Where to Stay in Bangkok

Bangkok is huge, and its traffic makes your hotel's location more important than in most cities. A cheaper room an hour from everything you want to see is not a saving. The two questions that matter most:

1. Is it within a short walk of a BTS or MRT station (or a river pier)?
2. What do you want to do in the evenings? Quiet dinners, rooftop bars, street food or late nights all point to different areas.

Bangkok's main areas, compared

Siam: best for first-timers and families

Siam is where the city's two BTS lines meet, so you can reach almost anywhere without changing trains. The malls give you food, shopping and air-conditioning on your doorstep, and Jim Thompson House and the BACC are a short walk away. The trade-off: it's commercial rather than characterful, and quiet once the malls close.

Choose Siam if this is your first visit, you're travelling with children, or you want to minimise time in transit. Skip it if you want street life or nightlife outside your door. Read the Siam guide.

Sukhumvit: best for nightlife and choice

Sukhumvit is a long road with very different stretches. Nana and Asok are busy, central and touristy, with a lively (and in places seedy) night scene. Phrom Phong is more polished, with good restaurants and the EmQuartier and Emporium malls. Thong Lo and Ekkamai are where Bangkok's own crowd goes out for dinner and cocktails.

Choose Sukhumvit if you want restaurants and bars within walking distance and a choice of hotels at every budget. Skip it if you mainly want to see the Old Town temples — it's a 30–40 minute journey each way. Read the Sukhumvit guide.

Riverside: best for couples and atmosphere

The riverside around Charoen Krung and the Thonburi bank opposite is home to many of Bangkok's grand hotels, which run free shuttle boats to the BTS at Saphan Taksin. The Chao Phraya Express Boat takes you upstream to Chinatown and the Old Town without touching a road.

Choose the Riverside if you want the river as your view and your transport, and a calmer evening. Skip it if you're on a tight budget or want to be in the middle of the nightlife. Read the Riverside guide.

Silom: best-value central base

Silom is the business district: office towers, street-food lunches, Lumphini Park at one end and the river at the other. It has both BTS and MRT stations, plenty of mid-range hotels and an easy night scene.

Choose Silom if you want a central, well-connected base without luxury prices. Read the Silom guide.

Sathorn: best for upscale stays

Next door to Silom but more polished, with embassies, wide roads, luxury and upper-mid-range hotels and some of Bangkok's best-known rooftop bars. Less to do at street level. Read the Sathorn guide.

Old Town: best for sightseers

Staying near the Grand Palace and Wat Pho means you can be at the gates when they open and back at your hotel for a rest at midday. The MRT now reaches the area (Sanam Chai and Sam Yot), and the river boats stop at Tha Chang and Tha Tien. Evenings are quiet away from Khao San Road. Read the Old Town guide.

Chinatown: best for food lovers

The best street food in the city on your doorstep and a few characterful boutique hotels in old shophouses. It's noisy, crowded and not for everyone. MRT Wat Mangkon makes it much better connected than it used to be. Read the Chinatown guide.

Pratunam: best for shoppers on a budget

The wholesale clothing district just north of Siam, with plenty of good-value hotels and the Airport Rail Link at Ratchaprarop. Busy and crowded by day, with a 10-minute walk to the BTS. Read the Pratunam guide.

Ari: best for longer, slower stays

A residential neighbourhood with cafés and local food, a few BTS stops north of Siam. Good for longer stays and repeat visitors; less suitable for a short first trip. Read the Ari guide.

Choosing by type of trip

How each area connects to the rest of the city

Transport is the hidden cost of every Bangkok hotel choice. Approximate journey times outside rush hour, by the most sensible method:

Road journeys at rush hour (roughly 7–9:30am and 4:30–8pm) can take twice as long. Rail and boat times stay the same.

Areas to think twice about

• Khao San Road itself. Great for a night out, terrible for sleep. If you like the area, stay a few streets away, around Phra Athit or the quieter lanes near the river.
• Lower Sukhumvit around Nana and Soi Cowboy if you're travelling with children or want a quiet stay. It's convenient but the nightlife is adult-oriented.
• Hotels far from any station that look cheap on a booking site. Daily taxis in traffic quickly cancel out the saving, and you'll lose hours of your trip.
• Airport-area hotels unless you're only staying one night before a flight. Suvarnabhumi is around 30 kilometres from the centre.

Budget, mid-range or luxury?

Bangkok is one of the best-value cities in the world for hotels, especially at the top end.

• Budget: guesthouses and hostels cluster around the Old Town, Silom and lower Sukhumvit. Look for air-conditioning, a private bathroom if you need one, and a short walk to transport.
• Mid-range: the widest choice is in Silom, Sukhumvit and Siam. Expect a pool and a rooftop bar at many.
• Luxury: the Riverside and Sathorn have Bangkok's most famous hotels, and Siam and Sukhumvit have newer luxury towers. The grand riverside hotels are a destination in themselves.

How to choose a hotel once you've picked the area

• Check the walk to the station on a map, not the hotel's description. "Near BTS" can mean 20 minutes in the heat.
• Look for a pool. In Bangkok's climate, an afternoon pool break is the difference between enjoying your trip and enduring it.
• Sois (side streets) matter. A hotel deep inside a long soi is often quieter, but it can also mean a 15-minute walk to the station in the heat.
• Riverside hotels: check the shuttle boat hours if you plan to go out late.