This property shares Superstar honors with The Oriental, but reigns without peer for breathtakingly gorgeous interiors and its nearly six acres of greenery and water pools.
Tucked discreetly back from jammed South Sathorn Road in garden grounds, this trim compound of elegantly austere, white midrises is reached by a tree-lined drive. Interiors are embellished with wonderful ancient art that arrivals first glimpse in the marble and teakwood lobby. A forest of silk-wrapped pillars sets the chic tone, and mirrored surfaces partition off the two suave lobby salons fitted with classic European furniture.
Throughout the hotel, water features hold shallow pools embellished with scaled-down replicas of Thailand's finest archaeological finds. The overall ambience is stunning and even sublime when lit at night.
The award-winning, indoor/outdoor Thai restaurant, which fills pavilions set atop lily ponds, serves inspired appetizers and main dishes, including chicken, pork, beef and prawns. European, Japanese and other Asian specialties are featured in the main restaurant where all-day dining is offered and a DJ spices up the famous Sunday
brunch.
Flanking the pool is the Italian restaurant La Scala and its lovely terrace, both elegantly designed with ambient light sources. This is one of the best restaurants in the neighborhood, comparable with the New York Steakhouse at the JW Marriott. The Sukhothai's executive chef, Nam Quoc Nguyen, brings a wealth of culinary experience to the hotel's dining repertoire. The Bar is a popular hot spot among well-heeled locals and expats. Snacks and drinks are served in a poolside cafe, and a gourmet coffee shop keeps a tantalizing display of chocolates and other sweets.
Athletes head for the well-equipped gym, lighted tennis court and pair of squash courts. Guests pamper themselves in the sauna and steam room. The large, elegant lap pool shimmers in a landscaped courtyard, but the office tower over the north wall compromises the views and privacy. Its infinity edge, however, saves the day for romantics who swim up to its edge for relaxing evenings. The Sukhothai Spa, located on the second floor of the main hotel building, has private treatment rooms, but poolside treatments are also on offer.
Elegant, elaborate meeting space 
hosts up to 300 people, and the business center has a full range of offerings including a complete library of reference material and a worldwide business database. True corporate diehards can connect to the speedy wireless Internet available in the public areas and by the pool. A separate wing houses some of Thailand's premier boutiques.
The hotel has luxury Mercedes limousines for airport transportation and city excursions. Other services include a medical clinic, a doctor on call 24 hours a day, city-wide paging equipment and baby-sitting.
The accommodations are some of the most beautiful in Bangkok and reflect the hotel's trademark decor with lustrous silk, teak, oxidized metal, fresh flowers and antiquities. The drama continues with excellent carpeting, silk-swathed settees and chairs, built-in desks, safes, new high-definition flat-screen TVs, phones, minibars, bedside controls and revamped bedding, and dual closets. Superiors only offer queen beds, while the deluxe studios show kings and a significant increase in amenities, including Bose CD players and sound systems and iPod docks that are wired into them. Fax machines are supplied at no extra charge.
Baths (said to be the hotel's signature) have parquet teakwood floors, stall showers, large tubs, hair dryers, magnifying mirrors, marvelous toiletries and scales. The poolside wing has deluxe rooms, and the luxurious suites boast large sitting rooms and baths the size of some hotel bedrooms.
Each room is equipped with high-speed Internet access (both cable and wireless), wooden suit hangers and DVD players. Guests can also rent mobile phones and laptop computers. The best choices are the Garden Suites on the first floor of the main wing. These boast terraces cantilevered over the courtyard garden's lily ponds. Butler service and round-the-clock housekeeping are provided in all lodgings, and service, with a staff-to-guest ratio of 2-to-1, is superb. Pets are turned away at the door.
Though some of the exteriors are showing the weight of a polluted city, this hotel remains a monument of hospitality and style, attracting discerning business travelers, affluent vacationers and select groups. If this one is fully booked, opt for the swanky Oriental on the banks of the Chao Praya River.