Step 2: Locate a Hotel
As an American traveller, I'm accustomed to certain basic amenities as being assumed. Hot water, in-room safe, my own bathroom. When traveling abroad, however, assume nothing.
There's a lot of small 'boutique' hotels here that cater to a wide variety of audiences. Some cater to the rustic backpacker crowd, who doesn't mind sharing their bathroom with 15 of their closest new found buddies. Others, clearly, cater to the type of guy who is here for a no-holds-barred hooker extravaganza. So, while it is possible to get a room here for about $20 USD a night, I'd not suggest it. Trust me, you'll be dealing with enough other local color that you don't want it in your hotel room.
That being said, you don't want to necessarily be too far away from the local color, either. A lot of the luxury properties (Mandarin Oriental, Four Seasons, etc...) are located on remote outposts along the klong. If you don't care about seeing the city, and only want to experience the guarded five-star enclave, then, you're all set. But, if you want a more 'real' experience of Bangkok, you've got to get out of there to do just about anything.
My brother picked out the hotel for us, and it turned out to be a great choice - located right off of Th. Sukhumvit. Sukhumvit is a bit like an artery going right through the heart of Bangkok, good and bad. It's also an astonishingly long road, so you want to make sure that you're not accidentally picking a hotel on the city's outskirts. Our digs were right by the Asok Skytrain stop, making it a great hopping-on point for exploring the rest of the city.
When looking for a hotel in Bangkok, you want to make sure your room has most of the following, all of which is considered optional around here:
-- Running hot water
-- Western style toilet
-- In-room safe
-- Security staff / manned front desk
-- Wifi, if you're into that newfangled internet thing.
Hot water really isn't entirely common at accomodations around here yet, so, ask for it by name. Also, keep in mind that you cannot drink the water from the tap (or even brush with it) so it's always good when the hotel includes a few bottles of filtered water as part of the basic package.
Other things that are good, but not always immediately obvious:
-- Proximity to public transportation (BTS Skytrain or Metro is especially useful around here)
-- Preferably located a little ways up a 'Soi' (lane/alley) from Sukhumvit, so you don't have to deal with as many street hawkers as you come and go.
Once again, I'm falling asleep before even getting into more detail about this place, so I'm just going to have to sign off with an odd picture in the next post.
There's a lot of small 'boutique' hotels here that cater to a wide variety of audiences. Some cater to the rustic backpacker crowd, who doesn't mind sharing their bathroom with 15 of their closest new found buddies. Others, clearly, cater to the type of guy who is here for a no-holds-barred hooker extravaganza. So, while it is possible to get a room here for about $20 USD a night, I'd not suggest it. Trust me, you'll be dealing with enough other local color that you don't want it in your hotel room.
That being said, you don't want to necessarily be too far away from the local color, either. A lot of the luxury properties (Mandarin Oriental, Four Seasons, etc...) are located on remote outposts along the klong. If you don't care about seeing the city, and only want to experience the guarded five-star enclave, then, you're all set. But, if you want a more 'real' experience of Bangkok, you've got to get out of there to do just about anything.
My brother picked out the hotel for us, and it turned out to be a great choice - located right off of Th. Sukhumvit. Sukhumvit is a bit like an artery going right through the heart of Bangkok, good and bad. It's also an astonishingly long road, so you want to make sure that you're not accidentally picking a hotel on the city's outskirts. Our digs were right by the Asok Skytrain stop, making it a great hopping-on point for exploring the rest of the city.
When looking for a hotel in Bangkok, you want to make sure your room has most of the following, all of which is considered optional around here:
-- Running hot water
-- Western style toilet
-- In-room safe
-- Security staff / manned front desk
-- Wifi, if you're into that newfangled internet thing.
Hot water really isn't entirely common at accomodations around here yet, so, ask for it by name. Also, keep in mind that you cannot drink the water from the tap (or even brush with it) so it's always good when the hotel includes a few bottles of filtered water as part of the basic package.
Other things that are good, but not always immediately obvious:
-- Proximity to public transportation (BTS Skytrain or Metro is especially useful around here)
-- Preferably located a little ways up a 'Soi' (lane/alley) from Sukhumvit, so you don't have to deal with as many street hawkers as you come and go.
Once again, I'm falling asleep before even getting into more detail about this place, so I'm just going to have to sign off with an odd picture in the next post.