Bangkok Hotels in Riverside BKK

Winner of various World's Best Hotel awards, including those of Travel + Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler, The Peninsula is clearly doing something right. Its location on the south side of the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok gives it the distinction of being the only riverside hotel that looks back on the city proper and the views of skyscrapers and temples from the hotel's higher rooms are simply unbeatable.

There's also two cool ways to get to the hotel: a cab, followed by a short trip across the river on one of the hotel's private launches; or, for around 500 pounds, you can travel from the airport by helicopter directly to the hotel's roof. The flight is possibly worth it for the check-in alone: like a vision from a Howard Hughes wet dream, the exclusive Paribatra arrival lounge has shiny chrome walls, covered with golden-age of aviation memorabilia. 'Air hostesses' dressed in retro-Pan Am uniforms, complete with jauntily angled pillbox hats, are also on hand to welcome you in.

The rooms continue this theme of 'retro-futurism'. The hotel tower's sleek exterior leads you to expect slick, minimalist interiors. What you in fact get is luxuriantly carpeted floors and polished teak furniture, including felt padded writing desks that exude Old World charm. The enormous suites, and some of the rooms, have private balconies, which - given that many of them look down on The Oriental and Shangri La - could be fun if you've remembered your binoculars.

Food and Breakfast options include Thai, Chinese and Pacific Rim, all of a high standard, as is the spa, the pool and the bars. Jester's was for several years the most fashionable new wave dining destination in town and although the likes of the Metropolitan and the Conrad, not to mention a host of stand alone restaurants, have since got in on the Pacific Rim fusion act, it still holds its own and continues to innovate and impress. Really though, despite the studied opulence of the Peninsula, it's probably the expertly attentive staff who keep the hotel on the winner's podium year after year.