Buzzing with movement and filled with colour and history, Thailand’s capital is one of our favourite cities to explore. Already listed on our guide to the best boutique hotels in Bangkok, The Siam, a 38-suite-and-villa luxury hotel on Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River, is more urban resort than city-centric hotel. Find out why we adore this property that is grand in scale but intimate in atmosphere.

While this stay was complimentary, all thoughts and opinions are our own.

The Siam, Bangkok review

Located within the royal district of Dusit, sequestered away from the hustle and bustle, yet only 15 minutes upriver from Old City Rattanakosin, home to the Grand Palace, and Wat Pho, The Siam’s sleek motor launch easily connects guests to all Bangkok offers.

Thai musician and actor Krissada Sukosol Clapp conceived the hotel to utilise three acres of land his father had purchased some 50 years back. With its premium river frontage, The Siam is part hotel, part museum, and part resort. Krissada aimed to create something out of the ordinary and worked with Thailand-based award-winning American designer Bill Bensley and the team from BENSLEY to realise his dream.

The design

courtyard at The Siam Bangkok
Step into another world at The Siam

The design ethos? A striking mixture of Art Deco, traditional Thai, and colonial vintage. A dramatic black-and-white colour scheme is sprinkled with dashes of dark wood and neutral fabrics. The hotel’s central hub is three interconnected low-rise buildings with a profusion of plants, water feature-filled courtyards and light-flooded atriums.

One particular challenge for the designer was housing 25,000 of Krissada’s antiques and collectables. Yet, The Siam is not some dusty museum, with this eclectic collection sympathetically distributed throughout the property and suites.

The rooms

Courtyard pool villa at The Siam
Guests will appreciate the oversized beds and unique artworks in the villas and suites

Located in the main building, with its soaring ceilings and tropical conservatory feel, are 28 spacious suites (starting at 80sq-m), each with original turn-of-the-century artworks and antiquities. All are designed for maximum comfort, with amenities like king-size beds, plush furnishings, lofty ceilings, and freestanding bathtubs with separate walk-in shower.s Luxe modern amenities and own-label toiletries are standard for all rooms.

A further 10 opulent pool villas are situated towards the riverfront. These gloriously spacious (130 sq-m) villas feel more like private apartments. Each villa has delightful relaxation zones – a private courtyard with daybed, plunge pool, and a roof terrace with sun beds. Dark timber floors, muted colour schemes, and natural textures are the design aesthetic inside the villa. A separate walk-in wardrobe and dressing room divides the bedroom from the expansive bathroom.

Eat and drink

Off the hotel’s lobby, the atrium-styled The Story House offers contemporary cuisine with modern tastes. Chon Thai Restaurant is the place for authentic local delicacies, occupying a traditional Thai teak building on the riverfront. Originally belonging to a close friend of Thai Silk doyen Jim Thompson, it also offers a cooking school to learn how to recreate the flavours.

While the poolside Bathers Bar is handy for refreshing sips. As the day ends, river fronting The Deck is ideal for sunset cocktails with the theatre of Chao Phraya river life unfolding in front of you.

What about the rest?

boat at The Siam Bangkok
The hotel’s boat shuttles guests to popular destinations along the river

The Siam experience is all about discoveries. Be it catching a film perched on original, antique wood and red velvet 1930s French cinema seats in the private screening room; quietly contemplating in the period-style library surrounded by the owner’s collection of rare, first edition hardback books; or creating your own party in the Vinyl Room.

Work out in the expansive, fully equipped gym with state-of-the-art equipment alongside original Art Deco gymnasium doors from France, vintage sports posters, old wooden dumbbells, and antique leather punching bags. Or test your Muay Thai skills in the purpose-built kickboxing ring.

Opium Spa, with its Turkish hammam design, is a must for pleasure hounds, drawing on all-natural products inspired by the earth and sea. Choose between solo or couple’s suites with steam rooms and saunas. Opium is also the place for your “sak yant” tattoo in the Spa’s specially consecrated space. Esteemed artist Ajarn Boo (the former monk who inked one of Angelina Jolie’s tattoos) is on hand for that sacred, unique, and permanent body art.

Guests can catch some rays while soaking up exceptional river views from the generous infinity pool. Sleekly shaped, it’s lined with stylish modern loungers ready for relaxation. And if the need for retail therapy strikes, the onsite Jim Thompson boutique for exquisite silk apparel plus a gallery housing designer Bill Bensley’s quirky, colourful, humorous, and some would say ‘out-there’ paintings await.

The Siam’s free boat shuttle glides to downstream riverside sites, including shopping precincts like IconSiam and RiverCity. It is also a great way to experience Bangkok sunsets as they play out in the city while you cruise the river with a refreshing cold beverage in hand.

Discover more about The Siam

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