The Peninsula Bangkok is truly an incredible hotel! My sister and I stayed in a Grand Deluxe room and loved every minute of our stay.

There has been a lot of fretting in previous reviews over the hotel being on the wrong side of the river, but if you are wrestling with that old 'Peninsula vs. Oriental' question, let me put your fears to rest about the Pen being on the Thonburi side of the Mae Chao Praya: it's actually one of the hotel's strengths!

Far from being 'out of the way' and a pain to get to to other side, etc, etc, it is SO refreshing after walking around in crowded, humid, noisy, dirty Bangkok, to step on the hotel's boat and just drift away from it all to the peaceful respite of the Pen. And while I must admit, being a hotel junkie, that I would like to try the Oriental at some point, I can't imagine the view of sleepy Thonburi being much to admire from one's room at night. It's almost like living in Manhattan on the Hudson River. While it's a great location, you're looking out at New Jersey!

But from a room at the Pen, you have floor to ceiling views of the river and and at night, the glorious, twinkling Bangkok skyline. Could anything be better?

The rooms are huge, with a comfy sofa, armchairs and coffee table, and decorated in understated luxury. The elegant, marbled bathrooms boast twin sinks, and are spacious enough for two people to move around in easily.

The lobby level fitness center is airy and equipped with modern machines, and located on the lobby level, which was a big plus for me. The pool is very pretty albeit a bit small, surrounded by canopied, cushioned cabanas. It looks right out onto the river--a relaxing way to end the day!

The food was good, particularly the buffet dinner, which offered an enormous variety of scrumptious, artfully prepared dishes(and I typically abhor buffets). Oh, I forgot about the instant coffee--ugh! But it's not just here--southeast Asians just love their Nescafe!

We always experienced good to excellent service at the Pen, from the men operating the boat, to the smiling assistant managers who brought us our camera that we had forgotten down by the pool. The concierge was a little cool, but that didn't phase us as he was also incredibly busy. Bonus points for the fact that even after we checked out, the bellman stored our hand luggage until after we'd returned from our jaunt down to Phuket.

Another great experience at a Peninsula--I highly recommend it!

We had the pleasure of spending the first three nights of a trip through Thailand at the Peninsula Bangkok. We arranged airport transportation through the hotel, and a driver with Mercedes (with cold towels and bottled water in the car) met us and whisked us 45 minutes to the hotel for 2700 baht ($90) at midnight upon our arrival. A taxi costs only 300 baht, which we took on the way back to the airport, but for first time arrival in a new city, it was nice having someone meet us. Our room was on the 19th floor, and, as all rooms do, had a sweeping view of the Chao Phraya river. The curtains were controlled by a button next to the bed, as was everything else.. the lights, the radio, etc. The room and bathroom were huge and well-appointed; there was even a TV in the bathroom facing the bathtub. The breakfast buffet at the café on the river was great and had a variety of foods and fruits. What struck me was the service- perfect without being intrusive. The staff seemed to know, from 15 yards away, right when we took our last sip of coffee and were there right away to refill. The service and friendliness of the staff was wonderful at this hotel. The gym opened at 6am and we used this one morning- only 3 or 4 treadmills, and it was a bit small, but the machines were nice, with TVs attached to them, and an attendant was there to offer cold towels and a banana when we were finished.

Since the Peninsula is across the river from the main parts of the city, they have shuttle boats that run every 10-15 minutes to both the Oriental pier (to catch the tourist express boat) and to the landing at the base of the Saphan Taksin skytrain stop.

While in Bangkok we ate at Eat Me restaurant near Silom and Convent, which was fabulous- great food and attentive service in a fun atmosphere, and then had drinks at Sky Bar on top of the Lebua State Tower hotel, which I found to be extremely overpriced with poor to ride bar service. Had planned to eat out the next night also but ended up snoozing off jet lag all evening in the comfy bed!

Anyway, the Peninsula had a very friendly staff and with the frequent boat shuttle service I mentioned above, was an excellent upscale base for exploring the city.

We booked two nights in a suite before heading on to Koh Samui and loved our experience in the Penninsula. We got the second night free from a deal on the hotel's website and decided to splash out on the rolls royce airport pick up- this was the pefect way to travek to the hotel after a long an exhausting flight. Arriving at the hotel we were presented with flowers and whisked to our suite for in- room check-in.

The huge suite was the nicest I've ever stayed in- when we arrived there were delicious complimentary chococates, fruit, tea etc in the living room. The room service menu was extensive and we ate breakfast inbed overlooking the river both days. We also had dinner at the riverside buffet which had a lovely romantic setting and was a great start to our holiday.

The concierge was helpful and arranged a river canal cruise within a few minutes of us contacting him to enquire about this. All other staff very polite and friendly.

As noted elsewhere the TVs were not the latest models but this was of little importance to us, as a couple we had better things to occupy our time ;o)

Overall a wonderful trip- we will be deciding our next holiday destination based on the location of Pen hotels throughout the world!

We started and ended our honeymoon in Thailand at the Peninsula and thought it an excellent city hotel.

For both stays we had a Grand Deluxe room on the upper floors and the views across the city were fantastic. Plenty of gadgets to play with in the room, although the control panels look a bit dated now, and the lack of a flat panel TV was a bit of a surprise at first! You even get a TV and radio in the bathroom, and masses of valet call buttons. No idea what you'd do calling the valet while you're in the bathroom, but the option is there!

With the hotel being on the Thonburi side of the river it takes marginally more effort to get around by public transport, but the very regular, complimentary, boat transfer to the Skytrain station makes it easy enough.

The airport meet-and-greet was great, the cost of the transfer probably excessive, especially when choosing the Rolls Royce option! On our return to Bangkok we went for the public taxi instead.

All the staff were very friendly and attentive, particularly those in the restaurants. Talking of which, all were of a very high standard. We dined at Mei Jiang (Chinese), Thiptara (Thai), and the River Cafe & Terrace (both buffet and 'a la carte'). Thiptara was a tad disappointing - possibly because of the evening downpour that night. River Cafe had a very extensive, although rather expensive buffet, and slightly limited 'a la carte'.

The pool was fine. Not great in itself - long and narrow - with a sometimes rather pungent smell from the adjacent khlong! Get a sala or lounger as far from that side as you can, although you will lose out on sunshine late in the afternoon. Staff around the pool were very attentive.

Our rate included a spa treatment each and this was excellent also. The build-up to the spa treatment is a bit low key compared to some places, but once you're in the spa itself the ambience and surroundings, not to mention professionalism and quality of staff, is great.

All-in-all a really good couple of stays made all the more pleasant with the hotel recognising we were on honeymoon and graciously sending us up a bottle of champagne and chocolates. Nice touch.

Would certainly stay again.