IGHT AT a magic Bangkok intersection – redolent of devotional incense – where glam shopping intersects slam-dunk business-on-the-go, a gleaming reflective glass tower rises above the elevated train station. It is quiet yet assertive, it’s gaze falling upon the much-revered Brahma statue at Erawan. Right in the midst of the swirling action, the InterContinental Bangkok positions itself squarely as one of the best conference hotels in Bangkok. This is no idle boast. The hotel has been steadily upgrading.

A favourite with executive travellers, and not just for its supremely central location, the hotel rolls out 22 versatile and hi-tech function rooms and a ballroom that can host a thousand. The exhibition area ups the ante to 1,800 for cocktails. With such easy SkyTrain access, and grand facilities, corporates as well as leisure visitors are making a beeline for this address. Expect brisk and attentive service, with a smile.

The 381-room hotel serves up a range of spruced up accommodation including Club InterContinental Rooms and Suites with TV screens flatter than Madonna’s belly, DVD players, ergonomic work spaces to ease tired backs, iPod docks, faxes on request and pillow menus.

Grande Deluxe rooms start at a generous 45sq m with Suites from 67sq m and up. The feather in the cap is the Royal Suite, a spoiling 250sq m playroom for the rich and famous.

A range of fine and relaxed dining options stretch from the informal street-side Grossi Trattoria & Wine Bar to the Summer Palace (for Chinese) and the hushed Fireplace Grill. Need a cigar and a humidor? No problem. A rooftop pool is on tap 9am to 10pm and for an after-hours unwind there’s a fitness centre and the Spa InterContinental. For work or play, this is an address for discerning diaries as one of the top Bangkok business hotels.