Where to Stay in Sathorn: A Practical Bangkok Hotel That Delivers Value

Hotel Review: Best Western Click Sathorn 11 Bangkok

There’s a certain honesty to Best Western Click Sathorn 11 Bangkok that becomes clear within minutes of arrival. It doesn’t try to pass itself off as a lifestyle statement or boutique showpiece. Instead, it leans into what many travellers actually need in Bangkok: a clean, modern, well-located base that works without fuss.

New Hotel Opening: GLOW Bangkok Riverside

 

The wellness-inspired brand opens its fourth GLOW hotel in the Thai Capital.

Fusion Hotel Group has announced the opening this month of GLOW Bangkok Riverside, a stylish new hotel overlooking the Thai capital’s Chaophraya River from its vantage point in the city’s historical Dusit district.

Praya Palazzo marks 100th birthday in delicious fashion

Set menu is the centerpiece of special package curated for anniversary of heritage hotel

PRAYA Palazzo, one of Bangkok’s most characterful riverside hotels, is mining Thailand’s rich culinary heritage as it launches its centenary celebrations this month.

What is it like to visit Bangkok? Shopping, Eating, Hotels and Nightlife.

Bangkok is a vibrant and bustling city, with a mix of modern and traditional culture. It is known for its delicious street food, lively night markets, and temples, including the famous Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn). 

137 Pillars Promotion - enjoy a free night

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137 Pillars Suites & Residences Bangkok 59/1 Soi Sukhumvit 39 Klong Nua Wattana Bangkok 10110 E: stay@137pillarsbangkok.com | W: www.137pillarsbangkok.com | T: +66 (0)2 079 7000

Le Fenix: more a beach party than just a Bangkok hotel

I thought I was seeing things. This, in itself, is not unusual in Bangkok, but let me explain …

Entering the lobby of Le Fenix Sukhumvit Hotel with its playful splashes of orange and red, I felt I’d walked into scene from Alice in Wonderland. You see, there was a gent standing there whose head looked like it was actually poking up through the ceiling, jing jing. I did a double take.

Sure enough, I wasn’t far wrong. It turned out to be a syncronous moment in which the world’s tallest man happened to be standing under the world’s lowest ceiling. And as though that wasn’t funny enough, he turned out to be a Dutchman dressed for whatever reason like Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter.

As I said: unusual sights are in themselves not really unusual in Bangkok.

Le Fenix is full of such quirkiness …

The place itself is comfortable enough, designery enough, to carry off its mid-range value boutique hotel positioning. A see-through swimming pool  on an upper floor that gives revelers on soi 11 below a bottom-dwellers’ eye view of you doing your laps (or lap dance) in the pool for instance.

This hotel is slap-bang in the middle of some great BKK party venues, such as Bed Supper Club (50 metres down the road) and Q Bar (longstanding Bangkok favourite) you will literally fall into if you trip on the stairs coming out of Le Fenix.

And clearly not a few guests had been sipping liberally from the cup of Bangkok's notorious nightlife. A couple of Japanese or Korean girls spent a good 15 minutes trying to get the key in the door of the room next door to mine, giggling all the while, until they realized they were either on the wrong floor or had been using their ATM card instead of their key card. Another Western couple stumbled in around 6am full of good cheer and bon homie, just as I was grumpily heading down for breakfast and an early red-eye flight.

But now, with The Nest, there’s no need to even leave the hotel for one of Bangkok’s coolest nights out. This rooftop bar serves 200 baht cocktails (that’s about $6 to you) and after a few you really feel like you are on the beach in Phuket or even in Ibiza or the Carribean. The beach sand floor creates a let's-get-ready-to-party chilling mindset while the DJ spins loungey sort of stuff.

It’s open from 5pm if you want to catch the sunset and twilight glow over the burgeoning Bangkok skyline, and open till 2am,  to add an extra leg to the Bed and Q Bar routine. 

And popular too … I had to wait for at least 3 full elevator loads to pass my floor before I could get in at midnight.

New Bangkok hotel - Renaissance Bangkok Ratchaprasong Hotel

Ok, ok, girls, enough ... I appreciate the hysterical screaming welcome. I had no idea I was this popular in Thailand ... but please, settle down ... no, no, DON'T throw your knickers at me ...

Not your usual blah 

Our limousine (cunningly disguised as a normal taxi) swishes up the endless driveway to the funky entrance portico of the Renaissance Bangkok Ratchaprasong, one of the many new hotels in Bangkok. Around 50 or more teenaged Bangkok girl fans have been waiting patiently all day for my arrival. The hotel has even considerately provided chairs for them. Oh, this is too much. I'm so humbled. Gosh, I believe I'm blushing.

I disembark from the taxi, dispensing a grateful smile and a wave and the girls scream even louder ... but ... why are they not looking at me. They're looking behind me ... what the ... who the ... a splendid limousine purrs to a halt behind me and the screams reach a crescendo. A slender Asian man, with dark glasses and carefully coiffed hair emerges. It's some Korean boy band idol from the group JYJ - I don't know, much less care, if he's Junco, Yuchun or Jejung. Bloody young upstart!

"We are the hot celebrity hotel, with all the hip events," says Khun Wanpen, the hotel's representative of the Renaissance's edgy stature. TripAdvisor agrees, listing it in the Top 10 trendy hotels in Asia last year.

Pool (Korean singer not included)

It doesn't look like any other Renaissance I've ever seen or stayed at. The local designers have gone to town with lighting and visual effects to emphasize the contemporary Thai feeling. The swimming pool dazzles in 7 different colours. The ceilings are covered in texture panels with a flower motif. "That's rajaphuek flower, for a little Thai touch," explains Wanpen. In the rooms, the wood is from Tanganyika, Africa. The elevator is lined with crocodile skin. "The owner is very passionate about the details." I'll say.

This new hotel is wonderfully located downtown with broad views over the historical Royal Bangkok Sports Club. Or the odd rock star who needs to hang out for a couple of weeks of rehearsals in between lounging round the indoor pool. He's beaten me to the 150 sq m presidential suite (costing a cool 50,000 baht a night) so I content myself  in a studio suite.

Blame drunk photographer

Never mind all the fancy amenities: Tuesdays from 6:30-7:30 it's free drinks and snacks, jing jing. (I should clarify, that's 6:30-7:30 PM as I know those in Bangkok like to get an early start some days!)

Wanpen tells me the concept of the rooms is "discover", clean lines with everything tucked away in drawers, cupboards and panels. I discover a lot of things -- for instance, that most of Bangkok can see me languishing in the bath. It is one of the most impressive bathrooms I've ever experienced, though, with a feeling of somehow soaking yourself in the Starship Enterprise. A floating sensation ...

Ok, maybe that last claim had something to do with the free drinks. Or the screaming girls.

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Amari Residences Bangkok -- well, well, well ...

When I first heard the address of this new Amari Residences Bangkok property, I was struggling to place it. It seemed to be well away from the usual well-worn hotel strips, and I wondered why. Was the owner feeling OK when he commissioned this property?

The answer is 'very well' thanks ...

This came clear to me as our taxi rounded the corner at Bangkok Hospital on New Petchaburi Road. Health and wellness and medical tourism is one of the real boom categories for travel to Thailand these days. And just 500 metres from one of the city's biggest and best hospitals is the new Amari Residences.

(In the same area are massive companies such as Electrolux, Yokohama, Siemens, and Italian-Thai, so it's a good location for business travellers, too.)

So into the brand new lobby we go, all clean lines and Martha Stewart furniture. "That one coffee table alone cost us 200,000 baht," says Front Office Manager, Suwat. Off to one side of the lobby is a library, where some folks sit and read the morning papers. To the other side is a new cafe concept called Buttercup, from where tantalising smells of freshly-baked pastries from its European-style kitchen waft into the lobby.

But it's the courtyard that really radiates a sense of well-being. The big open area is dominated by a thong kwao tree, famous for its sap which is a pain reliever. Nice concept! Especially as the breakfast area and restaurant overlook this.

The rooftop is also an inspiring area, where more will doubtless be done once the hotel gets through the soft-launch period. But for now there's a large lap pool (built for functional swimming of laps, with lanes marked and everything, and alarmingly not a cocktail pool bar in sight!) A fitness centre on the roof, and ex-nurses working as therapists in the spa also speaks to the wellbeing orientation of the residences.

And so upstairs to rest and recuperate ...

Our one-bedroom suite was a full 60 sq metres  -- that's the equivalent of a junior suite in many other hotels I've stayed at. Room rates kick off around 2000 baht per night, and long term guests can expect to pay around 55,000 baht per month.

The warm colours certainly work hard instil a sense of upbeat into this place. Egg yolk orange seems to be the central colour theme, jing jing.

This is complemented by quirky panels of contemporary colours giving it a spacious and airy feeling overall. All this ties nicely into the Amari's 'Colours & Rhythmns' rebranding vibe.

Not that I was there for medical reasons (honestly, my facial skin has always been this tight!) but I certainly came away with a good feeling. OK, maybe I had my boobs lifted, a little, but that's all I'm owning up to ...