My husband and I are interested in the Peninsula, but it is really a bit more expensive than we want to pay. Can you suggest a Bangkok hotel in the same category as the Peninsula and well-located, but a little less expensive?

I stay in Bangkok several times a year but we never choose to stay on the "other side of the river" We went to see the Pen and it's quite nice but the pool is long and narrow.
We book our hotels on agoda.com website, we usually stay at the Intercontinental or holiday Inn (not the Silom rd one)and they are both within walking distance of teh Siam Paragon shopping Mall and next to Chit Lom MTR
Emporium suites is our fav becasue it's on top of the mall and next to the Phrom Phong metro. the Davis hotel is very good. I was there last week and we stayed at teh Pullman King Power hotel, lovely hotel and pool, 4hrs a day free internet and 2 free drinks from the fridge each day, victory Monument is the Metro close by.
I find peolpe tend to stick to there fav end of town, we are definate Siam end of town people. Others favour Silom rd end and other the other side of the river over at the Pen or Marriott hotels. Good luck

We always stay at the Royal orchid Sheraton. It's on the river and wello located. The Marriott Resort is also a good choice. Both are considerably less than the Peninsula. Both are solid four star hotels.

See this thread; I stayed at the Peninsula last time and wanted to try something else that was less expensive; there is a lot of info here:


http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...-krungthep.cfm

I just spent 5 days at the Holiday Inn Silom and I would recommend it without hesitation. I have not experienced the other hotels you mentioned, so I cannot make direct comparisons.

If you want to stay on the river then check out the Marriott Resort and Spa- its a good value and it has the best pool in Bangkok bar none.

It has its own boats to take you to the sky train and don't worry about this "wrong side of the river" argument- its nice to take a boat ride down river to get the sky train!

I have never stayed at the Marriott on the river, but I have been to the resort a number of times. I would agree with BillT, if you want to stay along the river, then this would be a good option.

If you want to stay "in the city" then take a look at places such as the Intercontinental, the Holiday Inn Phloenchit, the Centara Grand, the Patumwan Princess... all of these are conveniently located near Siam area, where you will find more shopping malls than you can imagine. Some are typical malls, some are very upscale, and some are very Thai, with a large number of small and very unique little shops.

It just depends on the location you desire. Bangkok has a hotel that will fit your needs.

I'm a river person and also stay at the Royal Orchid Sheraton. I stay in the Towers (top few floors) as you get breakfast, evening canapes and drinks in the lounge included in your room price. You also have access to the lounge staff and their expertise. They have phoned hard to find places for me and written instructions in Thai for a taxi driver, for instance. We opt for a deluxe suite in the Towers and get all that space plus the Towers amenities for less than a regular room at the Pen.

The Shangri-La is a good option, but they are having construction. The Oriental tends to be more expensive than the Pen. You might take a look at the Hilton Millenium as well.

Many people love the Marriott Resort and Spa. It's too far away from things for me, but some people love being more away from the city.

If you were thinking about the Pen, I'd start by looking at the other river hotels. The other hotels mentioned above are not on the river, but in the central shopping district. The better hotels in the shopping district are the Grand Hyatt, the Sheraton Grand and the Four Seasons. The other hotels and serviced apartments mentioned are nice but not in the same category.

There are so many hotels to choose from and making a decision is so hard. The folks who have answered your question previously have all been to Bangkok many many times so I would heed their advice closely.

I have only been to Bangkok once, last month. My husband and I spent a while trying to figure out which place to stay for our four days and we settled on the Old Bangkok Inn (nothing like the Peninsula, but cheap and charming plus well-located for our needs on those 2 days) and then we transferred over to the Shangri-La on the river for two nights. We were in your position in that we wanted to splurge for a luxurious room but could not afford the Pen or the Mandarin. We settled on the Shangri-La (if you click my username, you will see my thoughts on it). Either way, you definitely do pay extra to stay near the river and if you do not have a need to stay by the river, it appears that you can get luxury for a lot less elsewhere. We chose the Shangri La after mulling it over for a while - it was nice but in retrospect, it might have been just as nice to pick a cheaper hotel and then head over to the river for drinks and dinner, etc.

i too am a marriott R&S person, but we also love the penn--it doestn't get any better than that...

staying along the river is unique