One night in Bangkok . . . . . BLOGGED . . is this the best hotel in that fair city?

Lebua Hotel and Resorts CEO, Deepak Ohri . . . .

Sirocco and the Sky Bar is part of The Dome in Lebua at State Tower in Bangkok

The Dome in Lebua at State Tower: how is that for an outdoor restaurant

Lake Okareka in Rotorua, New Zealand

Being the total hotel freak (if I could live in one, I would) it was great to dine with a man whose job it is to make his hotels and resorts the most luxurious on the planet.

With the chance that most of us (ok, all of us) living the suite life for the rest of our lives but a daydream, Deepak Ohri looks to be doing that on our behalves.

The charming and tres suave Mr Ohri runs the Lebua at State Tower (just have a look at the Sky bar in the Sirocco restaurant which takes in a mighty spectacular view of Bangkok) and he also oversees the elegant Lake Okareka in Rotorua, New Zealand. The lodge was named as NZ's top luxury lodge and can only be booked out by one party at a time. Sweet.

Over a small and cosy lunch at Uccello at The Ivy, he said he is very, very interested in opening a Lebua hotel in Sydney, but the location has to be absolutely perfect: "But it would be smack bang in the centre of the CDB and have ten or eleven rooms. That's it. Super chic as Sydney is a truly international city and I think a small absolutely top-of-the line hotel like that would be perfect.''

With Cartier as the Lebua official perfumer (natch); Bvlgari as their preferred bathroom goodies supplier (of course) and guests sleeping beneath 330 thread count sheets in one of 358 suites (a given) Lebua oozes style and luxury.

So luxurious, Deepak said he opened hotel initiatives called The Tower Club and The Seven Society which provide well-heeled guests with complimentary access to VIP lounges and general, super VIP-inspired service.

With a night of Lebua suite life starting at around the mark US$150 (that was just one price I spotted online) it seems a very affordable vacation experience or couple of nights if you are stopping over en route to elsewhere. (Also, take a look at www.tripadvisor.com for the most objective of 'real people' reviews.)

Indian-born Deepak, was joined over lunch by Vogue Living's Susie Westwood, wine guru Nick Ryan (who also selected the fine wines for lunch) as well as faces from Belle and Time Out.

So luxurious is Deepak's mantra, he will be guest speaker at the annual Financial Times Luxury Summit in LA in June this year.

Take a look at http://www.lebua.com/ for a style fix . . .