Nestled in the sleek steel-and-glass tower of many new Bangkok Plaza Athénée Hôtel, the Ruern Suite exudes old-fashioned Thai tradition at its most magnificent. Use the key card to spread out of your house, then close those the whirl of fashionable Bangkok 27 stories below. Despite the in-room technological accoutrements requisite to a luxury business hotel, the Ruern Suite transports you back a hundred bucks years inside of a space deserving the Thai ruling class.
Each of the four large rooms (an entire of 2,000 square feet) is paneled in teak, which provides a fruitful backdrop for the suite's assortment of art and artifacts: gilded elephant sculptures and carved stone Buddhas painted with lotus flowers. Shimmering handwoven silks in shades of brown, gold, and crimson cover the pillows and adorn tables and beds, while a lounge, dining room, and kitchen encourage dreamers get stuck ages. The most effective location for play-acting times of old, however, would be the bathrooms (that's two full and one half). Available as one, a pond-sized tub set with an aquamarine mosaic invites you to soak amid fragrant orchids (happily provided when you ask the floor butler to draw your bath). In the other, a teak-and-slate stall is outfitted by using a copper-lined ceramic urn and dipper, should the traditional Thai drench shower be more fitting to your fantasy as opposed to the alternative standard brass fixture.
Of course, for the tourist or business traveler, the Plaza Athénée offers more conventional junior suites and deluxe chambers too. Not to mention a powerful landscaped rooftop infinity pool lined with blue tiles, along with a full-service spa. But even just in among the many "regular" rooms, a floor butler will fill your tub-and orchids will almost magically appear. Ruern Suite, $1,100; other rooms, $200-$1,800. Wireless Road, Bangkok 10330, Thailand; 662-650-8800; visit Bangkok Hotel for more information.