Silom City Hotel

The front side as taken by my friend

      Bangkok has a lot of choices to offer for accommodations, from the most elegant luxurious five star hotels, budget hotels, guest houses, apartelle, apartments and town houses. One just have to find the right place that suits them, may their consideration be the location, cost, comfortability and amenities. One of them is Silom City Hotel, a three star hotel with an address at Silom 22, Silom Road.

   My two friends from Legazpi City, Philippines before coming here for a pleasure visit had searched for a hotel located near the center of Bangkok. I have not made it clear with them but I think someone promoted the hotel to them. When my friend arrived in Bangkok, I searched for the website of the hotel to get the location and learn the direction to the place. Hotel websites are very helpful and useful to guests because every information that a guest may want to know are usually indicated in the site. The Silom City Hotel website, same as other hotel websites, shows photos of nicely done, clean and comfortable bedrooms as well as the reception counter and dining tables. The location is described as a very strategic place as most of the famous common tourists shopping centers are very accessible from the hotel. Very attractive and encouraging.

       On my way to the hotel, I took the BTS (skyway train) from the first station at Mochit. As the train was running and stopping from one station to another, I was trying to analyze the possible exact location of the hotel based from the information I got on the hotel's website so as to get down on the BTS station nearest to it. The information that I was pondering on was "11 minutes walk to Surasak (S5) or 13 minutes to Chong Nansi station". My engineering orientation made me formulate the possibility that it might be in between the two BTS stations and if I do not go down at Chong Nansi, which comes first before Surasak, I would be probably be seeing Silom City Hotel while the skytrain proceeds to Surasak station. Anyway, I decided to alight at Surasak station as it is two minutes less of a walk that from Chong Nansi station. Only to discover that my point of theory was wrong in considering the three location as points that would be connected, it did not form a straight line but it instead a triangle. However, whatever kind of triangle it maybe, that I did not try to figure out anymore. The hotel was not along the side street of the same way traversed by the skytrain, but it was about 1 kilometer going farther away from both BTS station. Feeling uncertain of my direction I decided to take the service of a public motorbike.

      Business is business, mostly tells only the best things but not everything. The hotel has its address at Silom 22 at Silom Road. Silom according to Wikitravel is Thailand's major financial center whose importance has been acknowledged with the presence of both BTS and MRT. The hotel was on an inner part of a commercial block and going through the hotel, one needs to pass a small road and on the side of the road are small stores and a wet market for local residents. So I did. As the hotel was situated in the inner part of a narrow road, it was a quiet place as seldom cars would pass. The reception area is small with a small dining area on the left side and I noticed it when I enterered the main door which was opened by the concierge. There was one lady receptionist on duty when I arrived at about 7 in the evening and unhesistantly told me to go straight ahead to the room of my friends at the 7th floor. It gave me an impression that the hotel does not cater to many guests.

      The hotel room looked good with a queen size bed and with a bath tub in the bathroom. The three of us slept in the bed but yet there was much space. Nowadays, one amenity that a guests would greatly consider is the availability of the internet service. Some hotel provides internet service for a costly charge, some for free, some in the lobby only but Silom City Hotel had wireless internet available for free in each room. And such service is an added attraction which even my friends had admitted.

      Morning came, breakfast time. I had told myself the night before that I would be taking coffee only in the room as I am well aware that per hotel policy, only two guests per room are allowed and that only the registered guests are entitled for the free breakfast. But my friend told me the three of us can go to the dining table as they were not given a breakfast meal coupon. I was hesitant but anyway we went down to have breakfast. True indeed, nobody checked on me, as I enjoyed the free breakfast with my friends.

      Though the location is about quite a long walk to the nearest BTS station and is located on an inner part of the block with a narrow road, if a friend would ask me if I would recommend the hotel, my answer would be YES.