All rooms with river views, rooftop infinity pool and sky bar, direct access to Riverside Plaza, shared boat shuttle to BTS and major riverfront spots, upbeat lifestyle mood on the quieter Thonburi side.
Staying at sala rattanakosin is all about the view. This compact riverside hotel sits directly opposite Wat Arun, with the Chao Phraya flowing between you and the temple’s porcelain spires. Inside, rooms are kept deliberately simple in black and white so the colour comes from outside: boats crossing the river, dawn light on the stupas, and the golden glow of the Temple of Dawn after dark. With just a handful of keys and a small eatery-and-bar downstairs, it feels more like a hideaway for temple days than a conventional city hotel.
The building itself is a reworked riverfront shophouse, narrow and vertical, with only around fifteen rooms stacked above the restaurant. That modest scale is part of the charm: corridors are short, floors are compact and you’re never far from the water. The design brief is clear – clean lines, polished concrete, dark woods and crisp white bedding – so your eye goes straight to the windows rather than getting lost in decoration.
Room categories range from standard and deluxe to river-facing options that look out to Wat Pho, the river itself or directly to Wat Arun. In the best rooms and suites, the temple fills the frame: floor-to-ceiling glass turns your bed into a private viewing platform for sunrises, evening light and the temple’s illumination at night. It’s one of those stays where you end up timing your showers and drinks around when the sky looks most interesting outside.
Instead of a long list of facilities, sala rattanakosin focuses on doing a few things well. On the ground and first floors, sala rattanakosin Eatery & Bar serves breakfast, long lunches and dinners right at the water’s edge, with both Thai dishes and international plates. Mornings bring quiet river traffic and temple bells in the distance; evenings are about warm light, reflections on the water and plates that linger on the table a little longer than planned.
Above that, the rooftop bar is the hotel’s calling card. It’s open-air, compact and all about the view: Wat Arun on one side, the curves of the river and Old Town rooflines on the other. This is where you go for a pre- or post-dinner drink when you don’t feel like crossing the river for a big night out but still want to feel the city around you. The hotel doesn’t have a pool or spa; instead, it functions as a stylish, temple-side base with good Wi-Fi, friendly staff and easy access to ferries and tuk-tuks when you’re ready to move.