Nestled in the sleek steel-and-glass tower of a typical new Bangkok Plaza Athénée Hôtel, the Ruern Suite exudes old-fashioned Thai tradition at its most magnificent. Make use of the key card to spread out of your house, then close it to the whirl of fashionable Bangkok 27 stories below. Despite the in-room technological accoutrements requisite with a luxury business hotel, the Ruern Suite transports you back 100 years in a space worthy of the Thai ruling class.
Each of the four large rooms (an entire of two,000 square feet) is paneled in teak, which provides a fruitful backdrop of 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 pay the pillows and adorn tables and beds, while a front room, dining room, and kitchen encourage dreamers to remain quite a while. The most beneficial place for play-acting days of old, however, is your bathrooms (that's two full and maybe half). In a, a pond-sized tub set with an aquamarine mosaic invites you to soak amid fragrant orchids (happily provided if you ask the ground butler to charm your bath). In the other, a teak-and-slate stall is outfitted which has a copper-lined ceramic urn and dipper, should the traditional Thai drench shower being more fitting into the fantasy than the alternative standard brass fixture.
Without a doubt, of the tourist or business traveler, the Plaza Athénée offers more conventional junior suites and deluxe chambers too. Not to mention a formidable landscaped rooftop infinity pool lined with blue tiles, together with a full-service spa. But even in among the "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.