Originally Posted by
stimpy
Agreed. Normally it is less than 20 minutes from the Oriental to the GH. Although as in any city, an accident or some other big disturbance can make it much worse.
The traffic around the Grand Hyatt and the intersection directly in front of the hotel at Sukhumvit have possibly the worst traffic congestion in all of central Bangkok. While I also think it would be nice to stay on the river and can see many advantages of the Oriental and the Siam, given that in my limited experiences an Indian wedding is an absolute test of stamina and some degree of sleep deprivation I would stay as close as possible to the actual wedding- hence the IC, the Four Seasons, the St. Regis, or of course the Grand Hyatt. With a budget of $500 USD per night (~15000 THB) the OP should comfortably be in a very nice Premium room or better at the Four Seasons which is not a bad hotel at all and takes very good care of guests (and is a 3 minute walk from the Grand Hyatt).
I also understand the Grand Hyatt itself is completing a renovation of the entire hotel so this may bring its physical plant up and certainly the service especially on Regency Club levels is pretty good.