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After a stop-start cab ride from Suvarnabhumi Airport, my arrival in the lobby of the Shangri-La hotel Bangkok, tired after a long flight, is a palpable pleasure. At last I can relax.

Inside, a smiling young woman in a turquoise traditional chut thai welcomes me, palms together, as do the people behind the reception desk. I stroll across the marble lobby and into the lobby lounge, a vast, high-ceilinged chamber with panoramic views of the fecund brown waters of the Chao Phraya River. This lamp-lit space, flanked by a bar, is furnished with silken chairs and fittings. Outside, between the hotel and the river, massed tropical gardens and outbuildings are set around a sprawling pool.

Dusk is falling as I’m ushered into my room, which looks out over the river. Dusk is falling and the lights of barges and ferries are churned into millions of points of glittering light. After two years of pandemic misery, it’s wonderful to be staying in the Shangri-La Bangkok! This is one of the world’s most iconic hotels, set in the heart of the country’s cultural, political, commercial, financial and religious epicentre known to locals as Krung Thep, City of Angels.

The Thais hope there’ll be more like me. Thailand had just 428,000 foreign arrivals in 2021, according to the Reuters news service, compared with nearly 40 million in 2019. In that year alone visitors spent about 1.91 trillion baht. (AUD77 billion).

“The pandemic definitely had a great impact on our hotel as the majority of our meeting groups or international conferences were either postponed or cancelled due to the uncertainty of the situation and the country [visitor-limiting] regulations,” says Virinya Maytheepattanachat, the hotel’s Director of Communications.

But here as elsewhere business prospects are getting better. “The situation is showing signs of gradual improvement with the easing of restrictions, especially [thanks to the confidence] of the organisers when Thailand hosted APEC 2022,” Virinya says. (In May, the Shangri-La Bangkok hosted an APEC senior officials’ meeting and related events.)

A variety of factors set this hotel apart as an events venue, Virinya adds. For a start, it’s the largest on the riverside in the city, occupying four hundred metres of water frontage, with 802 luxury guestrooms – with river or city views – in two adjacent towers, and 23 function rooms, one of which, the Grand Ballroom, can accommodate up to 1,500 guests for special events. Meanwhile a strong and experienced banqueting and events team can manage meeting sizes ranging from small groups to high-level heads-of-state gatherings.

And there’s plenty for delegates to do before or afterwards, Virinya points out. Bangkok is a diversified city with great food and an appealing culture, she says. There are new and upgraded convention centres within easy reach of the two airports via skytrain or underground trains. Many Shangri-La Bangkok events guests extend their stays to fly to the tourist island of Phuket or drive to the holiday town of Pattaya for short visits. “With direct access to the SkyTrain, public ferries and buses, the hotel is a lovely gateway.”

With conference room rates packages ranging between USD150 and 200 per night, depending on the season, the hotel represents good value for money when compared with five-star properties of similar quality in Singapore or other neighbouring countries, says Virinya. Moreover the managers consider special rates for off-peak months like April, July and August.

That’s a prime reason most of its MICE clients come from overseas, mainly the US, UK, Australia, Singapore and China, she says. They include pharmaceutical, IT, finance and medical organisations.

“Our social events including weddings, engagements, birthday parties, graduations and prom nights play an important role in our local catering [division] which is number two [in importance] after group catering.

A culinary journey awaits in the eclectic eateries, serving up traditional Thai and pan-Asian food as well as other cosmopolitan fare. There’s good street food around the hotel. The Siteseer paid 70 baht (about AUD2.80) for an excellent soup of pork, noodles and quail eggs.

More reasons for another visit.

More info:

Events team: (66 2) 236 7777

Email: events.bangkok@shangri-la.com.

www.shangri-la.com/bangkok

“Why choose our meetings facilities?” says Gregory Preslier reflectively. “Without sounding selfish, look at the destination. Bangkok gets 37 million visitors a year, but in a way it’s the best-hidden secret in the world.”

The urbane, immaculately attired Area Director of Sales and Marketing for the InterContinental Hotels Group in Thailand is chatting over coffee in the vaulted lobby of the five-star Intercontinental Hotel, Bangkok.

Events organisers at the 381-room hotel have 22 meeting rooms, all on the same level, to choose from, Gregory observes. Yet the bustling urban precinct in which it sits is probably just an important consideration as venue flexibility and price.

It’s no cliché, he adds. Bangkok is a dynamic mega-city with wonderful attributes, for Gregory a mix between Casablanca and London, and it has two tiers. One involves the Thai culture which is manifest in the restaurant scene and food variety and quality. The other relates to what you can do for fun.

“The tourist places, shrines and cultural areas convention people can visit in Bangkok are extraordinary. There’s so much to do. The hotel is fantastic, sure, but you don’t need to stay in it all the time. You can’t be a hypocrite and deny what’s around here. Clients [we talk to] like this aspect because we’re not selling anything. We’re introducing a product but at the same time there’s so much more the destination itself can give.”

Located adjacent to a big Holiday Inn, the InterContinental Bangkok itself has one of the largest hotel banqueting, meeting and convention facilities in the city. Its main ballroom takes 800, theatre-style, and caters for many weddings – especially at weekends – of up to 1,200 guests. “You can come here for a conference, exhibition, seminar, product launch or fashion show and do everything on the same floor,” says Gregory. “They’re purpose-built facilities so we’re never improvising; I have fifteen people in my events team alone.”

Moreover it’s easy to get to. The two good airports have great connections. In addition investors from round the world – and Asia especially – are investing in Thailand and Bangkok, whose infrastructure grows all the time. “There are a lot of positives here and people like going to positive places,” says Gregory. “Wherever you are as an events planner in your industry, things are happening here. Medical, association, sport, education, welfare and so on; there’s really a mix of everything.”

Importantly, it also represents good value. A hotel in New York comparable to InterContinental Bangkok would cost three times as much, Gregory says, so the tagline “affordable luxury” here means what it says. “For a hundred and sixty US dollars you can get outstanding bed and breakfast at the Intercontinental Bangkok. I hear sometimes from clients that we’re expensive when they’re talking in baht, and sometimes hear ‘five thousand baht, that’s a lot of money!’ It is, to some people, don’t get me wrong, but for many typical international congress or conference organisers, I’d like to see them do an event for that price somewhere else in the world in a hotel of this calibre.”

The staff, 99 per cent of whom are Thai, are continually trained and participate, too, in a variety of charitable and team-building work on an ongoing basis that helps them connect, also, with guests. “Our people go directly to hospitals and schools to help out; it’s not just about giving, it’s about connecting, caring about something other than yourself.”

Gregory, 43, born in England and brought up in Lagos, Nigeria, speaks from considerable experience. He’s worked in London, Morocco, Dubai, France, (his father’s French and his mother English), and Monte Carlo. He was involved in the opening of Le Grand in Paris, a beautiful 500-room hotel on the Opera square, and the Atlantis, Dubai, which has 1,500 bedrooms, and One&Only Resorts.

Few of the properties he’s worked in have matched the InterContinental Bangkok for position. With a BTS station, Chit Lom, on its doorstep, the hotel offers easy access to the city’s major business precincts along with shopping destinations and dining, in addition to the hotel’s plethora of eateries. These include Theo Mio, an Italian restaurant with open-to-view kitchen on site named after famed London chef Theo Randall, who was on hand to meet staff, clients and media when The Siteseer visited recently.

IHG has recently also opened in front of the complex a new beer house and brasserie, Beer Republic.

Offering seventy beers, twenty of them local, alongside delicious Thai and European bar food, it’s due to open mid-December as an independent, chilling-out venue, accessible from outside the hotel.

What’s the best time to organise a conference at the InterContinental? It’s pretty busy all year round, says Gregory, but some times may best be avoided, like Chinese new year and other occasions when there are lots of leisure guests. Otherwise January-February, just before Chinese new year, are good, then April to June. “Because we’re so close to China, Singapore and Hong Kong, our market and calendar of availability is not just about Thailand, it’s about the region. For example when Australia Or India have holidays it impacts Thailand as a destination.”

Meanwhile the IHG group is expanding. It has 24 hotels in Thailand including IHG brand, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Indigo properties.

Online rates start at around US160 a night. More info at http://bangkok.intercontinental.com/

Siteseer says: I loved the airy feel of the hotel and its meetings room. Especially liked the muted-ochre colours of the guest rooms and the fantastically comfortable bed, which has a choice of sink-into-and-sleep pillows. The sounds of the busy city are well muffled by the windows.

The pool on the thirty-seventh floor is of generous size considering how far it is above street level, with a pint-size bar and good bar menu. Other minor much-appreciated attributes include plenty of drinking water in the room.

If you line up 20 boxes that Bangkok ticks that places like Singapore, KL and Sydney don’t, it wins on price, food, service, luxury and setting, says this hotelier. And the City of Angels has one other, matchless attribute.

“If you’re bringing eighty or a hundred people to a conference and you tell them it’s in Bangkok or Thailand, they’ll be excited,” says Paul Counihan, Cluster Director of Sales and Marketing for the Anantara Riverside Bangkok Resort and Spa.

“On the other hand if you say it’s in Bhutan or KL, they might decide to give it a miss. That’s because Thailand has an allure that makes it a wonderful choice for MICE decision-makers.”

Paul Counihan (pictured) should know. The engaging, effervescent 36-year-old is a career hotelier who admits to having started pulling pints when he was 14 years old in his native Ireland.

He’s lived and worked in Bangkok for the past nine years, and in his current post has helped make the Anantara Riverside Bangkok Resort – a sprawling, leafy resort on the banks of the Chao Phraya River – a five-star property that challenges brands like Peninsula and Shangri-la for luxury and service.

Thanks in part to Bangkok’s growing international appeal, the Anantara Riverside is attracting unprecedented levels of business and enquiries, Paul says. “The number of events we’ve hosted recently or that we have booked in is extraordinary.”

Recently a global pharmaceutical company had their annual conference at the hotel. It’s also hosted a German car manufacturer’s Asia-Pacific team, an airline’s internal meeting and launch, and a clean energy organisation among others.

Another key reason for his property’s – and Thailand’s – success as a MICE destination is price, Paul observes. The feedback he and colleagues are getting from clients in Australia, Singapore and elsewhere is that with the current economic and political uncertainty in the world, organisers are seeking to cut costs, while wanting to reward their people with great incentives at the same time.

‘Cheap as chips’

Room rates at Anantara Riverside Bangkok including all taxes, services and gourmet breakfast served on the hotel’s serene riverside terrace start at 5,000 Thai baht (about USD 140). Day conference rates range from USD 50 per person and delegates can upgrade up to USD 100 per person per day if they want to tailor-make the experience with, for example, additional servies like in-room baristas.

“In a city like Sydney you’d be paying $450 per night at a minimum to get into a place anything like this, with all additions on top of that,” says Paul. “We do fantastic private gala dinners for clients with over 20 live stations and 30 chefs serving, for around USD 50 per head; that’s cheap as chips.

“I’ve been in Bangkok for almost ten years and I want to cry sometimes at the prices I confirm for our premises, because it’s such good value! If I go to a meeting in Singapore and pay three times in a four-star hotel that I’m paying for a five-star suite on the river at Anantara, I’m reminded again that Bangkok is a winner.”

This may all help explain why the Anantara Riverside, a pleasant shuttleboat jaunt away from the centre of Bangkok, is seeing growth in events business that would normally have gone to Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands and other such destinations.

“We’re seeing more quoting up against other international cities than ever before,” Paul says.

The hotel is the flagship of the Anantara brand (owned by the Minor International group), which now operates 35 resorts in 11 countries.

With 408 bedrooms, which recently benefited from a USD $20 million upgrade, it’s set on 11 acres with 1,200 trees and 283 plant varieties growing on site. From the walkways of the lavish gardens and rooms, the Chao Phraya River and its teeming boat traffic are invariably visible.

The 12 meeting venues, spanning more than 3,000 square metres, all have natural light and include a grand ballroom that can comfortably seat 600 and which recently also underwent a million-dollar upgrade.

Avani opening next door

These spaces will be complemented by the addition of Avani Riverside, a new hotel, events and shopping precinct (opening scheduled April 2016) located adjacent to Anantara Riverside Bangkok. The $90 million Avani complex has 26 storeys, and when entirely complete will have 68 bars, restaurants and shops, and meeting facilities of 4,500 square metres (the new ballroom is pictured below). Each of the 248 Avani guest rooms and suites will have uninterrupted river and city views, Paul says.

Avani hotels, also owned by the Minor group, are what Paul describes as lifestyle, contemporary and international-style properties while Anantara represents more of a retreat and an experience – “luxury, relaxation and cultural experience of the location”. Avani is the first purpose-built hotel that Minor’s created worldwide.

“Meanwhile we’re developing an Avani in Perth, on Australia’s Gold Coast, and we’ve got 12 in Africa, having taken over half the Sun hotel group last year.”

Paul recognises that, now more than ever in the MICE market, corporate people are making big budgetary decisions when opting where to put their key people together for four or five days for an event. “Corporations see it as an opportunity to get two, a hundred or a thousand people in a room because that helps drive their business for the next year and beyond.

“We take the product we offer seriously, to create the right environment in which to conduct business and reward people, entertaining delegates and giving them a fantastic experience.”

For example at Anantara Riverside Bangkok the outdoor terrace has its own purpose-built stage and a light show, and executives can arrange to have private breakfasts on the river for up to 80 colleagues, he adds. Helping to ensure the success of tailor-made events are 630 staff. “It’s their dedication and service, which comes from the heart, that defines their work and our reputation. Their welcome is authentic and it’s what international guests expect.”

bangkokriverside@anantara.com

The Millennium Hilton Bangkok looks directly over the Chao Phraya River, which snakes through the heart of the Thai capital. From all its 533 rooms, especially those on the upper floors of the 32 storeys, guests have spectacular views of the teeming life of the waterway.

There are plenty of hotels in Bangkok, and some are located near the Chao Phraya. So what’s special about this one? The resort-like attributes of the property are a big drawcard, explains General Manager Heidi Kleine-Möller, pictured below left.

“Staying in this kind of atmosphere, with a view of the river and its life is something visitors don’t usually find in other hotels in the city,” says Heidi. “European MICE clients coming to Bangkok tell me they prefer this kind of experience to the shopping-mall set-up they see elsewhere. That may be on reason our occupancies are so good.”

Though it’s not set precisely in the centre of Bangkok, the hotel is well connected to all parts of the city via the waterway and skytrain, and close to many local points of interest, shopping places and a bustling night market. It operates its own shuttle boats.

Another drawcard is splendid meetings facilities – high-ceilinged ballrooms (the Grand and Junior) which can seat over 700 guests and spacious pre function spaces. The hotel has 13 breakout rooms, ten of which are on the thirtieth floor with natural light and river views, says Assistant Director Marketing Communications Suteera (“Pui”) Chalermkarnchana, pictured below right.

Meetings clients have several choices of dinner venues. The ThreeSixty Lounge is an indoor- outdoor place that works well for welcome receptions. Delegates can dine here while taking in spectacular views of the Bangkok skyline. The Flow restaurant, an airy eatery looking directly out onto the river, serves a vast buffet and is flanked by an adjacent cheese room.

THB 1,500 meetings package

Yet another drawcard is price. The rack rate for rooms online (depending on dates) starts at around USD 125. A recent full-day meetings package offer for THB 1,500 (about USD 40) included two coffee breaks and lunch, all AV gear, water, mints and Internet access.

Of particular benefit to events guests, says Pui, is HiltonLink, a free service that makes it easy for individual clients to control their arrangements, enabling them to book online using the group rate they’ve secured.

“They have the option of building a custom web page or we can provide them with a booking link in up to 23 languages,” says Pui. “Then they simply share their link with their guests – send it in an email or post on other sites to spread the word.”

Many of the hotel’s MICE business these days comes from government and embassy clients, the IT industry medical and pharmaceutical companies and bridal parties, says Heidi. The hard-working staff spend much of their time “making the impossible possible,” as when they worked overnight recently to set up an Oktoberfest function, or when 400 people arrived for a dinner when fewer than that had been catered for.

“It’s about flexibility and how willing you are to make the impossible happen,” Heidi says. “Our attitude is of course we can do it. How we’ll do it is our problem.”

As a result the hotel is on the “TripAdvisor Hall of Fame” for consistently achieving good traveller reviews. “The five-day event was professionally slick and ran seamlessly and, most importantly, we received very positive feedback from our internal and external guests,” wrote one client. “We are pleased to share that our guests had had only good comments and positive feedback regarding the Hilton Millennium Bangkok.”

Siteseer says:

This is an elegant, comfortable good-value hotel in a spectacular location with excellent food, facilities and staff. But Hilton should review its irksome policy of charging guests for Internet access in rooms.

For more information, click here, or email bangkok.reservations@hilton.com.

The Siteseer was a paying guest of the Millennium Hilton Bangkok.

Asia’s a better deal than ever. It’s the only region in the world where the prices of hotel rooms dropped for Australian travellers in 2014. Admittedly, some of the falls can likely be attributed to the weakening of the Aussie dollar, which has hit a six-year low, but the results will doubtless be of interest to most organisers seeking to run an event offshore – and not just Australians.

The latest hotels.com index, which compares Asian prices, shows that they were in fact only slightly higher than they were 10 years ago, and fell for a second consecutive year.

In Vietnam, Thailand and Sri Lanka prices paid for hotel accommodation in cities like Hanoi, Phnom Penh, Chiang Mai, Ho Chi Minh and Bangkok all fell – some quite substantially – in 2014. These ranked among the best-value cities in the world for hotel stays. The only exceptions to the slump were China, Hong Kong and Japan, where prices rose modestly last year.

Conversely, says Regional Director for hotels.com, Katherine Cole, hotel rooms in Rio, Honolulu, San Francisco, London, Dublin, Berlin, Madrid, Milan and Paris were all subject to double-digit price rises. Prices rose by 15% in New Zealand, 12% in Fiji and 11% in New Caledonia. The city where Australian travellers paid the most for a hotel room in 2014 was New York, where the average price was $317.

In Australia prices increased on average by only 1% in the past year. They rose slightly in Sydney (1%), Brisbane (2%) and Melbourne (1%). They fell in Darwin (-4%) and Perth (-3%).

Best-value hotel destinations for Australian travellers in 2014:

Destination	Average price paid in 2014 (AUD)
Cambodia	$73
Vietnam	$91
Thailand	$113
Poland	$116
Egypt	$117

Countries where hotel prices fell the most for Australians:

Destination	Average price paid in 2014 (AUD)
Oman	-18%
Russia	-7%
Sri Lanka	-5%
Croatia	-5%
Taiwan	-4%

Top five international destinations where Australian travellers paid the most for hotels in 2014:

Destination	Average price paid in 2014 (AUD)	% change on 2013
New York	$317	7%
Rio de Janeiro	$299	14%
Cancun/Riviera Maya	$282	19%
Honolulu	$281	10%
Boston	$272	10%

Top five international destinations with the highest growth in hotel prices for Australian travellers in 2014:

Destination	Average price paid in 2014 (AUD)	% change on 2013
Morocco	$169	41%
Mauritius	$277	25%
Greece	$196	18%
Qatar	$197	17%
New Zealand	$162	15%

Change in Australian hotel prices for domestic travellers in 2014:

Destination	Average price paid in 2014(AUD)	% change on 2013
Hobart	$176	6%
Adelaide	$153	6%
Canberra	$185	4%
Brisbane	$172	2%
Sydney	$200	1%
Melbourne	$177	1%
Perth	$184	-3%
Darwin	$200	-4%

In the Ratchaprasong shopping district of the Thai capital, my wife and I once stopped to cross a busy intersection when she felt someone rummaging in her handbag. “Hey!” She swung round to confront the thief.

She found herself facing an elephant, accompanied by its human handler, digging its trunk into her bag, looking for something to eat.

On my most recent visit I realised there’s usually something in Bangkok that surprises or confronts, and it’s not always the traffic. But the residents are used to it. Every day its 14.5 million people do battle with serious urban overcrowding, not to mention pockets of shouty, occasionally violent demonstrators – who for the time being are kept quiet by the imposition of martial law.

Yet with a smile and a shrug, the vast majority carry on working, making a buck, eating, drinking and having fun. To the Thais the country’s cultural, political, diplomatic, commercial, financial and religious epicentre is known as Krung Thep, City of Angels. It welcomed more visitors (16 million) in 2013 than any other city in the world, according to Time magazine.

The Ratchaprasong district lies in the hyperactive heart of the city. One of the buzziest shopping, entertainment and restaurant precincts, it’s also home to a clutch of beautiful hotels. When you consider the quality of the accommodation, meetings facilities, service, food and entertainment on offer, these are ridiculously cheap.

For me one of the most remarkable is the Marriott-owned Renaissance Bangkok Ratchaprasong, with 322 rooms and suites, where local glitterati are routinely photographed at functions, and which has nearly 20,000 square feet of meeting and events facilities – as well as a special car lift to carry automobiles up to exhibition space on the first floor.

The five-year-old hotel is a balm for the senses. The lobby is a spectacular place of shimmering marble and glass-and-chrome fittings, with muted lighting and dark teak alternating with pink to create a welcoming, unusual space. As you’d expect in a five-star property, there’s a fine spa, a state-of-the-art gym, full-service business centre and bunch of dining options, including high-end Italian and Chinese. If you choose you can laze in the indoor pool high up in the hotel, overlooking the city.

The ballroom can accommodate 600 and there are dedicated event planners onsite. It’s close to the Chit Lom Skytrain station (the super-efficient transit system) and upscale shopping at Gaysorn, Zen, Central World, Siam Paragon and the new futuristic Central Embassy mall. “The location is perfect,” says Wanpen Chanthariyab (pictured, left), Director of Marketing Communications.

“In many hotels you have to get a cab to get anywhere; here everything’s where you want it.” And importantly for Bangkok, there are four parking levels on site, according to Soo Oftana (pictured, centre), Director of Sales and Marketing.

From USD108 per night

How much will a room set you back here? An online check reveals Internet specials starting from 3,500 baht (USD108, AUD120) per night, a terrific deal considering what’s on offer. “The rooms were outstanding . . . the location is great . . . the staff is very friendly . . . and the best thing was [the] price,” writes one online reviewer. “Excellent value for money. I’ll certainly be back.”

The marketing folks are reluctant to publicise meeting or conference rates, saying they’re subject to negotiation. But one of the best times for good events deals is the last two weeks of December, holiday season in Thailand, according to Sukhum Trongcharoen (above, right), Director of Sales.

Email: wanpen.c@renaissancehotels.com

The Kalima Resort and Spa is an imposing multi-level complex that sprawls over a jungly hillside on the Thai island of Phuket. From inside the lofty foyer – and most of the 190 rooms – visitors look out over the sparkling blue waters of Patong Bay.

When I arrived at the two-year-old property on a warm day recently, I sat in the lobby for a moment to catch my breath and mop my brow. Seconds later, a smiling staff member brought me a scented refresher towel and chilled glass of lemon-grass cordial. I’d be happy to spend a few days here, just unwinding, I thought.

Plenty of events organisers are thinking the same thing, according to the Kalima resort’s marketers, with delegates in the past year from countries including Korea, Japan, China, Hong Kong, the US, Singapore and Australia. One of the main attractions is the flexible, hi-tech conference hall, which has a maximum capacity of 220, theatre-style, (130 classroom-style and 80 for banquets) and can be used for any kind of gathering, big or small. Its plug-in-and-play laptop facilities and high-tech gadgetry make it useful for video conferencing, seminars and other events that require folks attending to be connected.

But as an old mentor of mine once observed, most people remember the fun they had at conferences and nothing else, and the apres-conference facilities here are very appealing. Some rooms have their own private infinity pools, and the main swimming pool area is a vast space with panoramic views of the sea. The hotel has its own nine-hole mini-golf course and a private “beach,” an exclusive, elevated stretch of sand, and plenty of dining options. It has its own luxury spa and is a short drive from the big tourist hub of Patong with its bustling nightlife.

Meeting and accommodation rates are flexible and depend on the season, according to Senior Sales Manager Minako Koreeda. The time for the best rates is April through to October.

From AUD105

Daily accommodation rates vary according to the season and room types, but start from just over 3,000 baht, which is about AUD105. The full-day meeting package, including lunch, two coffee breaks, organising support and all the usual technological bells and whistles (and floral arrangements) is USD66 a day per person. The half-day rate is USD55. Yet more evidence that Thailand is terrific value for money.

Dusk falls over the Chao Phraya river, the broad waterway that snakes through Bangkok city and surrounding countryside. Against the darkening horizon, barges and small craft churn the surface of the river into glittering points of light. On the open deck of the teak river boat Mekhala, moored beside a temple, guests are enjoying drinks before sitting down to a Thai meal.

It’s an experience that more and more incentive groups are enjoying as they savour the delights of a Bangkok river cruise. Adventure tour company Asian Oasis operates three converted rice barges on the river, for a one-night, two-day trip that alternates upstream and downstream to and from Bangkok and the former capital of Ayutthaya.

The three boats have eighteen air-conditioned cabins in total, each a marvel of compact design, with en-suites. The overnight stop is at Wat Kai Tia, a Buddhist shrine in a tranquil rural village, where obliging staff serve central Thailand specialty dishes by candlelight on deck. The boats stop at a traditional market as well as an ethnic Mon village; for the rest of the time guests can marvel at life on the teeming waterway on which half of Thailand’s population depends.

The clientele is mostly Australian and European, says Chananya Phataraprasit (pictured), the company’s Executive Director and pioneer of eco-tourism in southeast Asia, and all meals are included. Guests pay for their own booze, or can buy a package that includes drinks.

From $110 per person per day

The cost: from around USD110 per person per day. “That’s good value for money,” says Ms Phataraprasit, with some understatement. “It’s a vibrant, unusual way for many inbound visitors to see Thailand.” As I can attest.

See www.asian-oasis.com or www.mekhala.com
Email: info@asian-oasis.com

By Derryn Heilbuth

Some years ago I was asked to write a piece for the Australian Financial Review’s “AFR Traveller”. For those who don’t know the format, it’s a brief Q&A where business travellers are asked to name their favourite hotel, restaurant and travel experience and provide travel tips.

For someone who travels a lot, on business in my own right, as an occasional travel writer and the spouse of The Siteseer, naming the hotel was the most difficult part of the assignment.

What hotel did I choose? Well, two actually, equally memorable but completely different. The first was The Mayflower Renaissance in Washington DC, a perfect setting for the global speechwriters’ conference I was attending. It was here that Franklin D Roosevelt worked on his “we have nothing to fear but fear itself” inaugural address.

The hotel, which will be 90 years old next year, was said to have had more gold leaf when it opened than any other US building except the Library of Congress. It was also a favourite of President Truman’s, who proclaimed it to be Washington DC’s second best address after the White House. Not surprisingly it’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places and Historic Hotels of America.

He mobilised the language and sent it into battle

After the conference I stayed on for a couple of days to visit the city’s museums and the Library of Congress. It was hosting an exhibition of the manuscripts of Winston Churchill’s speeches, the workings of which were real evidence of how, as JFK put it when granting Churchill honorary American citizenship, he “mobilised the English language and sent it into battle”. Returning each night to the Mayflower, exhausted but happy, I was reminded why I love old style American hotels. No one does that understated lamplit elegance quite like the US of A.

My other favourite, the Peninsula Hotel in Bangkok, which I visited 14 years ago as a conference spouse, is a world away from the Mayflower. In those days, The Siteseer was Editor-in-Chief of Reader’s Digest. The Peninsula had recently opened and the Digest had managed to get a special deal for a meeting of its Australasian editors. It was my first visit to Southeast Asia and the hotel on the banks of the Chao Phraya River introduced me to everything I’ve come to appreciate about this part of the world: the delicate beauty of the orchids, the rich colours of the silks and textiles, the complex flavours of the food, the faultless taste you find in places like the Jim Thompson house or the hotel’s restored rice barges that ferried us across the river into central Bangkok and, most of all, the warmth of the Thais.

A useful reminder

My father-in-law was a newspaperman with printers’ ink in his veins and an almost childlike curiosity he never lost. A favourite saying of his was Shakespeare’s “To thine own self be true”. Authentic people, leadership, experiences are what we – increasingly – crave. In a world dominated by global brands and chains it’s a useful reminder that what travellers look for is difference not ubiquity. It’s certainly what the management of these two hotels remembered. Despite the fact that they are part of large groups, it’s why they stand out above the rest.