Thank you for the previous advice. Here are some specifics:
- Bangkok for 4 days - tourist stuff
- Koh Sehmet for 2 days - relax
- Bangkok for 2 more days - shop

For the two Bangkok stays, we'd like to stay in two separate regions (river and city) to experience as much as possible. We're thinking the Penn or Banyan Tree for the 'river' stay but remain stumped on the 'city' stay because they ALL look good!

We're looking at Koh Sehmet as an option instead of Phuket or Koh Samui because my brother (who stopped there briefly) said it was less crowded but just as nice as the other two. It's hard to choose since everything I read says all three are 'paradise'!

Interests: see a few temples/historic sites, ride an elephant, snorkel, shop, bar hop (one night, just for the experience), relax! relax! relax!

ESSENTIAL to all days are spa/massage services. We want to indulge, but we can get $300 massages in the US, so I'm really looking for a good value too.

Is the Banyon Tree on the river? That's news to me.

The Banyan Tree isn't on the River, so I'd say consider the Pen, Oriental, Shangri-La or the Towers of the Royal Orchid. While Bob always recommends the Marriott Resort and Spa, the spa there gets very poor reviews. I've used the Mandara spa at the Royal Orchid frequently - wonderful and the prices are so much lower than the US... For even better value, several people have recommended spas not associated with hotels. I don't know anything about the Pen's spa, but someone here must have info (and I think the Pen or the Oriental would be the best honeymoon hotels).

For your in-city stay, the hotel that gets the best reviews and is most conveniently located is the Four Seasons.

the banyon tree is on sathorn and way away from the river---maybe a mile...it is listed on priceline as a river hotel i believe...that's priceline who also lists the holiday inn silom as 4*....hahaha

may i suggest a couple of places for you in town: the new conrad on wireless, the hyatt in the same neighborhood, the new holiday inn on plenochit (cheaper), next door the intercontinental, the jw marriott which has a very nice spa and workout area....the sheraton grande...the sukhthai on sathorn, the metropolitan also in the sathorn area....the four seasons of course....

i think you mean koh samet???? i think you would find koh chang very similar....outside of the hotels you will probably find good restaurants to be somewhat of a problem in chang and samet...

Koh Samet is very very quiet, totally different from Samui or Phuket which are full tourist tropical islands, you won't find much to do on Samet, if you just want some beach and relax then fine but don't expect shopping, restaurant range or nightlife.

What time of year? That is relevant for weather situation.

Just noticed is Honeymoon, the choice of accommodation on Samet is also limited, in my humble opinion if you are on Honeymoon I guess you want reasonably nice accommodation, spas and massage, restaurants, some cocktails and some evening shopping, tours, snorjkel etc, in that case Phuket or Samui would be idea, the choice depending on time of year, both places have lots of spa resort places where you can get pampered plus lots of restaurants and entertainment, you can find quiet beaches on those islands too, with Samet you are very very limited to what to do and accommodation.

For the River -- if you want the most luxurious I'd suggest the Oriental (its spa is one of the best in the world) or the Peninsula. If you want deluxe but for a bit less try the Shangri-la or Royal Orchid. If you want more of a resort but not in as convenient a location try the Marriott .

For in town I'd go with the Four Seasons.

What kind of hotels do you like?

I've stayed both on the river and in the city and as far as the city stay goes...it's definitely the Four Seasons...hands down...it's my home away from home hotel. Plus the Rajadamri skytrain station is right across the street and the hotel is either walking distance to the major shopping or one skytrain stop away to Siam(station) where there's more major shopping.And you can also take the skytrain to the weekend market. It's good that you're picking two locations to stay in. Happy Travels!