'Soi' means lane; so 'Soi 2' means lane number 2; Sukhumvit Road is a major thoroughfare.
'Soi 2 Sukhumvit Road' thus refers to lane number 2, off Sukhumvit Road. The Atlanta is situated at the end of this lane. This lane is 600 metres long.
The entrance to the hotel is quite difficult to find until you are "on top of it". However, look carefully and you will see the main entrance beneath a sign which reads:
"This is the place you are looking for, if you know it.
If you don't, you'll never find it".
This is absolutely true: nobody comes to The Atlanta by chance.
Arranging transport to The Atlanta from Bangkok Airport can be done in English, so it is not necessary that you have the address in Thai.
You may, however, wish to print out the page and bring it with you anyway. But if you have to arrange transport to The Atlanta from Bangkok (Hualampong) Railway Station or from one of the Bus Terminals, you will find it helpful to have the address of The Atlanta written in Thai.
| From Bangkok's new airport at Suvarnabhumi The easiest way to come to The Atlanta from Bangkok's new airport at Suvarnabhumi [pronounced 'Su - wanna - poom'] is to take a public taxi. Taxis can be arranged on Level 1 at a number of public taxi desks outside the terminal building. Public taxis at the airport have meters. You must insist and ensure that the meter is switched on. Politely but firmly refuse all requests or demands by desk attendants or taxi drivers for payment of a fixed fare. If necessary, alight from the taxi and insist on the reassignment of another taxi whose driver is prepared to use a meter. Please note that currently the flag falls at Bahts 35.- [US$1 = approx. Bahts 37 & EUR1 = approx. Bahts 47] and that the meter fare when you arrive at The Atlanta should register between Bahts 250.- and Bahts 310.-, depending on traffic. On top of this meter fare you will be obliged to pay an airport surcharge of Bahts 50.-. When the traffic is likely to be congested en route to downtown Bangkok, you may have the option of taking the freeway at a further charge of Bahts 40.- The total cost of coming to The Atlanta by public taxi should not exceed Bahts 400.- [approx. US$ 11.- & Euro. 9.-] The airport's (AOT) limousine service An alternative way of coming to The Atlanta is to take the airport's (AOT) limousine service at over twice the price of a public taxi. AOT Limousine Service counters are located inside the terminal at various stations on Level 2. These services use Mercedes-Benz and quality Japanese marques which are larger, safer and more comfortable than public taxis. They are also more likely to be effectively insured than public taxis! Airport limousines do not have stretched configurations. SMALL GROUPS and FAMILIES should opt for a minibus available through one of the AOT Limousine Service counters on Level 2. The Toyota Hiace Commuter minibus seats up to 10 passengers, fewer if group members are travelling with more than just carry-on hand luggage. ALONE and ON A BUDGET If you are travelling alone and on a budget - the service is not cost effective for two or more passengers travelling together - the cheapest way of coming to The Atlanta is to take the airport shuttle bus at Bahts 150.-. Calling itself the 'Airport Safe & Save Express', the ticket counter is located just inside the terminal on Level 1, adjacent to an exit door and the well sign-posted Magic Food Point food court. The service operates from early in the morning (around 5:00 am) until late at night (around 12 midnight), offering an erratic departure frequency of just one or two buses every hour. Please make sure that you take the Sukhumvit bound bus which is clearly marked AE3. Once the bus has branched off the freeway you will join the main Sukhumvit road. The bus will then progress along this long road, stopping here and there at the request of alighting passengers. Atlanta bound passengers/guests should ask to be set down at the bus stop adjacent to Sukhumvit's soi 2 - pronounced SOO-KUM-VIT, SOY-SONG in Thai - and thereafter walk down this soi (lane) to the far end - a 10-12 minute light stroll - where the The Atlanta is be found on the right, adjacent to a Baptist Church. (Less obliging bus drivers will let you off at the Nana BTS Skytrain station, some 150 meters before the Soi 2 stop, in which case guests will have to walk past the Landmark Hotel and Soi 4 (Nana) on the left, turning left into soi 2 at the Marriott Hotel). Follow the soi down as above. The Atlanta awaits you! AIRPORT IMMIGRATION-CUSTOMS CLEARANCE PLUS JOURNEY TIME From the new airport to The Atlanta usually takes about 1 hour 30 minutes. Exceptionally, if airport immigration is very busy or if there is particularly heavy traffic (e.g. when it rains or if it is the last Friday in the month), it could take longer and up to 3-hours. IMPORTANT NOTICE: Passengers arriving at the airport should be aware of 'freelance' and unauthorised hotel and taxi-limousine touts who prowl on the loose within or just outside the terminal, and who hound new arrivals in limited English as they emerge into the terminal's concourse. These scallywags may misrepresent their service as something it is not or otherwise try to divert you to a commission paying hotel of their choice (the baksheesh ultimately comes out of your pocket!). In an alternative scam, they claim to represent the official airport or public taxi. They will do everything imaginable: they may tell you The Atlanta no longer exists; or that they know a better hotel; or they may even pretend to telephone The Atlanta and let you speak to their accomplice who poses as our reservations clerk and who will tell you that you do not have a reservation and that The Atlanta is full!! Extreme caution is advised. You may well have to insist on being brought to The Atlanta. AN ALTERNATIVE BEST AVOIDED: When taxi passenger queues or lines outside the terminal are very long or slow moving, newly arrived passengers have an 'alternative': additional taxis are available at the airport's 'Transport Center', which is located 3 kilometres from the terminal. If you opt to go to the 'Transport Center', you will need to take the free shuttle bus service from outside the terminal, an undesirable and tiresome palaver if ever there was one! |