814. Bangkok Part 18 | Lebua Hotel's Sky Bar Scam!

For our stay in Bangkok last month, we stayed at an apartment in the State Tower. This building is shared by the Lebua Hotel and their famous Sky Bar. If you've seen the movie Hangover 2 you may recognize a scene that was shot here. I was really excited to visit the bar; the golden dome is really unique and beautiful, and you get amazing views over the city from 70 floors up. On one of our last nights in Bangkok, we finally decided to head up and experience it for ourselves.

Unfortunately, it turned into quite a negative experience due to their scam/unethical practices. We wanted to go to the "Sky Bar" and was brought up in the elevator by a staff member. She then brought us to a seat in a separate area of the rooftop called Flute. You can see from the photo on the website that it's still on the rooftop so we thought we were actually at Sky Bar. We were handed menus that consisted of only a few options; a couple glasses of champagne or actual bottles.

Prior to the visit, I had checked the cocktail menu online for Sky Bar and although they were quite pricey (roughly ~$40 a glass) I was ok paying those prices for the experience. The cheapest option from the menu we were given was a glass of Perrier Jouet champagne for about $110. I am not a big alcohol drinker or a champagne connoisseur so I would never pay that much for one glass (since they all taste the same to me lol). Or for that price I would have much preferred Dom Perignon or Cristal (for the nostalgia) and I don't think Perrier Jouet is worth that price at all. Before ordering I asked the server if we were at the actual Sky Bar and if we could go to the bar instead (and pointed to the Sky Bar). She said we were at Sky Bar and to order a drink here since there were no seats at the main bar. I took that to mean the main bar was closed due to COVID and that we were only allowed to sit at this champagne bar. So we ordered our champagne as we thought we had no choice. We were the only ones there and the servers kept a close watch which made it a bit awkward and uncomfortable.

Then after finishing, we were told we could walk around and if we wanted to go to the Sky Bar for a drink we could do that. Later I learned (after reading lots of other similar reviews online) that this has happened to a lot of other people. They make it seem like we're only allowed to sit at the champagne bar so we buy some exorbitant priced drinks before allowing us to the bar we wanted to visit in the first place (for more overpriced drinks..but at least that was expected). So if you plan to visit Sky Bar, you will get pressured into ordering this "initiation drink" first before they allow you to the main bar. If you want a similar experience, I'd recommend Banyan Tree's Moon Bar instead, where I had my birthday dinner! It has pretty much the same views, similar atmosphere and way more value for what you pay.

At the main bar, we ordered 1 more drink each. In the end, the total bill came to be about $360 (they took the liberty of adding on their own service charge/tip as well unfortunately) - just for 4 drinks and we were probably there a bit over an hour only. Not worth it at all. Especially for Thailand where everything else costs peanuts. I don't mind paying a high price for something that is worth it and obviously not scammed into paying. I had a good time nonetheless. However I'm very disappointed in being scammed that way, especially by what I thought was a reputable luxury hotel. I guess they assume that whoever can afford going to Sky Bar can afford to be scammed out of a bit extra.

The exorbitant priced champagne



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