The Beat Stays: SO/ Bangkok, Top Luxury Design Hotel with Enviable Views

SO/ Bangkok is perched on the edge of the lush Lumpini Park and embraces a boastful style and position in the city’s saturated hotel market as a luxury hotel fit for an all-consuming culinary, offering a comfortable and adventurous experience in the heart of Bangkok.

I spent a weekend staying at SO/ Bangkok, sampling the culinary and luxury experiences on offer at the 5-star Silom hotel. Here are our thoughts.

Venue & Neighbourhood

In Silom, adventure is at the doorstep of SO/ Bangkok, with the Patpong Night Market around a corner, Thailand’s best restaurant Le Du a walk away, and Central Embassy a motorbike journey north.

The green of Bangkok’s largest park, Lumpini, breathes life into the halls and hotel rooms at SO/, serving a world-class view from every park-facing restaurant, room, and infinity pool. Designed by award-winning fashion icon Christian Lacroix, SO/ Bangkok is French in style, but Thai in comfort.

The Room

Embracing the label of Bangkok’s go-to luxury design hotel, SO/ invited five top Thai designers to craft rooms based on five elements: water, earth, wood, metal, and fire. I selected a water room, one of sophistication and calm according to the hotel, that plays with the stillness and beauty of water.

Facing directly from the room’s plush, queen-size bed is the hotel's main draw, an enviable view of Lumpini Park, a distinct feature throughout the hotel and attraction during my stay. Notable additions to the room include automatic curtain opening in the bedroom and bathroom to bask in the summer sun from the AC-powered room.

High ceilings in my room allow breathing and relaxation prohibited in other Bangkok hotels, a reminder of the elemental spirit distinct at SO/. I understand the hotel has yet to undergo a room renovation since its opening, but some parts of the room require polishing up, like loose screws and caulk cracking. A note of caution is that the hotel’s room doors are heavy, so remember to close them properly after entering or exiting.

Amenities

SO/ Bangkok boasts six restaurants and bars in its F&B repertoire, leading in the area for catering to Thai, dessert, and Western flavours, alongside high tea and cocktail offerings. The Red Oven restaurant, serving breakfast buffet, was prepared fresh and injected energy into me with a rich balance of Thai and western cuisines and sweet and salty flavours.

Rare in Silom, Bang Rak, and Lumpini Park, the hotel’s 10th floor hosts a spectacular infinity swimming pool that connects the cooling blue of the water with the fresh green below. Every last Saturday of the month, a daytime pool party is hosted outside, a soiree that cannot be missed!

Additionally, the hotel plays host to many event spaces tendered for more intimate occasions. During my weekend stay, I took sight of a thrilling wedding party, business meeting, and birthday. If you intend to make Bangkok a destination for your bachelor rendezvous, reunion, or party, SO/ Bangkok is prime for selection.

Experiences

Art and design are central to the identity of SO/ Bangkok. Traipsing around the hotel’s interior, namely the lobbies of the hotel’s five elemental structures, you can appreciate the vision of Christian Lacroix in powering the hotel with artistic forces of red-hot fire, cooling water, soft wind, and beyond. It’s an energy you’ll see and feel here, but missing in other plain hotels.

Located on the ground floor, SO/ houses arguably Bangkok’s leading chocolate-themed café, enabling hotel guests to join cooking classes to craft sweet, artisan creations, such as chocolate mediant and chocolate truffles. Ingredients are sourced from Chocolat Bonnat, another strong sign of French identity at the hotel.

Check Out Thoughts

SO/ Bangkok is a city hotel with a luxury feel that deserves to be at the top of your list for booking your next trip to Bangkok. The need for a renovation of rooms can be overlooked by the powerful F&B offering in the hotel, stunning vistas of Lumpini Park, and access to anywhere in Bangkok via Grab or the nearby MRT station.

The unique design serves a luxury experience at a price point, comfortable for a weekend trip that doesn’t need to be a splash out in the capital. You will feel hard-pressed to take yourself away from SO/ with its great restaurants and bars catering all day and night, and a pool deserved of a long slumber and swim!

Where: SO/ Bangkok, 2 N Sathon Rd, Silom, Bang Rak, Bangkok 10500, Thailand

Travelling across Asia soon? Check out more reviews of great hotels in the region in our The Beat Stays series.