I booked the Peninsula for one night of my recent trip to Bangkok due to the Trip Advisor reviews. Maybe because it's been in the #1 slot for a while I was expecting something phenomenal but honestly it fell short. You could tell that the hotel staff had been trained to give a high level of service but it just wasn't perfect. When we showed up for breakfast on the patio they didn't have any tables available that were shaded so they offered to make one up while we got our food at the buffet. We came back hands full of plates and they were pushing our table with another one for a different party and hadn't made up a table for us. We had to wait for a few minutes holding plates and juice for them to find us a seat and make up a table. Also, at breakfast they didn't offer us any water and we had to flag someone down to get a coffee refill.
The hotel itself was nice but we had just come from the Oriental which had Thai Silk fabrics and flowers everywhere, and just weren't impressed. Also, the music in the lobby was some cheesy lounge singer whereas in the Oriental they had a string quartet.
The room was impressive- cool gadgets everywhere. However, they are already starting to look outdated and I have a feeling that in a few years it will just look cheap.
At the Oriental the pay meticulous attention to detail but at the Peninsula everyone seemed disjoined. While we were at the pool three people asked us for our room number. They addressed us by name at the Oriental after asking who we were once. Also, the pool at the Pen was just ok. The cabanas were average- you didn't get a full sala even though it was sized that way- they each had a lawn chair sized pad to sit on.
This is a nice hotel but I would strongly recommend the Oriental if you want a riverside location. Also, we stayed at the JW for one night and that was even more striking than the Peninsula.











