The Shangri-La Hotel Bangkok, Bang rak Khwaeng

Very nice and personalized service. Beautiful river view rooms. The Krungtrep Wing is like a 6 star deluxe hotel within a hotel and worth the extra money for the upgraded rooms. Spectacular river view setting with 2 pools, one with an outdoor massage pavilion; complete food and drink service. The Salathip restaurant is housed in a teakwood pavilion on the river, with excellent food and traditional dance performances. Very convenient to Skytrain..3 minutes away by foot. A fabulous, resort-like property in the city with a great non-chaotic location, yet convenient. A bit less formal than the Oriental and very close overall for less money.

Unfortunately it is still true that most five-star establishments are stuffy and snobbish in feel. But not the Shangri-La Bangkok -- you can walk into the lobby in your least impressive get-up, with your shabbiest luggage, and still count on a warm and friendly reception. The staff exemplifies why Thailand is known as "the land of smiles". Beautifully set on the banks of the Chao Praya river, housing a variety of bars and restaurants, swimming pools, shops, business center and more, the Shangri-La has all the amenities you need. For those who wish to explore the City of Angels, free boat taxis connect you with the Sky Train and subway, making all of Bangkok accessible. The Shangri-La is the grandfather of Bangkok hotels, and it's not hard to see why. Standard rooms are immaculate and comfortable, and suites (most with stunning views out over the river) are spectacular. Though you'll pay more for this level of service and style, it's worth it.

Our room 1919 has a stunning view over the Chao Phraya River.Watching the barge boats,ferries and large carriers all hassling for room on the already polluted river is amazing.Our room is absolutely spaciously decorated in fine furniture with all amenities . The restaurant is fabulous, looking over the river with best crusine and Thai dancers enhancing the night.Big bar with nice selection of wine.Overall the best!!better than any hotel in Europe.

Excellent service and rooms, especially the new CHI Spa. This is one of the best hotel and best staying experiences that I ever had!

We stayed there for 8 days in a room with a Chao Praya river-view ... most relaxing experience : great pool, delicious food, nice lounges with live music, variety of cocktails (including Mai-Tai), friendly and omnipresent staff, and good room-service. In a nutshell ... the place made our Bangkok experience more memorable. It is close to the Oriental and Peninsula and there are hotel-shuttle boats that ply between the 3 hotels ... so lunch/dinner at the other hotels is very easy and infact recommended!

The hotel is in a good location - right on the river. Very easy access to the water taxis and the skytrain. There is a Jim Thompson silk store nearby, too. Nice rooms - very clean.

Comfort, good facilities, Good view
Good breakfast

I stayed for five days, and really enjoyed this place.

I booked a suite in the main hotel, directly from their web site, and got a pretty good rate (less than $200/night including breakfast for two, and limosine transport to/from the airport), and early check in (7:00 am). I liked the suite, but if I had paid the normal suite rate (over $330/night), I may have been somewhat disappointed. The rooms were comfortable, and reasonably well furnished, maybe a little smaller than I would have liked. The only real weakness was the slim view of the river.

The food was good in the Chinese restaurants. The 24-hour room service was flexible, and able to adjust their dishes to suite a taste for spicy food.

The staff were very attentive, and helpful.

Breakfast was delicous, with a huge buffet of interesting things to taste.

The hotel is very close (less than 100 yards) to a Skytrain station, so it is very easy to get across town quickly in the clean, air conditioned and efficient over-head trains.

The only let-down in my view was the lack of a late-night bar, and the 'pong' as you walked up the stairs into the Skytrain station (which is probably beyond the control of the hotel).