Hotels in Sathorn
the pride of Bangkok's embassy row

The majestic Sukhothai Bangkok

Five star cluster

The Banyan Tree Bangkok - dining under the stars

In the following century however, Sathorn went through a complete transformation. The mushrooming of hotels, condominiums, serviced apartments, banks and offices turned Sathon into a prime district in Bangkok. The main Sathorn Road hosts some of Bangkok's best; the pride of the 5 star hotels in Sathorn. 

Banyan Tree Bangkok Como Metropolitan Bangkok 

SO/ Bangkok Sukhothai Bangkok 

The chic SO/ Bangkok

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Suan Plu

The embassies caught the trend as well. Twenty countries have established their embassies in Sathorn Road; Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, New Zealand, Oman, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovak, Taiwan, the Vatican and the United Arab Emirates.

Then, in Sathorn Soi 1 where the Royal Danish Embassy is located, there’s the Panthip Suites.

Between the French and Australian embassies was what used to be an old hotel in the 1990s. Converted to a cheap apartment in the early 2000s, the building became quite rundown and unsightly. 

After a complete facelift and a couple of name changes, the result is the Embassy Sathorn joining the super league of hotels in Sathorn.

At the junction of Sathorn Road and Soi Suan Plu, the dominating Sathorn Vista Marriott Executive Apartments and Urbana Sathorn have a commanding view of the entire area.

The luxurious Urbana Sathorn

Many of the sois off Sathorn Road, where some of the hotels in Sathorn are located, have their stories too.

Would guests at Somerset Park Suan Plu a serviced apartment is in Soi Suan Plu, have imagined that the area used to be betel plantations and orchards cultivated by Chinese immigrants at the turn of the 20th century.

Some of their descendants still live here in the shop houses that line the street. You can occasionally hear the strains of Teochew, a southern Chinese dialect, among the older residents.

The Somerset park Suan Plu - high above what used to be betel plantations

Sala Daeng

Soi Saladaeng off North Sathorn Road, was part of a large tract of royal land that extended all the way to Lumphini Park and Siam Square. The area got its name from Sala Daeng, the red roofed railway station of the old Paknam line ran by a Danish company linking the city with the port at the mouth of the Chao Phraya.

Bandara Suites Silom in Soi Saladaeng 1

Saladaeng is now an up market area popular with cafes, restaurants, condominiums and serviced apartments. The Jim Thompson Saladaeng Café is here. So are these hotels in Sathorn, 

At Ease Saladaeng by Aetas  Baan K Managed by Bliston Hotel 

Baan Saladaeng Boutique Guesthouse Bandara Suites Silom 

Cordia Residence Saladaeng The Inn Saladaeng

Mirth Sathorn Hotel Siri Sathorn Hotel

Siri Sathorn Hotel

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Hotels in Sathorn - Narathiwat

At the junction of Convent Road and North Sathorn Road, there's an old Anglican church, Christ Church, built in 1906 by the English residents in Bangkok from a land grant by King Rama V. The hotels in this area are served by the Chong Nonsi skytrain station.

FuramaXclusive Sathorn Hotel (former Unico Grande Sathorn) in Soi Pipat off Convent Road, is not far away from the walled monastery of the Carmelite order of nuns in Convent Road.

Every hotel tries to establish a distinct signature. In the case of the Evergreen Laurel Hotel at the junction of North Sathorn and Soi 6, its Chinese restaurant serves one of the best Hong Kong tim sum in Bangkok. 

Tim Sum anyone?

The other canal in the area is the Chong Nonsi which runs in a north south direction perpendicular to the Sathorn canal. When a road was built along the Chong Nonsi, its name was commonplace, Liap Khlong Chong Nonsi, literally the road skirting the Chong Nonsi canal.

In 1996, the prestige of this road was enhanced when it was renamed Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra Road (na-ra-thi-wat ra-ja-na-ga-rin), after Kromma Luang Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra, the royal title of HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana, the elder sister of HM the King Rama IX.

To help non-Thais avoid tripping over their tongues, the name of this road is sometimes spelt as Narathiwat Rajanakarin.

Overhead, the skytrain from Silom Road turns into Naradhiwas, stops at the Chong Nonsi station before it turns right into Sathorn Road, passing the Ascott Sathorn Hotel another of the hotels in Sathorn.

The Ascott Sathon Bangkok near the Chong Nonsi junction

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Hotels in Sathorn - St Louis

The St Louis Hospital nearby is a non-profit hospital named after King Louis IX of France, the only French king to achieve sainthood. When Bishop Louis Vey founded the hospital in 1898, he provided land for a church in future. His wish was fulfilled much later when the St Louis Church was built in 1957.

Coincidentally the priest responsible for the construction of the church was Bishop Louis Chorin. So it's no surprise that the soi nearby, though officially named Soi Sathon 13, is commonly known as Soi St Louis.

The St Louis area is served by the Surasak skytrain station. The hotels in Sathorn within walking distance of this station are:

Baan Pra Nond Hotel Eastin Grand Hotel Sathorn H Residence

Heritage Sathorn Suite Hotel King Royal Garden Inn 

Marvin Suites Hotel Mode Sathorn Hotel  

Sathorn Grace Serviced Residence 

Sathorn Saint View Serviced Apartment

Eastin Grand Hotel Sathorn

Baan Pra Nond Hotel was an old family home in Charoen Rat Road near the Surasak intersection and the skytrain station of the same name that was converted to a hotel. It’s only got nine rooms, a lucky number in Thailand.

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Taksin Bridge

In 1982, the Taksin Bridge, named after King Taksin of Thonburi, spanning the Chao Phraya was completed, linking Sathorn Road with Thonburi. The hotels near this station are:

Astera Sathorn Hotel Escape Boutique@Sathorn Terrace

Sathorn Road was widened to take the extra traffic and Sathon canal reduced in width. Naradhiwas Road and the Chong Nonsi canal were similarly affected. Though considerably narrower, Sathorn and Chong Nonsi are two of the remaining canals in Bangkok.

Few of the old mansions remain, their places taken by condominiums. The orchards and plantations are gone. The Hua Lam Pong canal was filled up to build Rama IV Road.

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Astera Sathorn Hotel

Lumphini

There are a few more hotels just off Rama IV Road near the Lumphini subway station.

AETAS Lumphini Baan Sabai Rama IV Hotel 

Ibis Bangkok Sathorn Malaysia Hotel Bangkok Penguin House 

Pinnacle Lumpinee Hotel Sala Thai Daily Mansion 

Most of these are budget hotels, perhaps trying to keep a respectful distance from the other hotels in Sathorn, their five star neighbors in the prime embassy row.

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Pinnacle Lumphini Park Hotel

There's an old photo in the Bangrak Museum of what Sathorn Road was like in the early 1900s. It's a scene of old Fords chugging down the road, boats being rowed in the canal and perhaps the occasional bullock cart.

Chao Sua Yom's decision to a canal south of Silom more than a century ago has paid off handsomely. He couldn't have foreseen then that the road he built would have some of the heaviest traffic in Bangkok a century later. Or that the surrounding area would be home to the hotels in Sathorn, the crown jewels among Bangkok's premium hotels.

For a complete list of the hotels in Sathorn or to locate a hotel in the area, please check out the search box below.

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