The Okura Prestige Bangkok

The Okura Prestige is located on Embassy Row, in Bangkok’s central business district, but to orient the hotel in relation to its ground-level street address is almost to misplace it. That’s because the Okura is essentially a refuge in the sky, as close to a floating hotel as you’re likely to get without stepping onto a pier.

From the outside, the building is all angles and slopes, a sculptural form whose largely glass exterior takes on the aerial colors around it. Inside, all those big, angled windows start to look like oversized windshields — except that, again, these are windshields in the sky, so the honking traffic is replaced by serene views of the skyline and the street life far below.

All of the rooms are on the 26th floor or higher, and their light woods, textured walls and subdued natural colors make a nice complement to all the eye-popping vistas. The Deluxe rooms come with a walk-in closet, rain shower, detached bathtub, separate powder room with a Japanese-style bidet, and a fully stocked refreshment cabinet. Upgrade to the Deluxe Corner Room and your perch over the city rises several stories, while the various club rooms take you even higher and provide access to a well-stocked club lounge. Then there are the suites, the smallest of which (the Prestige) is a hardly shabby 1,000 square feet and the largest of which, the 3,250-square-foot Imperial, includes a private steam room, a sauna, and a deep tub next to a bank of windows that turn bathing into quite a dramatic experience — and those are just the amenities in the bathroom.

If all the interiors aren’t sufficiently soaring, check out the pool, cantilevered from the 25th floor of the building. From some angles it looks as if the water is suspended in air, like an urban version of the lip of Victoria Falls, only here — thank goodness — the water stays tranquilly in place. Like much of the hotel, it’s a stunning and immediate reminder that, despite all the quiet and calm, you’re right in the middle of the city.

How to get there:The Okura Prestige Bangkok is located at the heart of the city's Central Business District. Major shopping malls and many of the city's most popular tourist attractions are within easy reach by taxi, BTS Skytrain or MRT underground rail. The hotel has a direct link via covered walkway to Bangkok's BTS overhead rail network at Phloen Chit station.