The Oriental Bangkok

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The modern wing of the Oriental Bangkok as seen from the Chao Phraya River.

The Oriental Bangkok is a five-star hotel in Bangkok. Founded in 1876 on the banks of the Chao Phraya River at 48 Oriental Avenue, the hotel is well-known for the excellence of its service, which consistently places it in surveys among the world's best hotels.

It is a favorite of celebrity visitors to Bangkok. Joseph Conrad, Somerset Maugham and Noel Coward are among the famous authors who have stayed at the Oriental. They now have suites named after them, as do Graham Greene, John le Carré, Barbara Cartland and James A. Michener.

Other famous guests have included Neil Armstrong, Lauren Bacall, George H. W. Bush, Jacques Chirac, Sean Connery, Mel Gibson, Václav Havel, Audrey Hepburn, Mick Jagger, Henry Kissinger, Helmut Kohl, David Beckham, Niki Lauda, Sophia Loren, Yehudi Menuhin, Richard Nixon, Pelé, Queen Sofia of Spain, Princess Diana and Prince Charles, Omar Sharif and Elizabeth Taylor.

The general manager of the hotel is Kurt Wachtveitl, who was instrumental in the purchase of the Oriental by Mandarin Oriental Hotels in 1974.

The restaurants in the hotel are: The Bamboo Bar, Sala Rim Naan, Lord Jim's, Le Normandie, China House, the Riverside Terrace, the Verandah, the Author's Lounge, and Ciao.