I am planning my vacation to Bangkok. Just a few of the sights that I want to take in are the Palace and Wat Phra Keo, Wat Po, Wat Arun, the Royal Barge Museum, a klong trip, shopping - jewerly and clothes, the chatuchak weekend market and of course take in some of the great dining. My problem is that I don't know what area of the city I should look for accommodations - perferably in the mid-range prices. Anyone have any suggestions?

We've stayed on the river and in Sukhumvit. We very much prefer the river location. Prices vary very much by season, so it would be helpful to know when you are going and what exactly mid-range means to you. Bangkok offers very, very good value for hotels.

We really like the Peninsula on the river, and in the low season it is very affordable, though high season prices pushed us to the Conrad last year. While the Conrad was nice, we didn't feel that it came close to the Peninsula in terms of service, facilities and location. It was fine, and it was free with points. If I had paid money for our stay I would have been disappointed I think as it just isn't as good a hotel as the Peninsula yet the price at peak season is high.

Ibrik by the River might be nice. Or the Marriot Resort and Spa on the river...it's about a 15 minute shuttle boat ride to the sky train. You might try browsing the extensive list on sawadee.com to get an idea of the many, many choices and price range.

I always stay along the river. It's so convenient to take teh water taxis to all of the sites you listed. For shopping, there are interesting shops in the area, plus you can take a water taxi to the Sky Train stop. Of course, there are always inexpensive taxis.

Please tell us what you mean by mid-range $ per night. We'll be able to be more helpful to you.

If the river proves too expensive, there are some nice mid-priced hotels in the Siam Square area that would give you easy access to shopping and the Skytrain to get to the sights (via the river). The Patumwan Princess, Holiday Inn and Arnoma are all fairly nice hotels at very good rates for the location.

the river does not have many nice mid price places, but as said mid price might mean $40 or 100 depending on your perspective...

take a look at this site:

www.huahin.20m.com
hotels are arranged by location in the city...you have to know streets however..

some mid price places that come to mind are :

majestic grande off of sukhumvit
davis hotel also off of suk
asia hotel
pratnam princess
tons of serviced apartments like the centre point group---the centre point silom is next to the river and also next to the skytrain...

there is no hotel in bkk which is good for all sights....transportation from many hotels is easy but you have to choose carefully....

tell us more about your desires and exact price ranges and when you are going ....after oct 31 prices go up and at christmas/new years they are at their highest....they go down again in april generally

One place along the river in the price range Bob specified is the Centre Point Silom, a serviced apartment that has gotten good reviews here.

thanks for all the replys! This is great! By mid-range price I was thinking $80 - $100 per night. We will be going in June 2007. Lots of time before departure but I am very excited and a big planner.

The Centre Point Silom is in that range.

the marriott resort and spa will be at the top of your range but well worth the few extra dollars....it should be just over $100, like $105....june rate are the lowest of the year...CP silom will be $80 or less...tons a room and a good location...

these are the rates you can see now on the hua hin site above....next year will be slightly more for some hotels...

majestic grande on soi 2, sukhumvit is another nice choice but away from the river...

guenmai likes the chateau de bangkok in roughly the same area...not far from sukhumvit/plenochit...

Chucho, just to let you know we went to the Royal Barge Museum last week only to find that the boats have all been removed from there for repair. The other points of interest you mentioned are all worth seeing. Have fun!