We arrived at Lebua at State Tower with high hopes that this is going to be the best hotel that we’ll be staying in for this trip, it is after all hyped up by the movie The Hangover. The lobby was grand and very posh, we were immediately greeted by a concierge and were led to one of the plush couches at the lobby. A friendly Thai receptionist greeted us and started our check-in process right away. It was quite a long wait but we didn’t mind as we were too busy taking photos of the lobby. We asked for a smoking room and once again, we were upgraded as there was no smoking room available in the room category that we chose. Yay!!! We were then led to the elevator to go to the Tower Club where our room was. As soon as the elevator doors opened, I was quite alarmed as I thought I chose the wrong floor. The small hallway in front of the elevator was covered in what I can only call bathroom tiles, it didn’t really match the grandeur of what we’ve seen at the hotel lobby. I’m not really sure what look they were trying to achieve with this design as I really don’t understand and will probably never like it.
The room was incredibly huge though with everything you will ever need for longer stays. Since we were staying for only a night though we weren’t able to use much of it except for the coffee maker. 🙂
I loooooooOOOOVE their oversized bathroom.
And their beds!!!! It’s too comfy!
But what I really really loved was the balcony and its Bangkok city skyline view specially at night.
Ok so now that I have shown you the things that I loved about the hotel it’s now time to tell you and show you about the things that I didn’t like about it. Well to start of, I think the hotel is looking tired. Very tired. The balcony would’ve been a really good place to chill for the night with a glass of wine or something but they didn’t even put balcony chairs in it. It’s kinda like teasing you of going out to the balcony whilst you enjoy the view but they just won’t let you do it. Also, when I looked over our balcony this was what I saw:
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that they badly need a repainting and what is up with that one huge balcony protruding out? Is that soil around it? Whatever it is, it needs to be cleaned.
That’s one of the premier rooftop restaurants that they have, it looks like a scene from a horror film in broad daylight but incredibly lovely at night.
Speaking of restaurants, this property has the most overpriced food and beverages. It’s a Dubai price without the glamour. I’m not being a stuck up or anything but what the f is up with a THB500++ of club sandwich? Did they cook it in a pot made out of gold? We ate lunch at Cafe Mozu which is the restaurant alongside their pool. Yes, there’s a pool which doesn’t really give out much ambiance anyway and other than that – the restaurant doesn’t offer anything spectacular to the place for them to charge that ridiculous amount of money for a club sandwich. I’m willing to pay that amount of money in Dubai because most of the time, you’ll have a view of the Burj Al Arab or the Burj Khalifa or the beach or just anything amazing in front of you. Dubai is known to be a very expensive city anyway. Bangkok is known for the cheap thrills though and we wanted to experience something different out of it, I never knew that it’ll come with a hefty price though at Lebua. They do take their tagline seriously:
We’ve taken our legendary Thai hospitality to a whole new level, combined it with breathtaking views, luxuriant suites and celebrated restaurants and bars.
From what I’ve seen, they’ve just totally removed the Thai-ness from their hotel and they’ve put it in a whole new level of overpriced food and beverage.
The quality of food was fantastic though, including the bread basket that they served for free. I think the fact that it was for free made it even tastier. Lol. Yes, all of the food served to us were all good but it still is way overpriced.
The only reason why we stayed in this hotel was so we could go to the famed Sky Bar where the Hangover movie was shot. It was raining though so we weren’t able to go, instead we went to the indoor section of Breeze for dinner. You’ll have to take note though that they are very strict with the dress code:
The staff at Breeze were all competent, knowledgeable, attentive and extremely friendly making sure that we were seated in a not so windy part of the terrace and that we were not getting wet by the splatter of rain from the outdoor terrace. Unlike Cafe Mozu, Breeze does have a great romantic ambiance. It would’ve been better if we were dining outside though. Stupid rain!
Everything was absolutely amazing and the prices are kind of acceptable since the ambiance of the restaurant was great though. I just have to imagine that I was in Dubai and not in Bangkok, just so it’ll be more acceptable for me to pay that price. Lol. Well to tell you very honestly though, for the quality of food that they served and with that kind of ambiance – I think that the price was acceptable. The prawn sichuan was heavenly and very filling, the egg fried rice was great and the boyfriend’s grilled beef was to die for. Everything was cooked to perfection. This and the great service from the staff, it really was worth it. Plus, we even got vouchers for free drinks. Yey! 🙂
So what’s my final judgment about Lebua at State Tower? It’s good but not as luxurious as I thought it would be. Will I ever stay there again? Not in a million years! I think there are a lot of other better properties in Bangkok which will give you a greater value for your money. The ridiculous prices of their food and beverage were kind of the reason why I will never stay here again, it’s just not worth it except maybe for Breeze – and even for Breeze, I had to imagine myself that I was back in Dubai and not in Bangkok because the price is really not of Bangkok standards. Even if I had the money to splurge, I think I’d go somewhere else which I know for sure will give me a better value for my money. 🙂
Moron. For $70 more you could have stayed as a Tower Club member and taken advantage of free breakfast, lunch and dinner plus unlimited alcoholic beverages including cocktails, all day!
Yep, the place is a rip off and the only real reason to go is to check out the sky bar, that’s it. Have a few drinks and leave it at that. It’s that or you’ll plop down $100 USD for a couple sandwiches that seriously aren’t that original or even good.
I think that’s what’s most people are going for anyway, a few drinks in Sky Bar and then leave. I heard you’re not even allowed to take photos at that bar, it’s only allowed in some areas. I wonder why.
I’ve never stayed at Lebua as I usually prefer smaller boutique hotels, but I’ve been to Skybar and I was a bit disappointed. Not by the views, which were awesome, but by how overpriced and touristy it was. Though I’m curious to dine at Sirocco one day, -that restaurant must easily have Bangkok’s best views.
Yes, it really is overpriced. I mean I already know that it’s going to be expensive but I was not expecting it to be THAT expensive. I was actually informed by reliable insider that the property gets most of their profit from F&B and not their rooms, well that explains it. 🙂