Anantara Bangkok Riverside Resort

Hotel Review : Anantara Bangkok Riverside Resort

As I mentioned in my post on my Top 10 experiences in Amazing Thailand that we stayed in some of the finest hotels and resorts during my trip to Thailand on invitation of Tourism Authority of Thailand New Delhi.

During the last leg of the trip in Bangkok we stayed at Anantara Riverside Resort and Spa, on the banks of Chao Phraya the river of Kings.  A major challenge that most hotels face is to be a business hotel or to be a resort to relax. This dilemma multiplies when you are in a city like Bangkok which is a business as well as tourist magnet.  Anantara Riverside in Bangkok overcomes this dichotomy successfully and makes both the business and leisure traveler happy. Though the name of the resort is derived from Sanskrit it is a very international hotel with both the staff and guests coming from around the world (including India).

 

I decided to explore around the hotel and as the guests were going to bed I started clicking various parts of the hotel, starting with their huge lobby which could double as a football ground if the need be. It was on this clicking expedition that I first noticed the golden Elephant with Buddhas that is part of Elephant Parade, a specialized creative charity to help the Asian Elephant Foundation.

The rooms are designed to make you to relax in luxury with a beautiful view of the river right from your room and to enjoy the evening breeze you can stand in your balcony, such a rarity now a days where the aim of hospitality industry  is to encapsulate you in a glass cocoon.

Anantara Riverside in Bangkok gives you best of the both worlds, the room has excellent view, a comfortable workstation for those who want to continue to work when in room and also with complimentary Wi-Fi with an option to upgrade to higher bandwidth on payment, a very well stocked mini bar. But as our readers will know nothing impresses me more than the bathroom in a hotel. Anantara comes on top in this department with a clearly separate WC where the door to WC is hidden behind a full size mirror and the bath room has a shower cubicle for that hurried bath when you want to rush to your meeting but you also have an option to pamper yourself in the full size bathtub when you just want to chill out and pamper yourself with a long relaxing bath.

The view from our room was excellent with the Chao Phraya waving at us and the lights of vehicles passing on the bridge flirting with the huge lotus floating in the waters for the Loi Krathong festival. A distant Ferris wheel was inviting us to cross the bridge and experience the famed night life of Bangkok.

As I continued my night Safari to click pictures of Anantara Riverside Resort in Bangkok I notice a cluster of stars floating in the pool and wonder what is happening. On close examination I realize these are reflections of lights hanging on a tree above the vast (actually you need a word bigger than Vast to describe the pool at Anantara, how about Anantara which means without end in Sanskrit ). So  I fiddled with ISO, shutter speed till I get the pictures I want and walk towards my room only after one of the staff informs me that pool is about to close.

As I walk to my room, I decide  to make a quick stop at the Elephant Bar and one of the many restaurants at the Anantara Riverside, no not for a drink but for some more pictures.  Come on guys this is a travel blog not a wine review blog, though a post on same may appear on the blog in future. (STATUTUARY WARNING: Big B said in Satte Pe Satta: Daroo Peene Se Liver Kharab Ho Jata hai )

The next morning is very adventurous as I walk to the Market the restaurant where breakfast is served. But the spread is so lavish that it spills over to the open air deck overlooking the Chao Phraya.  My day is made when I am told by my host from TAT New Delhi that the breakfast has a special spread of Indian Vegetarian food.

I could not believe my ears as you can take desi out of India but you cannot take India out of a desi, so I immediately walked to the Indian section and started filling my plate with rotis, vada, pulao, aloo matter subzi etc. As the hotel has a very international clientele including Indians so all the meals are prepared to ensure the global travelers gets to try their own as well as other cuisines.

Smart Phone for Guests at Anantara Bangkok: When we stayed at Anantara Riverside Resort in Bangkok, we tested a free smartphone service from them. Select guests were given a complimentary smart phone ( to be returned when you check out ),  that had free 3 G services, and some Bangkok specific apps loaded on it, that helps you in sight seeing, shopping,  events in the city and some other cool features. One of the features like you can make free internet calls to your home country ( Not all countries were listed though including India for which the service was not available ), but you can make Skype calls .  I felt this was a real cool facility to guests as they don’t have to worry about buying local SIM or make costly international calls.  The best part is once you check out the phone automatically wipes out all your data / history from the phone so that the next guest who gets  the smart phone is not able to see anything you did with the phone like Facebook Chat, calls etc.

Over all I had a great time at the Anantara Riverside Resort in Bangkok and  both business as well as leisure travelers will have a great time there.

Useful Information: Website for bookings:  Anantara Riverside Resort Bangkok

Contact Information: Bangkok Riverside, Thailand  Tel: +66 2 476 0022   email:  bangkokriverside@anantara.com

I visited Amazing Thailand  on an invitation of TAT New Delhi.

Other posts in Amazing Thailand series

Elephant Parade

Visa on arrival checklist for Thailand 

Top 10 Experiences in Amazing Thailand

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