STAYING AT A luxury hotel means more than having a nice room and access to the pool - it also entails being taken care of while you are in a foreign city. That was the feeling I got during my stay at the Peninsula Bangkok recently.
Of course, I enjoyed all the basics. The unique wave-shaped design of the building and location on the banks of the Chao Phraya River mean that all the rooms enjoy uninterrupted views of Bangkok.
Some might say that the location, on the other side of the Taksin Bridge from the Silom area and not directly reachable by the Skytrain, is a little off the beaten track. But that is also its charm.
Besides, the Saphan Taksin station is only a short, leisurely boat ride away, with a complimentary ferry service provided by the hotel. In fact, a journey on one of those retro teakwood motor
vessels is part of the experience.
Everything in the room, including the drawing of the curtains or turning on the speaker phone while having a shower, requires just the touch of a button.
I was in town for a friend's 40th birthday party, and the idea of getting a simple bouquet of 39 pink roses and one red rose (signifying the beginning of an even better decade ahead) came to mind at the last minute. Not knowing where to go, I called up the concierge, and got directions to a flower market.