Only 1.5 hours’ drive from Bangkok, Amphawa makes a quick and simple getaway. Once you’re spent from a day at the energetic floating market, consider checking into this chic new hotel which comes under a curious “buffalo” theme. 

The Buffalo Amphawa’s (www.thebuffaloamphawa.com) rooms are rustic-chic perfection, a combination of polished cement, dark teak and light cedar wood touched up with bamboo and local crafts. 

At just 36 rooms/villas (starting from B3,300/night), it’s on the more exclusive side of things, too.

Explaining that name, the hotel comes with its own mini buffalo farm on-site, home to cute residents Kati and Kala. Even if you’re not staying at the hotel, the Buffalo Cafe’s strong brews and Thai restaurant Rusty Rose's riverside perch are definitely good reasons to visit.

Housed in a dome-like building of polished steel with an interior dominated by ornate wall carvings, Rusty Rose whips out mostly traditional Thai dishes (some you’ve probably never heard of before) using local ingredients, as well as a few Western staples like steaks and pastas.