We stayed at the Lebua in Bagkok for 4 nights in early July 2008, as part of our 20-day honeymoon in Thailand.

We arrived from a long haul flight from London on a early Friday evening and were greeted by extremely efficient personnel, who took great care to make sure that we feel very special.

Upon arrival they check reservation and require a credit card for security, which is common in many hotels in Thailand, however we chose to pay cash at restaurants etc. and that was fine.

We were given room 2224, on the 22nd floor, which had surprisingly good views of the river and city. I did ask to see a room further up high towards the end of our stay, to compare views, and although higher, the difference wasn't that significant and the rooms were identical, so don't be put off if they offer a room below the 50th floor.

Following check in we were given a mini-tour of the hotel and the lady who welcomed us took us to the room, and explained all about breakfast (times, location), the business centre (50-sth floor, if you want to check emails, and they offer free internet for guests - up to 30 mins per time, very handy), the pool and gym, etc etc.

When we entered the room we tried to keep our cool, it was a very nicely decorated, bright and extremely large suite, with sitting room, kitchen with appliances, large bathroom and a nice big bedroom which leads onto the balcony. I will let the photos speak with regards to the room and views, as they are likely to say much more than I do.

We were a little disappointed that, although they knew it was our honeymoon, the bed was normally dressed and there were no fruits or anything special. Well, a quarter of an hour later, while we were still taking photos of the room, we got a knock on the door and a member of staff with one of these big trolleys came to bring us our honeymoon cake, plates and cutlery! The most yummy cake I have ever tasted, it was absolutely delicious!

I normally right very descriptive reviews but I am so sentimental about the Lebua as it was the perfect start of our honeymoon, so have gone a bit off the trail here..

The main points:
- Welcome and staff at the lobby: wonderful and special, with plenty of opportunities to ask questions. Staff at the lobby very knowledgeable, we asked them a few questions during our stay, particularly with regards to getting to various places and they responded promptly and helpfully. One gentleman in particular was very knowledgeable about memory cards for cameras (I needed to buy more) and recommended a couple of shopping malls to buy them from.

- Lobby area, room: Extremely well presented lobby, and the room very spacious, modern, with all the mod cons. No need to bring shampoos and shower gels, they provide Bulgari products which they change as often as needed - in our case even up to 3 times a day (we had showers quite often as it was hot outside). There are tea and coffee making facilities in the room, and of course Televisions with international channels (not just one, but two), nice large walk in shower and separate bath and of course a fully kitted fridge. They provide bottled water free of charge which came in handy, as we used to put a few bottles in the fridge and carry them with us when we went to all the tourist attractions.

- Breakfast: the breakfast room is on the Mezzanine fllor (i think that was 15) and you could sit outside by the pool or inside. We had breakfast included during our stay and anything and everything I'll say is just simply not enough to describe the experience. I have stayed in a few hotels, have had a few hotel breakfasts, even at 5 star hotels in Europe, and this was just beyond any expectations I had. The breakfast bar has endless selections of breads, croissants, toasts, cereals, sushi, yoghurts, fruits, chinese meals (egg fried rice, noodles etc), japanese won tons and some other things that I have never seen before in my life, eggs that they prepare to your liking and a number of european choices for us who love them, sausages, baked beans, bacons, carvey with ham, and so on. One thing to sum this all up: we stayed in 2 other 4 and 5 star hotels in Thailand during our honeymoon - the breakfast at the Lebua was by far superior to the rest and by far the best we ever had so far. I am not just referring to the amount and choice of food, or presentation, but the quality of the food as well.

I can't commend on the gym as we didn't try it, but the pool was very nice, albeit a bit small, and we always found loungers to use. Towels we got from the gym reception which is right next to the pool.

Other facilities: the top floor sky bar and restaurant are very well known and feature in a number of guides, we did not try it though as we thought the restaurant prices were quite high and when we decided to go to the sky bar it was very very windy. Instead we had a cocktail at Distil, the indoor bar with the glass windows and that was a nice experience. They don't allow photos inside or outside (unless you fight the wind and go to the sky bar) which i found a bit bizarre..we also had a cocktail at the restaurant by the pool (same place we had breakfast), service was good, cocktails were nothing special.

Area: The hotel is at the bottom of Silom road, people who have been to Bangkok refer to Silom area as 'not very nice', I certainly couldn't see anything bad about the area (or shall I say anything that makes it look bad compared to other areas we saw). Bangkok is a city of contrasts and one that we noticed is poor derelict houses right next to posh large hotels and restaurants. The hotel is a 5-10 minute walk to the nearest skytrain station (name escapes me right now) and a pier where we got the boat to the Grand Palace and Wat Pho and to chinatown. for everything else we used the skytrain. The hotel has a free minibus every half hour but only until 7pm to the skytrain and pier, which we used only twice.

Overall very very happy with our stay at the Lebua, I would not rush back to Bangkok ( a bit dirty and a bit too hot) but Lebua itself was a nice oasis during our stay and as a hotel I would certainly recommend it.

This hotel is well placed to visit any of the sites on the river. It is a 5 min walk to the pier at the Oriental hotel and from there you can take the river taxi's (run every 25 mins & about 20tb per person) to Wat Arun & the royal palace. Going the other way it is at the bottom of the Silom Road, which if you walk up for 25 mins you will find yourself at the Pat Pong night market. It is also a 20 min (depending on traffic) taxi ride to MBK and the Siam centres.(taxis are metered and this trip will cost about 70tb).
The hotel it's self is not cheap but does have some outstanding features. All the rooms are suites and are very well appointed. The hotel rooms are all located in the top 10 floors of the building and so have amazing views over Bangkok.
The hotel has two open air restaurants on the 52nd floor and the 64th floor. Both restaurants offer great food, but expect to pay, the cheapest bottle of wine will set you back 3000tb. My recommendation would be the breeze restaurant on the 52snd floor which had a larger menu, and seem to be better priced and does not have the endless streem of photo taking tourists walking through it.
The service is very good, but some of the customer service is not quite the 5 star service that you will get in other five star hotels. For example if you want to book a trip using the hotel, you will have to stand at the front lobby desk, where as in all other hotels we have stayed in across Thailand there would be a separate desk which would be able to take you through the various tours available while you sit down. Also do not expect to receive any preferential treatment in the restaurants over non hotel guests. You will unfortunately find yourself waiting for lifts as the lifts take restaurant uses up to the top floors. The hotel has an amazing sky bar on the 64th floor which is let down by the number of people who ferry up to it who are not paying guests and do not buy drinks. This makes the bar crowded and turns it into a tourist photo shoot. This can spoil your meal in the restaurant which the bar over looks as you have an endless trek of people going through to take pictures, have a smoke over your meal and leave.
Worth being aware that the hotel is currently renovating the pool side restaurant during August which also serves breakfast.
Also though the pool is very nice there is no sun on the pool its self during the afternoon, making the pool surprisingly cool for August. However sun lounger area had full sun.
We would recommend this hotel for a couple of nights, as a good location and amazing views.

We had done quite a bit of research when trying to select a hotel for our stay in Bangkok, and the cost/class of this hotel seemed the best fit for us. When we arrived, we were treated incredibly well and everyone from the manager to the person doing some cleaning would greet us with a smile.

We stayed on the 54th floor with a river view, and the room that we had selected through Expedia included breakfast, which was AWESOME. Someone said that breakfast was ordinary, well, I would honestly want to know what he considered good, as there was an omlette/egg station, waffle/pancake station, pastries and breads, japanese selections, continental selections, thai selections, fruit, etc etc. There were a couple of the items that would change depending on the day and many that were the same throughout our stay. One of the most wonderful things were the fresh juices ranging from standard orange to guava, pineapple, watermelon, etc. It was like a rainbow of juice when walking in for breakfast!

One note is that almost anything at Lebua is going to be relatively pricey, but everything that we had was quite good. We ate at Breeze, and the bill came to 80 us dollars...and we only had 1 cocktail each.

Regarding the location of Lebua, it is only a short walk to the BTS station, which is also right next to the central station for the river taxi. Hint...buy the orange line tickets as they are cheaper than the yellow line tickets, and stop at almost all the same spots.

The room was huge and had an incredibly comfortable bed, which is always important for me. There could have been a couple more sheets as you could almost make it too cold with the dual air conditioners in the room. The room layout is executive style with a smaller living room upon entry to the room, and then the bathroom, then the bedroom which had the view and balcony (that you had to sign a release of liability form in order for them to unlock). The bedroom had a sliding door that was able to be closed to allow some privacy from the living room area. There is a fridge, sink, stovetop and ample storage space, but there are no clothes washing machines (just in case you were wondering). The bathroom had a great tub, and a very nice large shower with great water pressure and plenty of warm water.

A great hotel, wonderful staff, and a comfortable bed are my main concerns when staying somewhere, and Lebua more than met my expectations, they exceeded them quite well.

I stayed at the Lebua at State Tower with my daughter. From the start, where we were collected at the airport, to right when we were returned, it was a fantastic experience. Check in was in our room and over in a few minutes, the rooms are gorgeous and enormous. The buffet breakfast is fantastic. I am not one for buffets, but couldnt wait to go to breakfast. Everything was fresh, tasty and such a massive selection. The staff were beyond helpful. Will definately come back again.