Bangkok is a city of seemingly endless choices and accommodations are no different. In fact, there are so many choices of places to stay in this city it can feel overwhelming. We narrowed it down to one for you so you can spend time on things more important than where you’re going to lay your head at night. We ended up finding the perfect modern hotel that provides great value.
Criteria
Location
We’ll spare you from repeating it three times, suffice to say there’s a reason it’s a cliché. Picking which neighborhood you stay in when in such a mega city is crucial, because odds are that’s where you’ll spend most of your time. Being close to what you’ll be eating and doing drastically cuts down on time spent getting to and fro, which will directly correlate to your enjoyment. Efficiency = happiness.
We did our due diligence on BKK and arrived at the same conclusion most others do: Sukhumvit. It’s full of shops and nightlife, plus its bisected by the BTS Skytrain, making it easy to traverse.
Cost
We aim for value above all else. Luckily, Bangkok is a place where you can get a lot of bang for your buck (we’re really bringing out the clichés on this one aren’t we?). Those familiar with Thailand know a lot of the accommodations here can be a little, well, run-down. Fortunately there’s also many who do a bang up job with their facilities and service at a price point that won’t drain your bank account. The key is finding those properties that bring the value. Or just let us do it for you ;).
We may not be trust funders but we still enjoy the finer things in life: a firm mattress, clean sheets, a clean room, and all the little details of a hotel that add up to a great experience.
Our pick: The Modena, by Fraser Bangkok
The Modena, by Fraser Bangkok is our top pick for where to stay for your short-term trip to Bangkok (2-7 days). It’s new, clean, modern, stylish, and conveniently located right by an MRT station. We were also able to snag a room for a great deal (around $50 USD/night at the time of this writing), providing excellent value for what we received.
The Fraser is in that sweet spot between value and luxury. It’s a four star hotel but it’s services and amenities make it feel like four and a half stars. There is a restaurant in the hotel with the option to have breakfast included in your room price. We prefer to eat on the street or at the cafe around the corner but we did check out the breakfast and it looked decent. The staff were all very friendly and helpful with a decent command of English. The hotel has a small gym and launderette on the sixteenth floor.
Design

The rooms here were obviously designed with simplicity and functionality in mind. They’re not huge, but they’re laid out in such a way that you get a lot more out of the square footage than other places with much larger floor plans. These modern styled rooms have everything you need, plus more: iron board, flashlight, safe, clothes hanger, water boiler, etc. The bed is one of the most comfortable we’ve ever slept in in any hotel, period. The mattress is just the way we like it: medium to firm, and the sheets/pillows are crisp and fluffy.
Location
While not smack dab in the middle of the action in Sukhumvit (which is roughly on any of the sois between Asok and Nana BTS stations), we actually like it this way. To bring the amount of clichés in this article to a total of three we don’t shit where we eat and we don’t like laying our heads around drunken tourists.
Still, Modena is only one stop away from Sukhumvit station on the metro so it’s easy enough to get to quickly via subway. The entrance to the hotel is a thirty second walk away from the metro station exit. If you happen to be out late sampling Sukhumvit’s ample array of bars and clubs the hotel is still close enough to reach cheaply via rickshaw, cab, or Uber.
Because it is separate from the tourist hub, dining options in the immediate vicinity are limited, but there is a good little cafe/restaurant right around the corner.
TL;DR
The Modena, by Fraser Bangkok is our choice for where to stay in Bangkok for a nice, quiet rest at a decent price point while not straying too far from the action. While it’s slightly out of the zone, we actually like it for this and it’s a quick five minute metro ride to get right back in the thick of things. We stayed at a few other places in the area not worth mentioning, and Fraser Modena really stood out for its clean, modern aesthetic and great value.
Ready to book your trip? We recommend booking through Agoda. It’s the best hotel booking site when traveling in Asia.
So what are you waiting for? Book now.