Sukhothai indulgence

We — the gitls that is — were in the mood for a break. We had food, shopping and pampering in mind and you can be assured of all these things in Bangkok. We checked in to the luxurious Sukhothai hotel, right in the heart of the business district. We wanted to be pampered like princesses and there are few places on earth where the locals love to pamper you more than in Thailand.

Thai people are so sweet and friendly it makes you want to be a nicer person yourself. The ‘sawasdee’ greeting — that lovely little dipping of the head, the steepling of the hands, the big smile — makes you feel special. It’s impossible to be in a bad mood in Thailand.

We’d been in the Sukhothai Hotel for no more than half an hour when we were ensconced in big leather chairs in the health club, with dainty women, orchids behind their ears, attending to our feet. A pedicure takes on an extra indulgence in Bangkok with the meticulous attention to care. Our feet felt one size smaller after all that dead skin had gone and they’d been soaked, massaged, buffed and polished to baby softness.

Over lunch at the hotel’s Celadon Restaurant, floating on a lotus pond, we became overwhelmed by choice: red curry of slow cooked duck or the steamed kingfish soufflé? We went for both, shared, sipped gin and tonic, and felt like rich people.

Staff at the Sukhothai are especially diligent. Send your dirty washing out and it comes back ironed (even your socks and undies) and beautifully wrapped in tissue paper inside an elegant box complete with gold seal. It almost proved too much for one of the girls whose K-Mart knickers had never before received such mollycoddling. It took the entire dish of chocolate truffles — placed daily in all rooms — to convince her she was worth all this pampering.

Go the Sukhothai’s gym (if you must) and an attendant will guide you to the state-of-the-art equipment, show you how to work it, bring you a towel and a bottle of water. The same lovely fussing comes to you at the pool. Just stroll by a chair and glance at it and an attendant will instantly materialise beside you brandishing a pile of soft white towels — two for chair, laid out nice and thickly, another to cushion the head — and a glass of ice and more bottled water. You can get dangerously used to this.

But the inclination not to go out into the hot, busy Bangkok streets must be fought. There is shopping out there, and it must be done. When it gets too harried at the markets and you don’t wish to haggle any more, the giant air-conditioned malls await. Here you can join Bangkok’s stylish young things as they cruise the multi-levels in these megamalls. You could shop forever at the biggest mall of them all, the rebranded Central World. With 550,000 square metres of retail space and an unrivalled mix of products and services, you’ll most likely go into a frenzy and come out barely seen beneath your bags. Back out on the streets, you can pop into any one of a thousand of small spas for a foot and leg massage (about $5) and be invigorated and ready to hit the markets again.

Hire a car and driver for around $50 a day and you will be dropped off and picked up in cool comfort any time of the day or evening. Back at the hotel with your shopping bags strewn all over the room and your thoughts turning to an onslaught of the mini-bar, you’ll be glad to know there is a driver on call if you decide to go out to the streets again.

Breakfast is wonderful here — endless varieties of yogurt and cereal, eggs cooked however you want them by a white-coated chefs, pastries that will make you think of France, all offered with that same smiling, attentive service.

If you’re really smart, you’ll time your stay the Sukhothai for a Friday, Saturday or Sunday — chocolate buffet days. Tables and trolleys spill over with chocolate treats of every kind — from handmade truffles, to mousse and cheesecake — and will leave you in no doubt, you have spoilt yourself rotten in Bangkok.

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