Conrad Bangkok
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Conrad Bangkok | |
|---|---|
 All Seasons Place, the skyscraper complex that houses Conrad Bangkok, awash with light in 2009 | |
 Interactive map of the Conrad Bangkok area | |
| Hotel chain | Conrad Hotels |
| General information | |
| Type | Hotel |
| Classification |  |
| Location | Bangkok, Thailand, 87 Thanon Witthayu |
| Coordinates | 13°44′19″N 100°32′54″E / 13.73861°N 100.54833°E |
| Opening | 18 Mar 2003 |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 392 |
| Number of restaurants | 6 |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
Conrad Bangkok is a hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, that is part of the Conrad Hotels brand owned by Hilton Worldwide. It opened in 2003. The hotel has 392 rooms and suites. There are six restaurants and lounges at the hotel including KiSara restaurant which serves Japanese cuisine and Liu restaurant which offers traditional Chinese food. The hotel also has a gym, a spa, a swimming pool, tennis courts, and a rooftop jogging track.
Part of the shopping complex All Seasons Place, it is located on Wireless Road, a road with numerous condominiums and embassies. The hotel's primary clientele are business travellers from Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States. To address competitive pressures from new hotels in Bangkok, the hotel renovated its conference rooms and hotel rooms between 2018 and 2019. For business guests, the hotel houses 22 meeting spaces. Among these is the Conrad Ballroom, which can house either 60 banquet tables or 1,200 people who remain on their feet during a cocktail party.
In January 1994, on behalf of Conrad Bangkok, whose parent company was Hilton Worldwide, Eric Hilton signed an agreement with All Seasons Property Co. Ltd. to build the hotel.[1] The agreement specified that the five-star hotel would have 33 stories and 400 rooms.[1] Two companies, M Thai Group and China Resort Co, controlled All Seasons Property in a joint venture.[1][2] All Seasons Property planned to build a ฿14 billion (US$560 million) structure with five towers that would include the Conrad Bangkok hotel.[1]
Conrad Bangkok began business in January 2003.[2][3] When the hotel opened, The Nation said that it would become a "serious contender" to The Athenee Hotel, which was close by.[2] The Nation noted that although there was a glut of hotels in Bangkok, new hotels like Conrad Bangkok kept being developed.[2] In the hotel's inaugural year, its occupancy rate on average was 58% which the hotel attributed to negative factors including the Iraq War, the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak, and worries about safety.[4] In 2003, Riduan Isamuddin, who was an associate of Osama bin Laden and who had been arrested in Thailand, told CIA interrogators that Al-Qaeda had planned to strike Conrad Bangkok.[5] In response, the hotel was patrolled by soldiers carrying automatic rifles and bomb-detecting dogs.[5] Conrad Bangkok's debut marked the 15th Conrad-branded hotel worldwide to launch and the third Asian-based hotel to launch, behind branches in Hong Kong and Singapore.[2][6] On the hotel's opening day, it hosted an event where 10 people climbed up its walls dressed as Spider-Man.[2] Princess Ubol Ratana attended the launch event in March 2003, and Cirque du Soleil performed.[6]
The hotel expected a small decrease in the number of rented hotel rooms in 2006, which it attributed to "unfavourable conditions". As business travel to Bangkok was increasingly significantly, the hotel underwent a renovation that year of its rooms and business lounge to try to attract that clientele. The hotel's general manager said in 2006 that of its guests, 75% were in the meetings, incentives, conferencing, exhibitions category while only 10% were in the recreation category.[7] Businesspeople from Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States comprise most of the hotel's clientele.[8] Owing to competitive pressure from other hotels opening in Bangkok, the hotel began a renovation initiative in 2018 of its conference rooms and hotel rooms.[9] The Bangkok Post's Pongpet Mekloy praised the initiative, writing, "The facelifted interior subtly but beautifully blends Thai elegance with modern feel and practicality."[10]
Location
Connected to the shopping mall All Seasons Place, it is located on Wireless Road, a road populated by condominiums and embassies.[11] When the hotel opened, All Seasons Place had American chains including Starbucks and Burger King and upscale shops.[6] The hotel is within walking distance of Sukhumvit Road, which has numerous entertainment options.[3] Phloen Chit BTS station is its nearest BTS Skytrain station and can be reached through a five-minute bus trip.[6][11]
Architecture
Conrad Bangkok spans two buildings: one houses the short-term hotel rooms while the other houses Conrad Residences which is for extended lodging.[12] The hotel's interior design was largely architected by the United States firm Wilson and Associates' Singapore division.[13] According to The Daily Telegraph's John Yeager about the hotel's architecture, "the Conrad is quite unlike the standard tower or upright slab" because it has an "unusual octagonal footprint". The hotel gives customers numerous sights and angles since the design accommodates distinctively formed rooms. Yeager said that instead of having the atmosphere of a "sterile" business hotel, it comes across like a resort. He based this on how an outdoor spa and a massive swimming pool are surrounded by the sections of the building that house the hotel rooms. Conrad Bangkok has a three-floor atrium.[3] The lobby has the colours bamboo and beige and features massive pillars and an all-encompassing set of stairs.[11][13] The waiting room is decorated with a carving showcasing classic Thai structures. The carving is large, made of wood, and cylindrically shaped.[9] As part of the hotel's 2018–2019 renovation, it installed coated reception desks and floors in the lobby with marble tiles, which the magazine Business Traveller said imbues it with "a modern, stylish look".[9] The redesign of the interior was led by Cheng Chung Design's Ray Chuang who used oak, teak, the gold colour, and "brushed-bronze".[14]
