Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok recently completed a comprehensive renovation of the historic Authors’ and Garden Wings. Designed to significantly enhance the facilities and services of this award winning hotel, the renovation has restored the historic heart of the property to its original splendour. The project comprised a significant room reconfiguration resulting in the creation of new spacious suites, including a Grand Royal Suite in the Authors’ Wing and twelve suites with balconies in the Garden Wing.
Overlooking the Chao Phraya river, the Grand Royal Suite is the city’s grandest presidential suite, with the six-bedroom, 600 square metre suite occupying the entire first floor of the renowned Authors’ Wing, which was the original Oriental Hotel, built in 1876.
Beginning with Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Joseph Conrad during the late-nineteenth-century, the hotel has welcomed numerous heads of state, captains of industry and a host of world renowned writers and celebrities over the years and has long been famous for its service, style and elegance.
Meticulously designed by Thai designers P49 Deesign to accommodate the requirements of the most discerning clientele, the new Grand Royal Suite is the epitome of opulence and sophistication in one of the world’s most exciting cities.
The Grand Royal Suite has private elevator access and is comprised of the one-bedroom, 315sqm Royal Suite and the adjoining 165sqm Ambassador Suite with two bedrooms, as well as three further separate guest rooms to accommodate family and entourage. A private separate meeting room offers state-of-the-art security monitoring and communication facilities.
Ample stately meeting and hosting spaces include a spacious formal lounge, a second living room, a study and a dining room for twelve guests with a fully equipped kitchen and a luxurious bar pantry.
A beautiful light-filled Victorian-inspired glass conservatory offers further dining for six guests and relaxed lounge seating. The 140-year-old building’s restored original open balcony affords stunning vistas over the tropical gardens of the Authors’ Wing and the majestic River of Kings – the perfect setting for cocktails mixed by the suite’s Private Butler.
The corner master bedroom also overlooks the river, as well as the hotel’s grand pool, and includes a large bathroom with double vanity, steam shower, a deluxe roll-top bath centrepiece and his and hers walk-in wardrobes. Private fitness and spa facilities offer a haven of peace and tranquillity from which to experience the award winning Oriental Spa’s signature treatments and wellness programmes in secluded luxury.
The comprehensive renovation of the Authors’ Wing and the construction of the Grand Royal Suite have been designed to restore the celebrated heart of the hotel to its classic late-nineteenth-century design. For Thai designers P49 Deesign the story of The Oriental Hotel, which is also in part the story of Thailand and the flourishing of Bangkok in the late 1800s, inspired the opulent suite’s interiors.
The overall interior design is lavish yet elegant and encompasses many traditional fretwork details and ceiling mouldings inspired by the hotel’s iconic heritage. The finest Thai silk has been used extensively throughout with golden silk in the master living spaces, while the master bedroom spaces take on a rich purple tone against a backdrop of white walls and traditional mouldings. The ceilings are luxuriously detailed and, with heights above three and a half metres, add a magnificent sense of scale and proportion.
Artwork has been integrated throughout the Grand Royal Suite to provide a rich yet authentic residential experience, including a unique historical collection of photographs of the Thai Royal Family and heads of state who have visited the hotel.
The new 80 square metre Garden Suites, some with split level layout, all boast floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the river and gardens and include a lounge, dining room, pantry, powder room and a balcony. The bedroom features a large marble bathroom with separate bathtub, a walk-in shower, double vanity and a walk-in closet. The suites’ contemporary interior design combines the hotel’s unique colonial inspired heritage and Thai culture.
The highly acclaimed Le Normandie French fine dining restaurant has also been rejuvenated with a contemporary interpretation of its original grandeur. The new interior preserves the classic elegance of one of Asia’s best loved French restaurants, together with striking new features such as handcrafted chandeliers. A new wine cellar featuring top selections of both Old and New World wines, a customised dessert trolley and Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok’s legendary tableside service complete this fine dining experience.
The renowned Authors’ Lounge – a favourite destination for afternoon tea, society weddings and elegant events – has been restored to its classic late-nineteenth-century design and has been further extended to flow seamlessly through to the hotel’s riverside terrace and gardens via four salons named after famous authors who were guests of the hotel: Joseph Conrad, Somerset Maugham, Noël Coward and James Michener. Here the famed hotel’s longstanding affinity with the literary world is exemplified with images of these literary greats juxtaposed with scenes taken at the hotel during those eras, quotations from their books, and in some cases, signed books on display.
In the Garden Wing, four new spa studios offer exclusive world renowned beauty treatments for the first time in Bangkok, including Bastien Gonzalez PEDI:MANI:CURE and QMS Medicosmetics.
