go home via Bangkok
October 9, 2007
our nice bedroom at the Lebua at State Tower hotel in Bangkok
view toward the door from the bedroom in our suite
We got to Bangkok close to 8pm. The Bangkok airport was a huge complex, pretty much brand new. Lots of walking til we found the baggage claim area for our flight, and the immigration stations next to it. The process was pretty painless, however, and soon we were reunited with our luggage (always a good thing!) We took the official airport taxi to the hotel, since we had a group of 4 (just Kevin, me, Joel and Jan) and lots of luggage. Dave and Kristin were on the way to Chingmai for more adventures, however, since our flight was delayed, they missed their connecting flight and had to spend the night in Bangkok.
It was even hotter and muggier here in Bangkok than Kathmandu, and it had been raining. However, there was very little traffic from the airport to the hotel at this hour, and we got there in about 40 minutes. Viewing the new Bangkok from the car, it was definitely not the same one I visited 22 years ago! This is now a modern city with lots of high rises and expressways, and cars, but the cars are better behaved than before from my recollection.
The hotel we stayed at was very nice, and we got a roomy suite overlooking the river. Then we ventured out to dinner with someone who is a friend of Joel's. Seafood, spicy and fresh, out in the open air by the river. We were all pretty tired and packed in after midnight.
-- so our friends made it to Chiang Mai after all, and 2 months later, we saw some of the photos they took there. It was amazing, the elephants can paint! They saw the elephants paint live, so these are real paintings painted by these intelligent animals!
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This is a "boutique" hotel in Bangkok. I shopped around the internet before booking it on expedia.com. It was much cheaper than the chain hotels, and the photos looked great. At less than $150 (including tax) a night for a suite, it was a reasonable price. When we arrived at the hotel, we were escorted to sit in the lobby while a receptionist did our check-in for us. Then we were shown the room, up the elevator to 45th floor. The hotel is in this modern highrise, with a security at the gate checking the car undercarriages with a mirror! The highrise had some shops at ground and lower floors and maybe business or condos at other floors, but the hotel itself occupied the higher dozens or so floors including the rooftop.
Our room was a suite, very new, with lots of lights and free internet (with your own laptop). We had a sitting room at the entry, a walkthrough kitchen, glass doored bathroom, and large bedroom. A view of the river below and city lights, however the balcony was locked for safety reasons, so we could only look from the window.
The included breakfast buffet was very bountiful and delicious, with western and Chinese and Thai foods. Juices were most colorful too (green guava, red watermelon, orange, yellow pineapple, etc).
The hotel is within about a 10 minute walk to the river where you can take the river taxi (more like a bus) to places like the palace and elsewhere easily. The skytrain is just before the river, also easy to reach, we did not use it though.
The staff was most friendly and helpful, the room was the best we stayed the whole trip because it was a suite, everything was new and well designed. I would definitely stay here again. Hotel restaurants at the rooftop and top floors had great city view, expensive, but the food was excellent and the view can't be beat.
Our room was a suite, very new, with lots of lights and free internet (with your own laptop). We had a sitting room at the entry, a walkthrough kitchen, glass doored bathroom, and large bedroom. A view of the river below and city lights, however the balcony was locked for safety reasons, so we could only look from the window.
The included breakfast buffet was very bountiful and delicious, with western and Chinese and Thai foods. Juices were most colorful too (green guava, red watermelon, orange, yellow pineapple, etc).
The hotel is within about a 10 minute walk to the river where you can take the river taxi (more like a bus) to places like the palace and elsewhere easily. The skytrain is just before the river, also easy to reach, we did not use it though.
The staff was most friendly and helpful, the room was the best we stayed the whole trip because it was a suite, everything was new and well designed. I would definitely stay here again. Hotel restaurants at the rooftop and top floors had great city view, expensive, but the food was excellent and the view can't be beat.
The sitting room area of our hot…
View into the suite from the sit…
the walkthrough kitchen area
the bedroom, lots of lights with…
left and right side of the bathroom
