Being friends with Bill Bensley must be a humbling affair. Over an illustrious 35-year career, the multi-award-winning architect and designer has worked on more than 200 resorts in over 30 countries. While the rest of us were binge-watching Tiger King during the pandemic, he took up painting and was soon selling out exhibitions and being invited to international art fairs.
One of his most celebrated creations is The Siam, a family owned, 38-room property on a beautifully landscaped 1.2-hectare site next to the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok. Less heralded is the contribution of the hotel’s founder and creative director, Krissada Sukosol Clapp, whose grandfather originally bought the land in 1973.
Another unfairly talented individual, Clapp had already won an MTV music award as the lead singer of indie-rock group Pru, plus several acting awards for his film work, before convincing his family to let him build a luxury hotel on the site. The Siam received lavish acclaim when it opened in 2012, but that was more than a decade ago. Meanwhile, Bangkok has welcomed countless high-end resorts and new ones debut every year.
All of which begs the question, does The Siam still cut it in the city’s fiercely competitive luxury hotel market? Selflessly, I volunteered to find out. The first thing that strikes me is the property’s comparatively remote location. While many of the city’s luxury offerings are within the lively riverside suburbs of Bang Rak and Khlong San, The Siam is the .