Hard Rock Cafe Closing

[CharlieH]

15 minutes ago, bangkok19 said:

I'd only go there for the T-shirt.

I can't find the fakes anywhere!

Just in case you werent joking......

https://s.lazada.co.th/s.dnzgv

[madmen]

That was a strange location. It's predominantly a tourist place so would have thought maybe soi 11 lower Sukhumvit 

[Yellowtail]

4 hours ago, bangkok19 said:

I'd only go there for the T-shirt.

I can't find the fakes anywhere!

 

With your meal receipt you get half off in the gift shop....????

 

Those shirts were the s*** twenty years ago....

[rickthailand]

23 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

Good, hope it does not re open, the less of this western pollution the better. I'd like to see all the McDonalds, Burger king, Swenssens, Auntie Annies, Mr Donnut etc follow them.

why just dont visit them

[brewsterbudgen]

15 hours ago, adexbu said:

Good ! I am so happy that all these businesses keep closing ❤️

 

Why? Shadenfreude is not a nice sentiment.

[brewsterbudgen]

4 hours ago, bangkok19 said:

I'd only go there for the T-shirt.

I can't find the fakes anywhere!

 

There is still a Hard Rock shop next to Chitlom BTS. 

[Yellowtail]

3 hours ago, madmen said:

That was a strange location. It's predominantly a tourist place so would have thought maybe soi 11 lower Sukhumvit 

 

It was packed the other night and I doubt there were any tourists. Looked like about 50-50 Thai and expat. 

[Yellowtail]

Siam Square is somewhat popular with tourists, but it is very popular with Thais as well. 

 

 

[kingstonkid]

The location when it started there would have been perfect.  It is a great place to go for good food and live music and yes the a/c is amazing.

As I stated earlier though if you look at the area it seems that the land owners are realizing that it is time to build big buildings.  I am not sure why but that seems to be the thought.  I wonder where all the clothes stalls and everything will go to.

 

As to othe memorabilia they are sending it all back to the headquarters sorry.

[MMan]

Having been to a number of Hard Rock Cafes over the years, the BKK one was pretty good.  They typically had some of the best live bands in town (for those of us that like Classic Rock), good service and good food.  Yes it was pricey, but I had a lot of good visits there & part of the cost was to cover the entertainment & atmosphere along with the rent in an expensive area.  Over the last few years though the service and food quality seemed to be down a bit IMHO, and it became less and less busy.  Part of that is probably because those of us old enough to have lived the glory days of Classic Rock are becoming a smaller & smaller segment of the expat / tourist market.  On my most recent visits though it did seem that the percentage of Thai visitors had gotten higher, often a group celebrating a birthday or other special event.

During my first visits 15+ years ago it was always packed & the bar area usually had a selection of local lady freelancers on the lookout for customers.  Smoke-filled too (big turnoff for me), at least until the government implemented the ban on indoor smoking almost 14 years ago.

I was less impressed with the HRCs in Phuket, Pattaya, Phnom Penh & Bali.  A fairly good one did open in Chiang Mai a few years ago though I don't think they ever did the business they anticipated, likely because the locals & tourists there tend to be a lower budget group.

 

2 years ago I visited the one in Saigon during my 'Songkran Escape from Thailand' - place was packed & humming on a Thursday night with great service, great food, a lively crowd and an excellent band.  Will definitely be sure to check it out again when I get back there.

Edited March 24, 2021 by MMan

[ChipButty]

On 3/23/2021 at 9:12 AM, Yellowtail said:

Siam Square is somewhat popular with tourists, but it is very popular with Thais as well. 

 

 

Great place in the afternoon with all the Uni students cant beat the Chula girls 

[Yellowtail]

4 hours ago, ChipButty said:

Great place in the afternoon with all the Uni students cant beat the Chula girls 

 

Yeah, I have to be careful walking when walking with the wife...

 

One walk around Siam Square on a nice afternoon and you'll be throwing rocks at the girls back home.... I used to have a beautiful white Akita I would walk around there. I actually had a few girls that laid down on the ground next to her to have their picture taken. 

 

[HashBrownHarry]

On 3/22/2021 at 12:55 AM, CrunchWrapSupreme said:

If you were homesick, this was certainly the place for you. Not only all the guitars and posters, but also the very Western prices. Wow.

 

I brought my first Thai GF here on my first visit way back when. I was quite naive and dropped a few thousand baht. I was thinking of a special date back home. Then I couldn’t believe how much cheaper a regular bar was, like on Soi 22. Haha.

 

Oh well, good times regardless.

Funny place to take a date, it was basically a pick up joint 15-20 years ago. 

 

There was also an underground disco at a decent hotel there, CM2? same, pick up joint.

[Yellowtail]

3 minutes ago, HashBrownHarry said:

Funny place to take a date, it was basically a pick up joint 15-20 years ago. 

 

There was also an underground disco at a decent hotel there, CM2? same, pick up joint.

 

Yeah, the joint under the Novotel, that was a  pretty jumping joint. 

 

Novotel Bangna had a similar basement disco (Up 2 U Pub?) that was pretty nice. 

[HashBrownHarry]

1 minute ago, Yellowtail said:

 

Yeah, the joint under the Novotel, that was a  pretty jumping joint. 

 

Novotel Bangna had a similar basement disco (Up 2 U Pub?) that was pretty nice. 

That's the place, Novatel.....yeah it was good.

 

So many good places back in the day, very sterile nowadays.

[Yellowtail]

3 minutes ago, HashBrownHarry said:

That's the place, Novatel.....yeah it was good.

 

So many good places back in the day, very sterile nowadays.

 

Most paces were better when I was forty than now when I'm sixty.

 

When I was forty, even the government offices weren't too bad for trim...

[bkk6060]

Who cares?

25 bucks for a burger and drink.  People fly 24 hours to get here and go to Hard Rock or Hooters.  No adventure or guts to experience the local culture.  Just seems dumb.

[Yellowtail]

22 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Who cares?

25 bucks for a burger and drink.  People fly 24 hours to get here and go to Hard Rock or Hooters.  No adventure or guts to experience the local culture.  Just seems dumb.

 

It did not look like any of the people there were tourists, I doubt there would be what with covid and all. I took my wife and kid, three nice meals and a couple hours of decent live music for 1,800. 

 

I thought about taking them someplace for noodles where we could sit on rickety chairs packed closely together on the side of the road but decided against it, the sun had already gone down and I was not sure we would be hot enough to fully experience the local culture. So we went to HardRock instead. 

[VocalNeal]

On 3/22/2021 at 8:36 AM, Yellowtail said:

why would I go to Hard Rock

 

I prefer the Rock Hard Cafe in Phuket!

[Yellowtail]

41 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

 

I prefer the Rock Hard Cafe in Phuket!

 

That sounds a bit a far for dinner. In any event, I more of that than I can use...

[Yellowtail]

On 3/28/2021 at 2:56 PM, HashBrownHarry said:

That's the place, Novatel.....yeah it was good.

 

So many good places back in the day, very sterile nowadays.

 

Apparently the bar in the basement of Novotel Siam Square has be converted to a  virtual reality place...

 

[VocalNeal]

1 hour ago, Yellowtail said:

 

That sounds a bit a far for dinner. In any event, I more of that than I can use...

 

If memory serves there is no food there!