The 15 Best Hotels in Bangkok, Thailand

There’s no hotel in the city with a history quite like the Mandarin Oriental. For more than 140 years, the hotel has been catering to the rich and famous with unmatched service, world-class amenities and an ideal location along the Chao Phraya River. Highlights of the property include butler service, a top-rated cooking school, and refined rooms like the Author’s Suites inside the original Colonial-era building. On top of that, Le Normandie is a two-Michelin-star French restaurant and the Bamboo Bar is a legendary watering hole with live jazz and an insanely good cocktail collection. If money is no object, this is the hotel for you.

Shoppers will have a lot to salivate over at the Siam Kempinski, which is connected to the Siam Paragon mall and only a few minutes from the Central World mall, as well as being walking distance from high-end boutique shops and international stores. Inside, a palatial estate awaits, which includes four salt-water pools, lush gardens, a 24-hour fitness centre, and a kid’s club with dance competitions and cooking classes. Dining is also a premium at this high-end spot; guests can chow down at Sra Bua by Kiin Kiin, a one-Michelin-star restaurant by world-famous Danish chef Henrik Yde-Andersen.

Hotel Muse is a cool and eclectic hotel in the middle of the city that provides a younger set of travellers with chic digs reminiscent of 1920s America. The rooftop features a speakeasy with al fresco dining and killer cocktails, while in the basement, Medici Kitchen & Bar has live opera singers and mouth-watering pastas tossed in burning cheese wheels – it’s decadence incarnate. One of the benefits of staying here is the hotel’s destination guide, which is full of useful recommendations of things to do around the city.

One of the most unique boutique hotels is this out-of-the-way spot on the northwest side of Bangkok. Don’t let the location deter you though, as The Siam Hotel goes out of its way to bring the best service to its high-profile guests. Inside are spacious suites (opt for the pool villas for your own private swimming hole) that come with butler service, and facilities that include a lavish pool, one-of-a-kind spa and a host of unusual experiences (where else in Bangkok will you find a hotel that offers guests a tattoo parlour that specialises in ancient Thai tattoo techniques?).

Small in stature but big in history and design, Chakrabongse Villas was built in 1908 as a retreat for Prince Chakrabongse and is a riverside property adjacent to the Grand Palace. The villas are currently owned by the prince’s granddaughter and, with only seven rooms, offer stylish boutique accommodation. Here you’ll find lush gardens, an oblong pool, and one of the most authentic Thai restaurants in the city. The rooms are a mishmash of design and come with free breakfast and Nespresso machines, and a few have kitchenettes and private patios. If you want to get close to the royal family, you can’t do much better than this.

Design lovers have a lot to drool about at this centrally located boutique hotel. From the moment you enter, you’re overloaded by Pollock/Rothko/Kooning-esque paintings and murals with shocks of red coming at you from every corner. Catering to a young, artistic crowd, the Siam@Siam features a pool bar happy hour, a rooftop champagne and wine bar, and brightly lit art installations that illuminate the night sky. The hotel’s location is also convenient, with a BTS Skytrain station next door and the popular Jim Thompson Museum only a couple of blocks away.

Don’t get nervous as you meander down the narrow alleyway leading to The Cabochon Hotel. At the end of a short stretch, you’ll come upon a stunning Colonial-style palace, with white colonnaded balconies and lush green foliage welcoming you with open arms. This small boutique hotel evokes a long-forgotten era and combines it with modern amenities. There are only eight rooms here, and all are decked out in vintage furnishings and hardwood floors. Make a point of hitting the Joy Luck Salon de Thé, a lobby lounge fashioned after Amy Tan’s novel, for a scrumptious afternoon tea. Away from the property, the alleyway has one of the best bars in the city, Iron Balls Gin Distillery, and a hopping nightclub called the Sing Sing Theater.

Travelling south along the Chao Phraya River, you’ll come across a towering, modern hotel that caters to millennial travellers looking for a chic space without breaking the bank. Rooms have phenomenal riverside views that are only topped by those from SEEN, the rooftop restaurant and bar that serves classic cocktails and DJ-spun dance tunes. Though it’s further south than most main Bangkok hotels, there’s a shuttle boat that can take you up north, or paddle you right across the way to Asiatique, a riverfront bazaar with loads of bars, restaurants and the spectacular Calypso Cabaret, which features Thai transgender artists.

The Grand Hyatt Erawan is a luxury five-star hotel with all the trimmings. Located in the middle of the city, it’s attached to a shopping mall and the Erawan Shrine, a holy shrine dedicated to Brahma, the Hindu god of creation. The hotel features a gigantic oblong pool (the adjoining bar of which offers a three-hour happy hour), a spa with nine treatment rooms and a cold plunge pool, and a gym with state-of-the-art machines and daily classes. It also has its own nightclub with live music and DJs, and when you’re ready for some refreshments, you’ll have nine (yes, nine) bars and restaurants to choose from, including fine dining, Italian and casual street-style Thai.

If you want to experience the more notorious side of Bangkok, but want to stay in a five-star hotel that won’t totally drain your wallet, you might want to check out the JW Marriott on Sukhumvit Road. Inside, the hotel has all the requisite high-end amenities: stellar spa, check. 24-hour gym, check. Large outdoor pool, check. Great dining and drinking options, check and check (definitely grab a T-bone from their New York Steakhouse). But just outside the hotel is Nana Plaza, which, for the uninitiated, is the self-described “world’s largest adult playground” and is like an outdoor mall for all things illicit.