If you're looking for somewhere iconic, traditional and luxurious to stay in Bangkok, look no further than the Oriental Residence Bangkok. Awarded the 2016 Traveller's Choice Award, for luxury, the Oriental Residence has bridged the gap between opulent apartment and prestigious hotel. I spent two nights and this is my Oriental residence Bangkok review:
The Oriental Residence Bangkok Review: Check-In
Check-in occurs in a beautifully calm lobby meets sitting-room type area. I sat on a comfy sofa and instantly felt like I was being welcomed home, or at least as at home as someone who grew up in a two up two down can feel in a fancy hotel, lol.
I stayed in a Grand Deluxe King and I didn't want to leave. It was set out like the perfect apartment with a lounge area, king sized bed, walk-in closet, TV with all the channels, huge bathroom and even a kitchen
Although Bangkok is famous for offering some of the best food in the world, and for good reason, I still find that one of the biggest luxuries you can have whilst travelling full-time is access to your own kitchen. Sometimes you don't want to eat out anymore, you want to eat in. And after three amazing months in Bangkok and many wonderful traditional meals, I found myself craving all the classics of my own country's cuisine (cereal with nut milk and Marmite on toast). The bathroom had not just a humongous shower, but also a very nice bath tub. I was happy to discover that the bathroom had underfloor heating too, maybe it's a 90s baby thing, maybe it's growing up in cold England, but I find underfloor heating one of the utmost luxuries
What I was most impressed about though, was that the toiletries (shampoo, conditioner and body lotion) were decently sized. As I'm guessing you know, most hotels offer you 100ml max, if that even, but these giant bottles wouldn't have been out of place in your own bathroom, further encouraging the desire to stay in the Oriental Residence long term. And even if you stay for a short term (like I did) it's just much more environmentally sound to have big refillable bottles.
I was welcomed to my room by beautiful flowers and the most delicious macaroons I think I've ever tasted (and I've got to tell you that I have had macaroons in Paris)
The Oriental Residence Bangkok Review: Breakfast
Speaking of Paris, breakfast is served in Cafe Claire, which had an Parisian feel. There was a set breakfast menu for your main: omelette with herbs, Oriental Residence Breakfast or a waffle tower. There was also a buffet bar for toasts, juices, Asian breakfasts, jams, fruits, olives, etc. My favourite part about breakfast though was the juice bar, where you can order freshly squeezed juice.
The Oriental Residence Bangkok Review: Pool and Games Area
The pool was pristine and was the best of both worlds - a mixture of indoor and outdoor pool: it was mostly shaded from above but the end section was open to the sun. You could have a little bit of a sunbath, before cooling off in the pool. I didn't try the pool myself and can't attest to it, so if you do, let me know what you think. There was also a super fun section to play games including my ex's favourite, table tennis:
The Oriental Bangkok Residence Review: Location
I think that the Oriental Residence is in the perfect location. It's in the heart of the embassy district and thus feels safe, it's pretty much the ideal place for first timers to Bangkok who are maybe feeling nervous about being in such a big city and/or home sick. Colourful taxis flow past pretty much non-stop in this area, but for those wanting to take the BTS (the skytrain) Ploenchit Station is only 10 minutes walk away, and Oriental Residence offers a complimentary shuttle to the station AND the seats have an inbuilt massage feature. Bangkok is one of those unusual cities where the tube can feel fancier than the taxis, it's certainly often quicker. (If you're jonesing for the cheapest and the least fancy option, try the buses.) Oriental Residence is also in a prime spot for shopping with Terminal 21 and Central World just 10 minutes away. It's also very close to not one but two big parks in Bangkok - Lumphini and Benchakitti. It's also nice to be close to parks, in my oxygen-breathing opinion, but espeically so in Bangkok because a) there's not a lot of parks in Bangkok and b) the air is often bad in Bangkok.
The Oriental Bangkok Residence Review: Suites
Oriental Residence Bangkok has 1, 2 and 3 bedroom suites. I was shown around these for some reason and saw more beautiful bathrooms and kitchens:
Oriental Residence Bangkok can cater to a wide variety of different functions, from large business meetings to intimate engagement parties:
Wrap Up: Oriental Residence Bangkok Review
I very much enjoyed my stay at the Oriental Residence Bangkok, I felt so comfortable here and could definitely imagine myself staying long term. What I liked the most about the Oriental Residence, was that they were the perfect combination of apartment (with your own kitchen) AND hotel (with their impeccable service). For more information, and up to date rates, find the Oriental Residence Bangkok on their Hotels.com page. We included our stay at the Oriental Residence on our daily YouTube vlog (see below)
Other Bangkok hotel reviews
Disclaimer: Travelling Weasels were invited as guests of Oriental Residence Bangkok however, all opinions as always are our own. I wouldn't talk about something I haven't personally tried, and in the cases where I don't like something, I tell you, because that's my job.
