Heritage Hotel Srinakarin

After spending half the day in transit, I arrived at my home for the next week: the Heritage Hotel Srinakarin. It's not easily accessible, unlike the other hotels fellow participants in this year's International Rice Congress are billeted in. However, the location held a lot of promise. I was relatively close to a huge shopping mall and to street food that have made Bangkok a go-to place for foodies. As the cab drove past the neighbourhoods, I became excited... the community surrounding the hotel is definitely worth exploring. But that's a different story.

The hotel wowed me as I entered my room. Look at that! It's so homey! The picture behind my bed was just beautiful. Aside from the giant bed, I also got my very own balcony... the view wasn't impressive, because my room was way too low to see the skyline, but it gave a bird's eye view of the residential neighbourhood. The lighting was so relaxing I almost didn't want to leave on my first night there! Alas, I had to go for dinner, so I had to leave it as soon as I had unpacked. Settling in, I thought, would happen as soon as I came back from dinner.

My room when I entered. Reminded me of my hotel room in Los Angeles.

My misadventures in Bangkok stemmed from relatively remote location of the hotel. I got lost quite a few times and ended up in a different parts of Bangkok, unintentionally touring the city, while the cab driver searched for my hotel. 

Despite these misadventures, I still looked at my hotel wistfully during the wee hours of the morning as I was pulling out of the driveway. The hotel contributed to lots of good memories (including those bloopers) of my visit to Bangkok and my participation at the conference. 

The bright interiors welcomed me home every night... never failed to cheer me up after nights of detours.

One of those good memories is finally being able to eat Thai food in Thailand! Yes, I ate Thai food in the convention center, but eating in the hotel somehow made the experience more real... maybe because my food was so spicy I had to pair my dinner with Oreo cookies. Not kidding! The staff also made my stay very memorable because they are so friendly and helpful. 

Indeed, this was home away from home for me.

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