HE art of hospitality has been reimagined at the sumptuous Plaza Athénée Bangkok, A Royal Méridien Hotel that has created an ambience both briskly welcoming yet discrete, a setting that will polish its credentials as one of the best Bangkok conference hotels. Small corporate meetings in Bangkok are a cinch in stylish all-white neo-colonial surrounds with ample lashings of Thai silk and marble. Nowhere is the transformation more keenly apparent than on the fourth floor where an event space for 60 opens onto the alfresco pool and adjoining grassy surrounds. This is a swimming pool that actually catches the sun for a leisurely tan. Larger dos can move up to the pillarless 29th-floor Pimarn Hall.

The 374-room hotel, with its high ceiling lobby with signature twin sweeping staircases for that romantic wedding pose, exudes quality. Service is attentive and welcoming. Close by a SkyTrain station, the hotel is well positioned for business travellers as well as leisure trippers.

The remodelled Rain Tree Cafe is a smart metrosexual hangout with a bar, and a more private street-facing Secret Garden for secluded dining. It is a fresh street-front experience. Expect white wood frame glass doors that help create an old-world feel while ushering in generous amounts of natural light. Elsewhere, dine Thai, Cantonese, or French.

The 26th floor Club Lounge for corporate escapees is spacious with enough elbow room for all. New look rooms serve up a 'royal' feel with a difference - grey metallic walls, pastel hues, huge window-length divans (Thai tangs) with the de rigueur silk upholstery, Sukhothai-style bowl lamps, and furniture with a dark stain finish. The look is contemporary and neat. Regular rooms weigh in at 38sq m with Club rooms at an elephant-swinging 44sq m. Apres-work destress at Spa Athénée with its arsenal of wellness menus from French skincare and 'Immunetra' treatments based on blood type, to massage. Work or play, this address is one for your diary.