They say one night in Bangkok, and the tough guys tumble. That would be especially rough if you were staying at the Bangkok Tree House hotel. Located just south of the city in the Phra Pradaeng district along the Chao Phraya River, it has “nests” where guest can sleep under the stars among the treetops.
Jirayu (Joey) Tulyanond created the Bangkok Tree House hotel, and the business is in his blood: His mother runs the Old Bangkok Inn, located in the city.
The whole thing is as green as the plants surrounding it. It starts with your arrival: You can only access the hotel by foot, bike, or boat. No cars allowed. The nests are made of bamboo, glass, and steel. Wooden walkways and staircases lead to the rooms and public spaces. The floors, walls, and ceilings are made of reclaimed wood and local bamboo. Old juice cartons provide the insulation. Solar and wind energy power the LED lights and cookers, and the kitchen composts its food waste. The only places with air conditioners are the bedrooms in the nests. The rest of the place keeps cool from the river’s breezes. Those also help with the laundry, because the hotel line dries instead of using a machine. There are also mosquitoes, because the hotel doesn’t fumigate.
In fact, the rooms are named after bugs, and that extends to the decor. The butterfly room is covered in butterflies, the ant room is decorated with ants, according to The Guardian. The hotel also has a hyper-local attitude, hiring workers who live within walking distance and sourcing its food and toiletries from producers in the area.
To make an even bigger impact on the community, the Bangkok Tree House promises to remove a kilo (about 2.2 pounds) of trash from the Chao Phraya River for every guest that stays there, according to Inhabitat.
The hotel’s site does warn that some rooms won’t be suitable for guests with vertigo. It’s under renovation right now, but in the future acrophobic guests could test out the river nest: It’s a bed that floats in the water.
