HOTEL: LE MERIDIEN BANGKOK

HOTEL: LE MERIDIEN BANGKOK
Circling high over Bangkok
By CHUSRI NGAMPRASERT
THE NATION


A circular bed with a spectacular view
If a square bed doesn't turn you on anymore, try Le Meridien's round relaxer You could never accuse Le Meridien Bangkok of cutting corners. Up until now that is: the super-luxurious Silom hotel has given its choice of accommodation a new twist with the launch of eleven "Circular" rooms on the 22nd floor.


Don't let the name confuse you, the rooms have the normal four corners it's actually the beds placed right in the middle of them that are round. Perched on one of these well-sprung nests you get a bird's eye view of Bangkok through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Peek out from under your duvet and the capital's skyscrapers rise, twinkling in the night sky, at your feet.


The round bed forms the hub of a design that aims to give visitors a higher perspective, sucking them up into the still eye of Bangkok's whirling action. Artistic lighting helps keep your feet on the ground with a mellow ambience.


Round beds first rolled onto the scene in the 1960s and became an icon of cool and daring in the era. Part of the attraction was a futuristic, space age look that caught people of all ages' attention. Back when the sexual revolution was challenging conventionฌal ideas and lifestyles, beds were an obvious candidate for a refit.


Gimmicky at first, they quickly found favour among honeymooners and travellers who wanted something more exotic in hotels than their humdrum furniture back home. The new generation of round beds has ditched the flamboyant details from those early days for the simpler design of conฌtemporary platform beds. The perfect circle has remained popular though, perhaps because it's a symbol of completeness that offers calm in our most intimate space.


Space is one thing the Circular room is quite generous with. It offers 36 square metres done out in a conฌtemporary luxury design. A nice local touch is the poem in Thai script by a famous poet that adorns one wall of each room. It comes with an English translation.


The sense of relaxation and simplicity stretches to the marble bathฌroom, where a cool rain shower waits to drench guests. Those who like to pack their Ipods and laptops for every trip will find all the sockets they need in the multi-application digital system in the living area. Or you can make like a couch potato and bed down in front of the 32inch Sony television and video-on-demand.


The high life isn't light on the wallet though - rates for the Circular room start at Bt9,100 per night.