Bangkok - Sukhumvit Soi 31: a cultural enclave

In the continuing series of some of my favourite Bangkok sois (streets), today we visit Sukhumvit soi 31.

For a start, you can't miss it: just look for the huge red,  blue and green  poles that soar skyward -- some people see these as robots, others as installation art, and others see them just as huge red, blue and green poles, but the reality is that they are birds' legs. Jing jing!

You see they are part of a massive sculpture which envelopes the stylish new S31 Hotel, ending up with its body higher up the building and its head right at the top. Yes, a little abstract I agree, but that's the signature of the architect (just look at The Nation building).

Walking in about 50 metres or so, the fun starts ...

Cafe des Arts on the left is a perennial favourite. Its bright yellow sign attracts patrons like moths to a flame for its moderate priced meals. A little further on is Bella Napoli, a popular Italian eatery.

On your right, tucked behind a wall is the Himali Cha Cha restaurant, one of the oldest Indian restaurants in Bangkok, which was started by a gent who was the cook for some ambassador or another. 'They started out at a place which is now the car park for the Emporium,' laughs Khuned, a Thai of Indian Heritage who grew up in this area.

Himali Cha Cha is housed in a beautiful old wooden home, giving it a very cosy feel. Many consider it the finest Indian food in Bangkok (they also have two other branches now). 'This whole area used to be just little houses like this,' reminisces Khuned. 'This was like my playground. And I remember walking to and from school through here,' he points down the soi. 'So funny, I remember some of the American school kids would hope into a tuk tuk and tell the driver, Hey let me drive. They'd be popping wheelies and everything!'

Further along, the tone is decidedly upmarket with the Attic art gallery beside the Loft wine bar/ wine shop. It's run by Scottish lass Elsie Evans who's lived in Asia 20 years. A delightful combination, as you can attend art classes or an exhibition there, and slip down for some inspiration at the wine bar! Along with two other galleries, La Lanta and Koi, soi 31 has become something of a happening cultural enclave.

And a little bit further down, is the house of the current Thai PM, Abhisit.

So, all in all, an interesting street with lots of upmarket fun and diversity. Yes, tuk tuks still ply the soi and it's tempting to stop one and ask if we can pop a wheelie for old times sake.But times have changed, the street has grown up, and Khuned -- who's also grown up -- now drives a four wheel drive. But in any case, all of this is a fairly short walk from Phrom Pong BTS station.

Bangkok -- Phachara Suites: Service with a Smell

It's a first for me: I am the first ever guest to sleep on a floor of a hotel. No, no, no, not on the floor, I mean the fifth floor of the barely-even-opened yet Phachara Suites 'serviced residence' in Sukhomvit Soi 6.

When all completed, there will be 194 suites. A fitness centre. A business centre. A spa. A pool. 'An indoor pool with an outdoor deck, I guess you could call it,' says Majinder Kaur, the hotel's GM.

Meanwhile, the smell of newness is everywhere from the bright white lobby (where large-screened Mac computers impart a cutting-edge atmosphere) to the rooms, where the varnish or polish on the parquet floors has probably only just dried.

Nice room! Compact, but well laid out. A little sitting room with sofa and a reading chair and light. Good one! The centrepiece is the bed, facing the window, and half screened from the kitchen area where quality Electrolux appliances hold sway. Bathtub and shower in the bathroom (which is just where, frankly, I would expect to find them.) There are studio, one and two-bedroom options, even some rooms which open onto a garden with BBQ facilities.

Muted tones, floor-to-ceiling drapes. View of bushes and trees, and out onto some larger office and hotel buildings from there. It's quiet ...

The surprise there is that we're just off Suk Soi 4 (aka Soi Nana), which is a heaving street: full of all day-all night nightlife (if that makes sense?), restaurants, cafes, pubs. But you here hear nothing hear here. Then there's the embassy district, and Queen Sirikit Convention Centre. Majinder tells me it's only a minute's walk to the BTS Skytrain at Nana. Yeah, yeah, yeah, heard that one before ... I've spent my life writing ads full of exaggeration and hyperbole and you can't fool me ... oh, I'm already there. It is about a minute's walk. Jing jing!

The overall feeling is comfy apartment or condominium rather than hotel. But right now I'm feeling something else -- wet paint.

Bangkok -- S31: MORE LIKE A SHOWROOM THAN A HOTEL

From the airy but understated lobby to the rooms, this hotel exudes class. Quality. Taste. That elusive something that's often compromised in the bean-counter's heavy-handed search for corner-cutting on the budget.

It's the furniture and fittings. What is it? A feeling that you're walking through a furniture showroom or something in this brand spanking new hotel, where some of the floors are not yet fully operational, and some of the facilities (like gym) are being installed as we speak.

It all makes sense later when I find out that the owner is part of a big furniture importing business family who also, I am told, have or used to have the Mercedes Benz dealership in Bangkok. So that's how they can afford to build a 90-suite hotel building right on prime Sukhumvit Road, a short walk from Phrom Phong BTS station.

Starting with S15 a couple of years ago (see my earlier blog on that), S31 is a bold statement. A statement that says LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME! From the street what you see are long red, blue and green metal pipes extending skywards. From the lobby, you see the rest of what is actually a several-stories tall modern art installation: a bird apparently. In the wide corridors, massive sepia-toned Thai photo art.

Follow me to the rooms: 44 of the 90 are duplex suites, with kitchen and living rooms downstairs, bedroom and bathroom upstairs. Very condo-like. All rooms -- in fact the whole hotel -- are characterised by floor to ceiling glass everywhere for maximum airy lightness, or light airiness if you prefer.

These rooms are all about the bed. Bigger than king sized. Eight foot wide. Approximately the size of an aircraft carrier. Jing jing! You could fit several good friends on here at one time. And a peek under the sheet reveals why they're so astoundingly comfortable -- there's a one-inch thick duvet covering the mattress.

The bedrooms are not that big really -- the bed takes up most of it -- but the illusion of space is there. And from the bathtub, you can open the shutter doors to look through the bedroom to the city view beyond. (By extrapolation, anyone in the city beyond can therefore have a nice reciprocal view of you.)

Speaking of nice reciprocal views, the saltwater pool has got to be seen to be believed. It is above ground, outside reception, with clear perspex sides. So everyone can see you underwater. Cool. Creepy!

If you're wondering what the S in the name stands for, I think it means 'Sharp-Suited Service'. The staff are immaculately turned out in dark coloured threads, chosen possibly as much for their looks as their service ability. But the reality is more prosaic than that (look up prosaic like I had to!): S is short for Soi (street). Soi 31 is a really interesting neighbourhood: art galleries, boutique hotels, a wine loft, funky modern noodle places, etc. And adjacent to all the fanciful nightlife in the world you could possibly want in Soi 33. With Emporium shopping centre, etc, at Phrom Phong near Soi 33/35.

But why would you need to go there, when you've got your own showroom right here?

Bangkok -- SWEET DREAMS ARE MADE OF THIS

I know what you're thinking ... it looks like some sort of lighting technique to make it hard for junkies to find a vein, right? That's exactly the concept the designers at Dream had in mind of course. Oh, and also to make it seem like your bed was floating on a cloud (which it would if you could just find that elusive vein).

The Dream is a concept hotel that has dared to really push it out there; an attitude more than just an idea. For instance, a funky glass spirit house on the street outside. Do Not Disturb signs that light up the word 'Shhhhhhh!' outside your room. Tango and salsa classes. Swirling prints of stars and moons and waves and -- what the hell is that supposed to be?

If you like the colour blue, this is your sort of place. Blue is represented in every shade, colour, hue imaginable, and even then a few that possibly aren't.

But this place is not about the hardware,  it's the software. The people and systems are brilliant. You only have to stay here twice to be a recognized regular. I've stayed here any number of times (some of my best work has been done around the Flava Lite rooftop pool/bar/cafe area) and have always encountered nothing but pleasant, personal and professional staff (starting with the cheery bell boys), happy to go that extra bit for you when you make another damned unreasonable request. For example:

'Could I have a late check out, please.'
'Certainly, Mr Lloyd, would 2pm be OK?'
'Well, I was thinking next Tuesday would be more suitable.'
'Certainly, sir.'

As for the rooms: quality appointments, and a feeling of solidity throughout. Free wireless (or use their computers in 'Biz' for free), DVD and flatscreen. Some rooms have bath tubs. Some have sofas. Some have both. And interiors remain fresh-feeling even though the hotel is now quite a few years old.

They have a restaurant (in stripey orange, brown and red as a respite from blue, with lifesized replicas of tigers and cheetahs in blue and neon pink!), a spa, and a gym (one of each machine, good enough).

Oh, I should mention that the hotel is divided into Dream 1 and Dream 2, facing each other over the road. I've always ended up in Dream 2, the newer wing, so the other one remains an enigma to me.

Soi 15 is very handy to Asoke BTS station and is quite an interesting street with tailor shops (always Indian owned: 'Suit for you, sir?' 'Shirt for you, sir?'), other hotels, hairdressers, karaoke bars, and street vendors grilling pork. At the other end is a khlong  (canal) where you can catch a boat down into town.

So next time you're looking for a high in Bangkok, visit Dream World. With standard rooms available from around 3500 baht per night (including a good full breakfast selection) you'll think you're still dreaming.

Bangkok -- Sukhumvit boutique hotel -- MAC BOUTIQUE SUITES

Location, location, location. No, that's not a typo ... it's the old real estate mantra underlining the importance of position. And Mac Boutique Suites is slap-bang in the middle of so much that you want to be in the middle of.

Try a two minute walk to Nana BTS station. Which itself implies all the nocturnal delights of renowned Soi Nana (soi 4). But in fact, the hotel fronts onto Soi 7 which itself resembles a tropical Oktoberfest it has so many cavernous 'biergartens'. So you won't die of thirst here. Then walk out the back entrance to Soi 11, and you have Indian restaurants, 24-hour cafes, an Aussie pub/cafe, Bed Supper Club, Q Bar. The joint is jumping. You'll find yourself asking for extra hours in the day.

Surprising then that this 62-suite hotel -- which feels deceptively large -- seems so quiet. Oh, apart from the wallpaper in the corridors ... that, dear readers, is so loud you can actually measure it in decibels.

I'm not sure I can describe it in words, and my camera doesn't have a setting that will enable it to capture the verdant vividry of that particular shade of lime green. Suffice to say that epileptic sufferers should exercise extreme caution. But that's just the designer's way of softening you up for what's to follow in the room ... I thought an animal smuggler had forgotten to take their herd of zebras home with them. Turns out to be the living room sofa and chairs in animal print velvet. Benghal tiger skin print, according to the hotel's website. I never realised benghal tigers had flecks of gold thread in them.

The obvious segue here is that the rooms are large enough to swing any member of the cat family in. (Just as there are mantras in real estate, there are mantras in travel writing, and that is to always go for the obvious segue.) I am treated to a royal suite -- they have a larger presidential suite which, at 91 square metres, is big enough to swing several giraffes in, while a herd of bison re-enact the stampeding across the plains). Royal suites have a huge living room with TV/DVD and a guest bathroom. Lots of dark wood and gold fittings. The bedroom itself is nothing fancy -- although two folded towel elephants (see photo) is impressive -- but has everything you'd need and expect including another TV/DVD player and a writing desk, and the bathroom is quite tight but does include a bath tub as the name implies.

Mac also has junior suites and smart suites. Think of them in terms of MacDonalds: junior burger and chicken McNuggets respectively.

On the subject of food, the hotel has just opened its very own Indian Restaurant with 100% halal food. (There are quite a lot of Arab customers given the Kuwaiti origins of the owner, who is called Mac.) So you can dial 1601 and get room service of MacFishTikkas, MacRoganJosh, MacMasala, etc. But no fries with that.

In the room, you'll also enjoy free wi-fi internet. But why stay in the room when there's so much of Bangkok on your doorstep to enjoy. Yeah, good point ... why am I still in the room? I'm off to Nana Plaza, er, I mean stroll the market stalls along Sukhumvit Road. Jing jing!

Bangkok -- Sukhumvit boutique hotel -- Seven: DAY GLOW

You've probably noticed in Thailand that just about everyone seems to be wearing the same coloured shirt on a given day. Gee, I used to think, they must somehow all call each other up in the morning and say 'What are you going to wear today?' and plan to match each other. Then I read that in fact each day of the week has a colour ascribed to it. Furthermore the days themselves are named for the various gods governing certain planets:

Sunday -- red -- Sun god Phra Arthit

Monday -- yellow -- Moon god Phra Charn

Tuesday -- pink -- Mars god Phra Angkarn

Wednesday -- green -- Mercury god Phra Phut

Thursday -- orange -- Jupiter god Phra Pareuhat

Friday -- blue -- Venus god Phra Suk

Saturday -- purple -- Saturn god Phra Sao

So no-one needs to call anyone up. Just remember the day and the colour (OK, sometimes it's hard to remember what day it is when you've been partying hard the night before.)

Why am I telling you all this? Because it's the basis of a really cool boutique hotel in Sukhumvit Soi 31. How cool? Well, so cool it made Conde Nast's, um, Hot List for new hotels in 2008.

It's called Seven, for the days in the week. And, as it turns out by luck or design, there are six rooms plus one communal area which account for all the colours. It is the brainchild of Khun Pylin (or Jane as she prefers to be called), who studied politics and economics and all sorts of serious stuff before paying her dues in the family's paint business. Aha -- so this is just an elaborate ad for a paint factory!
'I wanted to do something with colour and something Thai, so the days of the week ...' she explains.

So she set about renovating a townhouse in a small dead-end soi off Sukhumvit: 'Thais hate dead-end sois,' she laughs, 'probably because they can't use it to drive through, a short-cut to anywhere else. But to me it means quiet.' It certainly is quiet, although just a hundred yards round the corner are some great Italian and Japanese restaurants, and the bubbling cauldron of soi 33's nightlife. Phrom Phong BTS is just a five minute stroll away.

For landscaping, Jane turned to award-winning Thai Piyachanok Wijarn, who has done gardens for Cindy Crawford and Leonardo DiCaprio, among others.

As for the service approach, Jane wanted Seven to be 'small enough so it feels like home, more casual, without things like room numbers.' True, it must be the first hotel I've ever stayed without room numbers. Just colour coded walls in the corridor so you know which is yours. 'I think our guests want to stay not at somewhere five star where you get lost in the crowd but somewhere more personal, especially the communal area where you can talk to other guests.'

The communal area here off the reception area -- a breakfast nook/ reading area/ gallery -- is known as 7th Space and is resolutely red.

To my horror I am shown to the pink room. It feels like I'm sleeping in a girl's bedroom (not that I normally mind that!). Huge photo prints of orchids are sprayed over one wall. Peachy walls, pink curtains account for the rest of the room, and the bathroom -- behind a voyeuristic glass panel -- is a vivid shade of ... gee, would you call that ... puce? No it's redder than puce. I'll need to pull out a paint chart and get back to you on that one.

Jane's personal favourite is the green room: 'A sense of calm, nice sized balcony.' I like that one the best too. And I like the way all the little things like note pads and slippers match the designated colour of the room.

Each one features different Thai/Chinese photo and graphic motifs, designed by English crowd Studio Output. The interiors were done by a young Thai interior designer / architect, with Jane adding her personal stamp: 'Everything you see here I picked out, including beddings.' The linen is 300-thread count, the duvets made of goose down.

Some basic things are missing from the rooms, such as mini fridge and kettle. But higher-order techno items are are all here: DVD player, even an iPod dock, and plenty of plugs for laptops, phone chargers, etc. The hotel also gives you free use of mobile phone with local sim.

Things have come full circle. Jane having paid her dues by working the family's paint business, her mum now helps her out at the hotel. 'She helped with landscaping and she likes gardening, so she's made it more homey.'

At the end of the day, that's the feeling Seven leaves you with. A homey feeling. Where you are a name, not a (room) number. And that's enough to brighten anyone's day.

bangkok hotel -- Ariyasomvilla: a Sanctuary in Sukhumvit

I awake to the sound of crowing roosters. Huh? Where am I? Looking through the sun-drenched floor-to-ceiling drapes offers no clues ... all I see is lush beautiful tropical shrubbery. Then it all comes back to me: I am in the very heart of Bangkok. Tucked away at the end of Sukhumvit Soi 1, to be precise. You can barely be more central than this.

Ariyasomvilla lives up to its name, meaning 'Sanctuary of the Enlightened' according to genial proprietor, Englishman-turned-Thai citizen, David Lees. The property has been in the hands of his wife Pariya's family ever since her grandfather built the house in 1942. Being the first dean of engineering at Chulalongkorn University, you can bet it was built to proper specifications.

Indeed, that house still stands in '100% original' condition, the centrepiece of the expanded hotel which opened in 2008 'just 10 days before Lehmann Brothers collapsed'. David, dressed for all the world like a mahout from Surin, affords himself a sly grin. 'It was Pariya's vision, her dream, to do this ... she was determined to do something with it to ensure the house would survive.'

The lush tropical surrounds, and the solid feeling of the rooms and the decor lends a wonderful established authenticity to the hotel. No wonder: it turns out that David spent many a year working for the Shangri-La group in Hong Kong, overseeing their landscaping and interior design operations. Pariya was a landscaper. That's how they met. The level of understated taste here all makes sense now.

'We're not trying to compete with the Shangri-Las and the Orientals,' he says, ' but if you're looking for something more sincere, more genuine ...'. The staff have a similarly affable approach to service. Switched on, but not overly yes sir-no sir.

David is hands on. He mixes with the guests at breakfast, makes sure that your coffee is on its way. He plays mein host to the cosmopolitan mix with ease and excellence. How hands on? Well, he even had the hotel's 12 toast racks designed and made to order. 'The essence of living in Thailand is you can still get people to do one-offs and short runs for you without blinking,' he enthuses. 'And they bring a lot to the product themselves, whether its ceramics, fabrics, brass or wood.'

This can best be felt in the 24 rooms themselves: beds, headboards, wardrobes were all made by David and his team. Solid wooden stuff, no corners cut. He's also a big fan of Jim Thompson's fabrics, used extensively throughout, most notably with the curtains which reach all the way to the 3.2m ceilings (four metres in the case of their 8-9000 baht a night prime suite).

'I also discovered we already had a lot of things: I'd buy things to sell but hated to part with them -- carvings, paintings, etc, tucked away.' The reception areas feel like a casual browse through an Asian antique store.

The generous bathrooms exude a soothing tropical spa ambience with pebbles and tiles and greenery.

They do have a fully-fledged spa on site, as well as a pool, a library and even a meditation hall. And a restaurant that does '70% vegetarian and 30% percent seafood,' the full-figured vegetarian tells me.
His passionate attention to the tiniest details is inspiring. 'I buy our jams and marmalades and whole-meal breads from a little bakery in Chiang Mai.'

I might not have made time for meditation or a spa here (given I am just too busy typing this up around the peaceful pool), but I walk away feeling very, very enlightened ...

They certainly have created something here worth crowing about.

Thailand Hotels -- Sukhumvit boutique hotel -- Bangkok Boutique Hotel

The BBH claims to be the first of the modern crop of boutique hotels in Sukhumvit Road, and in a way it feels like it. A little tired, and lacking in some of the flair and flourish of its more contemporary kin.

Nestled off Soi 21, it's not an easy walk to the BTS station; in fact I resorted to an adrenaline-pumping motorcycle taxi on a couple of occasions to get me to Asoke. (And I believe that no-one is every truly deeply religious until they've ridden on the back of a Bangkok motorcycle taxi in peak hour!). They're also a couple of hundred metres on the other side away from the MRT station.

BBH tries hard. The red colour scheme is not for me, but, hey, it seems to work for the billion or so Chinese on the planet. I am told each room is uniquely different. I hope so. A high red feature ceiling in my room. Red stripes on the wall. Some gold sanskrit lettering. All these take your attention away from the fact that the room itself is pretty basic, and the bathroom needs an overhaul. Oh, and I had to walk up three flights of stairs to my room.

But the service you can't fault (I'm resisting inserting the old gag 'because there isn't any'!). Internet is available via a couple of computers in the lobby, available at 150 baht per hour and high speed wi-fi is available in room. The receptionist was kind enough to let me use the computer offline for free, though.

There's also a cozy coffee corner, and a nicely lit outdoor garden.

If you are looking for a breakfast that's going to inspire and shape the rest of your day, you might be better off staying in bed. It does the job is what I'll say. But what is worth springing out of bed for is the range of complimentary half day tours included in your room rate. No catch. Just let them know when you want to go, and you'll be picked up and shuttled around to see the highlights of Bangkok, or to the Grand Palace. Yes, Amazing Thailand right?

However, if I've been a little hard in marking BBH down, it's all reflected in the price, rooms typically available at around 1800 baht per night. A lot better than what you'd find in your own country for that sort of money.

Thailand Hotels -- Sukhumvit Road boutique hotel -- S15 Hotel Review.

S15 sounds like a secret agent code or something, but it's a simple mnemonic for this funky orange-and-glass facaded hotel right on Sukhumvit Road Soi 15. Which is good and bad news ...

Location-wise it couldn't be any more convenient, literally a hundred steps to Asoke Station, where both the BTS skytrain and the underground MRT train system service all points. But while they've done an amazing job of reducing the ambient traffic noise, not even triple glazing combined with Bose noise-cancelling headphones is going to cut out the brrraAATTTTTT of a tuk tuk hitting top speed at 4am outside your window. So it isn't the cliched 'oasis of calm'.

But it does offer leisure and business travellers a range of well-appointed rooms and suites with arguably among the comfiest beds I've slept in anywhere in the world. The colour scheme is beige and cream (fairly neutral by boutique hotel designer standards, who seem to think that 'boutique' is a license to revisit some 1970s LSD fantasy trip, with the net result that you can't get your eyes to close no matter how jet-lagged you are).

And mirrors. What is it with the mirrors? All leaning up against the walls and corridors, like they ran out of hooks to hang them with. Oh, those crazy boutique designers ...

On the plus side of the ledger, though, the lemongrass scent throughout the hotel is instantly soothing, and the bathrooms are really large with generous-sized bathtubs, and DVD players in the room. Hi-speed WiFI is available in all public areas and rooms, free of charge, plus there is a business centre and 'technology concierge'. The staff are all thoroughly engaging, in both Thai and English.

The breakfast is a good offering of Asian and Western style dishes, more than enough to set you up for the day. Note though that once the kitchen is closed at night (around 10pm) you won't be able to get room service meals. There is however a 7-11 across the footbridge directly opposite (in Bangkok nowhere is more than 5 metres away from a 7-11).

The rates here are generally around the 2200-2500 baht level per night. Overall: very pleasant staff, a pleasant stay, and damn good value. Would stay here again for sure.