The Anantara Riverside in Bangkok is your typical big hotel. I didn't have a bad experience there, but I can't say it was a great experience, either.

What I liked: The pool is very nice. It's big, the temperature is perfect, and it never seemed crowded. The jacuzzi was perfect, too. And it was open late, also nice. The breakfast buffet was huge, and not bad. The food was decent. I never found myself skipping breakfast. Fresh fruit juices and fruit, great omelettes, Thai and Chinese dishes. The slippers and robes were very nice and comfortable. The hotel is right on the river so it's easy access to get to the Grand Palace and Wat Arun. The complimentary boat to the other side of the river offers cold towels when you come back after a hot day of sightseeing. The staff member who told us how to get to Chatuchak market and the major temples was very helpful. There are happy hours (2 for 1) at the various bars, and there's an adjacent mall with great Thai food and places to get very good inexpensive Thai massages.

Now for the downside: It seemed like the hotel cared more about the weddings happening there than they cared about the actual guests. Entire entryways were blocked for the weddings so we had to walk around them and it's a bit awkward walking through a crowd of wedding guests when you're heading to the pool in your robe. The hotel, being on the other side of the river, is far from the city. We didn't spend much time in the city because it was just too much of a hassle. In addition, we told the staff that it was our honeymoon and several times they promised they would do something but then never delivered. Every other hotel offered flowers, wine, something. I wouldn't have minded so much if they didn't offer, but here they offered and then just forgot about us. They didn't even ask us how our stay was when we left. We paid for a river view room and then didn't get one. That might have been the fault of Expedia, but I wanted to mention it.

The hotel has more of a corporate feel than resort & spa, definitely not a five star property.

We stayed at this hotel for two nights at the start of a trip. The hotel is beautiful - very elegant as you might expect from a five star resort. The food is very good although quite expensive and the breakfast amazing. They try to cater for everyone regardless of nationality and do it well.

The rooms are large and comfortable although the air conditioning unit was a little over zealous and would switch to 5 degrees Celsius automatically upon leaving the room and re-entering the room was little like walking into a fridge.

The location of the hotel is not so great - quite a substantial taxi ride to most places of interest.

Also the spa is very expensive and far beyond what you normally expect to pay.

As I needed to work a little whilst there, I needed to access wifi. There is wifi in the room also the charges are quite high. Alternatively there is free wifi in the lobby. The downside to this is that there are very few places to sit where a decent signal can be found.

A final gripe was that the lounge at the lobby level seems to be reserved for a select few - which leaves you feeling slightly as a second class citizen when attempting to work in the lobby.

This is a lovely hotel to spoil yourself at. The rooms are a bit dated but they are redecorating them, we were offered one of those when we checked in but asked to pay 500baht per night extra.We declined as we paid a fair price already for a better room.
We had a high floor room and it had two huge beds with the best of flffy pillows and duvets. quite odd in the tropics, but so soft and comfy.
Other reviews will tell you about location etc. which is not so bad as all travelling around the city needs transport of some kind. Sadly there is nothing around this area to see if you like to walk.
The prices for food and drink are just too high, who's going to pay £6 for a bottle of designer water without flinching?
The boat to the hotel is regular and fun to use and the mall handy and cheap by comparison.

The bad: Ok it's far from bkk even if you use the free shutle boat but not too bad.
Eating onsite will cost you a fortune. No less than $100 for two ppl per meal. Afterall this is Thailand !It shouldn't cost that much. Their spa is wayy costly.
General cleanliness can be improved for a 5 star hotel.

The good: it's far from bkk yess..I mean you relaxxxx
Swimming pool is lovely, big and they give you towels everytime you go in. Poolside bar is nice. We had some pizza and mocktails. Nice..pricely for Thai but not too bad.
Heated jaccuzi is absolutely lovely :-)
They had a Michelline syle French chef, the meals were so nice, ultimate fine dinning with live music. Absolutely lovely. The dinner cost almost $140 for 2. Too much for thai, but not too much for fine dinning so it's up to you.
Room overlooking the river during sunrise is a waww
There is a mall just inside the hotel facing the entrance, cheap massages, food ,shopping etc..

Great stay, if you can get a cheap deal for something under $150 go for it.