Bangkok’s Shangri-La Hotel, center, has staked out not only a place on the east bank of the Chao Phraya River but a position on the Thai city’s list of five-star hotels. And the Shangri-La and its Bangkok peers provide their hospitality at gratifyingly modest rates. In the Shangri-La’s case, that means doubles as low as $200. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
A guest soaking at an Oriental Bangkok pool has taken a dip in history, so to speak. The Oriental was established in 1876 and, in ensuing years, earned a reputation as one of the world’s best, favored by such writers as Joseph Conrad, Graham Greene and Noël Coward. (Try the Authors’ Lounge for a splendid high tea.) Doubles as low as $269. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
A long, beautiful riverside pool bordered by lounging cabanas is one of the delights at the Peninsula Bangkok, a Thai outpost of an elite Hong Kong-based chain. From the Peninsula’s perch on the Chao Phraya’s west side, guests who want to sightsee are carried to the busier east side by a fleet of elegant hotel barges. Doubles as low as $244. (The Peninsula Bangkok)
The Somerset Maugham Suite at the Oriental Bangkok is consistent with a Times’ reporter’s summation of the hotel as opulent, and another reminder of the Oriental’s identification with people of letters. The Oriental is a member of the Mandarin Oriental luxury hotel group. (The Oriental Bangkok)
The pool at the Peninsula Bangkok faces the Bangkok skyline and the Chao Phraya. A show in itself, the river is plied by long, low cargo barges, high-speed motorboats, lumbering water taxis and hotel ferries. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
Guests relax at a pool at the Buddy Lodge on Khaosan Rd., where the Chi Spa and the riverside Salathip restaurant’s Thai cuisine also can have a soothing effect on visitors. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
The Oriental Bangkok shines through darkness, and it’s not the only attraction in its locale. The handsomely restored O.P. Place shopping center is on the same alleyway as the hotel. An explorer setting out from the Oriental also could find Bangkok’s old Assumption Cathedral and the French Embassy. (The Oriental Bangkok)
Art has a place above a big, comfortable-looking bed at the Four Seasons Bangkok, where one visitor reported sleeping like a baby after a skilled massage and a dinner at the Spice Market restaurant. Doubles as low as $195. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
