The global post-lockdown travel boom has continued year after year with no slowdown in sight, but even by these standards Thailand’s capital is ultra-popular. Bangkok has never been hotter, and last year made travel industry headlines when a Mastercard report named it the most visited city in the world for 2023. This is a distinction a few places claim, and the numbers often conflict, but there’s no doubt that Bangkok is near the top of all cities on earth in popularity, is getting more U.S. travelers than ever, and is both a destination in its own right, the gateway to the rest of Thailand, and a major gateway to the entire Pacific Rim. When I visited the Anantara Siam Bangkok Hotel before the pandemic, I loved it. But when I returned at the end of 2023, it was even better.
I remember thinking that the Siam immediately reminded me of the Peninsula Hong Kong, one of the world’s most iconic and distinctive hotels, with the same kind of grandeur, large, important lobby with afternoon tea scene, and the feeling of just having arrived someplace special. Just like Hong Kong, Bangkok has plenty of luxury hotels, yet no others that so complete capture this particular gravitas and sense of place.
It turned out not to be such a coincidence, as the grand city hotel was originally built as part of the luxury Peninsula brand. It continued its high-end run as a Regent, then a Four Seasons, before finally becoming the global flagship for Anantara. But unlike many luxury hotels which simply operate under management contracts, Anantara founder William Heinecke, who moved to Thailand from the States when he was just 14, actually owns the hotel through his Minor Hotel Group, and calls the shots (Minor also owns sevral other major brands including Avani, safari specialist Elewana, NH Hotels, Tivoli and the St. Regis Bangkok down the block from the Siam for good measure).
The fast-growing Thailand-based luxury brand has spread across the Pacific Rim, Middle East and increasingly, throughout Europe. With a mix of architecturally significant new builds (such as the Marker in Dublin) and restorations of historically important grand buildings (stunning Palazzo Naiadi in Rome), Anantara has earned its place alongside the other famous brands mentioned above, but still remains a little off the radar to American travelers. That’s a loss for visitors to Bangkok. All of the Anantara properties I’ve visited, from Bali to Italy, have been enjoyable, but Bangkok stands out for a few reasons.
One big thing that sets Anantara apart here in its home city is that the company has two very different, distinctive, yet complementary Bangkok options, the Siam and sister Anantara Riverside. The former is a grand, iconic city hotel, the latter a low rise, waterfront, resort-style urban oasis in the city’s suddenly very popular riverfront area. This allows those visiting Bangkok to have two very different experiences in the same city of 11 million plus. The two things they have in common is that each resort has a very broad array of high-quality dining options, including Thai cuisine, and as Anantara has a brand-wide focus on its excellent spas, both of these have standouts.
I’ve also stayed at the Riverside, and it’s a great option for combining urban and resort flair. It just completed an $11 million renovation three months ago (December 2023), so all 408 rooms, including more than100 suites, are like new. The resort occupies a generous 11-acres, landscaped with lush gardens, within Bangkok, and has multiple outdoor dining options. It sits directly across the river from Asiatique, a major tourist attraction, a waterfront promenade complex full of boutiques, food stalls, bars, restaurants and entertainment—even a giant Ferris wheel.
But the most unique benefit of the setting is that the resort offers a variety of excursions by boat, perfect for Bangkok but unusual at any city hotel. First, Riverside has city day tours with its “Klong Guru,” (klong means canal) using a private boat to visit important temples, artists studio and even do city food tours. Riverside also offers Manohra Cruises, luxury Thai dinner trips nightly on its large river barge. Most uniquely, Anantara’s corporate parent, Minor Hotels, operates one- and two-night luxury cruises on two boutique Loy Pela Voyages ships, all of which operate from the Riverside hotel’s dock. The ships have luxury private staterooms and an emphasis on the included food and wine, as well as off-ship guided cultural excursions. A short, overnight, very intimate, white glove cruise from the heart of one of the busiest cities on earth is a really interesting vacation activity you will be hard pressed to replicate in many other places.
Because of its attention to culinary arts, Anantara was also the first luxury international brand to roll out a brand-wide cooking school program, Spice Spoons, with locations teaching the local cuisine at many of its resorts. Hands-on Spice Spoons cooking classes are available at Riverside, and not including the dinner cruises, Anantara Riverside has no less than a dozen food and beverage outlets, including one of the few remaining outposts of iconic tiki bar brand Trader Vic’s. Another interesting class offered you won’t find at many competitors is Muay Thai, or Thai Kickboxing. I did it, and it’s an amazing workout—don’t schedule right before cooking school because you might not be able to lift your hands afterwards. There are also scheduled Tai Chi and yoga classes.
In addition to the large, very well-equipped spa and fitness center, Riverside houses the BDMS Wellness Clinic Retreat, part of Bangkok Dusit Medical Services. Travel for medical wellness has been a fast-growing trend, especially abroad, and this facility offers services such as bespoke medical wellness check-up packages, personalized health assessments, rejuvenating aesthetic facial and body treatments, preventative medical therapies, and personalized supplement regimens.
Back in the city center, the palatial Anantara Siam is well located in the heart of the Ratchaprasong shopping and entertainment district, within easy walking distance of the city’s top luxury mall—shopping is a major attraction in Bangkok. It’s also very close to an important historic temple, and immediately adjacent to the Ratchadamri station on the BTS sky train, the best way to explore Bangkok while beating the city’s infamous rush hour gridlock. Just on the other side of the station is Lumphini Park, the “Central Park of Bangkok.”
The Anantara Siam Bangkok experience begins when you roll up to the circular driveway and enter the grand lobby, but it continues through your entire stay. I’m a huge fan of hotels with club lounges, fairly standard among luxury properties in Asia but still uncommon here in the U.S. The Siam has a great one, the Kasara Executive Lounge, included in all suites and Garden Terrace room stays, complete with in lounge check-in/out. It has private meeting rooms for business travelers, VIP concierge, complimentary afternoon tea mid- afternoon, hors d’oeuvres and adult beverages each evening, and an elaborate breakfast, with made to order and buffet, featuring Western and Thai specialties. The Garden Terrace rooms are quite unique for a downtown property, on the second floor with resort-style terraces that open onto gardens surrounding the swimming pool. All the guest rooms in any category are spacious, especially for a city hotel, and all have luxury bathrooms with separate oversized tubs and walk-in rain showers.
Dining is definitely a highlight, and the Siam has three fine dining restaurants, Italian, Japanese and Spice Market, the popular Thai spot. There’s also a hip cocktail-focused more causal eatery, Guilty, a coffee shop, the poolside Terrace, a deluxe Sunday jazz brunch that is a Bangkok institution, and the Lobby lounge, with all day dining and its famous afternoon tea. But one of the biggest surprises is a Pacific Rim outpost of London’s famous Café Wolseley. Minor Hotels acquired the hospitality group that runs the original and several other eateries in London and Paris, and opened this last year as a pop-up, though it shows no signs of ending its run. I normally go very local when I travel, and in Thailand am focused on Thai cuisine, but I did have lunch here and was shocked how good it was. If you like the original, or are craving a taste of London’s finer things on the road, it’s highly recommended.
If you can’t make up your mind where to eat—there are so many options—simply head to the Aqua Bar, one of Bangkok’s greatest watering holes. It is located off the lobby in an indoor/outdoor area known to locals regulars as “the Secret Garden,” which is enclosed on all four sides but open to the sky above. Aqua sits in this landscaped courtyard, alongside a Koi pond, and coming here is like leaving the outside world behind, especially in the beating heart of one of the world’s most busting metropolises. There is live music every night, typically New Orleans jazz or rhythm and blues. The cocktails are excellent, the wine list deep, but what makes it so special is the menu—in addition to the bar’s own extensive choices of snacks, charcuterie boards, salads and caviar, they have signature items from several of the hotel’s marquee eateries, including its excellent Italian spot Biscotti, Japanese fine dining eatery Shintaro, and one of the most acclaimed Thai spots in the city, Spice Market. There’s even an entire page of mussels and frites options—who says you can’t have it all?
The Siam also has an outpost of Spice Spoons, offering three-hour immersion Thai cooking classes, a world -class spa, and extensive fitness center. Its open-air pool complex is an urban escape, and other unusual amenities include an outpost of London-based Truefitt & Hill, a Guinness World Records holder as the planet’s oldest barbershop (1805), a more modern beauty salon, an IV Drip Bar, and a shopping arcade with multiple outlets, from bespoke tailoring to a Metropolitan Museum of Art gift shop.
As mentioned above, medical wellness travel is more popular than ever, and while the Siam does not house its own facility, many guests stay here and use the Clinique La Prairie Longevity Hub at the St. Regis next door, under the same ownership. Ther brand famously began with an anti-aging clinic in Montreux, Switzerland, and now is one of the premier medical destinations on earth. There are only five other locations around the world, and this is the only one in Thailand.
The Siam is such a great base for exploring the city that you may be tempted to skip exploring altogether and stay here, especially if combined with a stay at Riverside and a cruise.