Tag Archives: ambassador

Back in 2008, when I traveled to Bangkok for the first time , I stayed at an ‘alternative’ hotel called Phra-Nakorn Norn-Len If you’re not hooked to hotel chain loyalty programs, I can highly recommend this one as it provides you with a unique atmosphere.  Read the Tripadvisor reviews and you’ll get what I mean.
Pic: Holiday Inn Bangkok Silom – 1 King Bed Premier Room (Feb 2011)

Pic: Holiday Inn Bangkok Silom – Premier Room – Bathroom (Feb 2011)
Earlier this year I stayed one night at the Holiday Inn Bangkok Silom road on the way back from Hua Hin to Kuala Lumpur.  With prepaid rates around 2000 baht per night (47 euro incl tax), it’s a real steal.

Pic: InterContinental Bangkok - Concierge Lounge (Copyright IHG)
This month, I’ll travel to Thailand again and will spend two weekends in Bangkok.  For the first weekend, I’ll use an InterContinental Ambassador ‘Complimentary Weekend Night Certificate’ at InterContinental Bangkok.  The Certificate is valid for one complimentary room night on the second night of a paid Ambassador booking.  Each year, when your renew your Ambassador membership, you get such certificate. This used to be a very good deal as you could book the cheapest available prepaid rate and basically get two nights for the price of one.  Unfortunately IHG decided this was too good of a deal and introduced a special ‘Ambassador Weekend Rate’ in 2010.  A rate which is +- 35% higher than the lowest available rate.  Only advantage, you can cancel Ambassador Weekend Rate bookings.  The total for my 2 night stay with Ambassador Certificate will be 6473THB (153 euro incl tax)  If I would use the cheapest available rate without certificate, the total would be 9710THB (229 euro)  Still a nice saving of 76 euro.  As Royal Ambassador my booking has also been upgraded from a Grand Deluxe room to a Club InterContinental room.  Booking a Club room for my stay would normally cost 14124THB (334 euro)

Pic: Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok (Copyright Hyatt)
For my second weekend in Bangkok, I booked a one night stay at Grand Hyatt Erawan.  I used my last Goldpassport Suite Upgrade Certificate for 2011 to upgrade from a Grand King Room (40 sq.m.) to a Grand Suite King (80 sq.m.)
At 6308THB (149 euro incl tax) this one-night stay will be almost as expensive as my two night stay at the InterContinental Bangkok.  A Grand Suite King is not bookable on the Advance Purchase rate at Hyatt.com, but on the Daily rate it would cost me 16831THB (397 euro incl tax)
Looking forward to enjoy my Diamond Membership perks at this Grand Hyatt!

Pic: VIE Hotel Bangkok – Exterior (Copyright VIE Hotels)
For my last night in Bangkok, I booked a Deluxe Suite at the VIE Hotel.  At a rate of 4025THB (95 euro incl tax) per night, this 80 sq.m. suite should be considered a good deal.  Next to the fact this hotels is cheap, fairly new and highly ranked at Tripadvisor, I chose this hotel for my last night as it earns me 1000 miles with the new Accor Hotels Miles and More promo.  Also, as a member of the MGallery Collection, my Accor Hotels A-Club Gold membership perks should apply.  I wrote ‘should’ as I already received an email of the VIE Revenue and OTA Coordinator to inform me my upgrade request to a Deluxe Duplex Suite (145 sq.m.)  has been rejected.  Deluxe Suite is the highest room upgrade they provide, instead they “will allocate the best room for me”… we’ll see about that.