Holiday Inn Express Bangkok Soi Soonvijai, an IHG Hotel

This hotel has a wonderful free breakfast buffet which includes fixings for:

fresh salads, pastries, as well as other staples in continental cuisine; Indian food, middle eastern & halal foods, and both hot and cold beverages a plenty.

CONS: (1) my bedside alarm clock & bluetooth speaker did not work. I spoke with a front desk agent who offered to have it replaced, however, since it was my last morning before checkout I decided to simply allow them to replace it after I had checked out.

(2) see photos of how the rooftop lounge actually looks, compared to how they portray it on the Information channel (no. 1) on the in-room television. I am not sure if this is because it is the rainy season or if the rooftop area is simply being neglected. I believe it is the former rather than the latter based on [among other things] the dead & rotting tree (with no signs of life) in the middle of this area.

(3) Their dining room employees need to work more efficiently & it appears they require more thorough training: On the first morning an employee removed all my dishes, drinks, silverware as well as a personal bag I had placed on the table while I went up to my room to grab something, very briefly.

When I came back to the dining room approximately 2 minutes later someone else had made my table theirs—I had to reset a new table and while and employ brought my bag back to the table, when they realized what they had done, no apology was offered.

During my second morning I had placed all my silverware partly on my plate of food (indicating I was not done eating) while I went back to get a separate plate of food and an employee, once again, had cleared my entire table (including the beverages I was drinking and silverware I had not even used.)

When I finished my meal and indicated as my much by the placement of my silverware (fork and knife) across the plate at 9-3 positions, no one ever came to clear the table while I sat there for approximately 10 minutes with employees mainly standing around.

(4) During checkout following my second and final overnight stay I was presented with a bill from the restaurant (and signed receipt) and the agent asked how I would like to pay the check. I explained to them that the check was closed as a room charge and should have already been billed; then the senior of two agents argued with me. What would they have done if I had stayed a week and had closed several restaurant charges to the room?

Even with all that I experienced during my stay I would consider coming back to stay here because the food on their morning buffet is that good (however mislabeled)! However, if I found the rooftop lounge area in the same shape on second visit (perhaps months down the road) I would not support this property after that.

This hotel was a disaster. It was dirty, noisy, and disorganized beyond belief.

The only positive aspect was the daytime reception. My check-in and check-out experiences were perfectly professional and courteous. The front desk was very apologetic about the situation and tried to offer solutions.

However, this was the dirtiest hotel I have ever stayed at in Thailand, and I have stayed at hundreds of hotels in this country. The first room had a dirty floor with footprints, stains on the towel, and a dirty bedsheet. I requested a room change and asked for a different housekeeper. I was given a room on a different floor and was assured that someone had inspected it.

Regrettably, the second room was also dirty, with a stained bath towel and bedsheet. The bathroom floor had noticeable urine stains and the room was dusty. None of the desk outlets worked, and the pillows and towels were incredibly worn out.

Due to these issues, I cancelled my booking for the second night.

The nightmare did not end there. My room had no soundproofing, and there was a loudspeaker outside my door blasting music. I asked the front desk staff three times to turn it off. The staff member became visibly angry and claimed he had already done so, but he hadn't. The music only stopped when the speaker was physically removed. Additionally, the housekeepers were extremely loud in the evening and in the morning, leading to a sleepless night.

Clearly, the problems with this hotel go beyond cleanliness. I will certainly avoid this hotel in the future.