During my two-part birthday trip to the Golden Triangle, I checked out four different hotels in Bangkok, given that its one of the worlds best value cities for luxury hotels, and the market keeps getting better (separately, Im reviewing the Rosewood Bangkok, Capella Bangkok, and Four Seasons Bangkok).
Continue reading: Review: Aman Bangkok, Thailand (One Of The World’s Best City Hotels)
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Ben, did you visit the heritage home in the park to learn about the family? The heiress owns the Aman, built on family land. The home is interesting and the guides are good at showing how wealthy Bangkokians lovey a century ago.
@ Daniel from Finland -- We did indeed do the tour, and enjoyed learning about the history. Sorry I didn't get into that more, but given that the review was approaching 4,000 words, I felt I had to cut out some things.
Hopefully Womchai will be here soon to scold you about not spending the day with locals, chatting in Thai, and asking you to prove that you lived like a Thai street food vendor.
Daniel ... Please tell us more "how wealthy Bankokians lovey" . "lovey" caught my imagination .
Wow . What a high rate ! $1,200 - $1,600 per night . Ya gotta be kidding ... no way , Jose .
Let me guess travelinWilly enjoys the , um , fertility section of the park ; )
I like the Aman Bangkok, but I also find it amusing that this so-called ‘all-suite hotel’ has only one proper suite – the Aman Suite. Everything else are just large rooms, not real suites.
The thing with these hotels like Aman or Capella is they are really nice, but they do not wow you. Nothing stunning or memorable about it. Pretty much cookie cutter decor.
Like when i read title of one of these articles, I have to think for 5 seconds to recall what the hotel was like, the lobby, the room, the amenities. At times I draw a blank.
For the price i would expect there to be at the very least. something compelling. And there is where they fall flat.
That's around 3 month working class income per night in a low season.
Therefore the omakase can feed some working class Thai family for over a month.
Just like calling Puerto Rico, Americans but this so called 'American' can't vote for US President or have representation in Congress.
Let me guess Maryland only tips when the property is busy ; )
You don't get his bribe money when you have free time to assist him. Because he doesn't know it's called a bribe and he doesn't tip employees when they help him when they're not busy.
Huh? It was a joke about the phallic display in Nai Lert park. Have you visited?
Try the Sukhothai. Beautiful place also in a park setting. Couple Sundays a month the restaurant holds a brunch with terrific local seafood, local offerings and music.
I do not travel the world has extensively as some of you. But in the past couple of years, in that part of the world, the places that stand out : Taj Lake, Palace, Udaipur, India and Peninsula Hong Kong. Even the Amanpuri in Phuket was a memorable stay.
At least they didn't have the temerity to charge for the snacks from the minibar...
I find it cheap Capella or 4S would charge guests for something that would perhaps cost no more than a dozen baht per serving...
Why hotels at such price points don't simply buy good quality snacks, smack their logos on them, and make them ready for enjoyment for free to guests? I bet the additional cost would be really negligible for the bottom line, especially if buying local Thai products, but would be a good advertisement...
@Eskimo that is because it is not a state and therefore according to the U.S. Constitution it cannot have congressional voting representation and this also applies to Washington, D.C.
"...it goes deluxe suite, then premier suite, then corner suite, then premier suite". So how do you know if you got the good premier suite, or the not so good one? 😉 I suspect one of those should be "premier corner suite"?
I got it, Maryland. And I have both stayed at the hotel and visited the display…
Maybe Eskimo was making a ‘just the tip’ joke… in line with all those ‘displays.’
This looks great, and I'd love to stay at the Aman Bangkok one day. I actually prefer Ploen Chit to the river. But 10,900 THB for an omakase?! That's loco. You could get the same quality in Japan for ¥10,900, or in reality, probably less!!
I might just not be travelling high-end enough to appreciate this, but I think I'd find that level of personalised service a little off putting. The unprompted "see you at 7pm" comment would probably make me jump out my skin a little! Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking the staff. The fact that they are trained well enough to recognise their guests and memorise details about their stay to such a level is seriously impressive, but it'd all feel a bit too Wayward Pines for my low touch sensibilities.
Fantastic review that truly exemplifies the depth and thoroughness that set your work apart. It’s the kind of high-quality content that keeps so many of us returning to your site for trusted travel insights and inspiration.
Curious how you feel about the vibe of hotel venues at a place like this (especially the guest-restricted Aman Club) when the occupancy is low? I love not competing for resources (tables or preferred times) when staying at an expensive hotel, but at the same time it can be awkward when there are consistently few or no other people - sometimes even more so when there are live performers, lots of staff, etc. I almost feel an obligation to engage with all of them to not make it awkward (or that my conversation is on display if just there with my partner). There's something about a reasonable level of a crowd that gives a nice vibrancy and provides some anonymity to a place.
Also, these reviews are really insightful (especially the detail). I more often don't opt to splurge on this price point of city hotel as I don't find the service or experience to justify the cost, but there are situations like this one where I might make an exception. In any case, it's very helpful as otherwise most of the reviews of this category are either largely marketing fluff pieces (like Travel & Leisure), or potentially perspectives from folks where money is no object and shelling out this kind of money is trivial.
We all know why Stanley.
It's the hypocrisy of it and people still fall for the propaganda.
Obviously I'm not their target market, but I can't imagine spending that much per night for a hotel in Bangkok just to have a marginally better experience. There's overpriced and then there's Aman pricing.
You can immediately tell it's an Aman that wasn't touched by Adrian.
The city Amans are mostly soul-less, sans Aman Tokyo.
This property strikes me in the same way NYC does: It's clean, almost boring design, that looks more like a Banyan Tree than Aman. After too many 'meh' visits to the new properties, I stick to the Zecha tried-and-true originals with Amangiri and Amanpuri being favorites.
I do understand that nothing remains the same and time marches forward, but these new oligarch properties don't hold a candle to the old Aman.
I went over to the Aman for a drink on my last visit to BKK. Obviously that's not the same as staying at the property, but I must say that I didn't really feel comfortable or overly welcome there. The property itself, including the staff, just feels somewhat aloof to me.
Would I pay this kind of money for a city property in Bangkok where I have tons of wonderful options at less than half the price? Absolutely not. It's a good review though, and I appreciate the insights.
Only the truly oblivious would stay here, let alone praise it. Tells you everything you need to know.
You would also pay a fraction at many omakase restaurants elsewhere in Bangkok, include at top-notch locations in Ratchadamri/Langsuan/Witthayu.
Ben, I agree with you on this property. I was there in March and I absolutely loved it. I have stayed in many 5-star properties in Bangkok and nothing, in my opinion, comes close to the Aman. There are many negative comments here from people who have not stayed there. I would almost guarantee that their opinion would change with a stay. It is VERY expensive but worth every penny. I can't wait to return.
Yea for my line of work, that would be a massive red flag and concern, that these people know my schedule, my habits, etc... Especially in a country like Thailand