The Perfect Place to Celebrate
With the consent of our sons and a kind support of their grandma, we had an overnight celebration of our 13th wedding anniversary at a riverfront boutique hotel, Sala Rattanakosin.
Sala Rattanakosin
At the riverside end of an alley in Tha Tien area, Sala Rattanakosin is nestled among century-old and rundown Chinese warehouses that are filled with pushcarts. Well, do not judge the book by its cover! We were just steps from the city’s best historical attractions, including the Grand Palace, Wat Pho, the Bangkok National Museum, and the Museum Siam.
Once we checked in at a small reception area behind the glass-door entrance confronted with a cooking-oil wholesale store, the hotel’s minimalist design suddenly grabbed our attention. The naked black-and-white decor, wide-glass windows, exposed bricks and cement, and a steel spiral staircase invited us to our room on the fourth floor.
Wat Arun River View Suite
Due to the lack of lift, we slowly climbed the stairs to get to our spacious riverfront suite located on the fourth floor. Behind the black door, we were welcomed with herbal welcome drink, coconut milk caramel candies and a variety of dried fruits.
The room comprises a king-size bed, an open lounge area with sofa, an oversized daybed, and a Jacuzzi bathtub. The floor-to-ceiling windows on two sides exhibit an expanded view of Wat Arun and the Chao Phraya River. We had laid down on the daybed for several hours just to contemplate the renovated Prangs of Wat Arun standing against a background of gradually colour-changing sky and admire its lively scene of moving river boats in the foreground. The picturesque Temple of Dawn had changed its tone every minutes. Let the pictures speak for themselves.
Dining with a View
The two-storey restaurant served international and Thai dishes which were however not our favourite tastes but we assumed that foreigners would love them as they were prepared under the direction of the British Executive Chef Tony Wrigley, the Iron chef Thailand. We reserved one of the three tables for two with the most scenic location overlooking the Chao Phraya River and the Temple of Dawn at night which should not have been the case as we had the best view in our room.
The rooftop bar and terrace offered an unbeatable bird’s-eye-view of the iconic Wat Arun directly across the river. Unfortunately it was raining but we managed to have a couple photo taken by a bar staff who claimed that he knew the right position where we could get the best shot.
We started our relaxing morning on the patio and enjoyed the meal. The breakfast which was included in the room rate came along with freshly baked bread and homemade mango, strawberry and pineapple jams. The Chao Phraya Breakfast: Jasmine rice porridge with pork, served with traditional condiments of Chinese pork sausage salad, wok fried morning glory, salted duck egg and pickled garlic, and Thai wok omelet with blue crab served with stir-fried morning glory and steamed Jasmine rice were tastier than we thought.
In brief
Sala Rattanakosin is a not-to-miss boutique hotel for foreign tourists and the perfect place to celebrate for Bangkokians like us.
(Follow the below link to see more photos)
Imagery: Sala Rattanakosin familygallery and Sala Rattanakosin resortgallery
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