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.

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Luxe hotels in Bangkok, Thailand

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)

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)

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)

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