One night in Bangkok

Business or pleasure, Bangkok business hotels have it all, but location is all-important. Our business, boutique and budget hotel guide from Sukhumvit, and SIlom to those romantic Bangkok river hotels.

by Vijay Verghese

See also Small meetings in Asia | Bangkok shopping | Phuket resorts | Koh Samui resorts | Chiang Mai guide | Thai spas | Singapore hotel guide | Luang Prabang guide | Hong Kong hotels | Hong Kong shopping | Kuala Lumpur hotels | Jakarta business hotels | Hua Hin guide | Isan, Khao Yai guide | Seoul guide | Krabi resorts | Pattaya guide | Saigon business hotels

BANGKOK, the City of Angels, epitomises the old adage – in picking a hotel, what matters is “location, location, location”. The city is every traveller’s dream – and nightmare. Daytime gridlock and the occasional Red exuberance ensures that despite all the khop khun kraps that you can muster, chasing appointments around this city can be a white-knuckle affair.

Evenings of course provide an epic palliative as bars light up and, aided by vast intakes of the potent local brew, Singha Beer, the pulsating One Night in Bangkok wet dream commences.

The SkyTrain, or BTS, as it is known, is changing all that. Along its snaking corridors, foreign businessmen and trendy tourists now travel with aplomb and speed, in comfort and airconditioning, high above the madding crowd. Underground, the whisper-smooth comforts, and speed, of the Metro await. And now with the sleek new Suvarnabhumi Airport (www.bangkokairportonline.com) on the Pattaya highway 30km east of the capital, Bangkok has launched itself firmly into the new millennium. Welcome to Thailand.

Bangkok's airport rail link opened August 2010 with eight stops on the "city line" at Bt15 and a nonstop "express" to Makasan at Bt100. Both run 6am to midnight at 15-minute intervals.

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Location is still paramount and, now, access to a convenient elevated BTS or underground MRTA station is a priority unless you can manage to have everyone come and meet you at your hotel. The bulk of business still tends to be conducted along the broad "L" of Sukhumvit Road and Silom Road, though development is spreading farther afield.

Sukhumvit Hotels, Asoke, Rachadapisek

Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit/ photo: hotel

Sukhumvit Road is home to a clutch of fine properties. The Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, right next to a BTS station, is a plush address that has set the bar high since inception. Deluxe and Grande Deluxe Rooms are, well, roomy, starting at 45sq m and there is the de rigueur high-speed 40Mbps Internet. The bright blond wood is easy on the eye and works admirably as a counterpoint to the bright flashes of silk that punctuate the elegant, if restrained, interiors. Expect a useful in-room safe, hairdryer, and the usual mod-cons. The Grande Deluxe offers the additional lure of a butler at your beck and call, breakfasts, and a small amount of complimentary laundry and pressing. Get those creases ironed out.

The 70sq m Grande Suites roll out considerably more stretch room and serve up evening cocktails while the Theme Suites (two with gardens) offer a traditional, and splendidly royal, Thai escape with raised beds on carved teakwood platforms, 42-inch flat-screen TVs and 250 thread-count sheets to rival Cleopatra. For unwinding there's the self-contained Grande Spa. Or dip into the open-air pool set in lush foliage. Pop into the chic, Basil restaurant (Thai), sample Italian at Rossini's, and after-hours head to BarSu for some pulsating retro music and wine. The Sheraton is connected by a walkway to the Soi Asoke BTS, and the MRT station is at the corner, so transport is a doddle. It couldn't get any easier to beat the Sukhumvit jam.

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Bang next to the BTS and MRTA stations is the Westin Grande Sukhumvit with its signature "heavenly bed". You'll be queueing up to purchase it after just one "heavenly" night in Bangkok enveloped in quality down and feathers. Not a bad investment if a good night's sleep is top of your priority list. The Westin has done a complete makeover of the property with some stylish touches and expansive mood lighting that blends from hot oranges to cool purples in the blink of an eyelash. Disconcertingly, the lobby is on the seventh floor, but that little niggle aside, it is a crisp executive choice. Rooms offer high-speed Internet access (Bt642 a day), a smart work station with two-line speaker telephone, voicemail, three-pin square plug sockets, and a 25-inch flat-screen TV.

Westin Deluxe/ photo: hotel

Executive Club Floor guests at the Westin Grande Sukhumvit enjoy complimentary breakfast, cocktails and tea. The latest addition to the Westin armoury are the WestinWORKOUT Rooms that come with indoor cycle, treadmill, dumbells and health DVDs. The inroom safe won't hold a laptop but a steam iron and ironing board are handy extras after the airport scrum. Wind-down options include the Vareena Spa where facials, exfoliations, scrubs and wraps await.

Of an evening, the Zest Bar is a relaxing watering hole with views of the SkyTrain whooshing past. There are a few outdoor seats too, weather permitting. The remodelled Seasonal Tastes, the main restaurant, is light years from the previous iteration with bright whites, light woods and large double-height glass panes maximising light. Expect an excellent breakfast buffet spread. The Westin has good service with attentive staff and offers a generally brisk atmosphere.

Just around the corner on Soi 15 (soi means street) is the new Four Points by Sheraton Bangkok (open December 2010), a welcoming, unfussy, and startlingly colourful midrise with mixed appeal for those pinstripers hunting for value in this prime stretch of Sukhumvit, as well as for holidaymakers.

This is a funky offering from the Starwood stable with two buildings joined at the hip, a bright business centre with purple and yellow carpets, eye-catching colours assailing all comers in the lobby and public spaces. Grab a soft cupcake from the street-fronting Wrapped amd head up to your room.

Expect 28sq m to 32sq m of space, flat-screen TV, WiFi, a small iron and ironing board, a game or work keyboard linked to the television, a sliding panel leading to the bathing area, a laptop safe with thoughtfully placed electric socket, patterned carpets and leather headboard. Interiors, while simple, are plusher than the lobby might suggest.

Four Points/ photo: hotel

The bathrooms offer a separate bathtub and shower, and the ample work desk has two multi-pin sockets and a dataport with a USB link to the TV, s-video and audio jacks. WiFi is free in public areas (with a password for registered guests) and Bt450 for a day in-room.

The 64sq m Terrace Suites are generous with a patio for a post-prandial romp (albeit not entirely private). There are three LCD TV screens and a Jacuzzi with pale wood srrounds. And for small meetings in Bangkok, there are two function spaces that can host 160 people combined.

Deep in Soi 11 off Sukhumvit (October 2011) is the slim and smart Aloft Bangkok - Sukhumvit 11. This sliver of a hotel waves the brand flag with pride being one of the first in this part of Asia. It aims to offer a hip and happening alternative to boring has-been establishments without undue pinch on the wallet. Cheap and cheerful it is but the colours and style may not appeal to all. This is definitely a younger person’s stomping ground and that is where it’s main appeal lies.

Think stripes in all shades and hues. The corridors have striped carpets and the rooms feature bold stripes underfoot in cobalt blue, yellow, brown, green, orange… you name it. The shower cubicles have bright vertical stripes on the tiles – a great idea. After that long night out partying you’ll need help to figure out which way is up. Rooms are fairly compact, simple and unfussy, with pale wood head boards, coloured paper screens, nine-foot ceilings, iPod docks, free WiFi, iron and ironing board, coffee maker, data-port, a small working “ledge”, and a flat laptop-size safe with a power socket inside. The cushions on the bed have a pattern too – stripes. The walls are… WHITE. Hurrah!

The hotel offers a small purple-tile outdoor pool on a high floor with open city views. If you’re a hip thirty-something, take a closer look at this address. It’s not terribly close to a SkyTrain station though transport is readily available in the street.

Aloft Bangkok lobby/ photo: hotel

The S15 on Soi 15 close by the Westin is a small, funky hotel with boutique flair and suitably dark corporate interiors with a catch-all appeal for many tastes. Located not far from the BTS SkyStation for Sukhumvit/Asoke, the hotel is close to shopping and business and well located for a reasonably speedy airport exit. Expect simple, but friendly, scaled down service and free WiFi (but no plug-in Broadband).

The 30sq m Deluxe rooms come with a laptop-size safe, hairdryer, bathtub and shower, dark woody tones and flatscreen TV with DVD player. A large full-size mirror leans against a wall producing a suitably flattering reflection. Junior Suites offer an in-room divan near the bed and louvred window slats while the larger Suites offer four-poster beds and a sound system to crank up the volume. There is one restaurant and no pool.

Larger and newer sibling S31 on Soi 31 also offers free WiFi and has an alfresco swimming pool on the eighth floor where the lobby is located. The 90-room hotel opened September, 2010. The 30sq m Deluxe is dark but a lot brighter than at the S15, and features an oversize bed that touches eight feet. Invite the whole family. Expect a flatscreen TV, work desk, a large digital clock, iPod dock, laptop-size safe, and a see-through glass partition for the bath.

There are two restaurants here and an added attraction of the raised pool is its peek-a-boo glass sides so you can show off your dolphin kick. The hotel is not close to a BTS SkyStation.

Located deep in quiet Sukhumvit Soi 31, The Eugenia is a stately 12-suite presence housed in a 19th century colonial bungalow. Step back in time with creaking timber floorboards, high ceilings, darkened interiors with splendid brooding artefacts from all over the world including stuffed animal heads and even a startling crocodile skin draped over a bench.

The Eugenia pool, Soi 31/ photo: Verghese

The two floors of the villa embrace a small green-tile pool and patio at the back with a small complement of sun loungers. Deer heads observe guests checking in at the small intimate lobby redolent of the past, more like your grandmother’s informal living room than a hotel entrance. A large framed work with a variety of mounted insects greets you as you wander up the staircase. Everywhere you turn there is novelty and breathless expectation. And this is the secret of Eugenia’s homey appeal.

Expect a library (with a stuffed peacock), deep-seating chairs, a hotel tuk-tuk to get you to the main street (though the BTS SkyTrain is still a stretch from here), and an excellent Thai-French restaurant that has a growing following especially for Sunday brunch. The non-smoking rooms, some with four-poster beds, are simple colonial classic with small flat-screen TVs, antique electrical switches, wooden almirah, floral floor tiles and old bathtub. There are ancient metal standing fans in the rooms and aircon. The largest room, a Eugenia, is 42sq m. The hotel is now managed by Le Bua.

The Grand Millennium Sukhumvit Bangkok sits on the central business artery of Asoke Road, Sukhumvit Soi 21. The Grand Millennium Sukhumvit is aimed at not just the executive traveller but hip holidaymakers too, with a raft of personalised services and design flourishes including concept floors, Thai-style throughout, fast Internet access in-room with LCD TV and the spoiling luxury – if you have time – of a separate bath and shower. There are 11 meeting rooms catering for small to medium size corporate meetings and the 500sq m ballroom can host up to 500 persons in a theatre style arrangement. The hotel offers five restaurants and bars and for those who overindulge there’s always the sweat, steam, and conscience-salving rigour of both a pool and the lifestyle spa, The Antidote.

Sofitel Bangkok style/ photo: Verghese

A short hop from the bustling Nana BTS SkyTrain station, the Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit rises up above the hurly-burly of t-shirt commerce and street food stalls, an essay in corporate grey-brown elegance and discretion yet with a refreshing hint of mischief and whimsy, much of this on the high-floor L’Appart that brings Paris to the City of Angels in a happening rooftop bar and restaurant. This is a stately 345-room affair that will delight corporate travellers with its tan-grey tones and deep woody textures. It has a clubby yet contemporary feel.

Even bog-standard entry-level Luxury Rooms are stylish, compact and refined with wall mirrors and look-in partitions for the bathing area with its L’Occitane toiletries. Hermes products are reserved for the suites. These Luxury rooms set the bar high and many may need hunt no further. Yet you could move up a few notches to the 121sq m Opera Suite with its two flat-screen televisions, parquet floors, iPod docks, pillow menu and free Wi-Fi. Internet access is complimentary throughout the hotel so flip open that laptop and start tapping. Or splash out on the Imperial Suite. Club Millesime on the 31st floor caters for executive travellers with a much-needed intravenous drip of refreshments, snacks, evening cocktails and breakfast.

Parked on the commercial artery of Sukhumvit, the hotel makes its MICE intentions clear at the outset, positioning itself as one of the top Bangkok conference hotels, serving up stylish function space married with the latest in hi-tech gadgetry. The Grand Ballroom can host up to 800 persons for cocktails and 450 for banquets. Smart Salons cater for small Bangkok corporate meetings of up to 30 people or so. This is a well located and well run establishment with corporate flair and an unexpected dash of whimsy to keep a broad spectrum of travellers entertained. (Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit is showcased in our exclusive by-invitation Top Asian Hotels Collection, featuring the best Asian hotels, resorts and spas in a printable A4 page with stunning visuals.)

JW Marriott Executive/ photo: hotel

Also close to the Nana station, The Landmark has long been a popular choice, with women and male executives alike. The doormen are actually doorwomen, dressed in crisply laundered white, service is good, the renovated and colourful lobby level Atrium café does an excellent lunch buffet, and bookstores, shops and even a throbbing nightlife venue, are close at hand.

The Landmark Club Lounge on the 27th floor is open 24 hours with two hours complimentary boardroom usage for Landmark Club Floor guests. The Landmark has reinvented itself and is considerably spruced up from its public areas to fine dining venues.

High-speed Internet access is available inroom at Bt642 per day. Across Sukhumvit is the no-fuss but well-run Amari Boulevard Hotel on Soi 5 with comfortable rooms, business centre, pool and even a Japanese movie channel. The Amari group (which runs the bigger Amari Watergate Hotel and the Amari Dong Muang Airport Hotel) has a very good website and offers excellent online rates of up to 60 percent off.

One block away is the swish JW Marriott Hotel with black-marble interiors, silk and gilt work. This is very much an executive's choice with good facilities, outdoor café and easy access to airport expressway. It does fall between two BTS stations (Ploenchit and Nana) but this is by no means a disadvantage. Both are fairly close. High-speed Internet is available inroom and suites have a DVD player with access to a hotel DVD library.

The safe deposit box is not large enough to hold a laptop. Extras include an ironing board with steam iron. Executive Floor benefits include breakfast, complimentary pressing of two garments per day, two hour use of a meeting room and refreshments throughout the day. There is free WiFi at the Executive Lounge. Need newspaper? Opt for NewspaperDirect for a compact print version of anything from the Sydney Morning Herald or Yomiuri Shimbum to Times of India.

Boutique S15 room/ photo: Verghese

Chic and hip, is the 147-room Le Fenix Sukhumvit by Accor, on Sukhumvit Soi 11, not far from the Q Bar and a short walk from the BTS Nana station. This is a modern and compact offering with all the clean geometric lines and bold splashes of colour one would expect of a contemporary cubist habitat. Rooms offer WiFi access at Broadband speeds, LCD TVs and in-room safes. Somehow the designers have managed to squeeze in an indoor pool. So cooling down at this cool hotel is still an option.

Still on Sukhumvit 11, for more space in a sumptuous executive serviced apartment there’s the President Solitaire and the Grand President. The group has properties in other downtown locations too. At the President Solitaire you’ll get to enjoy free WiFi, modern amenities and a large 42-inch plasma TV.

Heading up Sukhumvit, a quick motorcycle or taxi ride from a BTS stop, on Soi 24, is the intriguing The Davis, a mix of old and new. This newish property features sumptuous Thai-style salas (pavilions) and villas (with wooden parquet flooring, washing machine and kitchen) and hotel-style rooms ranging from pseudo Arab and Indian (with archways, and Taj Mahal motifs) to European and Thai. It's quite a heady cocktail and not all of it works. However, service is good, staff are on the ball and, in places, the hotel has a chic feel to it. The Thai version rooms and villas are perhaps the most tasteful. There are 10 villas, 164 rooms and the Dulaya Spa. On Soi 18 is the boutique-style Rembrandt Hotel with two popular outlets, the rooftop Rang Mahal (Indian) and the buzzing live-music Senor Pico (Mexican).

On Sukhumvit 26, a quick stroll from the BTS station at the Emporium shopping complex, the St James Hotel’s modern reflective glass façade houses a trendy business address. Renovated rooms are bright and functional. A business centre provides Internet access, while elsewhere guests may avail of WiFi or Broadband connections. There is a pool too.

Candy stripe Doubletree/ photo: hotel

The somewhat impersonal Imperial Queen's Park Hotel is a mega-hotel-in-hotel choice with large conference facilities. There are 1,400 rooms in two towers. The Bel Aire Princess (by the Dusit group) offers a four-star facility on Soi 5.

On Soi 26 is the bright and beckoning Doubletree by Hilton that arrived early 2013 - a short hike from the Phrom Pong BTS SkyTrain station or Asoke - with a jaunty stride bristling with textures and touchy-feely features somewhat reminiscent of So Bangkok. The place has a strong leisure focus (with a Hilton for business next door). Start with antique radios mounted on the wall, gawp at gleaming old gramophones, pootle past giant wall mosaics of pouting ladies with crimson lips, run your fingers along the backs of golden fleece rams or dive into the striped tile open-air pool on the seventh floor. This is also where you'll find an air-conditioned gym and a bar.

The lifts are small. Getting up and down is a contact sport so look out for the right sort of company. A 23sq m Deluxe room is in simple grey tones with white marble floors and pastel candy stripes on the wall. Find a three-pin multi-plug socket on either side of the bed and a sliding silk-glass door that reveals the bathing area with rain shower and tall mirror.

Find an iron and ironing board, a laptop friendly safe, open-plan hangar "wardrobe", flat screen TV, and free WiFi in public areas (though the inroom charge is Bt450 per day for three devices). Two floors (11th and 12th) are for smokers. The rest of the place is smoke free. There are two F&B outlets, one for all day dining and a small function room will manage a 30-person gathering.

Holiday Inn Sukhumvit greys/ photo: Verghese

Next door and joined at the hip so to speak (connected, in plain English) is the 280-room Hilton Sukhumvit Bangkok (September 2013) a tall and sleek businessman's hangout with a rooftop infinity pool, fitness centre, stylish cream-tone rooms and suites, and 4,320sq ft of space in the largest meeting facility for small corporate meetings.

The Holiday Inn Bangkok Sukhumvit 22 (opened early 2013) is a mouthful but its easy-to-spot gleaming reflective black glass building with some of the best value rates on Sukhumvit will appeal to many. This 300-room hotel is closest to the Phrom Pong BTS station but a taxi or tuk-tuk would be advisable. The lobby is on the 9th floor and everything is in simple grey tones from here on. A pool and cafe are on the 8th floor. A 28sq m Deluxe is an all-grey arrangement that is actually quite easy on the eye. Expect iron and ironing board, a laptop safe, grey striped carpet, grey silk bed runners and some dark wood panels. All this is offset by a single oil painting in rust or blue tones. The desk offers two three-pin multi plug electric sockets and WiFi is free. There is a small flat screen TV (though thoroughly adequate for the room size). There are also 51 Executive rooms weighing in at 42sq m with stretch space, and stylish rain showers (some with a bathtub). Downstairs look forward to a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and a Domino's Pizza.

Dominating the Thonglor intersection farther down at Soi 57 on Sukhumvit are the glinting curved steel grey lines of the Bangkok Marriott Hotel Sukhumvit (March 2013), a big boy for this otherwise leisurely residential neighbourhood. Despite being the lone five-star in the area it offers great value for early bookers (launch rate of just Bt3,500 per night) and spectacular views on a clear night. The multi-level Octave rooftop will be the swing thing when fully operational. Long stays are a doddle at the residential wing, which serves up 74 serviced apartments. Walk into a high ceiling lobby with white marble floors and a catchy flower arrangement. The decor is sparse and uncomplicated. At one end CCCo (the Chocolate Cake Company) entices with wake-up aromas.

Bangkok Marriott tones/ photo: Verghese

Rooms are aimed squarely at suits with modern minimalism with white marble floors, red-grey floral carpets, stained black wood accents for cabinets, large but muted Thai prints along the head wall, burgundy chairs, narrow glass table with two three-pin multi sockets and internet cable and large grey tactile light switches that are sensibly idiot - and CEO - proof. Three pin recharging plug points are by the bed as well. The marble bathrooms are bright, with tubs with a view (Corner rooms looking over the cityscape), rain shower, and free WiFi along with a flat laptop-friendly safe. In the drawer is small leather-bound New testament Bible. Eat, pray, love, it's all here.

At the other end of the scale is the ageing no-frills The Atlanta, deep in Soi 2, a throwback to the colonial era. Peeling, musty, derelict, but oddly appealing in an old European kind of way, the property has a firm "No Sex Tourists" policy and a sign to this effect hangs outside the entrance. The hotel says it has a "zero-tolerance policy towards troublemakers".

Between Soi 6 and Soi 4 is the new residence-cum-hotel the Grand Sukhumvit by Sofitel. The hotel is a short stroll from the BTS Nana Station on Sukhumvit. With the focus very much on long-stays an in-room benefit is the microwave and kitchenette. This hotel may not be for everyone. but it is conveniently located and is a useful option for longstay guests.

There's a nice hideaway garden courtyard inside with pool (one of the first in the country) and hammocks. The interior is cosy with lots of wooden cabinets, chequered floors and red chairs in the lobby. The hotel lobby is said to be the oldest unaltered hotel foyer in Thailand. The Atlanta was started by Dr Max Henn, a refugee from Nazi Germany in 1952. An aircon room starts at Bt664 and fan-cooled room at Bt482. There is no credit card service and payment in cash is required on a daily basis in advance. No Internet. The place is popular with journalists and artists.

S31 features a mod look/ photo: Verghese

The wild and wilder Dream Hotel Bangkok on Sukhumvit Soi 15 offers a somewhat surreal escape into blue-light fantasy. Funky bedrooms offer 42-inch flatscreen TV, Broadband access, Egyptian cotton linen, and iPod docks. Enjoy the Avatar Spa, dine in style, or rock. It's all here. A short walk from Sukhumvit, this is not a hotel for all tastes but it certainly exudes a sense of fun. The glass-bead-curtained bar is a popular hangout for young city folk craving an apres-work tipple.

On Rachadapisek Road are the 402-room Chaophya Park Hotel with over 2,100sq m of function space for conferences and meetings, a raft of dining choices from Cantonese to Japanese, a driving range, pool, fitness centre and the Bali Spa; and the more boutique-style sister property Veronica Residence with complimentary high-speed Internet, small corporate meeting facilities and bright accents. The Veronica is within walking distance of the Metro subway.

Sacha’s Hotel UNO is a convenient mid-range hotel, offering neat stylish rooms with signature Hotel UNO beds, WiFi, flat screen TV, iron and ironing board, tea and coffee-making facilities, and bathroom amenities like robes, slippers and hair dryers. The bathroom is compact but bright and even features that top-hotel stalwart, a rainshower. This is a good example of a mid-range with all the hi-tech extras.

The Park Plaza Sukhumvit Bangkok is a 150m stroll from the BTS SkyTrain at Asoke Station where you'll also spot the underground MRT entrance. This modern hotel is a 95-room boutique-style construction with gym, swimming pool, 24-hour restaurant, and business facilities. Bangkok serviced apartment options along Sukhumvit could include several Citadines (see Ascott Bangkok Sathorn) and Somersets.

Stately Okura/ photo: Verghese

Central Bangkok business hotels

With a walkway to the Ploenchit BTS SkyTrain station, stately The Okura Prestige Bangkok (opened May 2012), is a corporate confection that manages to tick all the right boxes, keeping fussy international travellers plugged in, all the while ensuring the smiles of its largely Japanese clientele stay unbroken. It is not an easy act. The demands of Japanese travellers are very specific and this has necessitated a two-in-one approach that appears to have paid off. Okura Tokyo's signature Yamazato restaurant is replicated on the 24th floor lobby level, serving light, aromatic Japanese breakfasts, while at the opposite end of the same floor Up & Above Restaurant caters for European and Asian palates. There is also a preponderance of twin bedrooms in the inventory, a format favoured by the Japanese.

The high-ceiling lobby is spacious, uncluttered, and elegant, with a minimalist Zen-meets-classic-Europe feel, in dark earth tones, grey and black. A 47sq m Deluxe twin bed room serves up tan-grey walls, textures and simplified surrounds with free Wi-Fi. A patterned white cotton sheet on the bed is adorned with invitingly plump pillows and an origami bird (with a kit and instructions for making one yourself). Expect an oval wooden work desk, data-port with two three-pin electric sockets, a flat-screen TV with an internet keyboard, sofa, and sliding doors that reveal a large soaking tub and rain shower cubicle and the de rigueur electronic Japanese potty that will attend to the most irate of bottoms starting with a friendly warm up. Get to know the control pad before embarking on your exploration. The 55sq m Deluxe Corner King will delight guests with bright, airy interiors, and stretch space.

Conrad Executive Room/ photo: hotel

The Club floors run from the 32nd to 34th floors. Sniff the heady orange chocolate aroma in the corridors. Or pop by the 97sq m Prestige Suite with its large onsen-style terrazzo tub, shower cubicle with a view, twin vanities, large living room, two flat-screen TVs, and much more. The Okura Spa offers five treatment rooms. Close by is the generously proportioned fitness studio. Also on the 25th floor is a 25m cantilevered pool with stunning views and plenty of sunlight. At one far end is the Elements restaurant with outdoor and indoor seating.

The Conrad Bangkok, in the All Season's Place business and residence and shopping complex, is a chic address with style, functionality, broad-spectrum appeal and regular innovation. It has been a trend-setter in more ways than one with stylish silk uniforms and contemporary décor, the extensive Season's Spa, and sumptuous rooms with see-through glass-wall toilets. The Executive Rooms offer more space, with smart flat-screen TVs with a small, if stylish, footprint. Subtle hi-tech accompaniment is provided by a DVD player and an iPod dock. Plug in and play.

These rooms feature steam irons with ironing board, complimentary Broadband, and a smart working area with an ergonomic chair. Pick up an "Oxia" pressurised oxygen canister from the minibar and head out for a jog. Well travelled executives will spot another familiar toy – a yellow rubber elephant (not duck) – in the bathtub. Need a different pillow? Try a Shogun Pillow (made from Japanese igusa grass) or the Contour Pillow. The Apple-friendly touches now extend to the new and expanded Executive Lounge which sports iMac workstations all hooked up to Broadband. Surf free during breakfast or while popping by for evening refreshments and canapes.

Plaza Athenee/ photo: Verghese

Just in case you happen to be a PC clod, some iMacs are set up to work on the familiar Windows platform. Smart and brisk service by attentive staff who are on the ball - and not just on executive floors - makes this award-winning property a top Bangkok business hotel choice.

While main access to the hotel is from Wireless Rd (Wuthayu), there's easy access through less crowded Soi Ruam Rudee as well. A shuttle bus takes guests to the Ploenchit BTS station which is just a short walk away. Elsewhere in the hotel there's complimentary shoeshine, the popular Diplomat Bar and the trendy dance-and-dine 87 PLUS. Regular rooms feature the same distinctive silk and glass touches and access to Broadband at Bt750 per day.

Near the Conrad is the small but modern TENFACE, inspired by the mythical 10-faced giant Tosakan. Its 79 rooms, which start at 61sq m, come with balconies, LCD TVs, free Wi-Fi Internet access, safes and minibar. On check-in, you’ll get a “Tosakan Heart Box” that includes an iPod nano for your stay, a prepaid BTS card, a prepaid Sim card for local calls, Thai herbal bath amenities, and a handy taxi card for easy communication with taxi drivers. Boot leather will gleam with the hotel’s free shoe-shining service. Two-bedroom suites have kitchen facilities (as well as glass and chinaware) for serving up your own culinary creations. A DJ spins nightly at Sita Bar, and there’s also a dipping pool for relief from the Bangkok heat.

Close by on Ruam Rudee are the comfortable serviced apartments of the Chateau de Bangkok (managed by Accor). This is a central location if you're hunting for Bangkok long stay hotels and residences.

Plaza Athenee theme suite/ photo: hotel

Adjacent to the Conrad is the gleaming Plaza Athénée Bangkok, A Royal Méridien Hotel which, as its double-barrelled name suggests, is a hotel with two sometimes conflicting identities. As a Starwood brand it still retains its original flavour under Méridien – not quite New York or Paris but decidedly upmarket Thai – but it needs business travellers and conferences and spa enthusiasts to get on familiar first-name terms with it. The 374-room product exudes quality and service is attentive and welcoming. A short stroll from the BTS Ploenchit SkyTrain station the hotel is well positioned for those on the go. Rooms are richly adorned with touchy-feely silk and antiques. The style is contemporary with bright silk cushions though in upper end suites the décor takes a turn for classical chic. In-room expect Broadband and Wi-Fi (Bt530 per day), flat-screen TVs, big closets, comfy bathrooms and views in most directions with plenty of natural light.

A strong and pleasing aroma of lemongrass will assail the senses as soon as you step into your pad. Bright flashes of pink anthurium blink from the work desk. There are two multi three-pin sockets by the bed but, oddly, not at the desk. There is an iron and ironing board and a small safe that will secure jewellery but not your laptop. Club Rooms in light pastels are brighter with a DVD player and a laptop safe. Hurrah! The 26th floor Club Lounge is spacious and deep with enough elbow room for all. Sink into a sofa and get working. Spa Athénée on Level Five serves up seven treatment rooms with all manner of wellness goodies and squash courts are on hand for those serious about working off calories. With 10,000sq m of meetings space this is one of the big-muscle Bangkok conference hotels.

Novotel Bangkok Ploenchit/ photo: Verghese

Around the corner from here, right at the entrance of a BTS station, is the new Novotel Bangkok Fenix Ploenchit (opened December 2010). The name is quite a mouthful but if you can get your tongue around that, this is a superbly located address that offers good value for money and, from higher floors, open views of the city. With its launch rate touching US$82, you couldn't really ask for more. But there is more. The 370 rooms, all flavoured with lemongrass scent, offer Superiors staring at 28sq m. These are bright, surprisingly roomy, in grey pastel tones with green-blue cushions, a short, slim work desk with multi-pin plug and Internet access at around Bt400 per day.

The Junior Suites are a spacious 40sq m, again with broad, open views, 42-inch flatscreen TVs, data-port, slim working desk, a divan and an extra long bed that stretches six feet six inches for those long Scandinavian legs. The large in-room safe can house a computer comfortably and a see-through glass wall separates the bedroom from the bathing area. Flick a switch to turn this sheet opaque. Neat. Expect a bathtub, rainshower, fixed hairdryer, and a mirror with a thoughtful face-light rim. No struggling shaves or make-up fumbles here.

There is an open air pool, fitness centre, sauna, and meeting room, but no spa. Staff are quick with smiles in the small high-ceiling lobby with a small bar set to one side. The single restaurant can manage 100 covers at one time. For a few-frills hotel, this Novotel serves up a more than decent welcome with light grey pastels (in contrast to the Courtyard's vivid colours). Take your pick. At the corner of Ruam Rudee Soi and Ploenchit, this is a super location that will not tax the wallet unduly.

Sivatel pool/ photo: hotel

Just a hop and skip down from the Ploenchit BTS station intersection is the small, unassuming, and delightful Sivatel Bangkok. This 75-room property opened in 2011 with 31 floors (the top three are serviced residences with kitchenettes and washing machines). The all-suite establishment is neat and smart in a homey way. It neither too clever or too mod yet serves up nice friendly touches with good service to match. Suites run from 64sq m to a whopping 194sq m. A 160sq m Grand Royal Duplex two-floor escape offers free WiFi, Apple TVs, iPod docks, pillow menu, leather-top business desks, ergonomic chairs and blonde wood walls. Bedroom switches are large and tactile and brilliantly easy to use. Also find a wireless keyboard for TV surfing, flat laptop safe, a triangular bathtub set against a glass bedroom wall partition, hairdryer affixed to the wall and a power shower in a mosaic wall cubicle. The lower floor is a living and dining space with fridge, microwave, spacious sofa seating and yet more flat screen TVs and one more safe. There is a spare loo and a balcony. Expect a nice open air infinity pool by the cafe and an inviting cream tone lobby with plenty of comfy sofas and reassuring singalong tracks like "Killing me softly with his song". Close by the British and Swiss embassies, this is a spot for savvy travellers in the know. Be warned of the one-way traffic on Soi Nai Lert (stroll to the BTS or catch a cab on Ploenchit). And the industrial rubber carpeting in the bedrooms is dowdy and a tad hard on the soles. Minor niggles these for the price (around Bt3,500).

On Ploenchit, smack next to a BTS station, the InterContinental Bangkok is a large, business property with a reassuringly measured stride, a far cry from the beseeching, come-hither commerce elsewhere. With the latest revamp in 2010, this is now a swankier address with its customary brisk service.

Newlook InterCon Grand Deluxe/ photo: hotel

Expect location, location, and location. Step out and you’re in the heart of some of the best shopping east of the Suez, from streetside bargains to luxury threads (the hotel is directly connected to Gaysorn mall). The only fly in the ointment is the bus lane that runs past the entrance making swift turns in a tad slower than you might expect. Step inside the “new” lobby and things are hushed, if no less attentive. Soaring ceilings and an ample glass frontage allow light to stream in relentlessly, bouncing off gleaming floors and lighting up a dark-wood lounge.

In-room find easy-on-the-eye grey-brown pastel tones, iPod docks, DVD players, laptop-size safes and flat LCD TVs with satellite channel hook-up. Your partner for the night is a well-sprung Sealy mattress, a splendid pairing after a hard day’s toil. The living area is spacious, far more say than the compact, if stylish, Conrad offering. High-speed Internet is a doddle and fax machines can be called in at any time. Find a HUGE TV screen on which you could watch reruns of Gone With The Wind interminably, a digital clock that you can position as you wish, a data-port by the desk and lots of multi-pin sockets thoughtfully arrayed by the desk and luggage rack, in the toilet, hallway and on either side of the bed. Power up just about every gadget without batting an eye. Light switches are large and tactile and well placed lamps throw pools of light for quiet reading. The Braun hairdryer can be plugged in - in the bathroom so you don't need to lug it around looking for a socket. There is an iron and ironing board and also a laptop-size safe. Higher up in the executive eyrie on the 37th floor, Club rooms and suites serve up a steam iron and ironing board. Furnishings are rich and textured but understated. Look forward to Cinemascope views across the city from these rooms as well as from the spacious Club InterContinental Lounge on the same level. The rooftop pool is accompanied by a bar, and a spa is on hand for leisurely evening unwinds.

Conference facilities have been upgraded and extended with 22 function rooms and a 1,000-pax ballroom for cocktails. The hotel has a springy, airy feel to it and hums along efficiently, catering for its mix of business travellers, conventioneers and holidaymakers. Among the top Bangkok business hotels, this is certainly one for your diary.

Siam @ Siam/ photo: hotel

Across from the InterCon, the old President Hotel was reborn as the swish Holiday Inn Bangkok. This is a vastly improved renovated product - contemporary, well designed with lots of space, less fuss, clean lines and concealed lighting, all of which combine to make this a strong business or leisure choice. This is a Holiday Inn with a difference, a far cry from what this brand represents in other parts of Asia or the USA. Shopping is a convenient stroll in any direction. Bright rooms feature glass-wall bathrooms and high-speed Internet at Bt642 for a 24 hour spin.

Wireless Internet is accessible - and chargeable - in most of the building including the swimming pool area. There are two dedicated Executive Club floors with a separate lounge, and roomy family suites cater for those holidays when the entire brood is abroad. This hotel should not be confused with the Holiday Inn Silom, an older property that is not the easiest to recommend.

Around the corner, replacing the Hilton is the Nai Lert Park Bangkok (run by Raffles). The one-way Soi Nai Lert can get tedious at times with traffic but the compound is a genuine garden hideaway with a fresh away-from-it-all feel. Executive rooms have Internet access. With the demise of the sprawling Siam InterCon, Nai Lert Park Bangkok is perhaps the only green venue in town. The Novotel Bangkok on Siam Square is right next to the BTS Siam Square interchange and shopping. This makes for extraordinarily convenient commutes. The hotel is smart with good facilities but it can get a tad overrun when large groups check in. Farther along Sukhumvit near the Emporium shopping mall is its sister-property Novotel Lotus Bangkok.

Almost opposite the National Stadium (one of the last stops on the BTS SkyTrain line) near Siam Square, is the newly soft-opened Siam @ Siam Design Hotel with 203 rooms and free WiFi throughout. Room types at this Bangkok boutique hotel include doubles, trendy triples (one per floor), an executive product for businessmen on the go and a penthouse executive lounge with terrific views in all directions as there are no adjoining buildings currently. Take in a football match if one's on. The designers clearly pulled out all the stops with this converted office block.

LIT Bangkok/ photo: hotel

It blends - if not always successfully - minimalist Zen, Thai flourishes, and hip-hop grunge with original grey cement walls smeared with bright casual daubs of orange and red oil paint. This is factory-floor-art-gallery chic.

Throw in timber railway sleepers, cement floors mixed with wooden parquet, colourful furniture and bright rugs tossed here and there and you have something approaching a trendy advertising office rather than a hotel. The effect is pleasing however, and refreshing. Staff are eager to please and on the ground floor is the owner's metal-blue classic Figarro car.

And just beyond are the elevator doors smeared with thick oil paint taking you up to the 11th floor lobby and rooms with laptop-size safes, angular work tables, and bright orange rugs. Some toilets come with bathtubs, some with showers and a few with both. Guests may wish to catch the sunset at the alfresco pool with its fish fountains and breezy views. There is a dedicated wellness spa, Spa Ten, with a fitness area and gym.

New in the MBK area and close to the National Stadium is the designer-chic LIT Bangkok (open mid 2011) hotel on Soi Kasemsan. The entire 79-room construct from the exterior to the mood-lit interiors - with Extra Radiance rooms bathed in surreal purple, orange and green hues - is a pleasurable assault on the senses. Walk into living space where glass shower bubbles look on to the bedroom and where timber flooring mixes with cool tiles. Lines are neat and the soothing lighting underlines the clean, contemporary style. Business travellers can expect versatile small meeting areas, Wi-Fi and plug-in Broadband, fitness centre, and a spa.

Across a busy intersection from Siam Square is the Pathumwan Princess MBK Centre (run by the Dusit group) which, as its name suggests, is linked to the bustling discount shopping Ma Boon Krong mall.

Hip new Renaissance/ photo: hotel

Set just off Ploenchit Road a stroll from the Grand Hyatt and the Chidlom BTS SkyTrain station is the blue-glass curving facade of the flagship Renaissance Bangkok Ratchaprasong Hotel that arrived quietly in the neighbourhood early 2010. Expect a lot more noise from this new contender. Why? It is different, vibrant, colourful, almost over-embellished you might say, nothing at all like some dreary cookie-cutter Renaissance properties you may have come across. It hopes to set the benchmark for the brand. Well located (with a skybridge to the station via Maneeya Building in the pipeline), this is a brash teen-going-on-forty-something establishment with a proposition for everyone.

The darkly muted lobby features a cluster of optical light wires hanging down the length of the atrium, dimly glinting green then blue while ornate patterned panels cast a red glow all around the lower lobby walls. The lift is an exercise in indulgence with intricate floral cutouts, silver patterns, and black faux-crocodile leather along one side. It will then come as no surprise that on the the fifth floor BYTES meetings and ballroom level, about-to-wed couples, CEOs and hard-pressed automobile manufacturers can all make a grand entrance by a car elevator and drive right into the vast sparkly 800-pax conference hall. A tiered outdoor garden patio can accommodate a further 500 celebrants.

There's more "wow" factor on the 22nd floor where a timbered pool deck, open on two sides to the breezes, stretches into the horizon with sunken lounge chairs and a bar. Here the hotel is at its minimalist best with clean understatement that will reassure business travellers. There is a gym at this level too. Deluxe Rooms are 37sq m with lots of light, blond-wood parquet floors, bright purple padded silk wall boards set off by the plump white beds with tiger-stripe cushions.

Grand Hyatt Deluxe King/ photo:hotel

Find a 40-inch flat-screen TV, data port with two multi-pin sockets, faux-leather table top, leather work chair, large lamps and the de rigueur see-through bathroom wall. There's a large safe, iron and ironing board for kill-that-crease junkies, digital clock, dimmer lights and handy plug sockets everywhere. In Suites you will find a DVD player too. The Studio Suite is a spacious 64sq m with huge views that, in some rooms, can be enjoyed from the bathtub as well. Expect twin vanities in this category. There's Broadband in rooms as well as WiFi throughout (at Bt642 per day). The product comes across variously as a chic bar-cum-bellydance club on a grand scale or an upscale sensory lifestyle experience. Take your pick. There are exciting details in abundance and the designers have tossed everthing plus the kitchen sink into the kitty. Now, having seemingly raised the bar, the hotel will have to measure up.

The 380-room Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok on Rajdamri Road is an imposing building with high white columns and marbled interiors. Crowds of worshippers and dancers regularly throng the Erawan shrine devoted to the Hindu god Brahma at the corner of the complex. The Grand Hyatt however is known more for its crisp business facilities, service, and smart food outlets including the rocking Spasso for Italian and the trendy street-cafe-style You & Mee for spectacular Thai and Asian noodles, much of the menu hard to find at other establishments. The Hyatt Grand Club offers a "hotel within a hotel" concept with a high degree of personalised service and The Residence is a hi-tech home-style meeting area most unlike the usual fare.

The latest feathers in the cap are the smart redesigned rooms that arrived mid 2013 - completing their rollout later in the year. The stodgy wood and dark interiors have been replaced by a brave and bold new format incorporating beige tartan carpets and decorative ceramic tiles in the foyer. Suddenly, it is less Jim Thompson and lumbering elephants and more Enid Blyton-meets-James Bond, a seemingly odd but appealing twist.

Imposing Grand Hyatt/ photo:Verghese

It is a classic but contemporary feel, far removed from the toneless pastels and greys dominating contemporary hotel decor.

Several new features will immediately engage guests. Forget creaking drawers. Here you have tan leather baskets for your shirts, a HUGE rain shower, bright well-lit toilets, and a generous four bottles of mineral water for wilting execs.

A 40sq m Grand Deluxe King is a neat construct with cubist slim dark wood furniture, all in straight zen lines. Find a long leather pullout luggage rest, a flat screen TV, and a daring octagonal glass table next to a curved settee.

There is a three-pin multi plug socket at either side of the bed below cream fabric lampshades and a "Rubic's elephant" jigsaw on the table for those with restless fingers. Another innovative feature is the "Women's Experience Menu" with 32 thoughtful items in a pouch hung on the door knob - everything from curler irons, to baby soap and shampoo. Some new tricks don't quite work, like the fiddly concealed reading lights in the headboard. Minor niggles aside, this is a great Bangkok business hotel choice for executive travellers.

The i.sawan Residential Spa & Club with six residential villas and nine treatment villas in a contemporary design is a nice touch. Add to this a spoiling nail bar and hair salon. Expect a 25m freeform swimming pool with a teakwood deck and decent workouts at the Greenhouse fitness centre. The ballroom gets a remake late 2013 and, in response to changing guest patterns, Mandarin speakers are on hand to deal with things quintessentially Chinese.

Classic chic, Four Seasons lobby/ photo: hotel

A hundred yards up the road is the elegant Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok right next to the Rajadamri BTS SkyTrain station. The close resemblance to the Peninsula Hong Kong is no coincidence. The property was originally built as a Peninsula complete with sweeping staircase and high ceiling lobby. Here, instead of the gilded ceiling, find intricate lobby murals, Thai motifs and swathes of rich fabric. The new-look lobby (winter 2010) goes firmly for contemporary chic, sporting mood lights, mirrors, and flashes of electric silk.

The Four Seasons serves up 354 hugely spacious rooms, 35 suites and seven Garden Cabanas set to one side of the expansive lap pool, a splendid and lush in-city escape. Service is intuitive and welcoming.

In Club Deluxe rooms on the seventh floor, expect unlimited 24-hour clothes pressing, complimentary city calls, free Broadband and WiFi, and access to a well-stocked club lounge with a couple of computer terminals.

Firmly countering the rush in the general direction of trendy twaddle, the Four Seasons stands firm with classic lines and content. Rooms feature dark wood panels, deep sofas, silk cushions, Thai paintings, and lamps that throw welcoming pools of light rather than harsh beams. The wooden table is traditional and spacious with two three-pin electric sockets. The only non-classical addition is the “kick-ass” widescreen TV with iPod and MP3 connectors. Find four 500ml bottles of mineral water, four kinds of tea and three kinds of coffee should you need a pick-me-upper. The bathroom is well lit, with separate bathtub and shower, L’Occitane toiletries, a magnifying mirror, and a weighing scale thoughtfully wrapped in thin towelling.

Guests can pamper themselves at the Spa by Mspa, cut into tender steak at Madison, savour Italian at Biscotti, do Asian at Spice Market, or simply enjoy a drink at popular Aqua from where you can look up past the ranked atrium floors to see real sky. It can get wet here when it rains, but it’s all part of the Four Season’s “natural” charm. All this not forgetting the "pizza sushi" at the Japanese restaurant, a treat to die for. Or, if your heart is up to it, the delectable foie gras sushi. Reservations recommended.

St Regis suite with a view/ photo: hotel

Located next to the Four Seasons conveniently opposite the BTS SkyTrain station (and with a connecting covered bridge soon), the St Regis Bangkok (opened April 2011) soars upwards, a glinting, contemporary, grey, steel-and-glass tower. Walk in to find soaring ceilings, a quiet lobby on the 12th floor, darkly sleek interiors and, everywhere, stunning views from the bar, restaurants and swimming pool. Step through hushed corridors with grey carpets and white floral patterns past tall dark-wood doors. The tone is quiet, welcoming and understated, with none of the flash in-your-face mood-light distraction sweeping the city. The ensemble is regal and inviting.

On offer are 227 rooms and suites all with flat-screen LCD TVs, DVD players, signature St Regis beds, WiFi and wraparound city views through floor-to-ceiling windows that are splendidly welcoming of light. Butlers assigned to each floor manage everything from unpacking luggage to delivering the newspaper and drawing the shades. Now that’s service. Long-stay guests can check out the adjacent St Regis Residences. The 50sq m Grand Deluxe Rooms serve up cool white marble flooring interspersed with dark wood in the bedroom area. The room is somewhat open plan with wooden sliding doors leading in to the bathing area. Expect twin vanities, classic work desk, flat laptop-friendly safe, a rain shower for those perk-me-up mornings, but no cumbersome iron and ironing board or coffee machine. That’s what butlers are for. But you can always ask for a set-up should you be independently inclined. Light switches are large and tactile and easy to figure out unlike at many other posh establishments.

Or splash out on a 250sq m Royal Suite with an unimpeded view of the Royal Bangkok Sports Club and Lumpini Park. Find surround sound and a HUGE bathroom with a standalone pod bathtub for languorous après-shopping. A large vertical safe can house laptop, cameras and the in-laws at a pinch. The hotel will get three items of clothing pressed without the burden of fresh zeroes on your bill. Ubiquitous are the greys, blacks, copper and browns. The alfresco pool is breezy – and fittingly black, while the Elemis Spa offers a brighter space with virginal white treatment rooms for couples, rattan snuggle pods, and Jacuzzi and vitality pools on separate floors.

Courtyard Bangkok / photo: hotel

Just behind the Four Seasons, admirably placed on 1 Soi Mahadlekluang off Rajdamri Road close by the BTS Station, is the new, easier-on-the-wallet Courtyard Bangkok (by Marriott). This is a smart stand-alone building with clean lines, and bright splashes of colour from the lobby to rooms. There is a single cafe MOMO on the groundfloor that doubles as breakfast and dinner venue and a mini mart for those 24-hour cravings. Rooms are chic and compact yet spacious enough, with bright bed-runners and flashes of pink and purple. Broadband is piped in at Bt642 per day.

Expect a flat-screen TV with satellite hook-up, multi-pin adaptor sockets, a safe that will manage a small notebook, a glass panel bath-and-bed divider, iron and ironing board, hair-drier, and a range of quality toiletries with cling-wrap soap usefully offering a tear-away strip. The Courtyard is a scaled down business hotel withfriendly staff and handy flourishes like the tuk-tuk transfer to the BTS SkyTrain. Hotel signposting is not the best in this side soi and taxis may be hard to come by at times.

Just opposite on the same soi is the gleaming highrise of the Grande Centre Point Hotel & Residence, Ratchadamri. This is on a grander scale with larger rooms and more classical ornamentation. There's a swimming pool, fitness centre, spa, sauna, children's room, conference facilities and WiFi.

On the very next soi off Rajadamri around the corner from Four Seasons and well positioned for the BTS SkyTrain station is the Hansar Bangkok (opened late 2010). This is an interesting hotel with boutique flourishes and several design elements. Staff are friendly and the general ambience welcoming. The 18-floor building includes a hotel (floors 11-18) and residences. Walk up an imposing wooden staircase to the hotel lobby. Adorned with just overhanging creepers in the lower reaches, the grey building makes a simple statement and rises up around an open central atrium that lets in light, wind and, perhaps, rain if the Gods are unkind.

Hansar suite/ photo: Verghese

The chic, breezy pool, long enough for a workout, clings to the edge of the timbered patio on the eighth floor where you'll also find the fitness room and a spa. The open corridors permit cool breezes to pass through unobstructed and you can peer down the vertiginous atrium as you proceed to your room walking on a simple rough chipped-stone corridor. In-room the decor is ramped up without losing sight of the simple design plan.

Expect timber and carpet underfoot, spoilingly large bathrooms with twin vanities, square terrazzo tubs, large plump beds, huge flatscreen TV with DVD player, mini-bar, electric cooking range (in some units), washing machine, kitchen sink, a large fridge and freezer, coffee facilities and free WiFi. The safe is laptop size. Studio Suites are 59sq m while Vertigo Suites offer 82sq m of stretch space, comfortable enough for longstays in Bangkok. Some rooms have balconies with sweeping views of the Polo Club - as well as the St Regis, and Four Seasons below. Ask for rooms ending in 07 and 05 for the best panoramas.

The cream 303-room Siam Kempinski Hotel opened mid-2010 in a quiet area right behind the throbbing Siam Paragon mall. Walk into a spacious high-ceiling lobby with tall glass windows, water features and soaring pillars in light cream tones. The gleaming lobby is welcoming of light. Expect crisp, discreet service and enough distraction on all sides – both human and art.

The two wings – Garden, a resort-style block going up eighth floors, and the 17-floor Royal in a city-hotel style – enclose open manicured gardens and swimming pools that meander through the central area creating several private spaces within the generous commons. The hotel is grand and boasts art and artefacts but it is studiously understated.

Siam Kempinski style/ photo: Verghese

The 80sq m Executive Suite is done up with contemporary décor. Expect a beige-wood floor with carpet, 42-inch flatscreen TV, WiFi, Internet keyboard for doodling on the TV screen, ordering food, or settling your bill; a Bose sound system, a large glass-top work desk, and lots of touchy-feely texture as in the faux-leather-clad cupboard.

There are lots of plug points (two-pin) and a see-through glass wall leading the eye into the bathroom with its soaking tub. The Deluxe is 40sq m with similar facilities. Internet usage is free. Hurrah!

But you may have to cough up for seriously large downloads or faster speeds. The hotel has a 900sq m pillar-free ballroom and is well positioned to take a firm spot among the leading Bangkok conference hotels. There are kids’ activities, a gym, and spa treatments galore. Take your pick.

The Amari Watergate Hotel is smack in the shopping district of Pratunam across the road from the World Trade Centre. It offers high-speed Internet in the rooms, a Clark Hatch fitness centre with squash courts and a good Executive Floor. The property is not walking distance from a SkyTrain stop but you can reach the Ratchathewi BTS Station by tuk-tuk or taxi in 10 minutes if the traffic is moving. And for geeks, there's the cut-price Pantip Plaza with all manner of computer gadgetry, nearby. The hotel has recently been bumped up to five stars.

From Accor, a member of the MGallery collection, is the Vie Hotel Bangkok with mod architecture and a chic contemporary style. The hotel accents European design flourishes aimed at a discerning set. Close by the Ratchathewi BTS station, VIE offers a spa, meeting facilities, and rooms starting at 38sq m with flat-screen TV, work desk, comfy chairs and bright silk bed-runners. It is not far from the shopping areas like MBK, Central World and Siam Paragon.

Centara CentralWorld, Globe/ photo: hotel

Near Victory Monument, the Pullman Bangkok King Power is an entertaining combine of business amenities, hi-tech and duty-free shopping all tossed into one chic hotel for New Age executives on the go. The King Power group runs a duty-free city outlet next door as well as the concessions at the airport. The 386-room Pullman Bangkok King Power offers a contemporary setting with four classes of room, all at one price, but with differing amenities. Expect interactive TVs, high-speed Broadband, and satellite channels by the yard in compact rooms with glassed bathrooms, as well as detailed meetings facilities.

The Pullman is very much a Bangkok MICE hotel. This, for the uninitiated, stands for “Meetings Incentives Conferences and Exhibitions”. The main ballroom can host over 1,000 people with several techie features to keep you connected. Guests on the Executive Floor get special use of the King Power Executive Lounge at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.

The imposing Centara Grand at CentralWorld – atop the gigantic shopping complex in the heart of Bangkok – is twinned with the Bangkok Convention Centre offering 10,000sq m of meeting space. The benefits of this for conference planners and those with corporate meetings on their diaries is obvious. The Centara Grand & Bangkok Convention Centre at CentralWorld combine creates one of the best Bangkok conference hotel options with quality facilities and ease of access with walkways to the BTS SkyTrain though the escalators can be a tad mischievous when plotting your route through the labyrinthine mall.

The Centara Grand offers 505 rooms, several luxury suites, a fitness centre with sauna, tennis, an open-air pool and of course, easy access to acres of shopping as well as cinemas. Of an evening pop up to enjoy stunning views from the rooftop urban-bistro Red Sky or from the late-night lounge Globe with its wraparound alfresco deck

Hotel Muse, lush Baroque/ photo: Verghese

Jaunty newcomer Hotel Muse Bangkok Lansuan (open September 2011) is on a quiet one-way street, a modestly daunting half kilometre walk from the Chidlom BTS station on Ploenchit Road. It is worth the stroll. The neat and functional exterior is modern and unobtrusive. A tall carved wooden door leads into a dark surreal world of whimsy and Euro-Baroque classical escape where the senses quicken under the relentless assault of oil paintings, elaborate frames, wrought iron balustrades and grilles, mosaic grey-tile floors, elegant lampshades and bursts of floral colour set off by laser-precise spotlights.

Despite the Dali-esque touches, it is actually a hushed and muted escape, the dark colours - predominantly black and brown - soothing the ensemble, and encouraging a perch on a comfortable brown leather sofa adorned with black cushions with silver thread weave. The low vaulted ceiling at the lobby will transport you to a Florentine wine cellar. There's Italian nibbles in the basement at Medici, a smart contemporary all-black Thai restaurant (Su Tha Ros) at the higher pool level, a Speakeasy bar, and a rooftop chill-out space featuring decadent but welcome alfresco air-conditioning.

Rooms start at 39sq m with dark wood parquet flooring in an attractive herringbone weave. It's not just a floor but part of the overall design statement. And it is this attention to detail that distinguishes Muse from other wannabe hipsters. The Muse Deluxe (also "Jatu", the first of seven levels of Heaven) serves up a flat-screen TV, set atop a tan leather wooden chest that mimics a travel suitcase of yore. Expect a see through glass bathroom with a signature white claw-foot bathtub, rain-shower cubicle, hairdryer, and oval mirror set in an ornate black frame. In-room there is a work desk, an iPod dock, digital clock, a comfortable divan, a Broadband cable, and multipin electric sockets.

Muse pool/ photo: Verghese

A dark cherrywood headboard contrasts with the grey floral wallpaper and in the midst of this confection is an invitingly plump white bed. There is elbow room galore and in the wardrobe are a flat laptop safe, and an iron, and ironing board. The pool is small but attractive, set on a timbered patio that catches the rays and looks onto the city. Next door is the fitness centre.

With 174 rooms and suites, this hotel from Accor's M Gallery, has surprising heft despite the sense of intimacy. Like an over-talented, talkative, and attractive young lady, Muse - with its intriguing boutique flourishes and texture - will overwhelm some, but will appeal hugely to romantics who enjoy comfort, personalised service and something completely different.

The Bangkok boutique LUXX XL with 50 studios and suites, is minimalist in style with teak wood, slate and steel finishes. Floor-to-ceiling windows and private balconies are standard, along with flatscreen TV, DVD, free WiFi, kitchenette and a “fun bathroom” concept, with open partitions. This is a popular choice among Bangkok boutique hotels and is also located on Langsuan road, which connects you to Central Chidlom/BTS Skytrain Chidlom Station on one end and to Lumpini Park/BTS Silom Station at the other. That said, it is still quite a hike from here to either spot so you'll need to flag a cab or motorcycle.

Tucked away off the main road, a gravelled mini "drive" leads to a towering wooden door that leads to a cosy lobby with a small library. Walk through to a raised grey-stone pool that catches the sun in the back courtyard garden. In-room find timber floors and a plain but appealing Swedish-style set-up. Corner rooms have simple full-length grey drapes that pull away to let in a tsunami of light. Some offer the added lure of a small balcony. Expect a laptop-size safe, two lounging robes, and a work desk with just one two-pin socket. The Studio L is 47sq m while the regular Studio is a pleasant and well organised 33sq m.

Luxx XL spaces/ photo: Verghese

A newer option near Central World Plaza is the Best Western Mayfair Suites. With only eight floors and 49 rooms, this hotel is a cosy choice, but offers all the amenities needed for business people on the go. Rooms come with high-speed Internet access, flat-screen TVs, dataports, mini-bar, trouser press, plus balconies. There is a restaurant, one bar, a small fitness centre, and a meeting room that holds up to eight people. Breakfast is included in the room rate, and there is a courtesy airport shuttle available.

Other mid-range options in the general area include the Indra Regent (in a particularly traffic-choked part of town), the busy tour-group Asia Hotel, the Arnoma Hotel Bangkok, the 88-storey Baiyoke Sky Hotel, the tallest building in Bangkok and boasting great views, and the Siam City Hotel run by the indefatigable Sukosol singing family.

The former Sol Twin Towers has been renamed The Twin Towers Hotel Bangkok and is managed by the Spanish Sol Melia group. Its location, unfortunately, is neither here nor there and Siam Square, the nearest distraction, would be a good 20 minutes' walk.

Long and short-term stays are on offer at Anantara Baan Rajprasong. Its 97 serviced apartments are half an hour from the airport and mere footsteps away from the Ratchadamri Skytrain station and a 24-hour supermarket.

Silom and Sathorn Road Area

Dusit Thani Superior/ photo: hotel

The junction of Silom and Rama IV Roads is dominated by the spire of the Dusit Thani Bangkok, the grand dame of the "City of Angels". The flagship of the Thai-owned Dusit International group, the Dusit Thani is all polished marble and hushed interiors with good service and restaurants. The entrance is right next to the Sala Daeng BTS station as well as the underground, and the nightlife and restaurants of Convent Road and the throbbing Silom Road area are in the strolling neighbourhood.

The smartly refurbished hotel features a bright lobby (doing away with the all-pervasive black), luxurious Club Rooms, and an array of new dining and drinking venues including the top-floor French D'Sens restaurant with style and views to match. Need a chic all-glass loo with a view for a who-cares post-Singha unwind? This is the place. For tired executives there's the Devarana Spa. Deluxe Rooms weigh in at 30sq m, all with balconies set against full-length sliding glass doors. You may even get in a view of Lumpini Park.

Decor is classical with silk cushions and lots of beige and gold. A long wooden work desk is accompanied by a leather chair. The good news is in-room Broadband and hotel-wide Wi-Fi is free. Get your password at check-in. Expect a smallish LCD TV (to be upgraded soon), a classic clock, a laptop safe with electric socket, compact toilet with tub and weighing scales.

Opt for the Grand Rooms in the main wing near the lobby. These are spacious and well kitted out and offer access to the club lounge facility. The bathrooms are large this time and the decor is again classical with a living room for entertaining. Find a flatscreen TV as well as a boxy CNN-blaster in the living area.

More upscale are the Thai Heritage Suites with rich wooden parquet flooring, a four-seater table for dining, a large flat-screen TV, wood-panel walls and a large "window" looking into the master bath with its free-standing tub and bidet. Expect lots of carved wood and a sense of, well, the country's design heritage. Superior rooms are in a separate wing.

Sofitel So Wood Room/ photo: hotel

Sofitel So Bangkok (opened May 2012) is an ultra-modern 30-storey touchy-feely themed hotel at the corner of Sathorn and Rama IV roads overlooking the broad and refreshing green swathe of Lumpini Park. The hotel serves up 238 rooms each with an Apple Mac Mini with entertainment and service functions, free mini-bar (no alcohol), and complimentary WiFi. In suites get an iPad too. A standard So Cosy room has absolutely nothing "standard" about it, from the stunning city skylines to the themed designs and sensual textures. Pick cool water themes or woody tones. The So Comfy offers four theme designs - Water, Earth, Wood, Metal - while a So Club room ratchets up the pampering with access to the Club Signature.

Each room category is set around a small atrium with a convivial "meeting" point. A typical EARTH room comes in striking cobalt blue with primitive patterns on the wall including tribal motifs and playful monkeys. Round mirrors are set in the wall at various levels while a sliding door reveals a standalone bathtub set on a smart black-and-white chequered floor. The walls and tables flow in curves. This will please many and perhaps disorient some. Yet everything is inviting to the touch. You will find yourself reaching out to feel the various textures. The floor is black wood and an internet keyboard is paired with a large flat-screen television. The white desk undulates in a curve and a small Illy coffee machine is on hand for that red-eye awakening. There is a flat laptop-friendly safe as well. It is a playful ensemble. Tech-warriors be warned though, electric sockets are limited.

The WOOD rooms are angular, with clean straight lines and a strip-wood parquet flooring. Find black-and-white sketches on the walls and a rust-red sofa for a lie-down. The wooden walls add to the corporate feel in this contemporary space. METAL rooms on the other hand are served up in startling white with swirling metal clouds on the walls, a glass partition leading to the bathtub and a simple, inviting, airy feel. This is a room category that will appeal to almost all tastes with a clean design reminiscent of a home anywhere.

Sofitel So Earth Room/ photo: Verghese

The pale-wood lobby is on the ninth floor and this is where the sensory touches begin. High ceilings, a mix of hip sofas, and beaming staff in short skirts and floral pattern blouses all racing to greet guests. Service is brisk and attentive. It's fun from the go. On the seventh floor Red Oven serves up a splendid buffet on rough-hewn wooden tables with signature crushed red ceramic drinking cups. Dine indoors or outdoors. Sample Thai, Italian cold cuts or sizzling teppanyaki. The walk to the washroom is an adventure leading through darkened spaces where black-tile pools invite you to step in - a luxury denied by the carefully placed furniture. Spot golden sheep, pie-eyed chocolate dogs and assorted bric-a-brac. It will get your smile back for sure. Sofitel So Bangkok also has stylish hi-tech meeting spaces with the ballroom hosting up to 250 persons. Eat, play, or meet, it's all there in this Bangkok hip hotels contender that aims to make its mark as urban lifestyle space with a difference.

Halfway up Silom heading towards the river, is the Pullman Bangkok Hotel G (formerly Sofitel Bangkok Silom). The 469-room hotel had a complete makeover and stormed back April 2012 with a hip new stride and immense lifestyle appeal that compensates in great measure for a location just a tad far from a BTS SkyTrain station (though Sala Daeng on Silom is a short hop down the road). Walk in past the New-York-red diner-style 25 Degrees burger bar, to a high ceiling virginal white lobby with a white brick wall behind reception and long gauze drapes on the other. Of an evening, candles glow and chill-out music plays, creating an intimate feel for slick metrosexuals on the move. Park on a white sofa, or a metal swing. It's a perfect spot for a vampire moment or a twirl across the floor. This trendy address will appeal to both holidaymakers and business travellers alike.

Pullman G white room/ photo: Verghese

The Executive Rooms have had a partial upgrade and sport wooden parquet flooring, corporate earth tones, pipe reading lights, a glass partition bathing area, and Wi-Fi. Others have been transformed completely into 36sq m "white" rooms with stressed white-wood flooring, white lamps, a plump white bed and, as a counterpoint, a black-and-white zebra painting and a grey snakeskin-pattern throw-rug. Expect free Wi-Fi, iPod dock, a white work table with a bowl of bright green apples, and an eye-catching textured champagne polka-dot bathroom with a bathtub and a separate hand-shower cubicle. The in-room safe can handle a small laptop comfortably.

Top-of-the-line are the Pullman G Suites with more rumpus room (also in white) with comfy sofas, stretch space galore, homey white-brick walls, plenty of texture to explore, and the GBox - a playful collection of oddities for women ranging from eye shadow and nail polish to condoms. There is a price tag for these items of course. Also find the customary bright green apples on stark white desks. The hotel offers a small pool, a fitness centre and a spa. More remarkable is the top-floor Scarlett wine bar and restaurant with a fine wraparound balcony, terrace seating alcoves and snuggeries and good views over the river and city. This is a happening spot. Stay for fine Italian. Or wander down to the mezzanine floor to Playground, the mixology bar. Corporate meetings can be handled in style at Ballroom 38 (for up to 350 people), cool and funky The Gallery (with 3D flooring), and smaller function spaces. Silom is of course a major city artery with shopping and offices and there is much within striding reach.

A very pleasant surprise on Silom is the new boutique hotel, Triple Two Silom. This 75-room place is intimate and bright, with funky décor and a garden courtyard area inside. Windows have slim wooden slats that enhance the appeal and the lifts feature large black-and-white photos. The rooms sport bright colours – cobalt blue sofas, crimson cushions – and come with a nice toilet. There's DVD, an inroom safe, and high-speed Internet in all rooms. A pleasant distraction is the splash of modern art along the corridors, which creates a residential, rather than hotel, atmosphere.

Glow Trinity Silom suite/ photo: hotel

Close by is an ageing Silom stalwart, the Narai Hotel. The place has a gleaming lobby, a bit out of place with the general musty atmosphere. The Narai is past its prime but works hard to please at the mid-range level and runs a packed ballroom. Bear in mind that accessing the airport expressway from the central Silom hotels involves negotiating traffic all the way to the head of the road before turning off on Mahesak Road.

A reincarnated budget establishment off Silom Soi 3 (50m from the Chong Nonsi BTS SkyTrain station albeit along a narrow one-way dug-up lane), is the Glow Trinity Hotel Silom. There are 104 rooms on seven floors at this "boutique-style" establishment. Walk into a small and somewhat haphazard lobby with a cluttered oddities shop in the middle but, usefully, a free PC Internet station in one corner. There are two restaurants at this level, Japanese, and the informal Foodie that serves an unusual menu of offbeat Thai along with the usual must-have mouth-on-fire fare.

Take a tiny lift up to your floor, exit a bright orange lift lobby and walk down dim grey corridors – Prison Break or modern advertising agency zen, take your pick – to your digs. Room numbers are marked in bold red on the carpet in front of your door so you can't miss the turn off no matter how fortified with Singha you may be. Step into your space and it is here that the hotel starts to really show its class.

Rooms are spacious, with the Deluxe starting at 32sq m. Find grey textured walls sharply offset by a large comfy white-linen bed. Daliesque wall-leaning giant black picture frames hold up one end of the room where you'll spot a black writing table and a TV. Also find a white chair, a lounging divan with orange cushions and bright white lamps. The contrast is striking and pleasing. A sliding panel will reveal a laptop safe and minibar. The toilet is compact but bright. The addition of a DVD player and iPod dock is a nice touch as is the free WiFi throughout the hotel. There are also two Junior Suites and two Executive Suites (the former perhaps outshining the exec setup).

Novotel Fenix Silom /photo: hotel

The young and restless or the old and listless can step across to the street to the sister Trinity Complex to enjoy a vast outdoor pool, gym and beauty salon. The Trinity Complex also houses longstay residences. Glow is a useful address for leisure trippers or in-area businessmen travelling light.

Also check out the relatively cosy and stylish Luxx hotel close by the Silom intersection on Decho Road. The place has just 13 rooms and claims to be Bangkok's "best kept secret", a nice marketing line. Sister property Luxx XL is in Langsuan near Lumpini Park. More on this in the preceding "Central Bangkok" hotels section.

At the start of Silom, on Rama IV near the Sala Daeng BTS station is the new (1 January 2010) Crowne Plaza Bangkok Lumpini Park. Formerly the Pan Pacific, this is a quietly confident 241-room property that will be positioned as a corporate hotel. The rooms run from the 21st floor up to the 32nd floor and this elevation moves guests away from the traffic and honks while at the same time prising open some generous views.

Towards the top of Silom is the evergreen Holiday Inn Silom (formerly a Crowne Plaza). The exterior has been painted a bright yellow. You can't miss it. The hotel is a short walk from the Surasak Station on Sathorn Road and is almost instantly accessible from the airport expressway. There is a Tower wing as well as a renovated old wing.

The safe is just about notebook size. Bear in mind the property can be quirky at times – the morning call may not arrive, the safe might jam, and the lobby will be milling with tour groups. While the hardware has upgraded considerably, much ground has been lost in the service and staff department. This is not entirely the hotel's fault. Large group dependent hotels tend to get overwhelmed from time to time and the Holiday Inn Silom is no exception.

Le Meridien Suite/ photo: hotel

Located in Surawongse Road not far from bustling Patpong is small 69-room The Siam Heritage boutique hotel furnished in the old Thai Lanna style. Internet is charged per day. There is no WiFi in the room. After hours try the Heritage Spa.

Farther up SIlom Road, the towering Le Bua at State Tower offers huge vistas over the Chao Phraya River and the city with enough room to swing a horse by the tail in its spacious suites that start at 66sq m. The decor is chic and minimalist and the Silom Road location offers quick access to the tollway and the airport. A BTS station is walking distance from here at Saphan Taksin. Inroom there's DVD, two flatscreen TVs, three-pin international plug sockets, a sitting room and bedroom, a large bright toilet, iron and ironing board, and a well-equipped kitchenette with toaster, microwave, coffee percolator and a "superbar" in a giant fridge. Disconcertingly, balconies tend to look onto one another but corner suites (two and three bedroom) enjoy greater privacy. Check out the alfresco rooftop Mediterranean Sirocco restaurant but hold on tight to the railings.

Opened late 2010, the 216-room Novotel Bangkok Fenix Silom offers fairly quick access to the expressway as well as to offices and shopping, including some in the hotel’s retail area. It is just about walking distance to the BTS SkyTrain station at Surasak (on Sathorn Road) or Saphan Taksin. Expect bright décor with flashes of colour, flat-screen TV, data-port, in-room safe, espresso machine and Internet access (for a fee). The Premier Executive rooms are on the 19th and 20th floors offering open city views, breakfast, iPod dock, late checkout, and access to the seventh-floor executive lounge (close by the gym, spa centre and swimming pool).

A good slumming option in the vicinity is the clean but basic Silom Village Inn (part of the popular Silom Village cultural and restaurant complex). There's aircon, TV and a safe. For Internet use the lobby computers. Around the corner on Suriwongse are two old mid-range chuggers, Manohra Hotel and New Trocadero Hotel.

Stately Sukhothai Superior /photo: hotel

Set a little away from the road, the Manohra Hotel is surprisingly clean, tidy and respectable. Reception is brisk and efficient. This is still a popular local haunt. The New Trocadero Hotel sports a great colonial grey-and-white exterior. It is however smack on the road, surrounded by coils of the ubiquitous black Bangkok electric cables, and can get a tad noisy. Inside is spartan with one sofa in the tiny lobby. Don't expect much by way of service or style but the rooms (ask for a "Small Room") start at just Bt800 – with aircon and TV.

Conveniently across the road from the nightlife hubbub of Patpong, The Montien Hotel Bangkok is always a good option. Service is efficient and rooms can be quite large depending on the wing. Ask for deluxe in the North Wing. This is BIG. There's a safe in the room and high-speed Internet is available. Staff are courteous and welcoming.

A hop and a step from here is the new Le Meridien Bangkok, a modern glass edifice sprouting from the roadside buzz looking over open city views to one side, and the nightlife district of Patpong on the other. Opened December 2008, this 282-room hostelry is uncompromisingly mod, hip and minimalist. There's no clutter, design lines are clean and straight, if stark, and dark corporate wood tones dominate punctuated by playful art and splashes of light. Walk into an open lobby under the nonchalant gaze of eternal rebel James Dean etched on the floor-to-ceiling glass window. Rooms range in size from 36sq m for a Standard to a tad more for a Vista Plus. Suites are generously portioned. Expect touchscreen phones, laptop-size safes, 32-inch flatscreen LCD TVs (42 inches in a suite), audiovisual dataport to hook up a computer or video, a long and somewhat slim work desk with two multi-pin three-hole sockets, electronically controlled blinds and curtains, and iron and compact ironing board.

Banyan Grand Club Suite/ photo: hotel

Toilets feature black marble floors, sliding partitions that open onto the bedroom directly and rain showers plus bathtubs. Stand, sing, soak or plug into WiFi or cabled Broadband at about Bt650 per day. The rooms are welcoming and well lit if sparse. The sixth floor hosts an outdoor pool that catches a healthy bit of sun, a 24-hour fitness centre, and a spa. This is a useful and very central address for corporates, shoppers and holiday trippers.

Parallel to Silom, the major artery of Sathorn hosts a clutch of top addresses. The Sukhothai Bangkok has long been the favourite on this strip, its statues, silk and wood interiors attracting the discerning set. At the Colonnade restaurant get a lick of the incredibly delicious chocolate truffle fudge at justaround Bt500 for a small bag. There's manicured gardens, water pools with amazing statuary, jazz, good Italian, excellent Thai food at the pond-setting Celadon, ample fitness facilities and a swish pool area. For a definitive, luxurious Thai statement, The Sukhothai is hard to beat. Great service and ambience with a leisurely, unhurried feel. The jewel in the crown here is Spa Botanica, in a garden setting, with exotic offerings ranging from coffee scrubs to a Thailand flower ritual. (The Sukhothai Bangkok is showcased in our exclusive by-invitation Top Asian Hotels Collection, featuring the best Asian hotels, resorts and spas in a printable A4 page with stunning visuals.)

Next door is the towering matchstick-slim Banyan Tree Bangkok which offers a spa with a view and the sweeping vista 60th floor Chinese Bai Yun restaurant. Atop the entire edifice is the rooftop eyrie, Vertigo bar and grill. Just don't look down. The hotel has gobbled up a few more floors from the host office block to increase its room inventory from 215 to 327. Rooms have been smarly refurbished with additional categories like the Grand Club and one and two-bedroom Banyan Suites. Turn off Sathorn into an easy-to-miss driveway right after Sukhothai to find the hotel. A small low-ceiling lobby leads on to two banks of quiet elevators whisking guests up to their rooms with a view.

Banyan Tree, Vertigo/ photo: hotel

Club Rooms offer pastel olive carpets with swirling dots (it's not the Singha beer definitely), wall-mounted flatscreen TVs, a long divan, glass-topped work table with two multi-pin sockets, ergonomic chairs and complimentary Broadband (in lower category rooms you'll have to fork out for Internet). In the bathroom find a free-standing tub on a raised plinth set, if you're lucky, against the window. No one will mind if you stand up and show off though I might save my stringy biceps for myself. Expect twin vanities, a large shower cubicle, and smart amenities. The eco-friendly hotel also serves up a do-it-yourself iron and ironing board.

The Banyan Tree Grand Club rooms offer a living room, a bedroom and a bath area all separated by sliding doors. Expect dark muted colours and pools of light. The 19th floor Club Lounge is truly vast. No cheek-by-jowl breakfast conversations here. On this floor are board rooms, meetings rooms and a business centre along with complimentary Internet access on hotel computers. And topping the scale at over 119sq m is the two-bedroom Grand Banyan Suite with small kitchenette, cream tones, a huge bathroom with Jacuzzi, twin vanities and a six-seater dining table. There is a smaller toilet too for those you wish to banish from the privilege of sharing your toothbrush. This is a smart Bangkok business hotels choice though it is not convivially close to a BTS SkyTrain station and Sathorn traffic can stack up at peak times.

The third, and latest entrant, here is the chic Metropolitan Bangkok that has made waves since its opening. The reconverted YMCA looks nothing like its former backpack self and is now all minimalist colonial cream with crisp rectangular lines, dark wood panelling, sudden splashes of colour and funky bric-a-brac. Rooms are mod but comfortable with laptop-friendly safes. The suites offer free high-speed Internet, split-level accommodation and even a huggable white iMac computer with swivel screen.

Anantara Bangkok Riverside/ photo: hotel

There is a large, flat-screen Philips TV, a DVD player (in all rooms), a radio alarm clock, a twisty tube for piped light, and a yoga mat. Thoughtful! The business centre is claustrophobically small but funky with the obligatory 17-inch-screen iMacs. Yes, if you need a laptop, the hotel can provide iBooks at a small charge per day (with a deposit). For after-hours there's the Shambala Spa, plenty of organic food, and the trendy black-and-red Met bar with its myriad martinis. Plug-points are square three-pin.

None of these hotels is particularly close to the SkyTrain. On the opposite side of Sathorn is the Evergreen Laurel. This property is often billed as a five-star but tends to offer mid-range prices and service. The ibis Sathorn opened in September 2008 and is located in Soi Ngam Duphli, just off Sathorn Road in downtown Bangkok. It’s the third ibis hotel for the city, and its 213 basic rooms offer small work desks, flatscreen televisions, and separate bathrooms. Wireless (as well as wired) Internet access is available in rooms and public areas for Bt500 per day. There is a restaurant offering Thai-style tapas, as well as one bar. The hotel accepts pets.

Sleek and stylish, W Bangkok (soft opened late 2012) is a gleaming high-rise in the Sathorn area. A brief but convoluted stroll from the BTS Skytrain, this hyper modern, 407-room address is aimed at relatively young, well-heeled leisure and business travellers. Each room is outfitted with neon colours, tinted-glass wall separators, iPod docks, rain showers, deep soaking bathtubs and modern furniture, but WiFi will cost you Bt400 per day. A typical "Wonderful" room serves up upwards of 41sq m in muted pastels. Texture is abundant. Expect flat-screen TV, faux crocodile-skin black wall corners, dragon print bed covers and two large centre-piece gold "muay Thai" boxing glove cushions. A tablet console manages all electricals and a data-port is on hand for other plug-ins.

W Bangkok "Wonderful"/ photo: Verghese

Several thoughtfully arrayed electric sockets are to be found (three-pin multi) around the work desk and on either side of the bed. Charge all your gadgets in one go. A brown suede curtain shields the bathing area with its black-tile walls, rain shower, bathtub, and sensibly large mirror with framed lighting (that alas may prove a bit dim for close shaves and make-up). There is a top-loading laptop-friendly safe, an iron and ironing board and more.

The lively design continues into the striped corridors and the fluorescent Woobar at the ground floor lobby level, where the young and restless - and well dressed - sip hallucinogenic cocktails. The gym and outdoor pool are on the sixth floor. The pool is in the shape of an eye and from far above the illusion is exaggerated by use of lights to replicate a retina. This is a small fun pool and not your garden variety fast-lap calorie burner.

The colonial former Russian Embassy outside the hotel entrance is a heritage add-on to the otherwise unabashed bling design cocktail in the main tower featuring mood lights (lots of purple) and a flashing wall panel with blinking tuk-tuk lights. With an entrance on Sathorn Road, which gets hugely crowded at office peak times, taxis may be an occasional worry but the BTS access is a godsend. All in this is a fun playground for suits on steroids smack in the middle of a busy - and growing - office district.

Making its mark on the city skyline with two towers is Anantara Bangkok Sathorn, the group’s first city hotel. Open March 2011, this contemporary property is a short walk from Sathorn Road and has 425 rooms with balconies overlooking the city or river. For business or pleasure there’s a spa, kids’ club, infinity pool, conference facilities and free WiFi in public areas. The closest BTS SkyTrain Station is Chong Nonsi.

W Spectacular room/ photo: hotel

At the upper end of Sathorn Road is the Ascott Bangkok, a stately presence with roomy serviced apartments for those in search of a stretch-out Bangkok long stay hotel. There are 177 residences from studio to three-bedroom apartments all with modern kitchens, WiFi and more. Expect a fitness centre, pool, business centre and a playroom for kids. The same group also runs Somersets and affordable Citadines in various locations like Sukhumvit and Suanplu. The Somerset Lake Point offers private Bangkok serviced apartments on Soi 16 Sukhumvit, and the Thonglor property in a residential part of town, will offer access to Sukhumvit. Find Citadines along Sukhumvit in sois 8, 11, 16, and 23. Citadines Bangkok Sukhumvit 8 is a hi-tech retreat with a high-floor pool with open views. A complimentary tuk-tuk ride will get you to the nearest BTS SkyTrain Station at Nana.

Bangkok River Hotels

The svelte 32-storey 533-room Millennium Hilton Bangkok just across the river from the Royal Orchid Sheraton is a hip contender. It has to be, parked as it is farthest among the new crowd from the Saphan Taksin BTS SkyTrain station, on the once unfashionable "other" side of the Chao Phraya River. Chug upriver, and 10 minutes on the hotel's tiny boat will bring you to a pretty happening place. Head past the riverfront Flow restaurant straight up a glass lift, enjoying Cinemascope views of the river scene, to the 31st floor Executive Lounge with tightish seating but expansive views, and the informal alfresco "Rooftop Picnic" for a romantic sundowner with chillout music. Walk up one floor to more panoramas, from indoor this time, at the Three Sixty nightclub and jazz lounge. Public WiFi is free but it's charged in the rooms.

Millennium Hilton Bangkok/ photo: hotel

Deluxe Rooms at the Millennium Hilton Bangkok start at 34sq m with simple lines and muted earth-and-gold tones. The line of sight runs from the bath through a glass partition to the bedroom and on. Hit a button to lower the blinds though the less reticent may enjoy the view. All rooms look onto the river. The bathroom is neat and compact with a separate tub and a shower cubicle. In-room find a laptop-size safe, iron and ironing board, a small round-top dining table that doubles as a somewhat awkward work space, Broadband, a boxy TV and a one-touch "magic" button on the phone for all services. No more fiddling around to find housekeeping.

Sixteen new Delux Plus rooms have space for three persons. This came about by combining rooms to extend stretch space. Executive Rooms are similar in size and scheme but with the useful addition of a long work table set behind the bed's headrest and, of course, access to the Executive Lounge. Find a flat-screen TV, large wooden slats covering the bathroom glass partition, a high-back executive leather chair and a Jacuzzi bathtub.

A spa takes care of post-work stress while the health club and its arsenal of equipment helps work up a pretty decent sweat. The 30th floor is a hi-tech meetings area with meeting rooms. Two ballrooms cater for up to 900 guests while gourmets can enjoy speciality restaurants like the contemporary Thai "Maya" with performances by the Patravadi cultural group. This is a modern restaurant serving 13-course meals with a show from 7.30pm to 9.30pm (except Sundays).

At the farthest edge of the city beyond a great loop of the Chao Phraya River (yet just 30 minutes from the airport and 15 minutes by ferry to a BTS station) the Anantara Bangkok Riverside Resort & Spa (formerly the Bangkok Marriott Resort & Spa) is a splendid retreat. The resort is constructed around a riverfront pool set in an extensive garden area with 11 acres of stretch space and 10 restaurants and bars.

Shangri-La Deluxe/ photo: hotel

For pinstripers who wish to stay connected, there's high-speed Internet access and the lobby and public areas are wireless enabled. The rooms are airy and bright in earth tones and feature gleaming parquet flooring and balconies with nice open views. A nice touch here are the dinner cruises aboard the converted rice barge Manohra. For city introductions talk to the resident Streetwise Guru.

Right next to the Saphan Taksin BTS station is the twin ensemble of the Shangri-La Bangkok and its luxury Krungthep Wing that remains a popular business traveller preserve. The Krungthep Wing has its own pool and provides butlers for those unskilled in the art of unpacking. Need a bath menu? No problem. The Shangri-La was one of the first properties to truly exploit Bangkok’s riverside location with a tall glass-front lobby, and an extensive perky revamp has introduced fresh shine to the place. The new CHI spa offers river views and plenty of stretch-room and style (the Garden Suite is 107sq m) for the pursuit of holistic wellbeing. For those work inclined, in-room high-speed Internet costs around Bt642 per day. The pool area is attractive with gardens and a rejuvenated river promenade. NEXT2 is the next-gen riverside café at the Shang and it sets the place alight. Modern, chic, and happening, it is one of the new features catapulting this hotel into the new century.

Grab a longtail boat at the jetty and scream off down the river for a sunset cruise. The Krungthep Wing is for all intents a stand-alone hotel with hushed, darker, corporate interiors, deep red pillars in the lobby, and subdued lighting. The atrium lobby rises up fringed by greenery. Suites here have a steam iron and ironing board, DVD and river views. The old Shangri-La wing rooms offer a box TV, Thai-style wall mural, a curving glass wall separating the bed from bathroom, iPod connection, several three-pin plug sockets, and a HUGE safe. Expect an iron and ironing board. The new version of room unveiled in October 2009 and gradually rolling out, represents a sea change – modern and contemporary in dark pastel hues. The murals are gone, replaced by wood textures and fabric. And yes, the widescreen TVs are in. Shangri-La Apartments is a serviced executive-stay offering, a minute's walk from the SkyTrain.

Mandarin Oriental old and new/ photo: Verghese

In this area is where you'll find a discreet and historic address, The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Bangkok. This top Bangkok riverside hotel has won more accolades than you can shake a stick at. It offers a charming colonial-style old wing as well as a tower section and a smartly refurbished lobby that reeks of understatement. It's all classic Thai silk. If your purse is up to it, splash out at the Joseph Conrad Suite. A succession of writers and assorted movers and shakers have passed through, some honoured with a hideaway named after them.

The corner John Le Carre Suite is accessed, as are all rooms, with a civilised non-beeping brass key, leading into an ornately classical living room featuring a glass cabinet with gleaming room-use chinaware and an innocuous but twinkling letter to the general manager from no less a personage than Le Carre who found himself a guest here in the mid-seventies while researching The Honourable Schoolboy. Through happenstance he found himself occupying the Somerset Maugham Suite and later at the bar, in the company of a friend, proceeded to entertain himself, aided by generous pourings of champagne, at the expense of an unfortunate British correspondent from a "lofty London newspaper". That correspondent turned vengeful book critic as Le Carre ruefully found out later. "How sobering to reflect that the Oriental can dispense correction to the overbearing as well as champagne to the thirsty," a chastened Le Carre concludes.

Despite the burden of heritage, with rooms spread out in three wings, Main (1976), Garden (1946) and the historic Author's enclave (1876), the hotel manages to maintain an intimate unsnobbish feel, equally welcoming of celebrities, pin-striped businessmen, and swooning couples. Suites serve up large living rooms with spacious sofas, silk bathrobes, Hermes products in gleaming loos, and cosy corner balconies to peruse the quotidian bustle along the snaking river.

Royal Orchid Sheraton/ photo: hotel

There are butler buttons in all rooms just in case you cannot pop open your latest designer LV suitcase and all rooms feature splendid idiot-proof metal aviator switches to operate lights and more. No irksome hi-tech wizardry here to keep you up into the wee hours trying to turn on the "do-not-disturb" light. No iron and ironing boards. That's so do-it-yourself plebian. And should you wish to light up, you can.

Superior and Deluxe Rooms offer similar if less lavish silken luxury with gold and beige colour tones, extraordinarily plump beds, classic round-dial clocks and deep-seating chairs meant to be actually sat in – large book in hand – rather than perched upon. Expect a DVD player and B&O sound system, multi-pin plugs at the work table, a huge vertical safe that will house a circus midget, twin vanities and a lavish marbled bath area with tub.

The Oriental Spa (across the river in an old Thai-style house) will handle any lingering post-conference stress while F&B options include Le Normandie, an old-world French Restaurant, the Sala Rim Nam (Thai) in a traditional pavilion across the river, Lord Jim's for seafood, the old-world Author's Lounge for daintily-sipped English afternoon tea and a riverfront cafe. If you must stay plugged, high-speed Internet costs around Bt642 per day. That scent by the way, is lemongrass ginger.

The Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel & Towers is another stalwart, excellently located for shopping. This robust and long-enduring property has a smart Executive Lounge with services to match, two outdoor pools and some quality restaurants including the popular Giorgio's for Italian. Need quick tailoring? Antiques? It's all there, close at hand. Rooms have been upgraded with pastel silks - and the obligatory panoramic river views. Suites feature giant safes which will hold a small bag, a notebook computer and the kitchen sink. A safe this size is a delightful exception in this age of nouvelle and micro.

Peninsula pool/ photo: hotel

Last but not least, across the river, opposite The Oriental, is the stately highrise of The Peninsula Bangkok. The hotel features dark wood panelling and muted tones. Rooms have spectacular river views and the top-line Theme Suites are equipped with brass telescopes enabling a closer peek at The Oriental and its occupants. There's drama, distraction and, everywhere, the hum of the river as commerce follows its course. Grand Deluxe rooms (on higher floors than the Deluxe category) offer a large flatscreen TV, DVD player, a media port with USB and iPod dock, and an elegant wooden work desk with an array of electric sockets, cables, and complimentary Internet access. A comprehensive control panel by the bed operates everything from curtains to the TV and the AC. There are fax machines in all the rooms so you're never that far away from the familiar whir of your boss's latest gripe or that stock market windfall.

Find twin vanities in the cream bathing area with his and her's washbasins in green marble, a small LCD screen at the foot of the bathtub, ample mirrors and a dressing table in the changing-room alcove with a powerful hairdrier affixed to the cabinet. Knock a grown man at 20 paces with this device or dry your hair, post spa, in seconds. Shoes can be placed in a small compartment at night and the butler will pick them up from the outside (without disturbing your beauty rest), returning them to the same location, brushed and shining by morning.

If there is a quibble, the in-room safe is on the small side. Park cameras and videos here or a really small notebook. However, in these rarefied environs, your laptop should be safe without a Fort Knox guarantee. An iron and ironing board can be requested at any time to battle wrinkles. Rooms average 46sq m so there is plenty of stretch space in addition to the well-thought-out design.

Balcony rooms are a tad smaller but offer similar grand views and a small step-out balcony. You will be overlooked from both sides but, once clad, this is a breezy eyrie. Grand Deluxe Suites offer huge river panoramas with comfy sofas and more stretch space. Laze by the pool that runs in steps along one side of the grounds all the way to the river. Spend time at the spectacular Peninsula Spa by ESPA set in an old reassembled teak house imported from the north, or enjoy water views fromt the River Cafe, the River Bar, or Thiptara that serves Thai cuisine.

Sala Rattanakosin Bangkok/ photo: hotel

As a Bangkok conference hotels pick, The Pen scores high with over 7,500sq ft of meeting space and a good range of AV equipment. While The Peninsula Bangkok is a hedonist's dream with its fleet of Rolls-Royce and Mercedes-Benz cars, and attracts a fair share of leisure trippers clutching Dior and Gucci, it is also an excellent Bangkok business hotel especially if you ensure your clients come to you on, well, the "other" side of the river.

Check-in can be conducted at The Peninsula Pier (close to The Shangri-La) before a ferry chugs you across the river. This is a hotel with a celebrity cachet where things are understated yet opulent.

Across the Chao Phraya River in not-too-far Nonthaburi is the garden-setting Ban Ing Nam Health Resort and Spa with a small selection of bungalows and herbal rooms. Expect a balcony, ceiling fans (there’s aircon too), satellite TV and DVD. On the fitness side choose from a broad menu of wellness, relaxation, fitness, diabetes reduction and cholesterol management. Also available are yoga, kayaking, fishing and walks.

Launched May 2013 with just 17 swish rooms, the Sala Rattanakosin Bangkok offers a great many water views looking out at Wat Po from the less ruffled eastern banks of the Chao Phraya River. This Bangkok boutique hotel serves up contemporary lux with virginal white tones set within charcoal walls and clean straight lines. In-room expect large 30" to 40" flat screen TVs, DVDs, iPod docks, rain showers, king-size beds and the usual toilet impedimenta from hairdryers to aromatic body wash.

Chatuchak, Don Muang old airport, Chinatown, other areas

The Centara Grand at Central Plaza Lad Prao Bangkok (formerly Sofitel Centara Grand Bangkok), is farther out on the old airport highway near Lad Prao (Chatuchak) with good convention facilities and a huge spread of shopping right at its doorstep. The latest iteration of this long-serving property is mod, cubist and Zen with clean lines and a brisk corporate feel. Walk into the lobby to spot lots of black marble, dark wood, and mirror inlay pillars.

Centara Lad Prao suite/ photo: Verghese

The location close to Chatuchak market is always a draw and nearby parks afford the luxury of bike tours on well marked trails. Big spenders might opt for the spacious Plaza Suite with three separate chambers starting with a living room equipped with sofas, light-wood floors, and a wall-mounted flat-screen TV. Next comes the dining hall followed by a carpeted bedroom with an open plan bathing area (there is a sliding door), flat-screen television, laptop safe, in muted dark olive-grey surrounds. Expect a round bathtub, a rain shower, twin vanities and weighing scale. Do consider this address for a value corporate meeting or general MICE event.

Meanwhile back in town at 479 Yaowaraj in Chinatown you'll stumble upon the charming Shanghai Mansion (formerly Shanghai Inn) run by the trendy Burasari group. This is a bright Susie-Wong-Goes-To-Paris sort of place in an original period building with lots of flair and colour. The inn is a 15 minute walk from Hua Lampong train station. Shanghai Inn offers 55 delightful "Chinoise" rooms, all with aircon, free Wireless Internet, mini-bar and cable TV. This is a four-star Bangkok boutique hotel that is definitely worth a look if a Silom-Sukhumvit location is not a prime concern.

Off Phaholyothin Road and near a BTS SkyTrain station is the re-established "art hotel" Reflections where no two rooms look the same. Opt for nutty rabbit kiddy decor, trendy grafitti, or something contemporary. Or opt for the LOVE room. Various designers have worked on the interiors of each room and the hotel website offers a quaint "walk-in" concept with each clickable door image leading into that particular room with details about the designer and concept.

Bright Shanghai Mansion room/ photo: hotel

A fun place and with a quirky and colourful spa to boot. With the departure of the international airport to Suvarnabhumi, the Amari Don Muang Bangkok is rebranding itself as a conference and meetings venue far enough out of the city for that getaway feel, yet close enough to access with ease.

Right across from Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport is the 612-room Novotel Suvarnabhumi Airport. This is a four-star property with all the advantanges of youth and vigour. Add to that two bars, four restaurants and conferencing facilities for those in a rush and you have a reasonable bag of surprises. In-room expect startling whites and bright cushions. A good pit-stop for the family and kids. And that's the long and short of Bangkok hotles.

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The exchange rate is roughly, US$1= 30 baht. The worst rates are at five-star hotels, the best at bank exchange counters in tourist areas. Service charge is 10 percent and government tax will apply. Prices listed here are a rough online guide to the Best Available Rates (BAR) for comparison purposes. Some are published rack rates. Rates from travel agents or from hotel websites, will vary. Prices also change depending on the season and room occupancies. If you need a detailed map to delve into the streets and alleys, buy a Periplus Bangkok Street Atlas that zooms into metro areas with an easy to follow grid. It's a hefty companion but useful.

Sukhumvit Road Area, Asoke, Rachadapisek

Aloft Bangkok - Sukhumvit 11. Tel: [66-2] 207-7000, (www.starwoodhotels.com/alofthotels). From Bt2,484.
Amari Boulevard Hotel. Tel: [66-2] 255-2930, fax: 255-2950, (e-mail: boulevard@amari.com or www.amari.com). From Bt3,700.
Bangkok Marriott Hotel Sukhumvit. Tel: [66-2] 797-0000, fax: 797-0001, (www.marriott.com). From Bt3,500.
Bel Aire Princess. Tel: [66-2] 253-4300, fax: 255-8850, (e-mail: bela@dusit.com or www.dusit.com). From Bt3,000.
Chaophya Park Hotel. Tel: [66-2] 290-0125, fax: 290-1678, (e-mail: info@chaophyapark.com or www.chaophyapark.com). From Bt2,600.
Citadines Bangkok Sukhumvit 8 (also Sukhumvit Soi 11, 16 and 23). Tel: [66-2] 257-2277, fax: 257-2299, (e-mail: enquiry.thailand@citadines.com or www.citadines.com). From Bt1,500.
Doubletree by Hilton. Tel: [66-2] 649-6666, fax: [66-2] 649-6699, (doubletree.hilton.com). From Bt4,250.
Dream Hotel Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 254-8500, fax: 254-8534, (www.dreambkk.com). From US$75.
Four Points by Sheraton Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 309-3000, (e-mail: fourpoints.sukhumvit15@fourpoints.com or www.starwoodhotels.com/fourpoints). From Bt1,900.
Grand Millennium Sukhumvit Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 204-400, fax: 204-4199, (e-mail: hotel@grandmilleniumskv.com or www.millenniumhotels.com). From Bt3,900.
Grand President. Tel: [66-2] 651-1200, fax: 651-1261, (e-mail: enquiry@grandpresident.com or www.grandpresident.com). From Bt2,600.
Grand Sukhumvit by Sofitel. Tel: [66-2] 207-9999, fax: 207-9555, (e-mail: reservation@grandsukhumvit.com or www.sofitel.com). From US$120.
Hilton Sukhumvit Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 620-6666, fax: [66-2] 620-6699, (www.hilton.com). From Bt5,600.
Holiday Inn Bangkok Sukhumvit 22. Tel: [66-2] 683-4888, (www.ihg.com/holidayinn/). From Bt2,599.
Imperial Queen's Park Hotel. Tel: [66-2] 261-9000, fax: 261-9530, (e-mail: queenspark@imperialhotels.com or www.imperialhotels.com). From Bt2,300.
JW Marriott Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 656-7700, fax: 656-7711, (www.marriott.com). From Bt6,300.
Le Fenix Sukhumvit (by Accor). Tel: [66-2] 305-4000, fax: 305-4005, (e-mail: reservation@lefenix-sukhumvit.com or www.lefenix-sukhumvit.com). From US$62.
Novotel Lotus Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 610-0111, fax: 262-1700, (e-mail: res@hotellotussukhumvit.com or www.accorhotels-asia.com). From Bt3,000.
Park Plaza Sukhumvit Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 263-5000, fax: 263-5001, (e-mail: reservations.bangkok@parkplaza.com or www.parkplaza.com/hotels/thabgksv). Rates from Bt2,500.
President Solitaire. Tel: [66-2] 255-7200, fax: 253-2330, (e-mail: enquiry@presidentsolitaire.com or www.presidentsolitaire.com). From Bt3,300.
Rembrandt Hotel. Tel: [66-2] 261-7100, fax: 261-7017, (e-mail: reservations@rembrandtbkk.com or www.rembrandtbkk.com). From Bt3,500.
S15. Tel: [66-2] 651-2000, fax: 651-2345, (e-mail: info@s15hotel.com or www.s15hotel.com). From Bt3,300.
S31. Tel: [66-2] 260-1111, fax: 258-2222, (e-mail: info@s31hotel.com or www.s31hotel.com). From Bt3,960.
Sacha’s Hotel UNO. Tel: [66-2] 651-3180, fax: 651-2179, (e-mail: rsvn.sachas@hotel-uno.com or hotelunobangkok.com). From Bt1,800.
Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit. Tel: [66-2] 649-8888, fax: 649-8000, (e-mail: grande.sukhumvit@luxurycollection.com or www.sheratongrandesukhumvit.com). From US$250.
Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit. Tel: [66-2] 126-999, fax: 126-9998. (e-mail: H5213@sofitel.com or www.sofitel.com). From US$150.
Somerset Lake Point (also in Suanplu, and Thonglor). Tel: [66-2] 663-1234, fax: 663-1250, (www.somerset.com). From Bt2,600.
St James Hotel (by Amari). Tel: [66-2] 261-0890, fax: 261-0902, (e-mail: sales@stjamesbangkok.com or www.stjamesbangkok.com). From Bt1,800.
The Atlanta. Tel: [66-2] 252-1650, 252-6069, fax: 656-8123, (www.theatlantahotelbangkok.com). From Bt500.
The Davis Bangkok. Tel: [62-2] 260-8000, fax: 260-8100, (e-mail: reserve@davisbangkok.net or www.davisbangkok.net). From Bt3,000.
The Eugenia. Tel: [66-2] 259-9017, fax: 259-9010, (e-mail: eugenia@lebua.com or www.theeugenia.com). From Bt5,600.
The Landmark Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 254-0404, fax: 253-4259, (e-mail: reserve@landmarkbangkok.com or www.landmarkbangkok.com). From US$240.
Veronica Residence. Tel: [66-2] 277-9898, fax: 275-5253, (e-mail: info@veronicaresidence.com or www.veronicaresidence.com). From Bt2,200.
Westin Grande Sukhumvit. Tel: [66-2] 207-8000, fax: 651-1080, (e-mail: bangkok@westin.com or www.westin.com/bangkok). From Bt5,800.

Central Bangkok Hotels

Anantara Baan Rajprasong Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 264-6464, fax: 2264-6465, (e-mail: inforajprasong@anantara.com or www.rajprasong-bangkok.anantara.com). From Bt4,600.
Best Western Mayfair Suites. Tel: [66-2] 252-1111, fax: 252-1177, (www.mayfairbangkok.com). From Bt1,560.
Centara Grand at CentralWorld. Tel: [66-2] 100-1234, fax: 100-1235, (e-mail: cgcw@chr.co.th or www.centarahotelsresorts.com/cgcw/). From Bt3,059.
Chateau de Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 651-4400, fax: 651-4500, (www.chateaudebangkok.com).
Conrad Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 690-9999, fax: 690-9000, (e-mail: info@conradbangkok.com or conradhotels1.hilton.com). From Bt5,700.
Courtyard Bangkok (by Marriott). Tel: [66-2] 690-1888, fax: 690-1899, (www.marriott.com). From Bt3,600.
Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 126-8866, fax: 253-9195, (www.fourseasons.com/bangkok). From Bt7,300.
Grand Centre Point Hotel & Residence. Tel: [66-2] 630-6345, fax: 630-6353, (e-mail: reservations@centrepoint.com or www.centrepoint.com). From Bt3,520.
Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 254-1234, fax: 254-6308, (e-mail: bangkok.grand@hyatt.com or www.bangkok.grand.hyatt.com). From Bt8,100.
Hansar Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 209-1234, fax: 209-1212 (e-mail: reservations@hansarbangkok.com or www.hansarbangkok.com). From Bt4,500.
Holiday Inn Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 656-1555, fax: 656-1666, (e-mail: holidayinn.bangkok@ichotelsgroup.com or www.holiday-inn.com). From Bt4,200.
Hotel Muse Bangkok Langsuan. Tel: [66-2] 630-4000, fax: 630-4100, (e-mail: H7174@accor.com or www.mgallery.com/gb/hotel-7174-hotel-muse). From US$185.57.
Hotel Novotel Bangkok Fenix Ploenchit. Tel: [66-2] 654-6945, fax: 654-6993, (e-mail: RE.nbfp@fenatex.net or www.novotel.com). From US$82.
InterContinental Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 656-0444, fax: 656-0555, (e-mail: bangkok@interconti.com or www.ichotelsgroup.com/intercontinental/). From Bt5,100.
LIT Bangkok Hotel. Tel: [66-2] 612-3456, fax: 612-3222, (e-mail: reservation@litbangkok.com or www.litbangkok.com).
LUXX XL. Tel: [66-2] 684-1111, fax: 684-1115, (e-mail: reservationsxl@staywithluxx.com or www.luxxxl.com). From Bt2,125.
Nai Lert Park Bangkok (a Raffles International hotel). Tel: [66-2] 253-0123, fax: 253-6509, (e-mail: emailus.bangkok@nailertpark.swissotel.com or www.nailertpark.swissotel.com). From Bt3,800.
Novotel Bangkok on Siam Square. Tel: [66-2] 209-8888, fax: 255-1824, (e-mail: reserve@novotelbkk.com or www.novotel.com/asia). From Bt3,600.
Pathumwan Princess MBK Centre. Tel: [66-2] 216-3700, fax: 216-3730, (e-mail: rsvnppb@dusit.com or www.dusit.com). From Bt4,500.
Plaza Athenee Bangkok, A Royal Meridien Hotel. Tel: [66-2] 650-8800, fax: 650-8500, (e-mail: reservation.bangkok@lemeridien.com or www.bangkok.lemeridien.com). From Bt4,500.
Pullman Bangkok King Power. Tel: [66-2] 680-9999, fax: 2680-9998, (e-mail: rsvn@pullmanbangkokkingpower.com or www.pullmanbangkokkingpower.com). From US$102.
Renaissance Bangkok Ratchaprasong Hotel. Tel: [66-2] 125-5000, fax: 125-5001, (www.marriott.com). From Bt6,200.
Siam Kempinski Hotel. Tel: [66-2] 162-9000, fax: 162-9009, (e-mail: sales.siambangkok@kempinski.com or www.kempinski.com/bangkok). From Bt7,900.
Siam@Siam Design Hotel & Spa. Tel: [66-2] 217-3000, fax: 217-3030, (e-mail: rsvn@siamatsiam.com or www.siamatsiam.com). From Bt3,823.
Sivatel Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 309-5000, fax: [66-2] 309-5050, (e-mail: info@sivatelbangkok.com or www.sivatelbangkok.com). From Bt3,398.
St Regis Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 207-7777, fax: 207-7888, (e-mail: stregis.bangkok@stregis.com or www.starwoodhotels.com/stregis). From Bt7,800.
The Okura Prestige Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 687-9000, fax: 687-9001, (e-mail: sales@okurabangkok.com or www.okurabangkok.com). From Bt5,800.
The Siam Heritage. Tel: [66-2] 353-6101, fax: 353-6123, (e-mail: rsvn@thesiamheritage.com or www.thesiamheritage.com). From Bt2,700.
TENFACE. Tel: [66-2] 695-4242, fax: 695-4240, (e-mail: info@tenfacebangkok.com or www.tenfacebangkok.com). From Bt2,700.
VIE Hotel Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 309-3939, fax: 309-3838, (e-mail: info@viehotelbangkok.com or www.viehotelbangkok.com). From US$110.

Central Bangkok Mid Range

Arnoma Hotel Bangkok. (e-mail: reservations@arnoma.com or www.arnoma.com). From Bt3,100.
Asia Hotel Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 217-0808, fax: 217-0109, (www.asiahotel.co.th). From Bt1,950.
Baiyoke Sky Hotel. Tel: [66-2] 656-3000, fax: 656-3555 (e-mail: baiyokesky@baiyoke.co.th or www.baiyokehotel.com). From Bt2,500.
Indra Regent Hotel. Tel: [66-2] 208-0022, fax: 208-0388 (www.indrahotel.com). From Bt2,000.
Siam City Hotel. Tel: [66-2] 247-0123, fax: 247-0165 (e-mail: siamcity@siamhotels.com or www.siamhotels.com). From Bt3,700.
The Twin Towers Hotel Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 216-9555, fax: 216-9544, (e-mail: info@thetwintowershotel.com or www.thetwintowershotel.com). From Bt1,450.

Silom, Suriwongse and Sathorn

Anantara Bangkok Sathorn. Tel: [66-2] 210-9000, fax: 210-9001 (e-mail: bangkoksathorn@anantara.com or bangkok-sathorn.anantara.com). From Bt2,900.
Ascott Bangkok Sathorn. Tel: [66-2] 676-6868, fax: 676-6888, (e-mail: enquiry.bangkok@the-ascott.com or www.the-ascott.com). From Bt3,300.
Banyan Tree Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 679-1200, fax: 679-1199, (e-mail: bangkok@banyantree.com or www.banyantree.com). From Bt5,750.
Crowne Plaza Bangkok Lumpini Park. Tel: [66-2] 632-9000, fax: 632-9011 (www.ichotelsgroup.com). From Bt4,500.
Dusit Thani Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 200-9000, fax: 236-6400, (e-mail: dusitbkk@dusit.com or www.dusit.com). From Bt4,000.
Evergreen Laurel. (www.evergreen-hotels.com). From Bt2,000.
Glow Trinity Silom. (Tel: [66-2] 231-5050, fax: 231-5417, (e-mail: rsvn.silom@glowhotels.com or www.glowhotels.com). From Bt1,800.
Holiday Inn Silom. Tel: [66-2] 238-4300, fax: 238-5289, (e-mail: reservations@holidayinnsilom.com or www.bangkok-silom.holiday-inn.com). From Bt2,700.
ibis Sathorn. Tel: [66-2] 659-2888, fax: 659-2889, (www.ibishotel.com). From US$42.
Le Bua at State Tower. Tel: [66-2] 624-9999, fax: 624-9889. (e-mail: info@lebua.com or www.lebua.com). From US$139.
Le Meridien Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 232-8888, fax: 232-8833, (e-mail: reservations.lmbkk@lemeridien.com or www.lemeridien.com/bangkoksurawong). From Bt5,000.
LUXX. Tel: [66-2] 635-8800, fax: 635-8088, (e-mail: reservations@staywithluxx.com or www.staywithluxx.com). From Bt2,125.
Manohra Hotel. Tel: [66-2] 234-5070, fax: 237-7662, (e-mail: sales@manohrahotel.com or www.manohrahotel.com). From Bt1,200.
Narai Hotel. Tel: [66-2] 237-0100, fax: 236-7161, (e-mail: info@naraihotel.co.th or www.naraihotel.co.th). From Bt1,900.
New Trocadero Hotel. Tel: [66-2] 234-8920, fax: 234-5969, (e-mail: newtroc@ksc.th.com). From Bt800.
Novotel Bangkok Fenix Silom. Tel: [66-2] 206-9100, fax: 206-9200, (e-mail: H7172@accor.com or www.novotelbangkoksilom.com). From US$73.
Pullman Bangkok Hotel G (formerly Sofitel Bangkok Silom). Tel: [66-2] 238-1991, fax: 238-1992, (e-mail: rsvn@pullmanbangkokhotelG.com or www.accorhotels.com). From Bt2,300.
Silom Village Inn. Tel: [66-2] 635-6810, fax: 635-6817, (e-mail: silomvillage@hotmail.com or www.silomvillage.co.th). From Bt1,099.
Sofitel So Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 624-000, fax: 624-0111, (e-mail: H6835@sofitel.com or www.sofitel.com). From US$156.
The Metropolitan Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 625-3333, fax: 625-3300, (e-mail: sales.bkk@metropolitan.como.bz or www.metropolitan.como.bz). From Bt8,580.
The Montien Hotel Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 233-7060, fax: 236-5218, (e-mail: Bangkok@montien.com or www.montien.com). From Bt3,500.
The Sukhothai Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 344-8888, fax: 344-8899. (e-mail: info@sukhothai.com or www.sukhothai.com). From Bt7,300.
Triple Two Silom. Tel: [66-2] 627-2222, fax: 627-2300, (e-mail: boutique@tripletwosilom.com or www.tripletwosilom.com). From Bt2,999.
W Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 344-4000, fax: 344-4111, (e-mail: whotels.bangkok@whotels.com or http://www.starwoodhotels.com/whotels). From Bt5,200.

Bangkok River Hotels

Anantara Bangkok Riverside Resort & Spa. Tel: [66-2] 476-0022, fax: 476-1120, (e-mail: bangkokriverside@anantara.com or bangkok-riverside.anantara.com/). From Bt3,400.
Ban Ing Nam Health Resort and Spa. Tel: [66-2] 962-7750, fax: 962-7753, (e-mail: info@baningnam.com or www.baningnam.com).
Millennium Hilton Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 442-2000, fax: 442-2020, (e-mail: bangkok@hilton.com or www.bangkok.hilton.com). From Bt5,600.
Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel & Towers. Tel: [66-2] 266-0123, fax: 236-8320, (e-mail: 00172.info@sheraton.com or www.sheraton.com/bangkok). From Bt5,850.
Sala Rattanakosin Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 622-1388, fax: 622-1389, (www.salaresorts.com/rattanakosin/). From Bt6,300.
Shangri-La Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 236-7777, fax: 236-8579, (e-mail: slbk@shangri-la.com or www.shangri-la.com). From Bt6,700.
The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 659-9000, (e-mail: mobkk-reservations@mohg.com or www.mandarinoriental.com/bangkok). From US$445.
The Peninsula Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 861-2888, fax: 861-1112, (e-mail: pbk@peninsula.com or www.peninsula.com). From Bt13,000.

Chatuchak area, Lad Prao, Don Muang old airport area

Amari Don Muang Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 566-1020, fax: 566-1941, (e-mail: reservations@airport.amari.com or www.amari.com). From Bt1,550.
Centara Grand at Central Plaza Lad Prao Bangkok. Tel: [66-2] 541-1234, fax: 541-1087, (e-mail: cglb@chr.co.th or www.centarahotelsresorts.com/cglb/). From Bt2,960.
Novotel Suvarnabhumi Airport. Tel: [66-2] 131-1111, fax: [66-2] 131-1188, (e-mail: info@novotelairportbkk.com or www.novotel.com). From US$139.
Reflections. (e-mail: rooms@reflections-thai.com or www.reflections-thai.com).
Shanghai Mansion. Tel: [66-2] 221-2121, fax: 221-2124, (e-mail: may@shanghaimansion.com or www.shanghaimansion.com). From Bt2,420.