Hotel Muse Bangkok

Some of the most successful hotels play against type. Given Bangkok’s image as some sort of latter-day Sin City, there’s a real shortage of old-fashioned elegance. This is where the Hotel Muse Bangkok comes in. It’s a member of Accor’s MGallery sub-label, and it inherits some of its French colonial style from its European ownership, but it doesn’t stop there: the Muse’s lines are clean and contemporary, but its design is full of homages to the Bangkok of a century ago, rendered with a level of detail that’s almost baroque in its ornateness.

High marks for personality, then. The appeal, however, is more than skin deep, as the Muse’s facilities and comforts place it squarely in luxury-hotel territory. Even the most basic rooms have space for sofas and work desks, and in the bathrooms roll-top tubs and separate showers are standard throughout. Corner rooms make the most of the views, looking out over Bangkok’s upscale Langsuan district, and the top six floors are reserved for the Muse Residence King rooms, which are outfitted for long stays but make for perfectly plush short ones as well.

A business center and masses of event space mean the Muse is well suited to business travel, but it’s by no means solely a business hotel. The rooftop pool has an impressive view of the skyline, and is accompanied by a spa and fitness center. Meanwhile a Thai restaurant is joined by an Italian kitchen, and the nightlife is headlined by the Speakeasy, which isn’t quite what it sounds like — rather than some basement hole-in-the-wall, it’s a multi-room bar and lounge spanning two levels at the top of the Muse.