation (Accor Group), one would have high expectations for this hotel.

Located in Mangga Dua, the hotel was within a 30 minute drive of the Jakarta’s central business district and the Golden Triangle. But:”the 30 minute” website description isn’t what it really seemed to be with a terrible phenomenon known as “Jakarta Traffic”. Getting to the city proper, major shopping districts and sight seeing location was tedious. On a good day, the fastest you can get to them is about 45 minutes.

Novotel Jakarta Mangga Dua has the usual 4 star fare of coffee shops, swimming pool and business center. It has 363 rooms with the usual amenities such as Audible smoke alarms
Airconditioning
Safety deposit box
Free Wi-fi
Minibar
220/240 V AC
Cable TV

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Our check-in last December 2011 was marred by a series of misfortunes, much like Lemony Snicket’s. First, our group was assigned to different room types even if we were all booked for same room grades – Standard. It turned out that the hotel was fully booked so only the higher room grades (Executive) were available. You would think that they would upgrade the affected guests at no cost but nope, “we can’t do anything about it”. We eventually stayed in the hotel with two colleagues having to upgrade to Executive Rooms.

The biggest problem in this hotel is their security facilities. According to my two colleagues in two different Executive Rooms can open each other’s room using their individual room keys!

As for me, i deposited my camera in the in-room safety deposit box and followed the procedure in locking and opening but could no longer open when I finally needed the camera; it took many calls to housekeeping and front desk before they were able to help me.

But the bigger story was when I took my breakfast at “The Square”. It was buffet type so I left my bag on one of the seats and went around the buffet –without taking eyes off my bag. As I continuously glanced at my bad, a man approached my bag, pulled my room keys out of the pocket and read the details on the key card sleeve. He returned the key inside the bag pocket when I shouted and casually walked away. I reported the incident to the hotel security and front desk and demanded for room change. They promised to arrange everything by the time I return to the hotel in the evening but, you guessed it. Upon return, they still haven’t changed my room. I got my room change at about 7pm.

It was never known who the man was and investigation was conducted. Don’t ask me if I slept soundly after that.

It was something I wouldn’t want to go through again.

The room was clean enough and tastefully designed. the bathroom was clean and orderly. The other plus factor was the Mangga Dua Square Mall adjacent to the hotel. This mall is an Export Overrun Haven – with stalls selling original branded items such as Zara, The Gap, Marks and Spencer, F21 in very low prices. One can easily access this mall through Novotel Hotel.

Checking out early in the morning was also tiresome. Even if I asked the bill to be prepared in advance, there were very few staff members to attend to the check out. Waiting time can reach 30-40 minutes.

We hope the management has already addressed this problem and hopefully corrective measures are now in place.

RATING (HIGHEST IS FIVE)

NOVOTEL HOTEL MANNGA DUA SQUARE JAKARTA

VALUE FOR MONEY – 3 STARS

ROOM CLEANLINESS – 4 STARS

AMENITIES – 2 STARS

STAFF AND EMPLOYEES COURTESY – 2 STARS

LOCATION – 3 STARS

Grand Centrepoint Sukhumvit Terminal 21

Grande Centre Point Hotel & Residence Sukhumvit Terminal 21 is a 4-Star Hotel which opened in Bangkok Thailand in November 2011. It is one of the newest in the chain of hotels managed by Quality Houses Public Company Limited which currently has hotels and serviced apartments in various locations in Thailand including Petchburi 15, Sukhumvit, Silom, Langsuan, Saladaeng, Wireless Road, Sukhumvit Thong Lo and Ratchadamri.

Having stayed in various hotels in Bangkok including Baiyoke Sky and The Twin Towers, we can dare say that the hotel is fresh change from the usual mid level accommodations in Bangkok.

Location is good for those who love shopping – conveniently nestled along busy Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok with a connecting tube to the BTS and MRT stations.

It is also connected to the new pride of Thailand shopping – Terminal 21 Mall. An airport-themed mall with several levels featuring city themes like London, Tokyo, Athens and San Francisco but more on this on our next stories.

We checked out the hotel last July and we were impressed by the amenities. The rooms are quite spacious starting from 32 sqm to 70 sqm. It had a minimalist zen feel lurking around the room with patent white and gray as distinct colors. The window is one wide paneled glass with an automated roman shade-type curtain. The room has a nice view of the pool which is quite refreshing on a clear sunny morning. Unfortunately, the weather was quite gloomy during our stay.

The bathroom is also clean and spacious with all standard amenities. We rue however that they only provide one set of toiletries even if there are two guests occupying the room.

Occupants will also enjoy extra amenities like the free wi-fi and the free use of Mac Computers at the lobby for their “social media needs”. We feel however, that this is meant to compensate for the fact that the hotel does not have a business center yet.

Breakfast Buffet is served at the second floor café, food quality has much left to be desired at as the continental choices are bland and ordinary. I cannot comment on the Thai dishes as I have a very low tolerance for the spicy variety.

The elevators were a little bit complicated with floor selections were different for every unit. In my four-day stay, I think I got lost three to four times.

As for the hotel staff, we get the normal, straight forward Thai hospitality – helpful but reserved.

Barring toiletries shortage and crazy elevators, our stay was a nice one and we do recommend it for your next Bangkok sojourn.

RATING (HIGHEST IS FIVE)

GRAND CENTREPOINT SUKHUMVIT TERMINAL 21

VALUE FOR MONEY – 4 STARS

ROOM CLEANLINESS – 4 STARS

AMENITIES – 3 STARS

STAFF AND EMPLOYEES COURTESY – 3 STARS

LOCATION – 4 STARS