As a regular visitor to Bangkok, we've stayed at a few Apartment Hotels - usually one of the CenterPoint chain. Our Thai friends recommended Ascott Sathorn

Reception / Check In. Impressive lobby and an efficient service from the moment the taxi door opened to our suitcases arriving in the room.

The Room. Even by Bangkok standards our premium one bedroom apartment was large, contemporarily furnished and well equipted. The only point I would make is that in our room the shower was in the bath and was not the greatest in the world.

Our room was on the 7th floor. In the morning the traffic noise was noticable - but not too much. When we go back (which we will) we will be requesting a higher floor.

The Facilities. The gym has some of the best equiptment in Bangkok and great views. The pool, on the 7th floor was, by city hotel standards, very nice, with sala's around the decking. The resturant next to the pool had a great atmosphere in the evening, but the food quality was a bit disappointing - however this should not put you off staying at the Ascott.

Breakfast was served in the 2nd floor resturant (Hu'u). The food was reasonably good - a self service buffet affair with fresh jucies, fruit, and a chef on hand to make a omlette on request.

Location. As other reviewers have mentioned its a good 5 minute walk to the sky train - and you have to cross a busy junction via a bridge and walk way. Quite a few steps. So senior travellers will probably opt to use taxis - which are cheap. However the traffic in Sathron is bad, even by Bangkok standards so journey times can be extended.

Value for Money. Good.

We booked a Bangkok Getaway 1 bedroom premier for 3 nights and it was perfect. Arriving at Bangkok Airport and there was someone waiting for us to bring us to our limousine. Cold bottled water in the car. We arrived in the morning at the hotel and our room wasnt' ready yet so the offered us breakfast. After half an our our room was ready and entering it we were suprised about the space (97 sqm). Kitchen with refrigarator and washingmachine. Great living room and a seperate bedroom as big like a normal hotelroom. One minor thing was when you had a shower, the whole bathroom became wet of the strange shower construction inside the bath.

Great swimmingpool with sun untill 1600hr. Be aware that on weekend days that the poolarea is very busy with people spending there weekend off at the pool.

Very friendly staff and good value for money!

What bliss. A real first-class hotel which holds all it promises on the website and more. We booked a studio apartment with an extra bed for our daughter and it was beautiful, with a top view over Bangkok. The fridge was stocked with complimentary milk, soft drinks, juice and there was a fruit basket and a basket full of cookies, corn flakes, packets of crisps etc. Good washing machine/dryer was a nice surprise. We really appreciated the enormous playroom for children as well as the luxurious pool. Worth every Baht!

My group of five spent three nights there from 20-23 Dec 2007. Three of us had a two-bedroom apartment while the other two a one-bedroom unit.

The Ascott Sathorn is a good change from the claustrophobic, bed+desk+bathroom setup of a typical hotel room. I strongly recommend it for families and groups - you get a living room and open kitchenette to hang out in, after which you can retire to the privacy of your own bedroom. There's a big fridge, oven, washing machine and CD/DVD player.

Our apartments were cleaned daily and they had the usual bathroom amenities one would expect from regular hotels. The complimentary drink and snack basket consisted of four cans of soda, two fruit juice packs, a cup noodle, instant coffee, tea bags, some candy and snacks. There's a convenience store in the lobby that also delivers to the rooms.

The breakfast buffet spread was unimpressive but adequate for the room rates that the Ascott charged. There were 4-6 Asian dishes, 4-6 Western (scrambled eggs, bacon, baked beans, pancakes, French toast), Chinese congee, an omelette station, cold cuts, salad, fruit platter and juices.

The Ascott is located in a business/embassy area which gets rather quiet in the evening so guests have to venture out for more shopping and dining options.

The shuttle van service (max 10 passengers) leaves the Ascott every 1-2 hours and stops at a number of commercial buildings and shopping malls (such as Central World and MBK). The stops are different depending on the time of day. We took the 11am van on a Friday and it took us 30 mins to reach the last stop on its route, MBK mall.

The nearest BTS station is Chong Nonsi which is a 10-min walk away and involves climbing an overhead bridge. SIam BTS station (next to the Siam Paragon mega mall) is 3 stops away. The Saphan Taksin station is 2 stops away in the other direction and that's where you can take river taxis to explore the Chao Phraya River.

LIKES
- Clean and spacious apartments
- The Concierge and Limo/Tour staff were friendly and helpful

DISLIKES
- The service at the breakfast place was slow and incompetent. We had to wait 15-20 mins - with many reminders - for tea and coffee to be served to us. Some guests resorted to pouring their own beverages, but after the pots ran dry it took the handful of staff there another 15-20 mins to refill them.
- Some people may find the walk to the Chong Nonsi station unpleasant, esp during the day under the sun and near heavy road traffic.

The one-way taxi ride between the Ascott Sathorn and Suvarnabhumi International Airport should cost about THB350 inclusive of highway tolls. It'd be a good idea to have the Ascott email a copy of the address printed in Thai to you before you arrive in Bangkok.