The Grand Tour - Grand Canal to Grand Palace – Venice to Bangkok January 2017 Day 4 (Bangkok)

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The Grand Tour - Grand Canal to Grand Palace – Venice to Bangkok January - 2017

Link to trip report index: Here

Day 4 - Tuesday 10th January 2017

After waking up from a shortish sleep, we both had coffees (a ‘proper’ cappuccino for Alison and an Americano for me) and watched some TV before landing at Doha. The crew were very attentive and kept us topped up on drink which was very welcome, a superior product compared to BA to be honest (which is our usual ‘go to’ airline for long haul flights).

We touched down in Doha on time and Alison looked and felt a bit queasy so I kept my fingers crossed that it wasn’t serious. We zipped down the fast track line for transfer security and entered the main airport which was mighty impressive if possibly a little clinical.



There’s a massive teddy bear which is slightly bizarre!





We made our way to Al Mourjan lounge for some soft drinks and to relax while we waited for our next flight. We didn’t have too long to wait (around 2 hours between flights) but luckily there was a gap for Alison to make a couple of visits to the (luxurious apparently!) ladies restroom! Luckily she felt better after a while so we didn’t need to think about what to do if she wasn’t well enough to fly. The lounge was huge with a huge indoor water feature - it was a pity we were just too tired to appreciate it!

We had a slow wander to the gate (B3 according to my notes) when it was announced and were sent upstairs! As it’s an A380 on this leg of the journey they have 2 ‘holding pens’ – one for each level of the plane. Almost as soon as we got upstairs we boarded – and wow! A much bigger area and the lay out was 1-2-1. We’d previously chosen our seats and had decided on 2 window seats, one behind the other, mainly because we were planning to sleep as much as possible on this leg (Alison here: and also because I never get a chance to sit next to the window usually so this would give me that chance!) The seats were really good, well designed and more spacious than on the A330 on the last leg.



A member of the cabin crew introduced himself, said he would be looking after us, and offered us a drink. Shortly after than we were given pyjamas and then a lovely amenity kit.

A couple of rows in front of us there was a mum next to the window and a toddler in the middle seats (it didn’t look like the child knew the person next to them) and as the child got quite fractious , mum just reached over, picked the child up and put them on her lap. All fine – except the plan was taxiing at this point and she had no seatbelt! None of the cabin crew seemed to notice or say anything if they did notice!

After take off, we got changed into the pyjamas (which were enormous!) and slept for 3-4 hours each. We both woke up at a similar time (with around 2 hours to go til landing) and Alison suggested we went to the bar. I can’t believe I’d almost forgotten that there was a bar onboard! So we got changed and then headed to the bar area which was deserted.

It was only us, one of the cabin crew (acting as bar staff) and one other passenger who was just drinking a soft drink and waiting for the toilet. We had a long chat to the bar staff and worked our way through her cocktail list (I remember having an Old Fashioned, followed by a pink gin but can’t remember the others!), although Alison stuck to non alcoholic options as she didn’t want to upset her stomach again! It felt very decadent lounging around in a bar whilst 30,000 feet up in the air, but we loved it! There was a little bit of turbulence at one point so we had to use the seatbelts conveniently placed but it didn’t last for long.







We landed on time at 1.15pm (although our bodies thought it was about 6am) and were given priority immigration passes as we disembarked. As we walked through the terminal we were a bit underwhelmed – it’s very grey with lots of exposed concrete. After a long walk we arrived at immigration immediately behind a huge tour group of around 150! Luckily we were waved through to a separate crew only lane – phew!

After a quick stamp in the passports we walked through to find a sea of luggage belts, but as luck would have it our flight had been designated number 18 which was right in front of us! And about 30 seconds later our bags were out.


We made our way out of the terminal building to the lower level to where the taxi rank was situated. It’s an interesting taxi rank method here, you just go to the ticket machine, select a destination and take a ticket telling you which bay to go to. Then incoming taxi drivers go to the bay that is lit up indicating customers are waiting.

As the ticket number relates to a parking bay and as the cars pull up, you hop in and away you go – simple enough you’d think wouldn’t you? This all falls down when drivers straddle two parking bays or completely ignore the number they’ve been designated as they get out of their cars, walk up and down trying to locate the matching numbers!

Eventually we were on our way with a taxi driver who spoke a little English – enough to tell us that the meter was switched on (we’d been warned to check that) and that we needed to pay the tolls as we went, which we expected. The tolls were 75 baht (about £1.50) and the fare was 400 baht (about £9) which was a good deal for 40 minutes. I dread to think what it would have cost in Venice!

We headed through the notorious Bangkok traffic (with the driver ignoring any lane markings on the road for the most part) and took in our first views of the city which is, unsurprisingly, quite similar to Hong Kong in places before we pulled up at the Sofitel.

We were greeted by about 5 staff - lots of bowing and our luggage was snatched away from us, despite us saying we were ok, and could manage – ah well, not to worry!

As we were on club level we were escorted up to the lounge on floor 25. We were seated, given exotic non alcoholic cocktails and offered food from the afternoon tea selection that had just been laid out.



We helped ourselves to a few bits and pieces while the paperwork was completed. We were offered a late check out for our last day was useful as our flight was at 1am.

The staff were resplendent in their Christian Lacroix designed outfits and were falling over themselves to welcome us in and help in any way they could. The lounge manager introduced himself (think Gok Wan lookalike!) and he was even more flamboyant – with sparkly butterflies in his hair and beautifully decorated nails. Great stuff!

We tried to take a sneaky picture...



We were shown to our room (2309) and were blown away – we had a corner room in the Earth zone, overlooking Lumpini Park – wow, wow and double wow! We had really struck it lucky - the room was stunning - absolutely enormous and luxurious.

























We both showered to freshen up and unpacked before we decided to go out for a walk to get our bearings a bit.

Alison had unsurprisingly noticed a Starbucks on the journey to the hotel so after a bit of discussion at the hotel entrance we set off and walked, and walked and waked. Eventually we came across a Starbucks but not the one we had seen on the way in!



The streets were really busy until we got off the main drag, and then it was the turn of the pavements. They were crowded with street food stalls – with piles of meat (some unrecognisable), fish and vegetables being cooked. The smells, sights and sounds were all a bit overwhelming for us in our tired, jet lagged state and we looked forward to taking more of it in over the next few days.

We worked our way back to the hotel via a different route and bought some fresh milk on the way to place in the mini bar for hot drinks throughout the stay (as only tiny UHT milk pots were provided otherwise).

We briefly stopped by the room to drop our things off then headed down to the lounge to take advantage of cocktail hour!



We had a few canapés and gin and tonics while we discussed dinner options. As we were starting to flag badly we decided to go to the Red Oven buffet in the hotel.

According to the website: -
Reminiscent of traditional street food fare with a contemporary twist, the all-day dining venue is named after the restaurant’s Red Molteni Oven representing the finest of French craftsmanship.
Tantalize your taste buds as you explore nine distinct stations which include a Japanese sushi and robatayaki bar, fresh seafood counter, organic salad corner and desserts table.

Well, think of an upscale Jimmy’s Buffet and that was it. It was very nice and apart from us it was mainly locals here enjoying the food (including a birthday party) but we were just a bit too tired to take it all in. Overall with drinks it wasn’t cheap (from here on in the trip, food and drink just got cheaper and cheaper), but it was very good quality. The desserts were excellent – a selection of ice cream, with waffles, pancakes and crepes and a chocolate fountain!





We went back up to the lounge and had coffee on the outside terrace area and looked out over the nightscape in front of us.







We had a quick chat via facetime with the girls back at home before heading back to the room and marvelled at the view before collapsing into bed.

[disney owl]

fantastic bedroom!

[Infinity Red]

Wow, your room is fantastic ! Brilliant views, the hotel restaurant looks gorgeous with the massive windows, and the desserts looked heaven !

[Melbatb]

What a fab room! 4 hours sleep is a major achievement on a flight!