1 night in Bangkok before flying home - stay near airport or city?
 

Hello,
I will be returning to Bangkok for a night before flying back to the U.S.. We arrive at BKK at 12 noon. We are staying at Anantara Riverside for 3 days at the beginning of our trip. Should we stay near the airport for our 10 am flight the next day? Any hotel recommendations for that area? I would think the pro's of staying near the airport are that we could get into the room and drop our stuff off, then head into the city for the rest of the day. Also, being close for our morning flight would be a plus. Thank you for the help.

If it were me - and it isn't - I'd stay in Bangkok for that last night. The area by the airport is a vast wasteland. I only stay at a hotel by the airport if I am flying in at midnight and out early in the morning. Otherwise, I always stay in the city. That way, you have time to do a bit of sightseeing or shopping and have a really lovely dinner before your flight the next day. BTW, did you know that three of the top 50 restaurants in the wold are in Bangkok? We are going to try to hit all three next month.

Thank you Kathie, I can't wait to hear what you thought of the restaurants! Can you recommend and alternative to the Anantara Riverside? Ideally it would be close to transportation from BKK so we can drop our bags and get out there. Also we took your advice from a previous post and added a day in Siem Reap. When I have our daily itinerary done I will post to get some more advice.

I stayed in the district near to Soi Cowboy (the redlight area) It was really conveinent to get around and see the city from there on the subway. I even had a flight that was at 7 am in the morning and was able to easily grab a taxi which took me to the airport in only 20 minutes via the highway. However, I did have to pay about 70 Baht in highway fees.

-Shannon

10am flight means you should be at the airport at 7am. You can catch the first Airport Rail Link (train) from Phaya Thai station at 6:02am (or every 12-15 minutes after that) and still be at Suvanabhumi Airport in good time (45-55 minutes). So I advise you to stay in Bangkok near the ARL or BTS.

Definitely stay in town. It means an early start but at that time of day it really doesn't matter where you stay so pick a hotel you like, preferably one with quick access to the expressway. The Conrad on wireless road is one option that springs to mind ( also has some excellent restaurants on site or, for something local, is close to the excellent Polo Fried Chicken.

We tried the Airport Rail link a couple of times but didn't feel that it added much by way of speed or convenience over a taxi.

I don't know..if your budget can handle the airport Novotel, it would simplify your layover. You can walk or take their shuttle from the airport to the hotel. The Novotel rooms are booked in 24 hour blocks, you'll be able to check in right away.

Take the train from the hotel stop into town and you can do as you like all day and evening. If you're using the train,make sure to leave bangkok before it stops running around midnight.

You can also taxi into town, but the airport train is clean, cool, cheap, and just as fast as racing down the freeway. In the morning you won't have to stress about traffic, so you can sleep in.