Review: Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok at Chao Phraya River
Paul Oswell
Where: Bangkok, Thailand.
Long story short: White Lotus-levels of luxury in an urbane resort by the river. [Full photo gallery below the review.]
Short story long: I’ve been travelling to Thailand for 25 years now, my first trip as a wide-eyed innocent way back in 1998, before wi-fi or the invention of James Corden. I feel like it’s a good measuring stick of my maturity levels, starting out back then in $10-a-night beach huts on Koh Phangan and on my last visit, graduating to the notably adult Four Seasons Bangkok. For a couple of nights. Look, I’m still not made of money, and those beach huts are likely a window into my future travels, when A.I. laughs in binary as it finally wrestles away the last of my paying jobs.
With the high season coming to an end, and the city bracing for the rains and relative calm of the summer, I wanted to end a 6-week stay in style. I chose Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok at Chao Phraya River as I’d never stayed there before, and also because it’s in the running for being the next location for the HBO show The White Lotus. There are a few other contenders (Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai, Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui, and Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle), and we’ll likely know more soon, but for now, its hat is very much in the ring.
The property is located between the Chao Phraya River and Charoen Krung Road, but as guest perspectives are subtly trained towards the river, it feels very much like an urban resort. It’s set back from the main drag in its own complex, and I only felt a tweak out of place as my smoke-spurting taxi rolled up to drop me off among the gleaming BMWs.
The lobby and public spaces are enormous. I felt Lilliputian under the towering walls and ceilings of the public spaces. Polished rocks have been turned into freeform furniture and water features, and tasteful modern art elevates every eye line. A hive of uniformed staff handle every aspect of check in, bags whisked away, signatures collected as I sit. What would Jennifer Coolidge do? Well, she wouldn’t refuse the welcome cocktail, for one.
My room is a short walk through the grounds, one of the hotel’s most impressive features. The jet-black pools of the lobby are an overture to the aquatic expanses back here. There's a maze of reflecting ponds, connected by stepping-stone concrete flags and vibrant green foliage. I very much looked forward to tripping and falling into them after a nightcap. The design invites the river into the hotel grounds in a way, but whatever the architect’s intentions, it’s a dramatic look.
The wing housing my room was dark and tranquil, my room three floors up with views of the hotel pool and the river beyond the walls. Consistency is the hallmark of hotels like the Four Seasons, and the rooms are tastefully restrained, all creams and greys. A sliding door reveals a stand-alone tub (there’s a shower as well), there’s a chaise longue for my fainting fits, and striking abstract sculptures. The beds are as comfy as it gets.
There are all the high-end and tech amenities that you might expect, but I always love to spot the lesser-spotted luxuries in a guest room. This hotel has a few: a pool bag in the closet for your sunbathing whatnots, two types of umbrella (rainy and parasol styles), a button in the loo that activates the Do Not Disturb light on your room door, and a pair of scissors for opening the milk carton in the minibar without an unforeseen spillage.
The city was entering its summer lull, and so I had the luxuriously-sized (115ft/35m) pool to myself, mostly. My company included an elderly Chinese couple, a Russian family, two influencer-looking Korean kids doing endless photoshoots, and a parade of assistants walking increasingly tiny dogs, the pets of the elite who live in the looming towers of the hotel’s residential wing. The staff almost outnumber us, iced water and fresh towels arriving almost as you think to ask.
Evenings are easy. The hotel’s signature watering hole, The Bangkok Social Club, is talked about in revered tones and was just recently listed on Conde Nast Traveler’s Best 50 Bars in the World. There are pockets of stylish drinkers at some tables but I get the bar to myself. All the better to watch the staff and bend their ears about the drinks. The place has a traditional aesthetic, all dark woods and leather-backed chairs. It’s a gorgeous room.
The bar is Argentinian themed, with lots of drinks featuring whiskies, amaros, vermouths and bitters. The bar menu has empanadas and Iberico Asado. My go-to cocktail is The Last Word (equal parts gin, green Chartreuse, Maraschino liqueur and lime juice), and the bartender makes me a variation with tequila instead of gin and it’s spectacular.
I could honestly just stay here for my entire stay, but man cannot live on cocktails and complimentary bowls of crisps alone. Yu Ting Yuan is the hotel’s Cantonese restaurant, and comes with a Michelin star to boot. I didn’t get to try it, but lunch at Brasserie Palmier was a fine alternative. Its French food is sensational, with all the brasserie classics plus flourishes such as feta macarons and marinated sardines. Even the homemade butter (with lemon and black pepper) was top tier.
The last gastronomic showstopper is the breakfast service, in the Riva del Fiume restaurant. The dining room hosts as expansive a buffet as I’ve seen, and I’ve seen a lot. There are stations for everything, from dim sum to deli cuts to eggs and just about any way you can think of preparing them. You could get lost just weighing up the options, but you can carry your heaving plate out to the riverside terrace to get over the ordeal and watch as the morning boat traffic floats by.
The hotel has its own free water taxis to take you across the Chao Phraya and further along the riverbank. You’re surrounded by the towers of the city’s historically famous hotels: The Mandarin Oriental, The Peninsula, The Shangri-La. The Four Seasons looks and feels like Bangkok’s future.
For me, a good gauge for a hotel stay is how many photos I take of the property and honestly, I barely closed my camera app. Clean, minimalist, with understated decor and photogenic views from almost every angle - hopefully the gallery below gives some idea of the hotel’s good looks. Whether or not there’s a prestige TV show arriving to film a new murder mystery, the future is bright and impeccably designed. Part of me hopes HBO goes to Samui or Chiang Mai. I want to share that pool with as few people as possible if I stay there again.
Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok at the Chao Phraya River website
(*The White Lotus is an HBO drama, an anthology series set in - so far - Four Seasons resorts in Hawaii and Italy. Jennifer Coolidge stars in these first two seasons.)
Paul Oswell
Where: Bangkok, Thailand.
Long story short: White Lotus-levels of luxury in an urbane resort by the river. [Full photo gallery below the review.]
Short story long: I’ve been travelling to Thailand for 25 years now, my first trip as a wide-eyed innocent way back in 1998, before wi-fi or the invention of James Corden. I feel like it’s a good measuring stick of my maturity levels, starting out back then in $10-a-night beach huts on Koh Phangan and on my last visit, graduating to the notably adult Four Seasons Bangkok. For a couple of nights. Look, I’m still not made of money, and those beach huts are likely a window into my future travels, when A.I. laughs in binary as it finally wrestles away the last of my paying jobs.
With the high season coming to an end, and the city bracing for the rains and relative calm of the summer, I wanted to end a 6-week stay in style. I chose Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok at Chao Phraya River as I’d never stayed there before, and also because it’s in the running for being the next location for the HBO show The White Lotus. There are a few other contenders (Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai, Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui, and Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle), and we’ll likely know more soon, but for now, its hat is very much in the ring.
The property is located between the Chao Phraya River and Charoen Krung Road, but as guest perspectives are subtly trained towards the river, it feels very much like an urban resort. It’s set back from the main drag in its own complex, and I only felt a tweak out of place as my smoke-spurting taxi rolled up to drop me off among the gleaming BMWs.
The lobby and public spaces are enormous. I felt Lilliputian under the towering walls and ceilings of the public spaces. Polished rocks have been turned into freeform furniture and water features, and tasteful modern art elevates every eye line. A hive of uniformed staff handle every aspect of check in, bags whisked away, signatures collected as I sit. What would Jennifer Coolidge do? Well, she wouldn’t refuse the welcome cocktail, for one.
My room is a short walk through the grounds, one of the hotel’s most impressive features. The jet-black pools of the lobby are an overture to the aquatic expanses back here. There's a maze of reflecting ponds, connected by stepping-stone concrete flags and vibrant green foliage. I very much looked forward to tripping and falling into them after a nightcap. The design invites the river into the hotel grounds in a way, but whatever the architect’s intentions, it’s a dramatic look.
The wing housing my room was dark and tranquil, my room three floors up with views of the hotel pool and the river beyond the walls. Consistency is the hallmark of hotels like the Four Seasons, and the rooms are tastefully restrained, all creams and greys. A sliding door reveals a stand-alone tub (there’s a shower as well), there’s a chaise longue for my fainting fits, and striking abstract sculptures. The beds are as comfy as it gets.
There are all the high-end and tech amenities that you might expect, but I always love to spot the lesser-spotted luxuries in a guest room. This hotel has a few: a pool bag in the closet for your sunbathing whatnots, two types of umbrella (rainy and parasol styles), a button in the loo that activates the Do Not Disturb light on your room door, and a pair of scissors for opening the milk carton in the minibar without an unforeseen spillage.
The city was entering its summer lull, and so I had the luxuriously-sized (115ft/35m) pool to myself, mostly. My company included an elderly Chinese couple, a Russian family, two influencer-looking Korean kids doing endless photoshoots, and a parade of assistants walking increasingly tiny dogs, the pets of the elite who live in the looming towers of the hotel’s residential wing. The staff almost outnumber us, iced water and fresh towels arriving almost as you think to ask.
Evenings are easy. The hotel’s signature watering hole, The Bangkok Social Club, is talked about in revered tones and was just recently listed on Conde Nast Traveler’s Best 50 Bars in the World. There are pockets of stylish drinkers at some tables but I get the bar to myself. All the better to watch the staff and bend their ears about the drinks. The place has a traditional aesthetic, all dark woods and leather-backed chairs. It’s a gorgeous room.
The bar is Argentinian themed, with lots of drinks featuring whiskies, amaros, vermouths and bitters. The bar menu has empanadas and Iberico Asado. My go-to cocktail is The Last Word (equal parts gin, green Chartreuse, Maraschino liqueur and lime juice), and the bartender makes me a variation with tequila instead of gin and it’s spectacular.
I could honestly just stay here for my entire stay, but man cannot live on cocktails and complimentary bowls of crisps alone. Yu Ting Yuan is the hotel’s Cantonese restaurant, and comes with a Michelin star to boot. I didn’t get to try it, but lunch at Brasserie Palmier was a fine alternative. Its French food is sensational, with all the brasserie classics plus flourishes such as feta macarons and marinated sardines. Even the homemade butter (with lemon and black pepper) was top tier.
The last gastronomic showstopper is the breakfast service, in the Riva del Fiume restaurant. The dining room hosts as expansive a buffet as I’ve seen, and I’ve seen a lot. There are stations for everything, from dim sum to deli cuts to eggs and just about any way you can think of preparing them. You could get lost just weighing up the options, but you can carry your heaving plate out to the riverside terrace to get over the ordeal and watch as the morning boat traffic floats by.
The hotel has its own free water taxis to take you across the Chao Phraya and further along the riverbank. You’re surrounded by the towers of the city’s historically famous hotels: The Mandarin Oriental, The Peninsula, The Shangri-La. The Four Seasons looks and feels like Bangkok’s future.
For me, a good gauge for a hotel stay is how many photos I take of the property and honestly, I barely closed my camera app. Clean, minimalist, with understated decor and photogenic views from almost every angle - hopefully the gallery below gives some idea of the hotel’s good looks. Whether or not there’s a prestige TV show arriving to film a new murder mystery, the future is bright and impeccably designed. Part of me hopes HBO goes to Samui or Chiang Mai. I want to share that pool with as few people as possible if I stay there again.
Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok at the Chao Phraya River website
(*The White Lotus is an HBO drama, an anthology series set in - so far - Four Seasons resorts in Hawaii and Italy. Jennifer Coolidge stars in these first two seasons.)
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