Where to stay in Bangkok with teenagers

[LavenderLxx]

We’ve got a family holiday to Thailand booked for August - we’re staying in Chiang Mai for 10 days and then have got 3 nights in Bangkok before we fly home. We’re renting a villa with a pool in the centre of Chiang Mai but haven’t yet booked anything for Bangkok. Any suggestions of which areas of Bangkok to stay in? Or things we must see/do while we’re there? It’ll be me, my husband and 2 teenagers. Thank you!

I've been to Bangkok multiple times but not since pre-covid. I'm sure others will have better options, but DH and I used to stay here:
https://www.centrepoint.com/pratunam

They have other branches through the city. Rooms have a kitchenette so you can re-heat meals cook basics and keep things in the fridge. They used to provide the most amazing, all you can eat breakfast buffet. Meals included Chinese congee, continental, sliced meats, fruit, various breads, cereals, yoghurts, hot selections and an egg chef. It might be handy if your teens have hollow legs. It has a pool and not too far from the MRT and platinum plaza across the road. It suited us because DH works in IT and there used to be a massive, multistorey mall across the road which sold all manner of tech. As said, I'm sure others will have more recent options for you.

We've usually stayed in the Anajak. It's next to the metro, although we used mostly grab when we there.

I also recommend centrepoint (pre Covid). Used to stay regularly at Soi 10 rather than pratunam.

I always recommend Centre Point Silom. It’s by a station and riverboat services and is on top of a shopping centre with Burger King, supermarket, KFC but also a local food market outside so everyone is easily catered for.

We stayed at the Chatrium in a two bedroom suite which was ideal with teenagers, we all thought it was great (the breakfast was fabulous and there was a happy hour in the afternoon with free drinks and food, great roof top pool and right on the river).

I’ve always stayed by the river in Bangkok. It’s such a busy and crowded city I like overlooking the river for a sense of space and calm.

I was there last April and I stayed at The Prince Palace Hotel. It has 2 pools, a great buffet breakfast and a fantastic view of the city. It's also next to a huge clothes market, with lots of bargains for teenagers. It's near a canal and it's about 10 minutes to the centre ( MBK Centre and other big shopping malls ). You get there on a v cheap riverboat which is great fun! It was pretty cheap, I paid £38 a night in breakfast for a room with 2 double beds..

As to what to do, the night markets are great, The Grand Palace is worth visiting. There's a riverboat on the main river that stops off on a lot of the main tourist attractions which is worth doing.

This is the riverboat

https://thaiest.com/thailand/bangkok/river-boats

This is a video of the hotel I stayed in.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ8QFPWjAvU&pp=ygUbcHJpbmNlIHBhbGFjZSBob3RlbCBiYW5na29r

We stayed at the Banyan Tree: https://www.banyantree.com/thailand/bangkok

It's next to a park (with monitor lizards) and has a great rooftop restaurant / bar, which our teens loved. It's 5 star but the price wasn't bad at all. Amazing breakfast buffet, too.

We took a tour with a local guide - we found her on Tripadvisor - she was a local student and walked us round various markets, boba tea and food stalls, riverboats etc and chatted about local life, which was really interesting. Plus, if you use a guide you get to jump the queues at the Golden Temple.

We’ve stayed at the Chatrium a couple of times. It is nice to be by the river. But recently we’ve stayed in Silom, which I think is just a bit more convenient. Most recently we stayed at 21 Saladaeng, where rooms are really well kept, spacious, with a good kitchen and just around the corner from the fab new Central mall which has amazing food choices.

I’m taking notes!

We don’t have teenagers (yet!) we’re looking to book for next year probably around Easter time

All those hotels sound great

https://www.eastinhotelsresidences.com/eastingrandhotelphayathai
just got back, it was perfection

We stayed in the hotel connected to the MBK mall - it was an absolutely brilliant location for teenagers and handy for public transport - though taxis are super cheap. They could roam themselves. Pathumwan Princess Hotel

Stayed here too. Very nice and well located.

Perfect - thank you all! Lots of research for tomorrow…

Millennium Hilton Bangkok. Next door to Icon Siam, that they can safely walk to alone and spend hours exploring. Great location for public transport, including the ferry that goes back and forth across the river.
loo at the Panoramic corner suites on booking.com Pricy for Thailand, but great value for anywhere else. Think we paid £240 a night for three of us, with access to the club lounge etc.
Plus, just across the river there’s a great tour company for all sorts of trips, so the location is super for the start point of those.

Stayed in January at the Eastin Grand Hotel, Sathorn. Lovely hotel with amazing breakfasts. There’s a walkway from the hotel to the Skytrain (Surasak) - super convenient, and one stop to Sathorn Pier where you can catch a river boat.

Not near the river, but it was so beautiful for a very reasonable rate. The club lounge access definitely worth it. I didn’t have kids with me but there were plenty there

So glad to hear that the Eastin Phayathai is good as we have booked a couple of nights there this summer! I liked the way it was directly linked to the airport train link as Ive heard that the journey from the airport to the city by taxi can be 90mins to 2hrs.

Another vote for the Chatrium Riverside. Two bedroom suite was perfect, it had a kitchenette and fridge. Hotel boat service connected us to the public riverboats and metro. Little 7-11 next door for all the teenage snacking requirements.

If you’re looking for something less mainstream, we stayed here with 1 child & 2 teens. It was super cute, the owners really helped us with where to go and what to see, and they do a free evening bike ride tour of Bangkok which was excellent fun. Breakfast was amazing, and access to a pool down the road.

https://www.oldcapitalbkk.com/

Honestly it’s amazing, so used to the cost of European hotels I could not believe the standard
bangkok is a huge and overwhelming city, being directly linked to a very easy to use and cheap transport network massively helped.

the staff will bend over backwards to help, both infinity pools are breathtaking