Hotel Review: Amari Watergate Bangkok

If you're looking for somewhere fancy to stay in Bangkok, look no further than the Amari Watergate. 

Awarded the Certificate of Excellence, 2015, the Amari Watergate is situated right in the centre of Bangkok, in the Petchburi area, and is an oasis of calm in one of the busiest cities in the world. 

We spent two nights at the Amari Watergate Bangkok, and this is what we thought: 

Check in:

First impressions confirmed that the Amari Watergate truly is an oasis of calm. Bangkok can be a bit overwhelming for first timers and we think that the Amari is the perfect antidote. 

The check in area is spacious, and with many people working on reception we were served straight away. During check in, we were presented with cool towels and cooled lemon tea. Even though we'd arrived in an air-conditioned taxi, this was still a very welcome gift and so thoughtful! 

The room

After a quick check in, an even quicker lift whisked us up to the 26th floor. Needless to say, but probably important to show, the view was incredible:

The room didn't disappoint either. With a bed wide enough for us to sleep widthways, super speedy wifi, a decked out bathroom with a sink each, and a workspace, we were very happy. 

The wifi really was super fast, we uploaded vlog 4 and vlog 5 here and it took no time at all. This left plenty of time to relax and watch HBO movies on the massive tv! 

The pool

The room was epic, but the pool was even better. It was outside, so we could bask in the beautiful Bangkok sun, before cooling off in the wonderful pool.  

The pool was cleverly designed, with lots of 'secret' spots so you could have a good section all to yourself:

There was also a separate kids' pool, which was a welcome bonus for those who didn't want to be around kids. 

There was also a fully equipped gym, which Tanbay loved and I avoided! 

The Sauna and Steam Room

The true highlights of the Amari Watergate were the sauna and steam rooms. These are set just next to the pool in an enclosed area (women and men separate). Inside were showers (with big bottles of shampoo and conditioner), a sauna, a steam room and a hot pool. 

Our visit to the Amari Watergate Bangkok coincided with Valentine's Day, and I am not ashamed to admit that we spent a big portion of the day apart, relaxing in our separate steam rooms! 

The breakfast

The breakfast was absolutely delicious, and we'd never seen so many different choices! It was all laid out in sections: breads, cereals, cured meats, eggs, fruits, yoghurts, cheeses, juices...

There were even Thai and Indian sections too. We tried a bit of everything from cinnamon swirls to cheddar, from pork dumplings to houmous and from guavas to poached eggs. Everything was delicious!  

The entrance hall 
The entrance hall where we checked in was spacious and beautiful. One evening two musicians were playing live traditional Thai music here! 

The location

If you like to shop, this is the place for you. Outside the hotel, there are markets, malls and shops as far as the eye can see. No matter what you are looking for, from bargains at a classic Thai market to real designer clothes, it's all on your doorstep at the Amari!

It's also in a great location for sightseeing. A couple of minutes walk will take you to the canal, where you can catch a 9 baht riverboat to the Golden Mountain:

Alternatively, ask one of the members of staff outside to hail you a taxi. We did this when we checked out, and they kindly and quickly made sure that we had a good, metered taxi to take us to the airport.

Conclusion
All in all, we really enjoyed our stay at the Amari Watergate Bangkok, it was luxurious, it was comfortable, the staff were excellent, it's in a great location and the steam room and sauna were fantastic. We highly recommend that you stay at the Amari Watergate, no matter whether it's your first time in Bangkok or a return trip. 

For more information and up to date rates, check out the Amari Watergate's Agoda Page or their main website. You can also find them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Google +. 

Travelling Weasels stayed for two nights as guests of the Amari Watergate Bangkok, as always all opinions are our own and we would never recommend anything we don't personally use and love. 

Buffalo Tours: Canal Tour in Bangkok

Is it your first time in Bangkok? If a taxi driver asks you, make sure you say no, but when Travelling Weasels ask, say yes and then say: What's the best thing to do first? With so much choice, it's hard to make a decision, but we think we've found the perfect solution:

Our first activity in Thailand was a Canal Tour in Bangkok. We teamed up with Buffalo Tours' Thailand tours for half a day filled with canals, culture, hidden secrets and well known favourites. 

Wat Arun - one of the highlights of Bangkok

The tour turned out to be perfect. It was brimming with culture - which enabled us to dive straight into Thailand. It was also not too strenuous. Most of the day we cruised along on a longtail boat. This was ideal for us as a) we were tired from our flight the day before and b) we were still getting used to Thailand's hot, hot weather! 

So what did the tour feature and why did we love it so much?

Pick up from our hotel

We were picked up at 11am from our hotel (Citadines Sukhumvit 23 Bangkok) by our guide, Dum, and our driver. The car was really swanky and came with very welcome air conditioning and water. We felt very fancy being driven around Bangkok in it.

Dum explained what we were going to see and do on the tour, and then he pointed out the more interesting facts of Bangkok. 

Soon we were across the city and stepping onto our first ever longtail boat to get to lunch!

Lunch

For me, and anyone else with hangry issues, a tour that starts with lunch is going to be a good one. I need my belly to be full before I can give my full attention to culture and travel :) 

Lunch was at the Supattra River House Restaurant and it was absolutely divine! Traditional Thai culinary culture was coupled with stunning riverside views, and we stuffed ourselves!

With our bellies full, it was time to get back on our longtail boat and explore our first klong.

Cruising along the klong

A klong turned out to be another word for a canal. Cruising along the klong in our longtail boat gave us some absolutely fascinating views. 

Some of the houses were in better shape than others, but most seemed to be sporting satellite dishes and peeking through some of the windows, lots of them seemed to have the internet! 

It was really interesting to see this 'different way of life' and Dum revealed that this klong life was once a common sight in Bangkok - but most of it has now been replaced by concrete buildings. 

My absolute highlight was seeing goannas by the side of the river! 

Riverside Artisan Village

Next on the list was visiting a traditional artisan village and enjoying the puppet show! This is a hard to find gem, often missed by travellers and tourists. 

The puppet show was really mesmerising, not so much the puppets themselves - though they were beautifully crafted - what we found truly mesmerising were the puppeteers. Three people moved with the puppets, one working the legs, one working the right hand and the other the left. They were perfectly in time and have to be seen to be believed. In fact, check out our Daily Vlog number 2, where we filmed part of this fabulous act:

As you can see, the puppeteers' movements were mesmerising. 

The puppets came into the crowd, to kiss those in the front row. This entertainment/crowd interaction made me feel a bit awkward and embarrassed, but that's just because I'm British. Tanbay (German) loved it:

Next was a tour around the artisans house, the artwork was epic!

Royal Barge Museum

We then hopped back on our longtail boat and set off for the Royal Barge Museum. I was pleasantly surprised by this museum. Having heard we were going to the 'Royal Barge Museum' I'd assumed it was just a Barge Museum, opened or blessed by the royals (like the Royal Academy of Arts, or the Royal Air Force or the Royal Mail.....) but it literally meant ROYAL-BARGEs Museum, like barges that the actual royals have ridden in!!! (So more like the Gold State Coach or Air Force One museum.)

These barges were beautiful, with intricate detail and amazing colours.

Tanbay was particularly impressed that they'd been carved from one (very long) tree, they were so long!

It was an important stop on our trip because it gave Dum a chance to point out to us how important the royals are in Thailand. You'll often see a portrait of the King or other royals in Thai houses, and they are always hung higher than other portraits, as a sign of respect. It's also illegal in Thailand to be rude about the king or desecrate money (which has his face on). 

Wat Arun - Temple of Dawn

Our final stop was my personal favourite: Wat Arun. This is a Buddhist temple named after the God Aruna (Wat = temple in Thai). It was beautiful!

Dum gave us a chance to explore (take selfies) by ourselves here. The entire day he really got the tour guide balance well - informative and funny when needed, but made sure to give us time to ourselves too - thank you Dum! 

Conclusion

If you are looking for a tour (or two) in Bangkok that has expert guides and is filled to bursting with culture, look no further than Buffalo Tours' Thailand tours. We had a perfect day out with them and can't recommend them highly enough. We felt that the tour was well planned out, and our guide, Dum, was extremely professional. 

To find out more about the tour we took, take a look at the Essence of Bangkok: Canals of Krung Thep official page, and to find out about other tours in Thailand try here.

And finally, to hear more about how this tour came into existence, check out this post: the story behind our Bangkok canal tour. 

Disclaimer: Travelling Weasels were invited on this tours as guests of Buffalo Tours, as always all opinions are our own and we would never recommend something we haven't used and loved ourselves. 

Hotel Review: Citadines Sukhumvit 23 Bangkok

If you're looking for somewhere to get a good night's sleep in Bangkok, look no further: you're home at Citadines Sukhumvit 23 Bangkok.

Chances are your South East Asian trip will start in Bangkok, and if so, you're going to want a lovely place for the first couple of nights, to relax in and get over your jet lag. 

Citadines Sukhumvit 23 couldn't be better suited for this, the rooms are spacious, the beds are comfy, there's a pool to cool off in and complimentary wifi and cable TV to enjoy. 

But Citadines Sukhumvit 23 Bangkok is so much more than a good night's sleep. It's that wondrous thing that is the apartment-hotel hybrid: you'll have the privacy and freedom of an apartment, but still have the conveniences and luxuries of a hotel. 

On our first two nights in Bangkok we checked into the Citadines Sukhumvit 23 Bangkok and this is what we thought of it:

The location 

Citadines Sukhumvit 23 is ideally located when it comes to catching the sky train or the metro. Asok Skytrain and Sukhumvit Subway Station are only a 5 minute walk away or a 2 minute Tuk Tuk ride. One of our favourite things about Citadines Sukhumvit 23 was the free Tuk Tuk they provide to all guests to reach those stations! 

With the skytrain and subway within such a short distance, it's very easy to reach all corners of Bangkok. However, you may not want to leave the area.. 

Citadines Sukhumvit 23 is located in the Sukhumvit area of Bangkok. What Sukhumvit lacks in tourist attractions, it fully makes up for with rich shopping, food and night-life. If you want 'real' Bangkok - i.e. real street food at cheap, cheap prices, this is the place to go. 

The shopping is amazing too. Next to the stations (i.e. still within walking distance of the hotel) is Terminal 21 Shopping Mall. There are layers upon layers of luxury clothes at extremely reasonable prices. 

We really enjoyed the area of Sukhumvit, it has a really metropolitan vibe that reminded us of the business district (Colmore Rd) in Birmingham. 

The pool

After your day of shopping and street food, chances are you'll be tired and looking for somewhere cool to relax. Citadines Sukhumvit 23's rooftop pool is the place to do that. It was such a welcome rest bite for us after lots of flying (and shopping)! 

Next to the pool is the hotel's fully equipped gym and laundry. The hotel does of course offer laundry services, but for those wanting to do it themselves, there are the facilities for this.  

The breakfast

Located on the ground floor is Citadines Sukhumvit 23's hip, new restaurant. Our room came with breakfast, which we highly recommend. The selection was extensive: croissants, buns, toast, cereals, porridge, fruits, salad, eggs (cooked to your order), bacon, sausages. And for those wanting to fully immerse themselves into Thai life there were Thai options too: fried rice, fried noodles and plenty of watermelon. 

To see the breakfast for yourself, check out our second daily vlog, which features it right at the beginning: 

When we arrived we also enjoyed a iced Thai tea from this restaurant, which was delicious and so refreshing. 

Their environmental credentials 

We really appreciated the steps Citadines Sukhumvit 23 takes to be environmental. As you can see from the sign above they make recycling as easy as possible by allowing you to put it all in one bag. 

They also say if you want your towels cleaned to leave them on the floor or in the bath. This encourages people to think twice about whether they really need their towels cleaned everyday, without being rude to those who do need it. 

Wifi/TV

As travel bloggers and newbie daily vloggers wifi is an absolute must for us. We are pleased to announce, that the wifi at the Citadines Sukhumvit 23 was just what we needed. It was fast, stable and so good in fact that we were able to upload daily vlog number 1 and number 2! You know the internet is good when you're able to upload videos. 

The cable TV was an added bonus, with Fox movies playing English speaking films all day long. 

The personal touch 

What we really appreciated was the personal touch that we received from Citadines Sukhumvit 23 Bangkok. Before we'd arrived we'd let them know that our trip to Asia was all about celebrating our up-and-coming 10 year anniversary, and thus we were greeted with this:

As well as a note to say congratulations and these beautiful roses:

It really made us feel really (special) at home! 

The apartment/hotel hybrid 

Our absolute favourite thing about Citadines Sukhumvit 23 Bangkok was the fact that it is an apartment/hotel hybrid.  This means that you get all the privacy and flexibility of an apartment, but still have the luxuries and comforts of a hotel:

I've already mentioned that there are apartment and hotel options for laundry (i.e. room service laundry for those wanting a hotel, laundry room for those wanting an apartment), but it doesn't stop there:

The room also boasts a fully-equipped kitchen which includes a hob, a fridge, a toaster, a microwave and crockery. Thus you could happily make your own home cooked meals in the comfort of your own room. But for those wanting a more hotel like option, there is still the restaurant on the first floor. 

All in all, we thought this hotel/apartment idea was a great one and was carried out really well. We love staying in houses/apartments, but we also love staying in hotels too, so it was nice to have this perfect balance. 

To see more of our room, check out our first Daily Vlog which features it about half way through: 

The Staff

First impressions are important, particularly when you've had a long flight and especially if you're British and love to complain. Not one fault could be found in the staff though. From the moment we checked in until the moment we checked out they were gracious, kind and went out of their way to help us and make us feel at home. 

Here is an example to illustrate this: when we asked to be pointed in the direction of good street food, we were presented with hand drawn notes of the staff's favourite places, and they didn't disappoint!

A note on the Ascott Limited

Citadines Sukhumvit 23 Bangkok is one small cog of a much bigger brand: Ascott Limited. The Ascott Limited is a member of CapitaLand. It is the largest international serviced residence owner-operator with more than 250 properties in over 90 cities spanning more than 25 countries across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Gulf region. It operates three award-winning brands Ascott, Citadines and Somerset. 

So even if you're not planning to head over to South East Asia any time soon, the properties are available all across the world, and you can trust in the Ascott's standard and its ideal locations!

We had a meeting with the Assistant Marketing Manager, to hear more about it. She said that Ascott are most suited for business travellers, Somerset for family travellers and Citadines for younger travellers. 

She also revealed that many people stay for a long time at Citadines Sukhumvit 23 Bangkok and there are discounted rates for people who want to stay a month or even a year! 

Conclusion

All in all, we absolutely loved the Citadines Sukhumvit 23 Bangkok and can't recommend it enough. The combination of location, good wifi, good food, most welcome personal touch and above all the flexible apartment/hotel hybrid, is enough to make us suggest that you not only stay there for your first few nights in Bangkok, but also strongly consider staying there for a longer period.

For more information and up to date rates, check out Citadines Sukhumvit 23 Bangkok's Agoda page or their main website. You can also find them on Facebook, Instagram Flickr and Twitter.

So what do you think? Do you fancy staying in a hotel/apartment hybrid? Let us know what you think in the comments below! 

Travelling Weasels stayed for two nights as guests of Citadines Sukhumvit 23 Bangkok, as always all opinions are our own and we would never recommend anything we didn't personal use and love. We honestly loved staying here and are considering staying for a whole month at some point!