Find your bearings
In keeping with the traditional feel of Bangkok’s first luxury hotel that opened more than 145 years ago, the area around what was once known as ‘New Road’ is one of the most fascinating and diverse in Bangkok. A short walk away from the venerable façade of
Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok is the Buddhist temple of Wat Suan Phlu, as well as the city’s burgeoning Creative District, where you’ll find the Haroon Mosque and the Assumption Cathedral (which is around 200 years old). Also here is Bang Rak quarter, at once the heartland of modern Bangkok and a kaleidoscopic pageant of street life in this most hospitable of Asian capitals.
Feed your mind
More than any hotel in the Thai capital, Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok exudes an old-world charm that makes you feel as if you’re walking arm-in-arm with former Bangkok residents, Somerset Maugham and Joseph Conrad. A major refurbishment in 2019 has brought new life to the hotel’s quarters, adding spacious suites and refreshed River Wing rooms by designer Jeffrey Wilkes, as well as updated restaurants and swimming pools. The crumbling brickwork of the Old Customs House graces the riverfront like a backdrop to The Jungle Book. Just a few metres away you’ll find the charmingly restored neoclassical heritage shopping arcades of O.P. Place Shopping Centre and O.P. Garden with their collections of antique shops, galleries, designer stores and fine tailors. Serindia Gallery in O.P. Garden has monthly exhibitions from Thai and international artists.