Arrival on the last week of January for Friends Reunion in Kanchanaburi, our 4 families choose Felix River Kwai as our choice of accommodation. I recalled that this hotel used to be called 'Sheraton River Kwai' backed in 1990s. However, they are no longer with the Sheraton franchise for decades. Still, the hotel hold the charm of once were Five Stars hotel very well.
Our group got the room on D Building which is adjunct to the reception. The hotel has very beautiful garden, nice swimming pool, wide and open lobby and reception areas. The service is good. Polite concierge, nice reception staffs, and the hotel tried to keep their hotel at the best condition as possible. The hotel itself give you the idea of what Luxury Resort should look like in 1990s.
We got the room on D Block which is adjunct to the main Reception building. We asked for Deluxe Room with Balcony overlooking the River. We got everything that we asked for as the reception designated room D209 to us. The room has bigger balcony than most room on the same floor. I learned later that D Block rooms with 1 or 9 at the end of each floor got larger Balcony (as my friend got room ending with 1 and also got the same size balcony as mine one). The room is over 40m2 which is very large for standard room. The floor is polished wooden floor in an excellent condition. The bathroom is large with older fashioned bathtub. The room is old fashioned but very well maintained. Overall, it showed the quality of what the 90s Luxury 5 stars hotel should look like. Large, spacious, beautiful swimming pool, well decorated, big and beautiful landscape garden, large convention center with many meeting rooms, clean and tidy room, and large balcony.
I walked around the hotel compound and love large trees with beautiful garden, and nice breeze along the walkway by Riverside. At the end of riverside walkway, there is a pier that you can see the legendary Bridge over River Kwai clearly.
After all positive aspects, I also having similar comments from members those review before me. Despite all positive points, It is undeniable that this hotel is very old and some part that really show its' age. For example, the paint around the hotel are coming out, the wooden decoration on some roof areas are rusts. the open air car park is good but in 21st Century, EV chargers may be a good idea for customers with EV cars. It is undeniable that many facilities in this hotel may not be very well maintain. For example, the air conditioning in the lobby areas. The hotel used the portable air conditioning as a quick way to fix their problem. The lobby is very large covering 2 floors. So, it is very clear that the area on the ground floor has been very dark and not well maintain in comparison to the lobby on the 2nd floor (by reception). Also not all restaurants are open. While walking to our room, we can see that the large area that closed supposed to be either convention area or Chinese restaurant (due to decoration). It ended up that the whole hotel has only one opening restaurant on the ground floor.
We dine at restaurant twice. For Dinner, we have a la carte menus. For dinner, we have selection of Thai meal such as Tom Kha Chicken, Tom Yum Soup, Stir-fried mixed vegetable, Pineapple Fried Rice, Thai Prawn Omelet, Jungle Curry, Cashew nut chicken, etc. Also, we ordered Beer and Wine. The price for beverages are relatively good. It is not overly expensive. But the selections are limited. Thai dishes such as Jungle Curry is very spicy but it is nice for Thai guests. Other meals are good BUT not outstanding. It is a good restaurant for modern First Class hotel but may need better decorations or presentations. For Breakfast, I have similar comment as other members. The meal has limited selection. Bread and cake sections are limited. No cracker or cheese selections, Jams are mostly supermarket grade jams (For Modern Luxury hotels always use Homemade). The cooking stations are good idea. But the selections are limited. I love the Thai Tea and Thai Coffee section. The Egg selections are limited. They offered only Fried Egg, Scramble Egg, and Omelet. The boiled egg only available at Congee station (need to have them with congee). The Congee need to work on their rice (it need to be crushed to the soup level but at this hotel the grain still visible). The buffet line are very limited. If you are looking at European selections, you have French Toast, Baked Bean, Bacon, Fried Egg, and Sausages. The sausages are tasteless and I need to put excessive amount of Ketchup for that. The Thai meal consist of Steam Rice, Fried Rice, Fried Noodles with small selection of other meals. Drink session consist of Water, Orange Juice, and Pineapple Juice. The problem is that the juices are not freshly squeeze. The Orange Juice is likely to be boxed Sunquist drink. Generally, the hotel is likely to used the same standard from their time with Sheraton. The standard is clearly a Luxury Hotels from 90s era with the same selection and used of raw materials. So, the current hotel positioning as a First Class hotel; it is meeting First Class hotel expectation. But with all the potential they have, I believe that it can push itself back to 5 stars hotel again.
Overall, Felix River Kwai is a good First Class hotel with Large room of 5 stars hotel size. The hotel has excellent view of the river and beautiful garden. But the part that relatively ages and need renovation may need to be address by the hotel in the future. But generally speaking, this is one of the international standard First Class hotel in a small mountain city of Kanchanaburi.
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