Of the luxury hotels in Bangkok I have chosen 3, and the first choice is between the river and the Skytrain. Mandarin Oriental is the hotel of 1876 on the Chao Phraya in Bang Rak, with 331 rooms and suites, tea in The Authors’ Lounge and its spa on the far bank, by boat. Capella, further downstream on the same bank, has 101 rooms, suites and villas, each with a balcony or terrace over the river or the pool. Rosewood is a 30-storey tower on Ploenchit Road, joined to the BTS station by a covered bridge, for those who see the city by train.
On the river you stay in Bang Rak and Sathon and get about by boat: Mandarin Oriental is 12 minutes on foot from Saphan Taksin station, Capella about 1 km. Rosewood is in Ploenchit, among the malls: you leave the hotel and you are on the Skytrain’s bridge.
| Hotel | Suits | The trip | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rosewood Bangkok | Travellers who want Bangkok by skytrain, between Ploenchit, Chit Lom and Siam, with a room high above the city | 158 rooms in a 30-storey tower joined to Ploenchit BTS, with 3 houses with plunge pools, Sense spa and Lennon’s on the 30th floor | The pool is a 20-metre lane among the towers and the Chao Phraya is across town: for a river view, look along the riverbank. |
| Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok | Travellers who want old Bangkok’s river at the door, tea among the writers’ photographs and a starred French dinner | 331 rooms and suites in the hotel of 1876, with The Authors’ Lounge, The Bamboo Bar, Le Normandie and a spa across the river by boat | The spa and the gym are a boat ride away and Sukhumvit a Skytrain ride: for the shops and nightlife at the door, look in Ploenchit. |
| Capella Bangkok | Couples who want the river from a balcony, a serious table and a hotel that plans the city for them | 101 rooms, suites and villas on the Chao Phraya by Charoen Krung, with Côte, Auriga Wellness and 7 villas with plunge pools | The Grand Palace is 7 km away by road: for the old town at the door, look upstream |
Mandarin Oriental opened as The Oriental in 1876; Rosewood on 31 March 2019; Capella on 1 October 2020.
Ploenchit, Bangkok
A 30-storey tower drawn from the wai and joined to the skytrain, with Lennon’s and its 6,000 records on the 30th floor and 3 houses with plunge pools
Bang Rak, Bangkok
The hotel of 1876 on the Chao Phraya: tea in The Authors’ Lounge, jazz at The Bamboo Bar, Le Normandie and the spa by boat across the river
Sathon, Bangkok
101 low-rise rooms, suites and villas on the Chao Phraya, with 7 villas on the river’s edge, Côte with 2 MICHELIN stars and a free boat to the Skytrain
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On the Chao Phraya the boat does the work: from the Mandarin Oriental pier the hotel’s teak boats cross to its spa and to ICONSIAM, and Capella’s shuttle boat runs to ICONSIAM and to Sathorn Pier, beside Saphan Taksin station. By car the Grand Palace is 5.3 km from Mandarin Oriental and 7 km from Capella. Rosewood is on Ploenchit Road, joined to Exit 1 of Ploenchit BTS station: Central Embassy is 9 minutes on foot, the Erawan Shrine 17.
Mandarin Oriental has 2 outdoor pools in the garden by the river, one of them for children, open from 6am to 8pm. Capella has an infinity pool by the river, kept at 28°C and open 24 hours, and 4 categories with a jacuzzi plunge pool of their own, from the Verandah to the villas. Rosewood’s is a 20-metre saltwater lane on the 9th floor, part indoor, open from 6am to 9pm; its 3 houses and the Two-Bedroom Sky Pool Suite have a private pool.
On Google Hotels, read on 16 October 2026 for 2 adults and one night, the cheapest and dearest nights of the year read were THB 10,185 on 25 February 2027 and THB 41,386 on 31 December 2026 at Rosewood; THB 19,375 on 17 December 2026 and THB 61,954 on 1 January 2027 at Mandarin Oriental; THB 28,429 on 25 October 2026 and THB 65,368 on 28 December 2026 at Capella. The sellers’ links show these figures with the 10% service charge and 7% VAT inside.
Mandarin Oriental has a children’s pool and the Little Fan’s Club, Friday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm for ages 3 to 12; its Family Two-Bedroom Suite of 150 m² takes 5 adults and 3 children. At Capella the 3 two-bedroom family suites take up to 5 people. At Rosewood children up to 12 stay free in their parents’ bed, and the Two-Bedroom Sky Pool Suite of 182 m² has a pool on its terrace for 5.
Rooms at Mandarin Oriental run from 35 to 63 m², the suites up to the 376 m² of the signature suites. At Capella they start at the 61 m² of the Riverfront rooms and end at the 595 m² of the Presidential Villa. At Rosewood rooms start at 42 m²; Bannakarn House takes the whole 29th floor, 291 m².
Written and checked by Lumina, independently of the hotels it names. Lumina sells no rooms: every link leads to its source.
This guide is written with Lumina, the marketing system for hotels.
