I'm slumming it in cheap $6 hostels and will be for the next 5 months or so. I do however want to stay at the best 5 star hotel in Thailand for one night just for the experience. I've always wanted to stay at Raffles Hotel in Singapore ever since I walked past there when I was 9 and my mum telling me all the celebrities hang out there. Unfortunately it's $600 US a night which I can't really justify. Im hoping Thailand, or even cheap neighbouring countries i.e. Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos have cheaper 5 star hotels.

Maybe their stars are also of a lower quality.

PP has Raffles Le Royale , but it's pretty expensive for what you get. Jackie Kennedy stayed there in the early 60s. More than $200us, too expensive . The Hyatt in Saigon is worth a splurge @ a reasonable price, depending on season

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotels-g293916-Bangkok-Hotels.html

The one with the most legendary history is the Oriental.

http://www.mandarinoriental.com/bangkok/hotel-offers/

The hotel is a favorite of celebrity visitors to Bangkok. Joseph Conrad, Somerset Maugham, Noël Coward, Graham Greene, John le Carré, Barbara Cartland, Tennessee Williams, and James A. Michener are among the famous authors who have stayed at the Oriental.

Other famous guests have included Neil Armstrong, Lauren Bacall, George H. W. Bush, Jacques Chirac, Sean Connery, Mel Gibson, Václav Havel, Audrey Hepburn, Mick Jagger, Henry Kissinger, Helmut Kohl, David Beckham, Niki Lauda, Sophia Loren, Yehudi Menuhin, Richard Nixon, Pelé, Queen Sofia of Spain, Diana, Princess of Wales and Prince Charles, Omar Sharif, Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Jackson, and Michael de la Force. Ben Isaac Blessman, along with his companion, Moseley, have also stayed at the Mandarin Oriental.

Hotel

The hotel contains 358 rooms and 35 unique suites. The two-story Authors' Wing, the only remaining structure of the original 19th century hotel, houses suites named after Joseph Conrad, Somerset Maugham, Noël Coward and James Michener. The River Wing contains deluxe two bedroom suites named after former guests or personages associated with the hotel including Barbara Cartland, Gore Vidal, Graham Greene, Wilbur Smith, John le Carré, Jim Thompson, Norman Mailer, Thai author Kukrit Pramoj.^[9] Other suites are named after ships associated with the early Bangkok trade such as Otago (once captained by Joseph Conrad), HMS Melita, Vesatri and Natuna.

Sod that! Stay somewhere cheaper and have a wild and expensive night out instead!

I think you'll find that the best hotels in Bangkok carry just as much of a premium as anywhere else. Top range hotels have similar prices to western hotels, $600/night is not rare, and not the most expensive. Something to consider, unless you can afford to splurge on everything else as well, just paying all your cash for a nice room will probably not be very rewarding for you. What happens when you also want room service or treating yourself to some other hotel service? Your $600 gets a lot bigger really fast.

There are lots of reasonably upscale hotels that have nice rooms or suites at around $2-300/night. Just my own experience, I have recently enjoyed staying at the Terminal 21 hotel, and the Emporium Suites hotel - both very nice (by my standard), and were around $200/night. That's just a couple of places that I happened to stay in lately, far from the top of the range, but I found my stays to be comfortable and enjoyable. They seemed to be high class enough for me to feel good about it.

Stay by the river is nice. Try the club rooms on the top floors at the Shangri-la hotel.

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Unfortunately you have hit the high season so it won't be cheap anywhere. I stayed at the Oriental which was immensely pretentious and not all that much fun- difficult to relax in a place like that. The Shangrila chain is excellent for service and amenities you can't go wrong with that. The Mariott and Grand Hyatts are quite good and have good recrecreation facilities.

The Oriental may be the most storied and famous, but I believe a great experience can be had at the Shangra-la or even the Royal Orchid Sheraton at a lesser price. I satisfy my Oriental fix by having an afternoon tea on the restaurant deck, riverside.

Siem Reap is best value for money as far as hotels go in the region. There is a Raffles here as well. If you don't come during peak season (Christmas, New Year) you should be able to pick up a good deal.

In HCMC I would go for the Majestic. Sure, the Hyatt is nice but once inside you could be anywhere in the world. The Majestic is almost a century old and is a colonial building; the Hyatt is fairly new (less than 10 years).

Depends where you are but an executive suite at the Pullman in Khon Kaen cannot be beaten.

Well, it get's the wife wound up to where I'm ready to leave worn out!

I stayed at the Mandarin Oriental way back in 1981...had the Noel Coward suite for a night.

Went out on the town, returned with a babe, doorman said she couldn't enter the hotel.

Tried a 10K Baht bribe...he wouldn't take it. Slept alone in a great "room"..checked out

the next day & stayed at the now soon to close Federal Hotel...no more cranky doorman

problems.

How much was the Noel Coward suite? If you must know...since you're crashing out in a

$6 buck a nite flop....you will never be able to afford the MO...not even for a single night.

The Oriental may be the most storied and famous, but I believe a great experience can be had at the Shangra-la or even the Royal Orchid Sheraton at a lesser price. I satisfy my Oriental fix by having an afternoon tea on the restaurant deck, riverside.

I've stayed at the Royal Orchid. Nice view of the river and everything was all "spit & polish," but it was just another sterile American style hotel without any character. What Hanno said above about the Hyatt: "Sure, the Hyatt is nice but once inside you could be anywhere in the world," applies to the Royal Orchid too.

If I want to be on the river, not spend too much and feel comfortable I'd take a serviced apartment at the Centre Point Silom ... although I haven't been there in a few years ... it might be showing its age.

Penthouse Hotel Pattaya for a unique experience!

Lots of stars on a bargain, stay at the Club Andaman at a small island just inside Myanmar opposite Ranong. Room rates are low because the bulk of the profit comes from the casino.

Stay by the river is nice. Try the club rooms on the top floors at the Shangri-la hotel.

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Or at the Sheraton Royal Orchid by the river. It's as nice and somewhat more reasonable (I don't like using the word "cheap") than the Shangri-La

Hi

Go onto Agoda.com and punch in the city you want you have the choice and the prices.

PP has Raffles Le Royale , but it's pretty expensive for what you get. Jackie Kennedy stayed there in the early 60s. More than $200us, too expensive . The Hyatt in Saigon is worth a splurge @ a reasonable price, depending on season

However, one has to be dressed in a 5 star acceptable manner and not in a 6 buck kind of outfit

I stayed at the Mandarin Oriental way back in 1981...had the Noel Coward suite for a night.

Went out on the town, returned with a babe, doorman said she couldn't enter the hotel.

Tried a 10K Baht bribe...he wouldn't take it. Slept alone in a great "room"..checked out

the next day & stayed at the now soon to close Federal Hotel...no more cranky doorman

problems.

How much was the Noel Coward suite? If you must know...since you're crashing out in a

$6 buck a nite flop....you will never be able to afford the MO...not even for a single night.

Blowhard, a 10'000 Bt bribe in 1981 haha, the doorman would have found a way to get "the lady"up to a room

Try how nice is Conrad Bangkok hotel. A choice for ambassadors. Managed by Filipina Loudes Yuvannasiri.

Four Seasons, Banyan Tree

When I was working, I spent 10-15 nights a month in hotels, all 5 star. If the rack rate was, say $300 (talking 13+ years ago now), the company scored it for $60 with a guarantee of 30 rooms a night, 365 days a year, and now I stay in $40 a night places in Bangkok, City Lodge, Soi 9 Sukhumvit and Ibis, Soi Nana.

I don't miss anything the 5 stars offered, not a thing, and usually the staff were pretentious gits, up themselves because they worked at a 5 star hotel. My income would have been close to ten times that of most of the staff.

No more 5 stars for me, even though I can afford them, just a waste of money.

But.....the Oriental in Bangkok. I've had a drink there, and afternoon tea, and it is a fine place. Would it be worth the money to actually stay there? Not for me.

Lebua. Sub $200 a night. All suites. Great views up the river 50 floors up. If you feel like a splurge have a drink at Skybar.

The best in the World used to be “Oriental” in Bangkok, but I think that was in the past (25 years ago).

Awarded as the best hotel in World now is “Six Senses” at Koh Samui.

Other top ranges may be one from the “Four Seasons” chain.

Do expect to pay 100k baht and up for one night.

After 5 months in a 6 dollar hostel maybe you should consider splurging out on a tent. At least you could take it home with you and have hours of fun explaining it to your friends.

Find a spot in the middle of nowhere, or even the centre of Bangkok, and sleep under the stars. The memory (good or bad )will stay with you much longer than any hotel, anywhere.

The Oriental may be the most storied and famous, but I believe a great experience can be had at the Shangra-la or even the Royal Orchid Sheraton at a lesser price. I satisfy my Oriental fix by having an afternoon tea on the restaurant deck, riverside.

The river is a stunning location and always try to treat myself to a stay now and then at The Royal Orchid 'Tower Executive'room..Ok it costs more than your normal average room there but this gives you access to complimentary food/drinks(5.30-8.30)in the club bar there... (dangerous)with stunning views overlooking the Chao Phraya River and two nice pools and a brilliant breakfast of absolutely gigantic proportions,spoilt for choice selection!

Another thought for you...Sunday Brunch at the Kempenski Siam..This hotel really does have the 'Wow factor'when you walk in and their Sunday Jazz 'free flow' buffet lunch has to be the best in high class value in town for just over 3000 baht which includes unlimited seafood and Krug champagne(amongst other things)..

Where ever you stay in the end, post some pictures that the TV rats like me can see how the peacocks lives.

Lebua is nice(features in hangover 2)

I like Bangrak and enjoy the Oriental, everytime. It is consistent and if you know how to carry yourself as good as it gets. Not necessarily life changing but can improve one's focus. Enjoy your life. Bon Voyage.