15 Soi Nai Lert, Wireless Road, Bangkok, Thailand | (618) 248-8274
Quiet location, a short walk from public transport and shopping
Free tuk-tuk drops to skytrain and area shopping
All suites have separate living areas and kitchenettes with washing machines
Lovely outdoor pool with small deck covered with vines, plus a few lounge chairs
Fitness center offers cardio and weight-training equipment, and a sauna
Bodega restaurant serves Thai and international cuisine, plus cocktails
Hot breakfast with Thai dishes and pastries
Room service available during restaurant hours
Free and fast Wi-Fi throughout
Conference room for rent
Fitness center and room service are not available 24 hours
Breakfast not included in all room rates
Arcadia Suites is a three-and-a-half-pearl apartment hotel located in central Bangkok, near the Swiss and British embassies and not far from the BTS skytrain. The 73 suites all have one or two bedrooms along with separate living rooms, and come furnished with conveniently homey amenities including stoves, full-sized fridges, and washing machines. Although it's an apartment hotel through and through, there are still a few typically hotel amenities like the fitness center with a sauna, a lovely outdoor pool, and a restaurant with free breakfast and room service at lunch and dinner. There's also a conference room for rent and Wi-Fi is free and fast. Overall, there's not much to fault with this hotel, though travelers shopping around may want to compare rates at Centre Point Pratunam Hotel, which also has rooms with kitchenettes.
Scene
Apartment hotel with low-key, contemporary common areas -- popular with business travelers and tourists
Arcadia Suites is a low-key apartment hotel housed in a contemporary nine-story building. Guests enter the lobby via a covered portico, where there's a bench and a reception desk. A lovely seating area with a plush chair and sofa are set off to one side. The floors are a mix of honey-colored wood and white marble with gray vein patterns; recessed lighting adds to the overall contemporary vibe. Lightwood shelving units filled with books and bric-a-brac line one wall and wrap around to border a pair of key card accessible elevators. Other common areas include the restaurant, Bodega, on the second floor -- with a similar mix of medium-wood and gray-and-white tile flooring as found in the lobby, plus pops of color in the form of bright turquoise throw cushions. Thanks to its location near the embassies and in-room facilities, the hotel attracts a mix of international visitors and some longish-term business travelers looking to stay somewhere with cooking facilities.
Location
On a quiet side street near Phloen Chit and Nana BTS stations, near malls, shops, and embassies
This hotel is located on a small side road, just a block away from Wireless Road, a busy thoroughfare notable for its numerous embassies (both the British and Swiss embassies are just around the corner.) The area is dominated by malls, restaurants, office buildings, and other hotels, and there's a high-end shopping mall, Central Embassy, filled with designer shops (think Chanel and Prada) a nine-minute walk away. The closest transport hub is the Phloen Chit BTS station, under 10 minutes away on foot. It's a 15-minute walk to the busy Nana area, and the hotel offers a free drop service by tuk-tuk for all guests to Nana and Phloen Chit. The Grand Palace is a 20-minute drive from the hotel. Iconic What Arun takes around 25 minutes to reach when there's no traffic. It's about a half-hour drive to Suvarnabhumi Airport (traffic permitting) or around an hour or so by public transport.
Rooms
Sleek, apartment-style suites with big bathrooms and kitchenettes complete with washing machines
As the name suggests, all the rooms here are suites. The most affordable category is the entry-level One-Bedroom Superior units, which measure 39 square meters (420 square feet). The 66-square-meter (710-square-foot) Two-Bedroom Suites feature a king bed in the master bedroom and a second bedroom with two twin beds. Decor is contemporary and sleek, with lots of wood-paneling paired with soft recessed lighting and dark-wood finish furniture, plus thoughtful touches including bendable bedside reading lamps and separate air-conditioning controls in bedrooms and living/dining areas. All units come with similar amenities, such as free Wi-Fi, desks, living rooms with flat-screen TVs (in addition to the flat-screen TVs found in bedrooms) and kitchenettes with full-sized fridges, microwaves, kettles, stoves, and washing machines. Higher categories add balconies. Bathrooms are more or less identical across units, with walk-in rainfall showers and deep separate soaking tubs. Basic toiletries, hairdryers, robes, and slippers are provided. Daily housekeeping services are provided.
Features
Lovely outdoor pool deck, fitness center, sauna, and restaurant with room service and excellent breakfast
Most of the amenities are clustered together on the the hotel's second floor. The Bodega Restaurant serves a variety of Thai and international dishes (think pad Thai and spaghetti), along with a large selection of drinks. Room service is available during restaurant hours. There's also a morning breakfast buffet with hot and cold items, including eggs cooked to order, fried rice, and noodles, and it's included in most room rates. A door leads out from the restaurant to an outdoor deck where there are a few more tables and chairs next to a small outdoor lap pool that's elevated with water splashing down the side to give it the appearance of a fountain. A few lounge chairs sit off to one side, and ivy and tropical shrubs create a serene effect. Just behind the restaurant is a meeting space that can be rented for half or full-day meetings. The hotel also offers a fitness center with treadmills and other cardio machines, free weights, a cross-training machine, and a sauna, and while it's open from early until late, it's not accessible 24/7. Hotel services include airport transfers, tour bookings, and laundry and dry cleaning are available on request (all for a fee). Wi-Fi is free and fast throughout the hotel. There's a limited amount of free on-site parking for those who need it. Free tuk tuk transfer brings guests to the skytrain and area shopping.