SO Sofitel Bangkok

Service is great, especially KANIT who was being very helpful with luggage assistance and directions help? Great staff.

I booked this hotel mainly for it supposedly beautiful hotel pool which I thought I could lounge about in happy walking around a steamy Bangkok. I could not be ever so wrong. The pool isn't heated and does not get any sun what so ever during the day, so the pool is 20c and quite cold. There were numerous lounges next to the pool if you enjoy sitting in the shade. The other side of the hotel are the sun lounges and it is the extreme opposite of the pool and really hot with no breeze or shade. It just made no sense. Our suite although beautiful was not functional at all with no bead side tables to put your drink, phone etc on that you could reach. I had to drag over another little table to put my usual things on. Since we were in a suite we had access to the club lounge which was ok, but nothing really to rave about. The staff in the lounge were good but seemed to lack any of that friendly Thai charm and friendliness. Food and drinks were fine, but the buffet breakfast was outstanding downstairs, where the lounge breakfast had a small selection which was average. Would I stay here again, the answer is no and I would stay somewhere else with more charm and character.

Rather than waste time over room colours the hotel should be more concerned with providing the service being paid for. On that front incompetent staff told me that breakfast was included when it wasn’t, appalling quality of drinks served at the rooftop bar which closed due to rain and having been refused access to the indoor bar/restaurant for not having appropriate footwear had to sit in the corridor where tables had been set up and smoking permittted. Notwithstanding, I watched as another guest in slides was allowed access to the bar/restaurant and when I asked about this was told he had a private room? To cap it all, having moved from the Sofitel due to pool renovations which I was not told about, by the way the So pool is average, and having paid for my room and a deposit up front on arrival I was charged the full room rate again on departure. SO Hotel you owe me $1,100 NZD and the Sofitel still owes me around $1,500 NZD, enough of the 30 days to refund, this is 2026… Anyone reading this I simply would not recommend the SO, if you do stay check your credit card statement for overcharging as some staff are clearly incompetent…

I’ve reviewed SO/ Bangkok many times before, so this time I’ll keep it short and focus on the highlights of my recent stay. Once again, I was truly impressed. I had booked a SO Cozy Room and, without any hassle, received an upgrade to a larger room where I stayed for 9 nights with a friend. Since many of the design rooms offer limited bathroom privacy, I requested an alternative and was promptly upgraded to a SO Studio in the Earth element design. It offers great privacy and is very spacious—perfect for two people. Special thanks to Nick for upgrading us to room 2118. Another highlight was the breakfast at Red Oven. In my opinion, it remains one of the best breakfast buffets in Bangkok, with a wide and constantly changing selection. What stood out even more was the exceptional service: the new Sous Chef, Khun Ping, prepared customized dishes for us multiple times. This level of personalized service really shows how much guests are valued. I will definitely be back soon.

I chose SO/ Bangkok expecting a refined and well-managed stay, but the experience did not live up to expectations. The biggest issue was the check-in experience, which was genuinely disappointing. It felt disorganized and poorly handled, and the staff interaction came across as indifferent and unprofessional. For a hotel of this level, the front desk experience was frankly below par and set the wrong tone right from the start. Throughout the stay, the service remained inconsistent and lacked attention to detail. There was little warmth or initiative from the team, and overall it felt more transactional than guest-focused. While the property itself is stylish and visually impressive, the service does not match the image it projects. Overall, the stay was underwhelming. With better training and more attentive service, this hotel could be much better—but in its current state, it falls short of expectations.