Shangri-La Hotel Bangkok

We loved our stay here. The location is excellent – the hotel is right beside the central pier, just a few minutes’ walk through the hotel grounds, making it incredibly easy to use the tourist boats to reach Bangkok’s main sights. Bang Rak is also within walking distance and is a great area in its own right, with a fantastic food market, local cafés and plenty of inexpensive, authentic places to eat. Lebua is within walking distance too if you fancy the Hangover experience! We never actually ate dinner at the hotel because there were so many good local options nearby. The hotel also operates its own shuttle boat across the river to IconSiam, which is a brilliant place and easily worth spending a good chunk of a day exploring. Our original room had two three-quarter-size beds, which was enough for us and our two young children. We were offered an upgrade to a balcony room for roughly £80 and it was absolutely worth it. The river view was fantastic and we loved sitting and watching all the boats travelling up and down. Be warned that the occasional party boat can be quite loud, but we found that more amusing than annoying! Breakfast was superb – easily the best of the three hotels we stayed at in Thailand. The quality and variety were exceptional, with Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Indian and European options and a huge amount being freshly prepared. We ate outside every morning overlooking the river, which was a lovely way to start the day – although you may have to defend your breakfast from a few persistent pigeons! The pool area was another highlight, particularly with children. We never struggled to find loungers, the kids loved the water jets and there are quieter pool areas if you want to get away from the main family pool. Food and drink service around the loungers was good too, making it easy to come back during the hottest part of the day and spend a couple of hours relaxing. In the evenings we occasionally stopped at the hotel bar, where there were some really enjoyable live singers and piano performances. Overall, this was a top-class stay. You get the feeling of being slightly removed from Bangkok’s main hustle and bustle while still being exceptionally well connected by boat, road and on foot. The combination of the riverfront location, outstanding breakfast and excellent pool area made this our favourite Bangkok stay and somewhere we’d happily return to.

If you’ve stayed at other Shangri La hotels, you know what to expect: proper 5 star amenities, excellent service, and a great pool area. Beautifully located by the river, with shuttle boat to the Icon Siam directly from the hotel. Easy access to the BTS train. We opted for a river view room - and we would 100% do the same again. The views were amazing. The property is huge, so I would recommend trying to get a room in the main building of your want easy access to restaurants and pool. However, if easy access to BTS is preferable you could stay at the Krungthep wing - just note that this wing is far away from the main reception and restaurants. If there is anything we were missing, it would be turndown service - which should be mandatory for 5 star hotels. However, we will definitely return for our next trip to Bangkok.

Bro I’m telling you the air conditioner in room 1333 is broken and we switched rooms, they said the room switch will be done by morning but it was afternoon and it still wasn’t done then after the room switch they forgot the second bed and it was after i was done swimming when they finally delivered the bed. This hotel was supposed to get one star but since the food was delicious and i get to swim i gave it three stars.

The hotel enjoys a perfect location. From the balcony, you can take in a stunning panoramic view of the water, the skyline, and the city lights. Furthermore, the complimentary shuttle boat carries you directly to the shopping malls and back—a truly wonderful touch and a real highlight. The pool, service, and every other detail are equally excellent. I would return in a heartbeat. It is also one of the few hotels left in Bangkok that still offers balconies where smoking is permitted. Thank you so much for everything; we look forward to coming back

I stayed here in early February 2026 and again in March 2026, a pit stop on my way to and from Nha Trang, Vietnam. I really can’t add much to the reviews I read. But I’ll try. I stayed in both wings, the newer Shangri La wing and the older, atmospheric Krungthep wing, which I preferred. The two wings are separated by a long corridor, about a five minute walk for me. It’s a really nice walk with nooks and crannys and interesting side rooms. You know you’re not in Kansas anymore. I was told they will call a golf cart for you if you wish but I always enjoyed the walk. If you want the hotel breakfast, it’s in the Shangri La wing so you’ll have a decent morning walk to get there if you’re not staying in that wing. The Krungthep wing is the antithesis of the modern cookie cutter hotel, with a stunning Thai themed lobby. It’s really big with many nice, deep chairs and sofas so you can read, relax, write a journal and ponder Zeno’s paradox in quiet comfort. Some chairs have a view of the river. I never saw more than a few people at most there and sometimes it was just my favorite person. It’s a very special place. (I should denigrate it a bit as I don’t want to ruin it with a lot of people but I cannot) The newer Shangri La wing is spit and polish modern and is really nice as well. The big lobby also overlooks the river and, unlike the Krungthep lobby, has a bar with drinks served and is much more active but not crowded. You’ll not have it to yourself. It’s really nice but is modern themed as opposed to the Krungthep lobby. All personnel I encountered couldn’t have been more polite, professional looking and acting, readily engaging in conversation and offering assistance, especially those ladies I’d see walking around, greeters maybe, who were so nice, and pulchritudinous as well. I don’t want to mention names as I’ll leave someone out and cause offense. They also have really neat nicknames so guests don’t murder their Thai names in pronunciation. Next time, I should offer to help them with additional nicknames as I’m really good at it. An example of the service was the bellhop in the Krungthep wing. In polite conversation, I asked where I could buy some newspapers to bring back to the good old USA for friends. He advised me to check the local mall but I was unsuccessful there. When I told him of my lack of success, he called someone in the Shangri La wing to bring three newspapers over, which they drove over to us immediately. Gratis. (my favorite price) My goodness! So you’ve got two super-nice but distinct buildings to choose from, a fantastic location on the river near local transit and ferry hubs, and absolutely outstanding personnel who regularly show their teeth (in a friendly manner) and will readily help to make your stay better. I think that covers it. As Arnold says, “I’ll be back!”