Bangkok Hotels
 

My wife and I will be in Bangkok for the first time in April. We'll be there for four days after visiting Chiang Mai and Koh Samui.

I am looking at some of the nicer hotels and would love some opinions. Here's the list with my main questions next to them:

Oriental (is it worth it?)
Pennisula (is it worth it?)
Shangri-la (how does it stack up?)
Sukhothai (is the location okay considering we only have four days)
Banyan Tree (location? quality? don't know much about this one)
Plaza Athenee (seems to be right next to the expressway (noisy?), haven't read much else)

Has anyone used Priceline and been put in any of these hotels? My fear about using Priceline is that even if I go for a five-star, I may not get the "cream of the crop". Thanks for everyone's help.

There have been lots of posts about Bangkok hotels (do a search to read lots of opinions). The most frequent piece of advice is to sat by the river. That still gives you a wide variety of options: the Oriental, the Pen, the Shangri-La, the Sheraton Royal Orchid. A bit farther away, but the fav of several people on the board is the Marriott Resort. There are also a number of posts about using priceline.

all I can say is plazza athenee is no where near an express.. in terms of bangkok trafic.

thay are all world class maybe. it's up to location, location, location

as kathie has said the river is preferable to many of us...and as a first time visitor you will enjoy it and learn a different side of bkk.....the river locations are somewhat removed from some attractions, but it is easy to get to them via river transport, taxi, sky-train or foot...the distance is outweighed by the interest of the river...

largely budget comes into play...although all you have listed are in the top tier....so to me they stack this way

peninsula and oriental on top
shangra-la next
plaza anthanee (one block to highway but not noisy if you keep window closed)
sukhotai is right up there, but the location is a small distraction, but not a negetive....more a ceo hotel...
banyon tree used to be very popular as a westin and is still very good....

they are all tops now that i think about it....as readers know i disparage the oriental....among other things i find the non-resident foot traffic annoying....plus they charge higher rates generally, which may or may not be justified.....

you will never get the penn, oriental, suk. on priceline, i don't think

banyon tree has appeared this fall a few times and sh-la appears more regularily......you can try for april, but i doubt it...make back-up reservations...there are some great discount sites mentioned often on this forum, especially by our resident expert jamesA....they usually include the tax and service and often breakfast as well for about the regular internet booking price...

NOW MAY I ADD MY OVERALL FAVORITE THE MARRIOTT RESORT AND SPA.... while not offering quite as much lux as the ones you have mentioned, it is quite nice and all rooms have been redone in the last year...the pool is the best in bkk also with shade which most of the others don't offer to any great degree...it is also cheaper...currently about $93 inclu tax/breakfast, double....

you would be happy with any from this list and would find the facilities worth at least twice the asking price in comparison with american hotels in the usa....

if you have more questions, just ask and this motley crew will answer them

www.asiatravel.com is a good site too get hotels..

they have the PEn and if you get it threw them you'll recieve a bunch of coupons and 3 day sky train tickets for 2...

and they offer a romance packege which include Mercades Bence tranfer and other perks. .

Not too sure is price is great.

I've stayed at both Penn, Oriental and Shangri La. One word, Penn. Its simply the best. My biggest disappointment was the Oriental. Dirty run down old rooms with an ancient water filtration system. Stay at the Oriental if you want to take a shower or bath in yellow smelly water

A vote for the Penn - besides that each room is a minimum junior suite and a large one at that, all rooms face the river and the price is right. Way less than the Oriental.

You can arrange with the hotel to pick-up/return to airport (charge is very reasonable). They can also arrange your tours in an air conditioned car with driver/guide (also comparable prices) and it's nice to be in and have that a/c vehicle after being in the heat & humidity of BKK.

I would NOT choose the Oriental. We stayed there in December and were not at all impressed. It's a lot more expensive than the Peninsula and 2. it's water shuttles don't come as frequently 3. it was used for a wedding so half of the hotel grounds including the famous author's wing was not open to hotel guests 4. we had to wait an hour for our room to be ready when we checked in at 1pm. 5. we found the concierges to be hurried and understaffed. 6. it was so crowded that they had pool loungers laid out on the grass behind the bushes behind the pool because there was absolutely no space around the pool area.