Where to Stay in Bangkok: Best Areas, Prices & Tips

Bangkok offers more hotel for the money than almost any major city. A new four-star hotel with a rooftop pool, a gym and breakfast for $70 to $120 a night is normal, and the top riverside hotels are a fraction of what their equivalents cost in Europe. The catch is traffic. Where you stay matters less for its distance to the sights than for its distance to a BTS Skytrain or MRT station, which is the only reliable way to move during the day. Prices below are for a standard double in the cool season with the 17% tax and service included.

Sukhumvit: the long spine of the modern city

Sukhumvit Road runs for miles under the BTS line, and each station has its own character. Asok and Nana are busy, international and full of hotels at every level, with the Terminal 21 mall and a well-known nightlife strip. Phrom Phong and Thong Lo are more upscale, with Japanese restaurants, boutique hotels and the EmQuartier malls. Ekkamai and On Nut further east are quieter and cheaper. Everything is a Skytrain ride from Siam and Silom.

Suits: first-time visitors, food and nightlife, business travelers, long stays. Typical price: $50 to $110 for good three- and four-star hotels, $120 to $250 for five-star and design hotels.

Siam, Ratchaprasong and Pratunam: shopping central

The city's mall district, where the two BTS lines cross at Siam station. Siam Paragon, CentralWorld and MBK are here, along with Jim Thompson House and the Erawan Shrine. Hotels range from large international five-stars on the Ratchaprasong intersection to budget towers in Pratunam, the wholesale clothing market a few blocks north. The location is the most connected in the city.

Suits: shoppers, families, anyone who wants to be in the middle of the Skytrain network. Typical price: $60 to $130 mid-range, $180 to $400 for the big five-star hotels.

Silom and Sathorn: business by day, rooftops by night

The financial district, with Lumphini Park at one end, the Patpong night market and a cluster of some of Bangkok's best rooftop bars. Weekday mornings are busy with office workers; evenings and weekends are calmer. The BTS Silom line and the MRT both serve the area, and the Chao Phraya is a 10-minute walk from the western end.

Suits: business travelers, couples who want rooftop bars and a park, weekend visitors (prices fall). Typical price: $60 to $130 mid-range, $150 to $350 upscale.

Riverside: the grand hotels and the boats

The east bank of the Chao Phraya between Saphan Taksin and the Old City is Bangkok's classic luxury address. The Mandarin Oriental Bangkok has been here since the 1870s, and a handful of other large resort-style hotels line the river with pools, terraces and their own shuttle boats. Across the river, newer hotels and the Iconsiam mall have made the west bank an option too. River boats connect you to the temples and Chinatown; the BTS reaches Silom in minutes.

Suits: honeymoons, special occasions, travelers who want a resort feel in the city. Typical price: $150 to $300 for the mid-tier riverside hotels, $350 to $800 for the famous ones.

Rattanakosin and Banglamphu: the Old City

The Grand Palace, Wat Pho, Wat Arun across the river and the Khao San Road backpacker district are all in this low-rise historic quarter. Hotels are small, boutique or budget, and there is no Skytrain or MRT nearby (the nearest MRT station, Sanam Chai, is on the southern edge). You walk, take river boats, or sit in traffic. Evenings are relaxed and the temples are at their best early in the morning before the tour groups.

Suits: budget travelers, culture-focused short stays, anyone who wants to be near the temples at dawn. Typical price: $25 to $70 for guesthouses and small hotels, $100 to $200 for the boutique riverside places.

Chinatown (Yaowarat): street food and old shophouses

Bangkok's Chinatown is one of the best street-food districts in the world and has become a hub for small design hotels in restored shophouses. The MRT station at Wat Mangkon connects it to the rest of the network, and the Old City is a short walk or boat ride west. It is noisy, crowded and brilliant in the evening.

Suits: food lovers, travelers in their twenties and thirties, photographers. Typical price: $40 to $120.

Ari and the north: where locals eat

A few BTS stops north of Siam, Ari is a leafy neighborhood of cafés, small restaurants and a handful of boutique hotels, popular with Bangkok's creative crowd and few tourists. It is not a sightseeing base, but for a longer stay or a repeat visit it shows a side of the city most visitors miss.

Suits: repeat visitors, remote workers, longer stays. Typical price: $40 to $100.

Best time to visit

November to February is the cool, dry season, with highs around 30°C and the highest prices, peaking over Christmas and New Year and during Chinese New Year. March to May is very hot; mid-April brings Songkran, the Thai New Year water festival, which is fun but disruptive. June to October is the rainy season, with heavy afternoon showers rather than constant rain, and hotel prices 20 to 40% lower. Many experienced visitors prefer it.

Getting around

The BTS Skytrain and MRT subway are fast, air-conditioned and cheap; buy single tickets or a stored-value card. From Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK), the Airport Rail Link reaches Phaya Thai, with a BTS connection, in about 30 minutes; taxis take 45 to 90 minutes depending on traffic and cost $10 to $15 plus tolls. Don Mueang (DMK), used by budget airlines, is slower to reach; allow an hour by taxi or use the SRT Red Line. Within the city, ride-hailing apps are reliable and cheap, metered taxis are fine if the driver uses the meter, and the Chao Phraya Express boats are the best way to reach the Old City and Chinatown. Tuk-tuks are for the experience, not for transport.

Booking tips specific to Bangkok

Prioritize a station over a landmark. A hotel 5 minutes from a BTS or MRT station is more useful than one 5 minutes from a temple. Check the walking distance on the map, not the straight line.

Expect a rooftop pool, but check the floor. Most new mid-range hotels have one. The quality of the view varies enormously; recent guest photos tell you more than the hotel's.

Weekends are cheaper in Silom and Sathorn. Business hotels there drop prices on Friday and Saturday nights.

Breakfast is optional. Hotel breakfasts are good value in Bangkok, but so is the street outside. Compare room-only rates if you plan to eat out.

Frequently asked questions

Sukhumvit or Riverside? Sukhumvit for convenience, food and nightlife; Riverside for a calmer, more luxurious stay with easy access to the temples. For four nights or more, splitting two and two is common.

Is the Old City worth staying in? For one or two nights focused on the temples, yes. For a longer stay, the lack of a Skytrain makes everything else harder.

How many nights? Three to four nights covers the main sights and a market or two. Bangkok also works well as two shorter stays either side of a trip to the islands or the north.

Is Khao San Road still a backpacker area? Yes, though it has moved upmarket at the edges. For budget travelers who want nightlife and cheap rooms it still works; for everyone else, the quieter streets of Banglamphu a few minutes away are better.

Below are the hotels from our comparison we would book in Bangkok, listed in the order the areas appear above, with indicative prices from up to four booking sites. Check the live total for your dates on each site before you decide.