Apex Medi Spa

There’s more to Thonglor than clubbing, crowded wine bistros and fancy restaurants. Situated behind Eight Thonglor in Thonglor Soi 8, the newly opened Apex Medi Spa manages to block out the city with its wooden screens and soothing water running down panes of glass. It’s warm and quiet, with just enough touches of white to look “medi” as well as “spa.” The treatments include a lot of expensive products meant to rejuvenate your cells, from gold fusion therapy to caviar masks and infrared beds. Prices start from B5,000 for facial treatments but the drain-massage treatment is B2,500 for 30 minutes, if you’re just looking to quickly relax your calves and thighs before a night out in Thonglor.
Behind Ei8ht Thonglor Complex, Thonglor Soi 8, Sukhumvit Rd., 080-500-0123. www.apexprofoundbeauty.com

Oasis Spa Sukhumvit 51

Hidden away in a bohemian house surrounded by a lush tropical garden, this is another blissfully tranquil spot in the heart of downtown Bangkok. The seven private rooms are decked out with oriental details and equipped with Jacuzzi and herbal steam baths. Get pampered with their 90-minute Northern-Thai-inspired treatment (The Voyage of Golden Lanna, B5,900).
Sukhumvit 51, 88 Sukhumvit Rd., 02-262-2122. Open daily 10am-10pm. www.oasisspa.net

So SPA

The newly-opened Sofitel So Bangkok has just unveiled its exclusive sanctuary, So SPA. Perched on the 11th floor and overlooking Bangkok’s green oasis, Lumpini Park, the spa’s design manages to draw in that leafy ambiance and translate it into the Himmapan Forest from Thai mythology thanks to a 600-sq-meter space with plenty of wood, dark colors and a soothing water feature. Its introductory signature treatment, the Serenity of Five Elements (B3,400), features 90 minutes of oil massage and herbal compresses.
11/F, Sofitel So Bangkok, 2 North Sathorn Rd., 02-624-0000. Open 10am-10pm. MRT Lumphini.

Okura Spa

Hidden away on the 25th floor of the new luxury Japanese-chain hotel, The Okura Bangkok, is the Okura Spa. Set in a contemporary oriental space, five private treatment rooms are hidden along a dimly-lit walkway. The highlight is theOkura Take Relief bamboo massage where therapists roll a warm bamboo pole over your muscles to release stress before a soak in big bathtub (B3,600).
25/F, The Okura Prestige Bangkok, Ploenchit Rd., 02-687-9000. Open daily 10am-10pm. BTS Ploenchit.

Kiriya Spa (The Lit)

There’s an immediately calming effect walking into this dim, cavern-like and voluptuously curved space designed by Vaslab. All the treatments have been inspired by Thailand’s four main regions. The Southern treatment, for example, starts with a strong, slow massage inspired by the local Nora dance and performed with hot seashells. It’s followed by another massage technique inspired by a dance, the Hooloo Vahi, which focuses on blood circulation (130 min, B3,600). Come before 2pm for 40% off all treatments.
The Lit. 36/1 Soi Kasemsan 1, 02-612-3456. Open daily 10am-10pm. BTS National Stadium.

Trip Organizer

Trip It

A favorite of ours for a few years now, Trip It offers a simple way to keep all your travel plans close at hand. Not only does it convert your airline and hotel bookings into itineraries that can be synchronized with all gadgets, it also lets you share your schedule with your friends, family and colleagues.

Navigation

Google Maps

An obvious pick, Google Maps is what most smartphone map apps kick to automatically (no need to install it). The downside is that you need an internet connection for it to work. Our tip: use Google street view to really map out your itinerary at home. In Japan, where we can’t read most signs, it can be a real life-saver.

Guide

Foursquare

Sure, you can check-in to places just to collect points and badges, or use the hyper-local updates to take tracking the whereabouts of your friends to stalkerish levels, but Foursquare has also turned into a treasure trove of recommendations and tips about nearby attractions, dining options, restaurant specials and more.

TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor’s mobile app is a bit different from the web edition. Its “Near Me Now” function lets you seek out nearby places to eat, stay and visit. But the huge database of reviews, maps and other helpful tidbits are all carried over, so you can get access to the most up-to-date information.

Wikitude

Our pick as far as augmented reality apps go, Wikitude lets you explore your immediate surroundings simply by turning your smartphone’s camera on and holding it up to the object of your curiosity. Within moments, a brief description of the place and other interactive content will flash up on your screen.

Foodspotting

Urbanspoon and Yelp might be popular in North America, but we prefer Foodspotting as a more global option for finding and recommending our favorite dishes. Billing itself as a visual guide to good food, this app encourages users to look beyond the restaurants and focus only on particular dishes through bite-sized reviews and photos.

NEW> Happy Hour Finder

Call us lame for advertising our own product, but we’ve slaved away at this location-based app so that you can effortlessly keep track of all the best happy hour deals and find the closest bars in Bangkok, KL, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore. Never go thirsty again.

NEW> The Ritz-Carlton

The best feature of this five-star-hotel app is the Concierge Tip which recommends things to do and see in the vicinity of Ritz-Carlton hotels worldwide, even if you’re not staying with them.

NEW> Around Me

Like some sort of sixth sense, this app helps you discover everything around you, from cafes and bars to banks and movie theaters. You can even make restaurant reservations, too.

Entertainment

W Hotels Worldwide

This app grants you access to the latest deals and offers a booking engine with W Hotels all over the world. But what sets it apart from other such chain hotel apps is the W Music section which offers a range of hip mixes curated by W-appointed DJs. They’re categorized into spaces and vibes—living room, retreat, wet deck and after dark, for instance—so that you can easily select a soundtrack to fit your mood.

Utilities

XE Currency

Not new, but still essential. We think XE is the best currency converter app doing the rounds, thanks to its friendly interface, multi-currency home screen and real-time currency updates.

Wi-Fi Finder

A must for every smartphone user, this location-based app does just what its name suggests: helps you track down the nearest Wi-Fi hotspots. The cost-conscious traveler will be pleased to note that Wi-Fi Finder is highly adept at determining which connections are free for public use.

iTranslate

This popular translator app for iPhone can translate words, phrases and sentences into more than 50 languages, and is now available for Android. iTranslate supports text and voice input, so you’ve no excuses for not learning at least a few lines of the local lingo.

Translator by Bing

The Windows Phone’s answer to language translation. Take a picture of any text and the app will automatically read and translate it into the designated languages. The downside is that only a small number of languages are supported so far, including English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, and simplified Chinese.

Google Goggles

Goggles lets you search the web just by taking photos. Not only does it provide translations, the app allows you to scan barcodes (we tried using a Black Label bottle), book covers, even tourist landmarks and paintings. The laziest guide to everything ever.

Toilet/Bathroom Finder
Have2p

Sooner or later, every traveler experiences the pain of needing to pee but has no idea where to go. Toilet/Bathroom Finder and Have2p work in the same way to ensure you’re always prepared to answer the call of nature. The Android app claims to have the biggest restroom database with more than 60,000 locations worldwide but the iPhone app also features reviews from users, too.

Airlines

Air Asia

Now that Air Asia charges a check-in fee at its airport counters, it’s worthwhile having this app on your smartphone to save yourself a few baht (and also the hassle of queuing up). Once you check-in via the app, you’ll receive a QR barcode, which you scan to print out the boarding pass at the airport. Then all you have to do is drop your belongings at the baggage drop-off counters—although unfortunately these usually involve a queue.

Nok Air

The Nok Air app lets you buy tickets, check flight times, and, most importantly, check-in ahead of your flights. But what’s really great is that you don’t need to scan your barcode to print the boarding pass or visit the counters; you can just show up at the gate and present the e-boarding pass in your smartphone.