Bangkok Luxury - 2
Oh the colour of Thailand, typified in its silks, above. And oh the service. It's not often that one arrives at a hotel and instantly wants to wrap up and take home the person there to welcome you but that was the case with Kitty at Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok at Chao Phraya River.. Hello Kitty.
It was just before midnight when the extended-reach BMW purred up to the hotel entrance. We went in and turned right, past gigantic, church-sized flower arrangements (only churches don't normally have about sixty sprigs of orchids as part of an arrangement). Another right turn was at a strategic painting, four metres high, encrusted dark paint relieved by a gold squiggle lurching vertically from top to bottom in the shape of the Chao Phraya.
Up in corner suite 701 Miss Kitty offered tea, but actually what was needed after the previous day's travels from London Central to Heathrow to Singapore, change terminals and on here to Bangkok, was something else. She smiled, put something into her device, quickly went through the itinerary, didn't hang around, and left. Ten minutes later in-room dining arrived with nuts – and an entire bottle of wine, opened as if this were a Michelin three-star dining experience rather than a post-midnight nightcap.
Only hours later, in daylight, did Girlahead realise the Jean-Michel Gathy-designed suite has such a memorable view – the hotel has 200 metres of river front - that decor could be superfluous. All-wall windows look out over the river and its continually active waterborne traffic. And actually the interiors interpret the muddy water into complementary shades of grey and browns from the main wood flooring, via the shaded carpeting, to upholstery and walls. Recessed open-front display cases, halfway up the walls or just below the ceiling, hold what could be ancient sculptures, or could just be turned-on-a-lathe bits of white plastic.
There are many memorable features. Three different-height single lights, all black, hang down over the dining table. A tray bordered with five different QR codes exactly holds three books, Stay and Play, Sip and Savor, and Refresh and Renew: each has a unique covers, but put together in the right order the covers make one beautiful flow-through pattern. What else is truly memorable? The wall between bathroom and bedroom, bedroom side, looks like a patchwork of oatmeal-coloured alligator skin, each patch meticulously saddle-stitched all around. There’s in-room fitness equipment with weights, a yoga mat, brand new stretch bands.
