I decided to give the Peninsula in Bangkok a go this time. The hotel is lovely however the room was half the size of the one I had at the Mandarin last year. I also found the restaurants to be very expensive especially for Bangkok - this really surprised me. The other negative was the location the Mandarin has a much better location. On the plus side you do get free wifi. So all in all I don't know if I would stay here again, with so many good hotels in Bangkok.

The Peninsula hotel is an unmissable landmark on the Bangkok riverside area; a monolithic sky scraper and one of the tallest buildings in the City. I stayed there for four nights to try an alternative to the more expensive and traditional Oriental with which I was familiar.
My arrival by limousine from the airport was flawlessly orchestrated despite considerable flight delay, the hotel driver provided chilled water and a cold towel. The check in was slightly confusing as it was conducted in-room, by a woman who seemed to know little about the hotel and couldn't take payment. I sorted this confusion out at the front desk and settled into the room.
I chose a Grand Balcony room and it was well worth it. The balcony on a high floor of the building affords a view looking across the river towards the city centre that you will get from no other hotel.
The room was well appointed, if a little full of nooks and crannies and equipped with a most illogical lighting and audio system. The decor was a little on the traditional side, but pleasant enough.
The pool is a nice feature of this hotel, with multiple level interconnected swimming pools all served by excellent pool attendants. A small poolside restaurant served tasty light food and cocktails.
Public lounges and rooms were all large and airy and well air conditioned. The Lobby Lounge is a great meeting place with rapid service of cocktails and light bites. All tasty and quickly delivered with full linen and silver cutlery.
The River Cafe buffet breakfast was extensive and offered a huge variety of cold and cooked items, all once again made from excellent produce.
The Thai restaurant gave us a prime riverside table in the evening, served us a very well prepared meal, including very tasty and authentic red and green curries; they also asked what degree of spice we wished for in each dish. A very good meal at a reasonable price, with wonderfully mixed cocktails.
All the staff were helpful and knowledgeable and made this a very smooth and enjoyable stay. The river boat service operated by the hotel enables easy transfer to any of the other locations on the waterside, such as restaurants, the shopping malls or other hotels. The Taksin Skytrain Station was also accessible from a drop-off pier along the river, leaving just a 300 yard walk to the station.
However, don't try this with heavy baggage, as it's all rough ground, several flights of stairs and other hindrances that would leave one gasping in the humid heat of a Bangkok day. The train is well air conditioned, once you are aboard, and very cheap indeed.
I would recommend the Peninsula whole-heartedly either for a pleasure or business stay in Bangkok. Maybe it's not as chic as the Oriental, or as trendy as the Lebua at State Tower - where the restaurant was permanently unavailable for reservation - but it has old world style and service that will leave you feeling that you have been taken care of by consummate professionals at a proper hotel.

Just ignore how much it cost. I book first night balcony room and the rest delux room to check out the difference. The hotel is beautiful, service is good but for some reasons the front desk don't seems to understand what is a smoking room and non smoking room, one said they will send us the key of the new room and the other said I need to collect it in person. This took me 3 trips to the check in desk ! Staff are friendly but not all which is a surprise to me, as this is an expensive hotel.

I had heard that The Peninsula Hotel was a 'good alternative' to the Mandarin Oriental across the river. I think there are no alternatives to The Peninsula! A perfect meet and greet at the airport (although the Peninsula could learn from the MO's 'fast track immigration service here!) and a relatively quick trip through Bangkok traffic to arrive around 1030am to find our room available for checkin. Great views from the Suite we had (no Upgrade though, even though one was 'promised' by Centurion Travel Services) and a wonderful if somewhat intimidating media centre (The hotel needs to reloo at this as there are much more powerful and simpler setups). Great service from start to finish (the Pool, Spa and outlets are all worth going to). Great Bar by the entrance to the hotel, great outdoor area and Afternoon tea is a must! A ride in the Rolls Royce (when are you going to get the new Phantoms?) topped off a perfect couple of days.