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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 ensures that despite all the khop khun kraps that
you can muster, chasing appointments around this city is 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.
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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.
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Sukhumvit Hotels, Asoke, Rachadapisek
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| Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit |
Sukhumvit Road
is home to a clutch of fine properties. The Sheraton Grande
Sukhumvit, right next to a BTS station, is a plush address
with bright, comfortable rooms with lots of gold pinewood. Rooms
are, well, roomy, starting at 45sq m and there is high-speed Internet.
For unwinding there’s the attractive self-contained Grande
Spa. Check out the chic, redecorated Thai cuisine Basil restaurant and after-hours head to Barsu for some pulsating retro music and wine. The Sheraton is right next to the Soi Asoke BTS and MRTA stations so access is a doddle.
Across the road
- 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.
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. Good service, attentive staff and a generally brisk atmosphere.
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| JW Marriott Executive/ photo: hotel |
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 (soi means street) 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.
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| Mod new Le Fenix/ photo: hotel |
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. (The JW Marriott Hotel Bangkok features in our exclusive Top Asian Hotels Collection, featuring the best Asian hotels, resorts and spas in a printable A4 page with stunning visuals.)
In October 2007 the Grand Millennium Sukhumvit Bangkok threw open its doors on the central business artery of Asoke Road, Sukhumvit Soi 21. The Grand Millennium Sukhumvit is one of the latest Bangkok business hotels aimed at not just the discerning 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 six restaurants including Japanese, Spanish and Indian 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.
Brand new, 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.
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| Four Seasons/ photo: Verghese |
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 ten 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.
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.
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| InterCon King/ photo: hotel |
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 a focus on residence 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. The latest entrant though is the wild and wilder Dream Hotel Bangkok on Sukhumvit Soi 15 that offers a somewhat surreal escape into blue-light fantasy. Funky bedrooms offer 42-inch Flat Screen TV, Broadband access, Egyptian cotton linen, and iPODs. Enjoy the Avatar Spa, dine in style, or rock. It's all here.
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.
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 is modern hotel is a 95-room boutique-style construction with gym, swimming pool, 24-hour restaurant, and business facilities.
Central Bangkok business hotels
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| Conrad Executive Room/ photo: hotel |
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 new Executive Rooms (on floors 24-32) offer more space, largely on account of smart new flat-screen SONY TVs with a small, yet 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 cannister 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. Just in case you happen to be a PC clod, two 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. 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 ten-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.
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| Holiday Inn Premier Room/ photo: hotel |
Close by on Ruam Rudee are the
comfortable serviced apartments of the Chateau de Bangkok (managed by Accor). Adjacent to the
Conrad is the gleaming Plaza Athenee Bangkok, A Royal Meridien Hotel, which
also offers a spa. The building is not hemmed in and offers a sense
of space. Like Conrad, it can be accessed via Wireless Road or Ruam
Rudee. High-speed Internet is available in all rooms at Bt642 per
day.
On Ploenchit, next
to a BTS station, the InterContinental Bangkok is large, swank, and offers location, location, location.
The InterCon inherited a grand
building (from Le Royal Meridien some years back) that has been taken several notches
further with extensive renovations and upgrades. In-room find swish new iPOD docks, laptop-size safes and flat LCD TVs with satellite hook-up. Conference facilities have been upgraded and extended as well. There is high-speed Internet on Club Floors. Club rooms include a DVD player. There is a steam iron and
ironing board. Furnishings are rich and textured. The hotel has
a bright and airy feel to it and hums along efficiently, catering for its mix of business travellers, conventioneers and holidaymakers. Among Bangkok business hotels, this is one for your diary.
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.
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| Siam@Siam room/ photo: hotel |
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. There is a 612-room Novotel Suvarnabhumi Airport too.)
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. It blends - if not always successfully - minimalist Zen, Thai flourishes, and hi-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.
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| Courtyard Bangkok / photo: Verghese |
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
oon Krong mall.
The Grand
Hyatt Erawan Bangkok on Rajdamri Road is an imposing building
with high white columns and marbled interiors. Crowds of worshippers
and dancers still throng the Erawan shrine devoted to the Hindu
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. 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 innovative 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.
A hundred yards up the road is the
elegant Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok (formerly the
Regent). The close resemblance to the Peninsula Hongkong is no coincidence.
The property was originally built as a Peninsula complete with sweeping
staircase, high ceiling lobby and murals. There are a lot of Thai
motifs and silk.
The Four Seasons has 340 rooms, 32 suites and eight
Garden Cabanas set to one side of the expansive lap pool. It retains
a cosy and personalised feel despite the ample space. There is a
24-hour health club and the Swiss Perfection Spa. The Four Seasons
is next to the Rajdamri BTS station and well located for business
along Sukhumvit or Silom. The area is refreshingly green and open.
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.
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| Dusit Thani Club Room |
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.
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 and a good Executive Floor. The property is not walking
distance of a SkyTrain stop but you can reach the Ratchathewi BTS
Station by tuk-tuk or taxi in ten 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.
Near Victory Monument, the Pullman Bangkok King Power opened in October 2007, 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. For now, enjoy an intro "hot deal" of Bt2,380 bookable only through the hotel's website. See our Fast Facts at the end of the story.
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| Pullman Bangkok King Power/ photo: hotel |
The imposing Centara Grand at CentralWorld – a gigantic shopping complex in the heart of Bangkok – has arrived with the Bangkok Convention Centre offering 10,000sq m of meeting space. The Centara Grand & Bangkok Convention Centre at CentralWorld combine creates one of the best Bangkok conference hotel options with top-line facilities and ease of access with walkways to the BTS SkyTrain. 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. (The Centara Grand at CentralWorld features in our exclusive Top Asian Hotels Collection, featuring the best Asian hotels, resorts and spas in a printable A4 page with stunning visuals.)
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.
Silom and Sathorn Road Area
The junction of
Silom and Rama IV Roads is dominated by the spire of the Dusit
Thani, the grand dame of Bangkok. The flagship
of the Thai-owned Dusit group, the Dusit Thani is all polished marble
and hushed interiors with good service and restaurants. It is close
to the Sala Daeng BTS station, the underground, nightlife and the
restaurants of Convent Road. 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. For tired executives there’s
the Devarana Spa. Opt for the Landmark Rooms in the old wing near
the lobby. These are spacious and well kitted out.
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| Shangri-La Executive River View |
Halfway up Silom
heading towards the river, is the Sofitel Silom Bangkok. The 422-room 32-suite Sofitel offers high-speed Internet
on Club Floors. Rooms are attractive with parquet
flooring and silk bed-runners. The décor is mix of French
and Thai. While service is crisp and efficient for business travellers on the go, this downtown Bangkok hotel is well positioned as a leisure option. Silom is of course a major city artery with shopping and offices. Meetings and conferences are well catered for.
And for relaxation, there's the chic 37th-floor V9 Wine Bar & Restaurant, a popular after-hours venue for food, views and convivial atmosphere. Also on offer is sister-property Sofitel Centara Grand Bangkok (formerly Sofitel Central
Plaza Bangkok), farther out on the airport highway near Lad
Prao (Chatuchak) with good convention facilities and a huge spread
of shopping right at its doorstep.
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 splashes of modern art along the corridors which creates
a residential, rather than hotel, atmosphere.
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 popular budget establishment,
off Convent Road, is the Trinity Hotel Silom. This
three-star place is functional and unpretentious. Local travel agents
offer room coupons at pretty low rates especially
for weeklong stays. Explore this option but don’t expect much.
The rooms are surprisingly spacious. 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.
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| Stately Sukhothai |
At the start of
Silom, on Rama IV is The Pan Pacific Bangkok, a
quietly confident property. The reception is on the 23rd floor.
This is a darkish atrium lobby with water features and exceedingly
quiet. High-speed Internet is available on the executive floors
only at Bt642 per day, par for the course.
Towards the top of Silom
is the evergreen Holiday Inn Silom (formerly 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 Crown Tower wing as well as a renovated old wing. There’s
a terrific Indian restaurant and lots of cricket on TV, if you’re
into all that.
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 of late 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.
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 connection is possible at Bt450 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 metres. 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 flat-panel
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.
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| Le Meridien Suite/ photo: hotel |
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. 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 Bt650 – 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. 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 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.
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| Royal Orchid Sheraton Sweet Sleeper Bed |
Parallel to Silom,
the major artery of Sathorn hosts a clutch of top addresses. The
Sukhothai 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 just Bt480 for a small bag. There’s
manicured gardens, water pools with amazing statuary, jazz, cool 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 The Sukhothai Spa with exotic offerings ranging from "detoxifying coffee scrubs" to "chocolate body masks". Next door
is the towering matchstick-slim Banyan Tree which
offers a spa with a view and the popular 60th floor Chinese Bai
Yun restaurant. The hotel runs from floors 33 to 58 with smart rooms
(or rather, suites), all with vertiginous views.
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.
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.
Bangkok River Hotels
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| Millennium Hilton Bangkok |
Just opened in March 2006 is the svelte 32-storey Millennium Hilton Bangkok just across the river from the Royal Orchid Sheraton. Positioned on the "other" side of the Chao Phraya River, this 543-room property comes with an enviable bag of goodies to woo coy guests. For one, it offers expansive fisheye-lens vistas in all directions. The riverside location has its charm. Guests step into the reception lounge near RiverCity and are transported across by boat. The Millennium Hilton Bangkok offers a chic contemporary style with Thai touches.
Guest rooms are bright and airy, with cinemascope views and high-speed Internet. All executive rooms feature a three-zone design concept separating activities into work, sleep and relaxation. A two-storey 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 ten state-of-the-art meeting rooms. Two ballrooms cater for up to 900 guests and gourmets and nightowls will enjoy the signature Zeta Bar, the jazz lounge Three Sixty and other speciality restaurants.
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 Bangkok Marriott Resort & Spa is a splendid retreat. The resort is constructed around a riverfront
pool set in an extensive garden area. For pinstripers who wish to
stay connected, there’s high-speed Maginet in all rooms at
Bt642 per day for Internet access and the lobby and public areas
are wireless enabled. The renovated rooms are airy and bright and
feature gleaming parquet flooring and balconies with nice open views.
There is a smallish safe (it won’t hold a laptop). A
nice touch here are the dinner cruises aboard the converted rice
barge Manohra.
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| Bangkok Marriott Riverside Deluxe |
Right next to the
Saphan Taksin station is the twin ensemble of the Shangri-La
Bangkok and its luxury Krungthep Wing that was earlier a 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 space and style (the Garden Suite is 107sq m) for the pursuit of holistic wellbeing. For those work inclined, inroom high-speed Internet costs Bt642 per day. The
pool area is attractive with gardens and a river promenade. 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. A new addition within the hotel is Shangri-La Apartments, a serviced executive-stay offering, a minute's walk from the SkyTrain.
Close by is a discreet
and historic address, The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Bangkok. The
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. 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 suite named after them. There are
just 393 rooms in all with 35 suites so there is a fairly intimate
feel to the place. Business facilities are ample and the Oriental
Spa will handle any lingering post-conference stress. Among the
F&B options are Le Normandie, an old-world French Restaurant,
and the Sala Rim Nam (for Thai) in a traditional pavilion across
the river. High-speed Internet costs Bt642 per day.
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| Peninsula Deluxe / photo: hotel |
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.
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 some are equipped with brass telescopes enabling a closer peek
at The Oriental and its occupants. High-speed Internet is available.
Check-in can be conducted at The Peninsula Pier (close to The Oriental)
before a ferry chugs you across the river. Poolside is stylish with
plenty of green areas. After hours, head for celebrity nosh at Jesters
and watch the lights come on in the City of Angels. This is a hotel with a celebrity cachet where things are understated yet opulent. Spend time at their spectacular spa set in an old teak house imported from the north. While The Peninsula Bangkok is a hedonist's dream 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.
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.
Other areas
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| Bright Shanghai Inn room |
At 479 Yaowaraj in Chinatown you'll stumble upon the charming 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. 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 Airport Hotel is rebranding (and rebuilding) itself as a conference and meetings venue far enough out of the city for that getaway feel, yet close enough to access with ease.
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