As our van slowly inches
through the infamous Bangkok rush hour traffic, I could already see the
towering Lebua at State Tower at the distance rocking the city skyline with its towering and bright presence. The thought of staying there
excited me – and as the four of us; myself, Bernadette, Jekki and Kelly were
discussing earlier, “We must re-enact the scene in Hangover 2 at the Sky bar rooftop of
Lebua”, there was no doubt that I will be the one to play the part of Bradley Cooper. Having a quick photo-shoot at one of the highest rooftop bars in the world became our side mission of the trip – our main business of course, is to cover the
2017 World
Travel and Tourism Council Global Summit.
The sun has already faded
in the horizon as we arrived at our hotel under a clear night sky. ‘Perfect for viewing the skyline atop Lebua’
I thought to myself. All members of the media coming from different nations
from the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, to Spain, Peru, United States,
Germany just to name a few, are billeted here.
Upon stepping inside the
grand lobby of Lebua, staff members of the organizing committee immediately
told us that we are to join the gala dinner to be held at the Sirocco – the world’s
highest alfresco restaurant, which is situated a couple of levels below the
famed Sky Bar Rooftop.
Spacious
and Lavish Rooms
My room’s layout opens to
a roomy living room and leads to a door-less bedroom that takes you to a balcony
overlooking the Bangkok skyline. The bathroom is situated in the middle – with a large shower room and a bathtub. Other amenities like an electric oven,
cooking utensils and a refrigerator stands opposing the bathroom’s sliding
door.
Gala
Dinner at Sirocco
What better way to spend
our first night than to have a 6-course gala dinner in an open air fine dining restaurant surrounded by marvelous nighttime views, While waiting for our food, we managed to have pockets of conversations with other writers from various publications around the world. Our Philippine contingent is composed of Bernadette from
Philippine Daily Inquirer, Jekky from ABS-CBN, myself representing BusinessMirror and Kelly from RubyComm-K.Austria, the PR Company who handles Air
Asia – the budget airline giant which sponsored our trip to cover the summit.
During the dinner I met a
few writers from Malaysia, Peru and Germany. After chowing down our sumptuous meal, we all decided we could spare more time for further socializing despite a long day of traveling from Manila to Kuala Lumpur and to Bangkok. So up we went to experience the party atmosphere at the Sky Bar Rooftop.
Hangovertini at the Sky Bar Rooftop
“Suspended
on a precipice over the city 820 feet in the air, Sky Bar is one of the highest
rooftop bar in the world and, along with Distil bar one flight up, reinvents
Bangkok’s cocktail culture nightly” [1]
Lebua
at State Tower’s amiable General Manager ushered us into the famed Sky Bar
Rooftop and quickly told us to try their ‘Hangovertini”
drink – a cocktail concocted in homage to the movie Hangover 2, which was set
in Bangkok.
Composed of a ‘blend of green tea liquor, apple juice, Martini Rosso and rosemary honey [2]’ it felt smoothly on my throat as it delivered a sweet aftertaste and a bit stronger than expected punch right after I downed one glass of it.
“I don’t want you all to get drunk and miss tomorrow’s opening of the summit’’ the Indian born General Manager told me and Bernadette. To which I nodded at him with a smile, relieved that we won’t be getting drunk for the night as I was already primed up to hit my comfy looking bed.
After watching a musical performer wrap up a couple of songs, our Philippine party made a quick escape from the night's revelry and retired to our respective cozy rooms.
Drunk
with Cozy for 3 Nights
During the next three
nights, Lebua at State Tower served as our home and provided me a comfortable
base to quietly gather my thoughts from covering the 3-day WTTC Global Summit.
The breakfast buffet at the poolside Moroccan inspired Café Mozu became something to look forward to every morning. Serving a blend of western, Thai, Indian,
Lebanese and other Oriental cuisine, - Cafe Mozu fueled us delectably for the
next three days.
The staff of the hotel
seems to have known us in such a short time. Every time someone would come down late
for breakfast, one of the staff will inform right away, “Your friends are seated there”. You feel that they are trained to
easily recognize their guests – aside of course, from displaying a very warm and hospitable
behavior towards their guest.
 |
| Photo credit: Lebua at State Tower FB Page |
Although we weren’t able
to re-enact the Hangover
scene shot at the Sky Bar Rooftop because the particular spot was off-limits
for photography, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Lebua at State Tower, as we bonded well every night and every
morning when we have our breakfast together. Buoyed altogether by our
collective amazement of this hotel’s design, layout, amenities, luxury and
service – I myself could not be more thankful about the writing assignment I
got to cover the WTTC Global Summit because I get to experience staying in another superb and world class hotel.
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