My Husband and I stayed in the Centara Grand at CentralWorld between 22nd to 26th Dec 2011.

Speedy welcome and check in. We booked the standard Deluxe room but were upgraded for free to a Suite on arrival. We stayed in room 3413 which was a corner room on the 34th floor. It was huge with views right over Bangkok. The bathroom was impressive with twin sinks, great shower and oval bathtub. Comparing the room to other 5 star hotels I have stayed in I would say it did need upgrading. The carpet had stains on it and also the sofa in the lounge area. One of the plug sockets was hanging off the wall. Maybe due to being a smoking room (unfortunately Hubby smokes and didn't fancy going down 34 floors every time he wanted a cigarette!) it gave the overall finishing a shabby feel. None of which were enough to complain but I did expect a better standard of room being a 5 star hotel.

The best thing about this hotel is it's location. Connected to CentralWorld Mall and many others surrounding it. Also within walking distance are street stalls. It does sit on a one way system and is one of the busiest roads so traffic outside can be busy.

We found all the staff to be very friendly and helpful with great English. Whether it be reception, concierge, housekeeping we were greeted with a smile and nothing was too much trouble.

We weren't that impressed with breakfast. We paid extra as our room rate didn't automatically include it but we wish we hadn't bothered. The orange juice, tea and coffee were not drinkable. We stuck to the egg station with toast each day. There were pancakes made to order, a small selection of fruit and cereals and savories available but again, for a 5 star it wasn't up to standards.

We visited the bakery on the lower ground quite a few times and found it to be excellent. A huge choice for hot drinks, fruit juice, cakes and sandwiches available.

We also went to the Red Sky Bar which was fantastic. Excellent views over Bangkok, good background music and service. We ordered a few drinks each and also a couple of starters as nibbles which were delicious. It wasn't cheap but I didn't expect it to be. It was similar prices to what I pay back home for drinks in a nice venue but without the views!

We visited the pool after a hard days shopping, the water was freezing and the sunbeds were quite crammed. We moved to the chill out areas where the Jacuzzi's are but we weren't impressed. There were glasses stacked up from others that had previously been sitting there, the water in the Jacuzzi was too cold to go in and all in all it just needed a sweep and clean. We didn't stay long. However we didn't go to Bangkok to chill by the pool so we weren't too bothered by this.

All in all, we enjoyed our stay and would stay again. You can not get a better location that the Centara Grand. However there should be some small improvements to deliver the standards of a 5 star. Based on the price we paid we still thought it was excellent value.