The Peninsula Bangkok

The Peninsula Bangkok opened in 1998 at 333 Charoennakorn Road, on the Thonburi bank of the Chao Phraya, the west side of the river in Bangkok. It has 370 rooms and suites, and every one of them faces the river.

The building was drawn to make that possible.

A tower shaped like a W

The tower rises in a W, two wings standing forward and an indented centre, and the plan was chosen when the hotel was announced so that each floor of about ten rooms would have an open view of the water. The rooms average about 46 square metres, with teak and makha wood, and bathtubs set by the windows. At the top, on the 37th floor, the Paribatra lounge holds memorabilia of Thai aviation and opens onto the helipad.

The river is also the way in and out. The hotel's own boats, made from restored rice barges, cross from its pier to the Saphan Taksin Skytrain station and the ICONSIAM mall, which is why a hotel on the quieter bank feels connected to the city.

Gardens running down to the water

At ground level the hotel opens out. A three-tiered pool, 88 metres long, runs from the spa house towards the river between loungers and Thai salas. The spa occupies a three-storey villa in the Thai colonial style, with steam rooms, a sauna and plunge pools, and treatment suites that look over the river.

Thiptara, the Thai restaurant, is mostly outdoors, under a large banyan tree among teak houses brought from Chiang Mai, and cooks home-style Thai food. Mei Jiang is the Cantonese dining room, in the main building, with dim sum made to order. River Café & Terrace serves breakfast by the water and drinks in the evening, and The Lobby has the Peninsula afternoon tea.

From the lawn, the view is of the east bank and its older riverside hotels, among them Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok, founded in the nineteenth century. Upriver, the temples of the old city, Wat Pho and Wat Arun, are a boat ride away.

Sources: The Peninsula Bangkok, fact sheet; The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels; Peninsula pre-opening release, via Hotel Online; Forbes Travel Guide; Business Traveller.