What is it like being at Capella? One of the World's Top 3 Hotels

Bangkok has always relied on its river for its most beautiful secrets, and Capella Bangkok is one of the finest in this regard. On the gentler stretch of Charoenkrung — with its smart run of galleries, textile ateliers and serious coffee spots — the hotel looks straight onto the Chao Phraya, as if to remind you there is so much more to Bangkok than meets the eye. There’s nothing quite like river theatre: barges drifting past in cinematic procession, high rises that project through a dusk sky. The city, and this hotel, feels like a setting for one of Pitchaya Sudbanthad’s fiction pieces: you are drawn in and never want to leave.

Capella, as a group, has made a habit of elegance. Its footprint — Singapore, Shanghai, Hanoi, Ubud, Sydney — is small by design, built around exacting service, impressive food, and dazzling architecture. Bangkok is the clearest expression of this ideal, which is why it sits so easily among the world’s most discussed hotels (recently, it also made the cut for the 50 Best Hotels of the World). It feels residential, almost private, like a tycoon’s retreat, yet it behaves like a grand hotel with the service one associates with a legend in the making.

At the water level, Phra Nakhon serves Thai that is bright, unfussy, and rooted — breakfast can swing from noodles to mango sticky rice. The room to dress for, though, is Côte by Mauro Colagreco, the Riviera-to-Bangkok dining room that has quietly become one of the city’s most assured tables. Our chef's table sequence began with a cool Hokkaido scallop dressed in citrus and young coconut, a clear nod to Bangkok’s palate. This was followed by crab folded into a delicate raviolo, finished with a shellfish jus. The butter-poached Phuket lobster with basil oil and baby fennel was delicate as a whisper. The main fish course was line-caught turbot with a lemongrass beurre blanc and tiny Provençal vegetables, Mediterranean in frame but scented for the hot east; you understand why Cote has won two Michelin stars, first bite in.

Evenings will draw you to Stella, a low-lit bar in jewel tones where, in a sly nod to Bangkok’s love of spectacle, a white peacock presides at its center – the taxidermied bird is an influencer’s favourite, so pick another spot in the hotel if you’re looking for a hush-hush date night destination.

Capella understands you came to stay, but you wanted to do this with style, wit, and absolute discretion (we loved very much the private entrances that allowed us to slip in and out unnoticed).