Avenue Travel

Sukhumvit Soi 22 is one among many Sois that run off the famous Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok, Thailand. It is between Benjasiri Park and Soi 20. Soi 22 is well known and frequented by foreigners. One of the reasons is that it has one of the great Bangkok landmark hotels; Queen Park Hotel. This is a massive building with two towers which were built years apart. The lobby of the hotel is gigantic and trimmed with Thai timber and design. There are massive chandeliers in the lobby. Nine floors up there is a gym and a large swimming pool which gives has a great view of Sukhumvit and Bangkok. This building represents everything that a fine hotel should be, and it is worth going there, even if just to have coffee.

Deeper into the Soi (further away from BTS Skytrain and Sukhumvit Road) is the Park Avenue Hotel which has a middle-to-upper price range. Out front there are an Italian and an Indian Restaurant on each side of the large car park.

Admiral Suites is deeper into the Soi on the same side of the road as Park Avenue. It has well-appointed studio, one bedroom, and other suites which are available on daily rate or longer period if that is required.

At the front of the Admiral Suites complex is the Green Parrot Cafe which is a favourite with tourists in the Soi because it has internet wifi. At most times of the day there will be people in the Green Parrot with their notebooks and netbooks tapping away at their keyboards.

About 30 metres deeper into the Soi is the New Cowboy Bar and Restaurant which was set up, apparently, by the same American Cowboy who set up Soi Cowboy (a fmaous sub-Soi between Soi 23 and Soi Asoke). It is full of memorabilia collected over many years and appeals particularly to visitors from the USA. The food is excellent too.

Much closer to Sukhumvit Road are two famous bar areas called Washington Square and Queen Plaza. Both have well-known Thai bars which have been operating for many years in some cases. Washington Square has the famous Bourbon Street which puts on big feasts for both Christmas Day and for America’s Thanksgiving celebrations. The bars in these two places offer all that you might be looking for.

There is an internet cafe which charges 60 baht per hour to foreigners and girls that work in bars at the entrance to Washington Square. However, in a small sub-Soi not far away the rate is only 20 baht per hour, but this tends to be frequented only by Thais.

Washington Square itself is a vast tar-sealed area between Benjasiri Park and Soi 22. It has clusters of buildings on its periphery as well as a large building in its centre which has bars. On its Sukhumvit Road side a very large bar. Cutting through Washington Square is a faster way to get to The Emporium shopping complexes.

One of the famous bars on Soi 22 is the Titanium Club which has an Ice Room where you can have a Vodka or two in very cold temperatures. It is a popular venue for the young and trendy and always seems to have something going on.

All down the half of Soi 22 closest to Sukhumvit Road are massage places, such as May Massage which has the enormous feet over the entrance. People can go for any type of massage they want. The massages are really good and reasonably cheap but it is a good idea to leave a tip as well. Sometimes the massage places have big windows where you can see the interior of the massage facility and the people getting massages in big reclining chairs.

Sukhumvit Soi 22 really has something for everyone whether they are looking for a restaurant, accommodation, massage, or a bar. If you are in Bangkok or in Sukhumvit, Soi 22 it is worth a visit and remember it is quite a long way from Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy so it is much more family friendly than the lower numbered Sois.

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