Bangkok -- Radisson Sathorn launches guests into space

I feel sorry for hotel operators. The cost of entry to the market is so high these days ... just to compete you've got to have all the latest tricks and toys, and every nook and cranny needs to be designed to the n-th degree. And that just gets you on the field, it doesn't make you a stand out player.

But the all-new all-suites Radisson is certainly grabbing some attention. My one-bedroom deluxe apartment (pictured before I pulled out my dirty laundry, and scattered books, shoes and junk everywhere!) was a r-o-o-m-y 64 m2, and is the smallest suite they offer. Smallest? I had room to swing several cats in there, which was all great fun until an animal rights lover complained and security had to shut me down. Ok, I made that bit up. But the point remains is that you will be floating in space, especially as they have family suites that go all the way up to 10,000,000 m2. Jing jing!

And every suite has its own balcony, allowing me to luxuriate in grand Manhattan-esque vistas of the downtown Silom and Sathorn area. Given that their market is largely corporate, this proximity makes perfect sense.

What I couldn't make sense of -- and this is entirely a fault of my own making given that I'm such a Luddite -- was the integrated TV/sound system. A colleague excitedly reported there are 5000 songs pre-loaded into the system. I managed to get as far as playlists ('international pop' first song ABBA, oh hell why not you're only young once!) but couldn't get any further.

So I went and took out my frustrations at the fitness centre instead. It's accessible 24 hours a day, about as much fitness as I could personally handle in a day. And cool machines. The latest, greatest of everything, all lined up and rearing to go. Treadmills with individual built-in big screen monitors. I could feel those lavish American breakfasts fairly falling off my flailing thighs.

(But fear not, I replenished my fluids amply at the Lounge Bar, and topped up on carbohydrates at Crust, their pizza bar.)

Yes, there are many good reasons why this Sathorn space program will soar into the stratosphere. But leave your cat at home.