ASIA | HOTEL REVIEWS
Bangkok, Thailand hotels: As luxe would have it
Heaven, half off: At top hotels in this Thai city, glamour comes at rates that put other cities' luxury properties to shame.
Luxe hotels in Bangkok, Thailand
Hotels in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Bangkok, Thailand
This is for travelers who think it does matter where you stay. You know who you are.
Sightseeing is OK, but you get a warm, fuzzy feeling when the hotel operator calls you by name. You can't wait to wake up in the morning for room-service breakfast and sleep better at night in ironed Egyptian cotton sheets. You'd never break into your 401(k) to stay at a famous luxury hotel -- Four Seasons George V in Paris, say, or Burj Al Arab in Dubai -- but that doesn't mean you don't dream about it.
For the record
Bangkok hotels: A photo caption accompanying a March 23 newspaper article titled "Heaven, Half Off," regarding Bangkok, Thailand, misidentified the hotel where the swimming pool is located. The pool pictured is on the rooftop at the Buddy Lodge on Khaosan Road, not at the Shangri-La Hotel.
I was dreaming about it a few months ago while flipping through the issue of Condé Nast Traveler magazine that featured the results of a reader poll on the world's best hotels. The Asia list caught my attention. Eight of the highest-rated hotels were in Bangkok, second only to Hong Kong, which had nine places that rated five stars.
On a lark, I priced rooms in both places. At the time, the least expensive double at the fabled Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong cost $552 a night; in Bangkok, the Peninsula was $275. The Four Seasons in Hong Kong? $514. But in Bangkok? $281.
In every case, the rates for five-star hotels in Bangkok were substantially lower than in Hong Kong and sometimes on par with those at three- and four-star hotels in New York and London.
So, how good could places in Bangkok be?
Late last year, I went there to assess. Here's what I found.
THE PENINSULA BANGKOK
Apparently, the taxi driver who picked me up at Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi Airport didn't focus on the address I gave him, because when we approached the Peninsula he said, "Oh, wow, you booked here?"
The Peninsula Bangkok, part of an elite hotel chain with headquarters in Hong Kong, is housed in a skyscraper that looks unimpressive when you approach by car. That's because the automobile entrance is at the back door; the hotel actually fronts on the Chao Phraya River, with two low wings on either side of the main building. An alfresco cafe and orchid-festooned Thai restaurant face the waterfront, along with a pier.
From there, guests who want to sightsee are carried to the busier east side of the river by a fleet of elegant hotel barges.
When I arrived, the Peninsula's liveried doormen pressed their palms together, bowed, then took my luggage. A front-desk clerk gave me a little loop of jasmine and walked me to my room on the eighth floor, where my bags soon magically reappeared.
The room had a sitting area, desk and plush bed with a console of switches like something at
The décor was tasteful but muted, with a few Thai accents including celadon vases, but nothing flashy. It reminded me of a family friend's Upper East Side apartment, the same building where Jackie Kennedy Onassis lived.
I had an aromatherapy massage at the ESPA Spa, the Peninsula's only false note. It shares congested locker rooms with the health club. And although the massage was good, I must have slipped between the cracks because the masseuse was 30 minutes late.
Afterward, I dined at the riverfront Thiptara restaurant, beginning with a delectable shrimp and grapefruit salad, followed by barbecued chicken in coconut sweet-and-sour sauce.
When I woke up the next day, I had only to reach for the console by the bed to open the drapes, revealing the morning show on the Chao Phraya, plied by long, low cargo barges, high-speed motorboats, lumbering water taxis and hotel ferries.
The room-service waiter who brought me breakfast didn't just roll in the trolley, he also volunteered to bring me hot water and lemon when I told him I had a cold.
At the three-tiered swimming pool -- my favorite in Bangkok, with peak-roofed, wooden lounging cabanas that have ceiling fans and Thai murals -- an attendant asked whether I wanted the sun or shade and how long I planned to stay. Then he chose a chaise positioned according to my preferences, factoring in the changing angle of the sun.
In the end, the Peninsula reminded me of why I dream about staying at luxury hotels. It's the craving for a place where everything is in perfect working order -- sort of the way I envision heaven.
THE ORIENTAL BANGKOK
The Peninsula and the Oriental gaze jealously across the river at each other. They are similar, but the Oriental has something the Peninsula doesn't: history.
The Oriental was established in 1876, about the time Anna was waltzing with the king of Siam, and in the ensuing years, the hotel earned a reputation as one of the world's best. It was especially popular with the English-writer crowd that included
Nothing remains of the original colonnaded Italian Renaissance Revival building. But if you walk through the glitzy contemporary lobby, you end up in the Authors' Lounge on the first floor of the restored oldest wing of the hotel, a yellow and green-trimmed colonial-style building that dates to 1887.
With its potted bamboo, white wicker and vintage photos of Thai royalty, the Authors' Lounge is a divine place for high tea.
The traditional afternoon set begins with a little scoop of green lime and gin sorbet, followed by a three-tiered silver serving tray full of delights: miniature scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam, salmon and cucumber finger sandwiches, shortbread cookies, English fruitcake, berry tartlets.
After tea, I went to my room on the 15th floor. At 430 square feet, it wasn't as spacious as the one at the Peninsula and its view wasn't as nice. But it was more elaborately decorated with silk pillows, Thai paintings and other traditional crafts.
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