Royal Orchid Sheraton Bangkok is located directly on the Chao Phraya, virtually opposite the ICONSIAM, and this location right by the river and the view of the water are clearly the hotel’s greatest strengths. For rather little money, you get a somewhat outdated but still solid 5-star city hotel with quite a few advantages but also disadvantages.
If you would like to find out more about them, just read the review below. Enjoy!
Review #99
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Content
Location
The Royal Orchid Sheraton is located directly on the Chao Phraya River – boats, ferries and shuttle services run right outside the door and can take you virtually anywhere in Bangkok. The area around the hotel is a mixture of old trading houses, modern piers and small streets that are wonderful to explore on foot. The hotel is located right at the beginning of the trendy Talat Noi district. The ICONSIAM shopping center is just a short boat ride away and Chinatown can also be reached in a few minutes by tuk-tuk. The location is therefore ideal for anyone who likes to experience Bangkok “from the water”.
Arrival
From Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK), you can reach the Royal Orchid Sheraton Bangkok in around 30-40 minutes by cab or Grab, depending on traffic. From Don Mueang Airport (DMK), the journey takes around 35-45 minutes. If you prefer to travel by public transport, take the Airport Rail Link from BKK to Makkasan and change there to the MRT Blue Line – from Hua Lamphong station you can take a short cab ride or walk to the nearest pier, from where you can easily reach the hotel by boat.
It is also easy to get to the hotel from Hua Lamphong Central Station: Take the MRT Blue Line to Sam Yan or Hua Lamphong and then continue by cab or boat to Si Phraya Pier, which is right next to the hotel. From the Eastern Bus Terminal (Ekkamai) or the Northern Bus Terminal (Mo Chit), take the BTS Skytrain to Saphan Taksin and then take the boat or the hotel shuttle from the pier – this will get you to the Royal Orchid Sheraton quickly without too much traffic.
How to get to the resort
We arrived by grab from The Athenee Hotel and it took us just under 20 minutes to get there. Unfortunately, we were neither welcomed nor helped with our luggage as we arrived at the hotel.
Check-in
Check-in for all guests, including the ones with status, takes place at the reception desk in the lobby. Immediately to the left after entering the hotel, you join the queue in the usual way. Unfortunately, there is no separate check-in area for status guests.
Actually we had to wait for quite a long time, although there were only two other guests in front of us. The check-in process took quite a while for every guest and somehow seems to be very complex.
As Marriott Bonvoy Status member we were given the usual choice between breakfast, a local gift or 1,000 points as a welcome gift. Naturally, we opted for the points, as breakfast in the Club Lounge is already included from Platinum status upwards.
Royal Orchid Sheraton Riverside Hotel Bangkok at a glance
The Royal Orchid Sheraton Bangkok is a classic 5-star city hotel located directly on Chao Phraya River – with everything you would expect from a large international hotel, but also with a clearly noticeable patina. The hotel extends over several floors and looks more like a grand hotel from another era than a modern luxury hotel.
There are two pools in the lower part of the hotel at river level: the quieter Garden Pool in the greenery to the side of the building and the River Pool with a direct view of the Chao Phraya. Also on the lower floors are the spacious lobby with lobby bar and the newly designed Yacht Club, which is located directly on the water and offers a really nice atmosphere, especially in the evenings.
The fitness area is rather compact and is located directly by the upper pool. On the 27th floor you will find the Sheraton Club Lounge, which is accessible to suite and status guests and offers a good view over the river and the skyline.
Suite
As usual, we booked the smallest room category for our stay and also used a Suite Night Upgrade Certificate. And just like that, we were booked right into a Standard Suite, which is at the very front of the building and therefore right by the river. So take a closer look at Suite No. 1217 with us.
Welcome
As we arrived in the room, the welcome gift was not yet ready, but after we returned from our little shopping tour, a plate of fresh macarons was waiting for us.
Living room
Behind the room door you will find yourself in a small entrance area, straight ahead is the living room and study. There is a desk behind a half-height wall and a sofa with a table directly in front of the window.
The minibar is located inside and on the sideboard below the TV. The fridge is empty, on the worktop you will find the coffee machine with cups and water. The kettle and tea bags are in the cupboard. The safe is in the bottom drawer.
Bedroom
The living area is directly adjacent to the bedroom, where you also have a direct view of the river. As in the entire Suite, the carpet makes you unfortunately think: “I’d better not walk barefoot here!”. It doesn’t smell particularly good and the windows can’t be opened in any way.
There are two armchairs in front of the left-hand window from where you have a great view of the river and ICONSIAM. The TV is set up on a triangular corner cabinet in the left-hand corner.
Just to the left of the bedroom door is the built-in wardrobe. Here you will find the usual items such as slippers, bathrobes, ironing board and iron, as well as everything you need to have your clothes taken to the dry cleaners.
The king-size bed was a point of discussion for us. I found it to be incredibly uncomfortable and couldn’t sleep well at all. Fabi, on the other hand, slept really well here. So the quality seems to be very much a matter of taste. The four pillows are the same size and don’t differ in firmness.
There is a clock radio on the bedside table on the left and a telephone with pen, pad and remote control on the right. Also there is a lamp on each side and an individually controllable reading lamp on each side.
A smoke detector is installed directly above the bed, which unfortunately flashes very bright white every 30 seconds or so. It’s not noticeable during the day, but I had a really hard time sleeping at night because I felt the bright flashing to be really annoying.
Bathroom
The bathroom with a single washbasin and the typical Gilchrist & Soames care products familiar from many Sheraton hotels is located virtually in the room behind the bed. Diagonally opposite is a walk-in rain shower right next to the bathtub.
Just to the right of the entrance door to the bathroom is a separate toilet with its own small washbasin, which is separated by a sliding door. If you walk out through the other door, you will end up back in the entrance area, completing the small room tour in a circle.
View
The view from the Suite is in fact THE real highlight of the Royal Orchid Sheraton. From the room, you can see the Chao Phraya, the Garden Pool below the hotel, ICONSIAM on the other side of the river, the Mandarin Oriental Residences and the Millennium Hilton. The river view is visible from the living area as well as from the bedroom and is also very atmospheric at night.
Lounge
The Sheraton Club Lounge on the 27th floor serves as an evening spot for cocktails and snacks as well as a breakfast location. Refreshments and small snacks are offered throughout the day. In general, the service here was okay. During the day, ordering a coffee went quite well, but in the evening the orders took a long time and the entire staff was obviously rather stressed.
On top of this, the breakfast in the lounge was not really convincing – more on this below. All in all, the image remains of a lounge that is more of a must than a real highlight of the hotel.
Compared to other club lounges in Bangkok, the Sheraton Club clearly performs by far not as good, as hotels such as the Athenee, the Hyatt Regency or the Sofitel as they offer a completely different level in terms of overall Lounge experience.
Between 5 and 8 pm, the lounge offers Evening Cocktails with alcoholic drinks and snacks. we stayed there on October 31, which was Halloween. Accordingly, the snacks on offer that evening were also heavily thematically inspired.
Resort activities
Pool
The Royal Orchid Sheraton offers two very different pools. Let’s take a closer look at them.
Garden Pool
The garden pool seems to have been added later – it is located on the property next door. In fact, it is beautifully situated in the garden and right by the river, but unfortunately it is not particularly clean – the water was quite milky during our stay.
Equipped with a sufficient number of sun loungers, it was actually quite busy here all day. The pool is also equipped with a nice pool bar, serving also drinks and food to the loungers.
Terrace Pool
This pool is located on the 1st floor of the hotel directly by the river, above the Riverfront Restaurant and appears to be the original pool. During our stay, there were only a few sun loungers available here and there were no parasols at all. However, we only swam here in the evening and perhaps the parasols had already been cleared away by then.
Even if the area looks a little “naked”, it felt like a wonderful place to linger. The view directly over the river is really fantastic and you never get bored watching the hustle and bustle going by.
Fitness Center
The gym is located directly behind the Terrace Pool and is rather small. It is easily sufficient for a cardio session and to use a few machines. Making it perfectly adequate for a normal workout as part of a city trip, but nothing more.
Spa
The Mandara Spa offers 6 treatment rooms – some of them even with their own bathtub, but all with a view of the river. That’s pretty unique, don´t you think?
Tours
Classic tours or excursions organized by the hotel are not the focus. Rather, the location on the river with Talat Noi, Chinatown, ICONSIAM and the River City Mall on the doorstep means that you have plenty of opportunities to explore the city on your own.
In addition, most of the river cruises – including the dinner cruises – depart from the ICONSIAM Mall. So if you are planning to do that, the hotel is an ideal starting point.
Special features
Thailand’s most famous shopping center, ICONSIAM, is located directly on the opposite side of the river. The hotel is connected to it and to the nearest BTS station, Sathon, by a free ferry shuttle that runs every 30 minutes between the three stations.
The mall opposite also offers a water show every evening and live entertainment from time to time. You can watch both from the hotel. But beware: the live sound system can be a bit loud in the evening. Also bear in mind that the party boats are cruiseing up and down the river in the evening and although this is a great spectacle to watch, it is also rather far away from a quiet evening by the river.
Restaurants
Feast
The all-day dining restaurant offers an extensive breakfast as well as international dishes for the rest of the day. The main focus is on seafood and at weekends for dinner there is even an entire seafood buffet.
Giorgio’s
The hotel’s newly renovated Italian restaurant offers fresh food and pizza from their wood-fired oven as well as seating in the air-conditioned interior or on the beautiful terrace overlooking the river.
Lobby Lounge
Cocktails and small dishes are served here in addition to the classic lobby bustle. Besides the classic afternoon tea, the bar also offers live music on stage.
Siam Yacht Club
The Yacht Club has been redesigned, is located directly by the river and turned out really very well. It turned out to be a very nice place for an evening drink by the river and at the same time a small insider tip, as it was never really crowded during our stays. Especially in combination with the River View and the proximity to the pier, the Yacht Club is ideal for a sundowner after a shopping trip to ICONSIAM.
Pool Bar
The bar at the Garden Pool offers light meals and refreshing drinks during the day.
Breakfast
As Platinum Status members at Bonvoy, breakfast was included for us. Accordingly, we decided to have breakfast at the Lounge. However, when we arrived at the Lounge, half of the Lounge area was unfortunately closed for reasons we weren´t been told. Accordingly, the open part of the Lounge was unfortunately quite full.
The breakfast here is basically a buffet, but unfortunately it was largely identical to the offerings during the evening cocktail hour, especially in terms of bread, salads and juices. The hot drinks can be ordered at your seat and the hot egg dishes are ordered using a slip of paper on which you mark your preferences.
As on the previous evening, service was not up to par either, as it took about half an hour for the egg we ordered to finally arrive at the table – and on top it wasn’t particularly tasty either. So we left rather disappointed after breakfast.
Check-out
The check-out was professional and friendly without being memorable in any way.
However, we noticed that quite a few airline crews checked in and out here – so there can certainly be longer waiting times.
Costs
For this one-night stay at the Royal Orchid Sheraton Bangkok, we paid around 5,600 THB, which equated to around 150 euros that October 2025. The upgrade to the Suite came with the Suite night upgrade certificate and the breakfast and lounge access were status benefits.
In our opinion, the fare we paid is far too high for this hotel. Especially in comparison with other 5-star hotels in Bangkok. For longer-term bookings, room rates can start at 70 euros – which we consider to be a fair price for what is offered.
Departure and onward journey
From here we will continue our journey to the InterContinental Bangkok, from where we will fly on to Kuala Lumpur and then once again to Bali.
Conclusion
In the overall assessment, the Royal Orchid Sheraton Bangkok presents itself as a classic 5-star hotel whose greatest strength clearly lies in its location – less so in its design, facilities or service. The direct location right on the Chao Phraya, the view of the river and the proximity to ICONSIAM, Talat Noi, Chinatown and the River City Mall clearly speak for the hotel. Two pools, a free shuttle boat with its own pier and the restaurants right by the water round off the location argument and make the hotel particularly attractive for relaxing hours with a river view.
On the other hand, the product is visibly outdated. Brown carpeting, worn furniture and a bed with mixed comfort no longer look contemporary. There is also a flashing fire alarm light at night, which is giving more club vibes than a quiet sleeping environment. The Club Lounge and the breakfast offered there also fall short of what comparable hotels in Bangkok offer, both in terms of selection and service.
Recommendation
The Royal Orchid Sheraton Bangkok can work for different types of guests. Families, couples, solo travelers and business guests will find a solid base here if they appreciate a good riverside location. However, for those looking for a fresh product with very good service and a strong lounge or who want to spend around 150 euros per night, there are much more exciting alternatives in Bangkok with a far better price-performance ratio.
The recommendation is therefore twofold. If the hotel needs to be well located for your plans, you are looking for a cool view over a sundowner in the restaurant with a view or a base on the river and you are getting a really attractive rate, the Royal Orchid Sheraton may well fit the bill. However, if you are specifically looking for a luxurious feel, a good lounge product and strong service, then you don’t necessarily have to end up here as there are simply better options in similar price ranges in Bangkok.
Rating
All in all, we place the Royal Orchid Sheraton at the lower end of the 5-star category as ist is more of a solid midscale hotel than a real luxury product. At reasonable rates of around 70 to 80 euros per night, you can certainly spend a decent night here, especially if the location and view are the focus. However, with prices around 150 euros and the expectation of a strong lounge and service experience, there are more convincing alternatives available in Bangkok.
Rating
We award the Royal Orchid Sheraton Bangkok 6 out of 10 possible points for this stay.
We deduct one point each for the weak lounge experience, the old room furnishings, the poor price-performance ratio and the poor service throughout the stay.
Go there?
At this point I would say: Well! You can do it – but you don’t have to. If you get a good price and the location is important to you, we can definitely recommend the hotel.
But if you want a first-class hotel with good service, then I would always choose a different hotel.
Booking with EVRYWHRE
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YouTube Review
As always, you can find the complete YouTube review of the Royal Orchid Sheraton Bangkok on our EVRYWHRE channel. There you can see everything again in moving images and get your own impression.
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