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By Kit C. Cauw
The Sofitel Silom Bangkok plays to your emotions-and last year
saw them running hot. Here is a business hotel located right in
the heat of Silom Road, one of Bangkok's thriving centres of commerce;
home to numerous international banks, corporations and hotels, not
to mention the zenith of Asia's nightlife-infamous Pat Pong and
the trendy dance clubs at Soi 4. Upon entering my room, high above
the busy sidewalks below, my eyes went directly to the deep, blood-red
graphics of the welcome kit, set upon the desk. Closer examination
revealed the words, "Hot and Horny," written in electric
blue, the "o" in each word replaced by the symbol for
female and male, respectively. A close-up of a wine glass, partially
full, with a slight bubble, foregrounded the deep red and blurred
pinks and violets of the background. The letters V9, conjoined with
a line of bright red that could only be a graphically enhanced lipstick
stain, leapt from the page in hot white. The caption read, "As
you can see, V9 gets loud and proud. Satisfaction comes easily this
season, as high above the clouds, our 37th floor hideaway gets steamy
with a number of fun-filled events for your pure pleasure."
Who could ask for anything more?
V9 is one of Bangkok's new, trendy hotel clubs, one that attracts
society fixtures, executives, hipsters and folks seeking a good
bottle of wine, at a surprisingly cheap price. In fact, due to a
partnership with the Bangkok-based French company, Wine Connection,
who supervise the extensive cellar of French, Italian, Australian,
and Chilean wines, the prices are retail; the restaurant does not
mark them up one single baht. V9 is unique because it is a pub,
restaurant and market. You enter past crates and racks, offering
over 80 imported vintages. For those who find it difficult to distinguish
their Bordeaux from their Pinot Noir, the veteran sommelier of some
of London's best restaurants, Mr. Sylvain, pictured in the brochure
seated amongst crates of red, V9's signature tulip clasped in his
teeth, is "eager to impart his vast knowledge and will help
you select the right wine with your order."
Capitalizing on the fresh trend of wine fashion in Thai's high
society, the pub offers extensive wine classes at a mere 1200 baht
net per person / per session or 10,000 baht net for 12 consecutive
sessions. Here students learn about wine regions as well as answers
to questions ranging from "What is a Chateau / Domaine?"
to "Why & When should a wine be decanted?" to the
all important "How to match food with red wine." Sorry,
the answer to that last one is a bit more complex than the obvious,
"More of both!" but you'll have to take the course to
learn the particulars. For those less academically inclined, there's
always the monthly wine tasting, "to introduce new and interesting
wines."
Fortunately for the intrepid business traveller, these events are
called wine tastings for a reason. They are not termed, "wine
consumings," so breathe easy, you will still be bright-eyed
and bushy-tailed for that meeting tomorrow morning.
On the ninth of October 2003, this wine pub celebrated its first
anniversary with much fanfare and "an avant-garde theme of
illusions." Over the course of the action-packed year, numerous
Thai celebrities, including HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana, former
prime minister Chuan Leekpai and pop star Palmmy have all made auspicious
visits to the Sofitel Silom. In a "magical night of fun and
fashion, the Cosmopolitan Fashion Show was quite simply out of this
world," featuring top Thai models in haute couture that could
have been at home in the mythology of ancient Greece or sprung from
an alien realm of Isaac Asimov.
Back in May 2003, Mr. Herv? Duprat joined the team as Food and
Beverage Director. The three outlets-V9, Shanghai 38 and Mistral-all
featured monthly food specials, including: Squab, Phuket Lobster,
Abalone and Shark's Fin, Turkish cuisine, Israeli cuisine, a Vegetable
Extravaganza and more.
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Additionally, 2003 featured three distinctive accommodation promotions.
The "6 Nights Emotion Package" split time for three nights
at the Sofitel Silom balanced by three nights at the Sofitel Central
Hua-Hin Resort. For USD 647 net, two adults and two children (up
to twelve years) breakfast, accommodation and transfer to and from
the airport and Hua Hin. The "Golf Emotion Package" provided
airport transfer in a BMW Series 5 limousine, two nights in a club
room for two, breakfast, welcome drinks, cocktails in the Club Lounge,
transfer to the Natural Park Ramindra Golf Club, one green fee for
one round of 18 holes and one set dinner for two at V9, all for
only USD 288. The "Spa Emotion Package," for USD 230,
also offered two nights for two in a club room with all of its amenities,
the set dinner at V9 and a one-hour spa treatment (aromatherapy
massage) for 2 persons in the VIP suite of the Anne S?monin Spa.
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The views from Sofitel Silom are quite stunning, and management
has astutely capitalized on this resource by positioning the club
floor, the meeting rooms, V9 and Shanghai 38 on the 34th -38th floors.
In the evening, if you know what to look for, you can even see the
distant river traffic on the Chao Praya. The design of my room was
that of simple lines, the wallpaper like a silver-toned raw silk.
Black and copper lamps, earthenware vases with minimalist reeds,
single cattails, bare branches and pussywillows counterpoint the
antique-style furnishings, painted dark, almost mahogany-coloured
maroon. This is what Sofitel terms "Contemporary Luxury,"
where new Thai design blends with French artfulness in "the
understated elegance and style that Sofitel is renowned for."
Meeting facilities are state of the art, in stylish settings with
natural lighting. The multi-media facilities that one would expect
from any business hotel available to keep you in touch with the
rest of the world. A swimming pool, sauna, jaccuzzi and fitness
centre are also available. Be sure to take advantage of high tea
in the elegant lobby and don't miss breakfast in Shanghai 38. It
is a rare hotel at which one can enjoy dinner and clubbing with
bird's eye views of the city, then begin the next day from the same
vantage point, though overlooking totally different scenes. Such
is Sofitel Silom, where "Luxurious comforts and refined tastes
reflect an 'art de vivre à la française."
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