There I was high in the clouds on the 63rd floor of the Tower Club at lebua hotel in Bangkok but it wasn’t vertigo I was suffering from. It was déjà vu. Here I was sitting in the hotel’s elegant alfresco rooftop restaurant Sirocco and towering over us was the hotel’s majestic golden dome. And just nearby was the hotel’s amazing Sky Bar that seemed almost to be suspended in mid-air.

From my vantage point I looked out over the city and the Chao Phraya River gleamed like silver mercury as it snaked between the city lights. It all seemed very familiar — but this was my very first time in Bangkok.

The Grand Palace, Bangkok

The answer came quickly enough. As I reached my dinner table I heard someone mentioning the movie Hangover 2. “This is where that rooftop scene was shot!” the person declared with delight, whipping out her camera.

The location scouts of Hangover 2 certainly knew what they were doing when they chose this spot with its view of Bangkok. And like the stars of the movie, we had an action-packed evening. As our candlelight dinner got underway with a string of chef’s special dishes, a jazz band made mellifluous music in another corner. And the steadily growing crowd around the circular neon Sky Bar reminded us, again, that this city never sleeps.

The Tower Club at lebua had been written off by the travel industry when it was being constructed and it isn’t tough to imagine why. The hotel is located in the bustling Bang Rak district, which is a maze of narrow roads filled with street-side food carts. Not exactly the stuff of luxury said the naysayers. But once the building and its fine-dining restaurants got into action, all fears were put to rest.

The Tower Club at lebua; Photograph courtesy Tower Club at lebua

The next day I had a quick lunch at the hotel’s Café Mozu. Being a vegetarian, I was apprehensive, but not for long. To my relief, quite a few dishes were marked with bold Vs. I opted for the yam som jay, a pomelo salad with tamarind sauce that is a mix of juicy sweet and sour flavours. For the main course I was recommended a vegetarian pad thai with mushrooms, which had a hot and sour flavour.

Bangkok’s most important tourist spot is the Grand Palace but I was advised to avoid the heat and go the next morning. So, I did the next best thing and took Bangkok’s famous Skytrain to visit Siam, the city’s central shopping district.

Siam is a shopaholic’s poison. Afer whetting my appetite at the high-end Siam Paragon mall, I headed, on a more realistic note, instead to MBK mall, which is filled with middle-bracket stores that are just right if you don’t want to burn a hole in your pocket.

The Sky Bar at the rooftop Sirocco restaurant, lebua; Photograph courtesy Tower Club at lebua

Back at the hotel I was treated to a quick massage. And after that I trotted down to the nearby flea market, Bangrak Bazaar, which is right next to the Silom Skytrain station. Traveller tip: there is scope for bargaining here but don’t expect the prices to go down drastically.

Soon it was dinner-time and this time we were at the hotel’s cosy fine-dining restaurant Mezzaluna on the 65th floor. From here you gaze out at a fairytale world of twinkling city lights and evening fireworks around the river that make the experience even more magnificent.

The Mezzaluna offers three- and six-course meals. And you can watch the chefs in action in the open kitchen. I watched in amazement as two chefs —who I noted looked totally alike — plated up food in the kitchen. I later discovered they were twins Thomas Suhring and Mathias Shuring. And, yes, I had a six-course entirely vegetarian meal.

I started out very early the next day to visit Bangkok’s Grand Palace. This 218,000sqm ancient palace houses everything from the royal residence to coronation halls, and also a number of government offices. The biggest attraction here is the Emerald Buddha carved from a single block of green jade.

Vegetarian pad thai at Café Mozu

Undeterred by the scorching sun, my next stop was the weekend Chatuchak market, a 35-acre maze of about 15,000 shops. You can get almost anything here from crockery to clothes and home decor items to fruits. In short — anything under the sun. So, you can’t really blame me for what happened next.

I was in the fish and aquariums section when I realised that had I lost my group. I somehow made my way to the exit. Exhausted but relieved, I grabbed the nearest cab and headed back to the hotel. And what better way to banish anxiety than a lip-smacking meal. So, all was forgotten as we feasted at Breeze, the hotel’s 52nd floor Asian food restaurant.

It was a short — and eventful — trip with plenty more to be seen but I wasn’t fretting. As I boarded my flight back I promised myself that soon I’d be back in Bangkok.

TRAVEL TALK

• Getting there: Thai Airways flies direct daily from Calcutta to Bangkok. It is a two hours 40 minutes flight. The Tower Club at lebua is a 45-minute drive from Suvarnabhumi Airport.

• Where to stay: A one night’s stay at lebua’s Tower Club City View Suite (one bedroom) for two people or one person will cost Rs 30,451 per night. In the popular Tower Club Hangover Suite (three bedrooms) upto six people or less can stay for Rs 72,386 per night.