The Siam Hotel
3/2 Thanon Khao, Bangkok, Bangkok, 10300, Thailand
Why We Like It
A good hotel offers a sense-of-place in design. A great hotel captures the heartbeat of a city. The Siam is a truly great hotel, owned by the respected Sukosol family, who used myriad talents in hospitality, film, and music to create a playground of Thailand’s personality. You dine in traditional wooden Thai houses, once owned by mysterious silk exporter Jim Thompson, swim in a linear pool backdropped by the river, and enjoy unique experiences like ‘wet-plate,’ collodion photography or Sak Yant tattoo sessions. These traditional designs in black ink are a vestige of culture, dating back two millennia, and the hotel offers tattoo artists and photographers on-site.
Fodor's Expert Review
The Siam is truly Bangkok’s dreamiest villa escape, set across three full, riverbank acres, with only 38 suites. The architecture honors the Art Deco period––a towering white façade gives way to a lobby atrium dominated by a linear black water feature showcasing two-story tropical foliage––and the creative interiors are by famed, ground-breaking hotelier/designer, Bill Bensley. The property is a feast for the eyes, as you move around collections of antiquities. These range from 16th century archeology finds to framed, vintage Star Wars posters. The Siam proves that luxury doesn’t have to be so buttoned up.
PROS
- Striking architecture and interiors
- Restorative, riverside location
- Interesting and inventive programming
CONS
- Sleepier largely residential location
- Open-air spaces influenced by weather
- High price point for the city
Recommended Fodor’s Video
Room
There is no bad choice. Even the baseline Siam Suites are stunning and expansive refuges of Art Deco beauty, with black-and-white motifs, sprawling beds, framed Asian travel posters, teak armoires, and mesmerizing marble bathrooms. Upgrade to a Riverside Pool Villa, and you find an open-air, courtyard sanctuary with a black plunge pool and a spiral staircase leading to a hidden, personal sundeck.
Bathroom
Siam’s bathrooms are an experience to themselves, with herbal soaps housed in black marble cannisters and palace-worthy, spa tubs carved from sand-colored stone. There’s an industrial-chic feel to the separate rain shower stall, decorated in egg-shell-cracked subway tile and iron framing. Of course, you’re coveting those ridiculously fancy Supersonic Dyson hair dryers, too.
Lobby
The Siam calls itself an ‘Urban Luxury Resort.’ You feel that entering, as the charming city neighborhood of Dusit slips away with the kiss of air-conditioning and light streaming from a massive pyramid lobby skylight. Too many plants to count, the resort staff includes deft landscapers. Just before check-in, a grouping of chairs invites one to sit for a whimsical treat, like a coconut milkshake served in the shell or a fine, French rosé. The communal spaces of this hotel continue to ebb and flow, begging one to explore. There’s a lobby curio shop, full of Thai ephemera and bespoke shirts, a room of old barber chairs, and hallways of framed maps, from a time when Thailand was Siam.
Tip The Siam has a sexy, teak speedboat, which roams up and down the river, stopping at specific piers at allotted times. Meaning, you can wisely skip the traffic during peak hours and enjoy a river ride to access top sites in Bangkok’s various neighborhoods.
Pool
Headlining the property’s river frontage is the 72-foot-long infinity pool. Turquoise water is decorated by series of black-tile stripes, and the green spaces surrounding it include a mix of chaise and cabana options, with pink and purple fluffy towels. The staff is eager to bring you fresh fruit, iced tea or something stronger. Bonus point: house-made butterfly pea flower-infused, complimentary popsicles.
Spa
The Opium Spa is a dark, dreamy, basement sanctuary, down a long and shadowy floating metal staircase. The hotel partners with the Sodashi brand for unique treatments. Try a Himalayan salt therapy massage or an Ayuvredic facial using rose quartz. Your youngest family members are welcomed specifically. There’s a menu specifically for kids and one for teens.
Gym
Two treadmills and one elliptical might make it a waiting game in high season, but the equipment at Siam also includes two racks of free weights, plenty of space for yoga, and a mini ring for kicking out your aggressions in a Muay Thai class.
Dining
With both Western and Thai restaurants on-site, the impetus to go out for dinner dwindles. At Chon Thai restaurant, local produce is paramount in creating gorgeous Thai classics, often with a twist. Traditional pork larb salad is swapped with fresh ahi tuna, and the ribeye is served with spicy/sour Thai jaew sauce. The setting in a restored teak house is transporting and serene. The Story House is a multi-room dining and drinking pavilion with Western menus. Lovingly created by Bensley Design Studios and styled by The Siam’s founder and creative director, Krissada Sukosol Clapp, it’s a Indochine daydream, with carved tiger chairs and marble tables, candlelight, and blooming plants.
Drinking
Hard to say what’s most memorable––a high-tea service in the greenhouse-reminiscent Story House, a fresh fruit shake while floating in the infinity pool, a brewed coffee from the splendors of your massive, four-poster bed, or imbibing a Thailand-brewed IPA at sunset on the hotel’s wooden river dock. Our suggestion? Make time for every single sip.
You Should Know If this is your first time visiting Bangkok, and you’re eager to step out to festive night markets, glittering temples, top sites like Wat Po, or the Grand Palace and bustling street food vendors in Chinatown, then this hotel might present a slight drawback in location. It’s in Dusit, a quieter neighborhood that’s very residential. It’s a great slice of everyday Bangkok, but the location demands 15 minutes, at minimum, in a taxi or a river ferry to get to the more touristy sections of the city.
What's Nearby
Getting Around
The Dusit district dates back to the early 1900s, when the King settled the neighborhood as an escape from the heat of the Royal Palace. It feels suburban, in terms of Bangkok, with plenty of trees, a few wide avenues and modern buildings, mixed with ancient palaces. It’s flat and easy to walk, but the neighborhood might not tempt new tourists, as the big-ticket Bangkok sites are 15 minutes generally by taxi. The Siam does employ a stunning river boat, which makes a loop up and down the river from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., picking up and dropping off at major piers at designated times.
Restaurants
For the adventurous eater, there’s a great opportunity in 10 minutes by foot to try Bangkok’s famous boat noodle soup. Demanding more than 30 ingredients to make, including a splash of pork blood at the end, it’s fragrant and rich and filled with meat, noodles, and herbs. This writer highly recommends Somjit Boat Noodle––a tiny restaurant with big, big flavor. Go for a second bowl a few doors down at Kuay Teow Nai Buem or get some with a view at Riverside Boat Noodles, right on the Chao Phraya.
Bars
The Siam is actually the best place to drink in Dusit, which is not a nexus for a big bar scene. However, some other cocktail moments may be found. Baan Knot is a traditional Thai house with great food, and the cocktails come shaken or blended with fresh fruit and spirits like pisco and gin. For some neon and a lively crowd, cross the river and hit up the outdoor deck at River Club Retro for a beer.
Photos
Quick Facts
HOTEL INFO
HOTEL DETAILS
Rate Includes: Free Breakfast
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