Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok

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Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok
Grand Hyatt Erawan, Bangkok.jpg
The northern end of the hotel building (which houses its shopping mall), with the Erawan Shrine in front
Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok
Hotel chain Hyatt Hotels
General information
TypeHotel
Address494 Ratchadamri Rd, Lumphini, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Opening1991;33 years ago (1991)
Owner The Erawan Group, The Syndicate of Thai Hotels and Tourists Enterprises
Technical details
Floor count22
Other information
Number of rooms380
Number of restaurants9 (incl. bars)
Website
www.hyatt.com/en-US/hotel/thailand/grand-hyatt-erawan-bangkok/bangh

The Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok is a luxury hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. It opened in 1991, replacing the ailing government-owned Erawan Hotel, on a corner of Ratchaprasong Intersection in the modern city centre. It is jointly owned by Thai hospitality company The Erawan Group and the government-owned company The Syndicate of Thai Hotels and Tourists Enterprises, which previously operated the Erawan, and is managed by Hyatt Hotels and Resorts. The hotel building was designed by Rangsan Torsuwan in a postmodern style employing traditional Thai elements, and features a shopping mall inside the building, known as Erawan Bangkok. The property is adjacent to the popular Erawan Shrine, which was built to alleviate bad luck during the construction of the original hotel.

Contents

History

The Grand Hyatt Erawan replaced the government-owned Erawan Hotel, which had been established on the southeast corner of Ratchaprasong Intersection in 1956. One of Bangkok's top luxury hotels in the 1960s, by the 1980s the Erawan was unable to keep up with competition from private enterprises, and The Syndicate of Thai Hotels and Tourists Enterprises, the state-owned company that operated the Erawan, decided to demolish the hotel and have it rebuilt in a private joint venture. [1]

After a couple of years of negotiation, the project was awarded to the Amarin Plaza Company (now known as The Erawan Group), which had just opened the Amarin Plaza shopping mall next to the hotel in 1985. The development contract, signed in 1987, entailed the establishment of the Erawan Hotel Company, with Amarin owning two thirds of shares and the Syndicate owning the remaining, and a thirty-year lease agreement for the land. [1] Architect Rangsan Torsuwan, who had designed Amarin Plaza, was brought onto the project early on, and he and company CEO Isara Vongkusolkit met many times with officials of the Prem Tinsulanonda government during the designing of the project. Rangsan oversaw most aspects of the project's design, including its drafting, designing, cash flow, and marketing. [2]

Rangsan Torsuwan employed Greco-Roman decorative elements in his design for Amarin Plaza (left), and used Thai-style columns for the Grand Hyatt Erawan (right). Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand - panoramio (6).jpg
Rangsan Torsuwan employed Greco-Roman decorative elements in his design for Amarin Plaza (left), and used Thai-style columns for the Grand Hyatt Erawan (right).

Rangsan's design for Amarin Plaza had involved the combination of Greco-Roman columns with a glass-walled office tower, a postmodern style popular with tenants but heavily criticized by fellow architects. [3] For the new hotel, the government wanted a design that featured Thai elements, and Rangsan presented one that incorporated traditional Thai features found in palaces and Buddhist temples. [2] His original proposal, following a method described as Thai Mannerist, [3] was attacked as a disrespectful appropriation of sacred forms, and Rangsan acquiesced to the project owners' requests to cut several components. [2] The result was a similar postmodern design to that of Amarin Plaza, but with the Western-historicism inspiration replaced by traditionalist Thai elements, most visibly gigantic square columns with indented corners and capitals in the style of temple architecture. It also saw similar threads of criticism upon its completion. [3]

The Amarin Plaza Company was taken public in 1988 to raise capital for the project. As this was its first venture into the hotel business, the company opted to position it as a five-star hotel in order to establish a foothold in the industry. It reached a deal with Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, which would manage the hotel under the Grand Hyatt brand as the Grand Hyatt Erawan. [4] Construction began in 1988, and the hotel opened in late 1991. [5]

The hotel has undergone several renovations, including the addition of spa rooms in 2005 [6] and a major renovation of all its guest rooms in 2012, as well as additions to its meeting and event facilities. Most of the additions were designed by New York-based Tony Chi. [7]

Operations

The Grand Hyatt Erawan is owned by the Erawan Hotel Company, which, as of 2010, is 73.6 percent owned by The Erawan Group and 26.4 percent by The Syndicate of Thai Hotels and Tourists Enterprises. [8] [9] The hotel, which is managed by Hyatt, survived the 1997 Asian financial crisis thanks to its being able to quote prices in dollars, helping it avoid losses due to the fall in value of the baht. [4] By 2015, the Grand Hyatt Erawan accounted for 25 percent of The Erawan Group's revenue. The hotel was negatively affected by the bombing at the nearby Erawan Shrine in 2015, [10] but especially suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020–2021, as its business segment relied over 80 percent on international guests. [11]

Facilities

The 22-storey hotel building rises above the podium Grand Hyatt Bangkok Ratchadamri.jpg
The 22-storey hotel building rises above the podium

The Grand Hyatt Erawan has 380 guest rooms, most of which are located in the 22-storey tower. Six rooms are resort-style "spa cottages" located on the deck of the five-storey podium, which is also the site of the hotel's I.Sawan Residential Spa & Club and swimming pool. The hotel features nine restaurants and bars, including the Erawan Tea Room, as well as several MICE facilities, including the 1,500-capacity Grand Ballroom and "The Residence" and "The Campus" themed meeting and event spaces. [7] [12] Its lobby occupies a vast atrium with towering columns that dominate the building's interior as well as exterior, and is decorated with artworks by prominent contemporary Thai artists. [13] [14]

A review by Fodor's gives the opinion, "This sophisticated hotel provides the best in service, quality, and amenities, and rightfully so for the price... the Grand Hyatt truly has something for everyone." [13] A recommendation in New York magazine called the spa cottages "Bangkok's best-kept secret for the modern posh set". [15]

The north end of the hotel building, (towards the intersection) is dedicated to a shopping mall, named the Erawan Bangkok and opened in 2005. [4] It is positioned as a "boutique mall", with a compact floor area of 13,000 square metres (140,000 sq ft). It replaced the Sogo Department Store, which previously featured shopping spaces in the hotel as well as Amarin Plaza. [16] [17] The mall and hotel are connected via skywalk to the BTS Skytrain's Chit Lom Station, as well as several other malls and establishments in the Ratchaprasong area.

Adjacent to the hotel grounds, on the corner of Ratchaprasong Intersection, is the Erawan Shrine. Dedicated to the Hindu god Brahma, known in Thai representation as Phra Phrom, the shrine was built along with the original Erawan Hotel to ward off the bad fortune that had been plaguing its construction. The shrine became a famous spiritual landmark, popular among wish-makers, and was retained when the original hotel was demolished. [5]

July 16 murder suicide

On the 16th of July 2024, six foreign nationals were found dead in the hotel building. According to Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, two of the dead were Americans of Vietnamese descent and four were Vietnamese nationals. After preliminary examinations of the scene, Major-General Theeradej Thumsuthee, chief investigator of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, also said that it was assumed that they had been poisoned, and that there were signs that all six drank coffee or tea. However, a preliminary autopsy did not find any injuries.

As of 17 July 2024, it was confirmed that all 6 victims died of cyanide poisoning. [18]

Related Research Articles

Hyatt Hotels Corporation, commonly known as Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, is an American multinational hospitality company headquartered in the Riverside Plaza area of Chicago that manages and franchises luxury and business hotels, resorts, and vacation properties. Hyatt Hotels & Resorts is one of the businesses managed by the Pritzker family. Hyatt has more than 1350 hotels and all-inclusive properties in 69 countries, across six continents.

Erawan is the Khmer and Thai name of the mythological elephant Airavata. The name may also refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pathum Wan district</span> District in Bangkok, Thailand

Pathum Wan is one of the fifty districts (khet) of Bangkok, Thailand. It lies just beyond the old city boundary of Khlong Phadung Krung Kasem, and was a rural area on the eastern outskirts of the city when royal villas were built there in the late nineteenth century. The district was officially established in 1915, and covers an area of 8.37 square kilometres (3.23 sq mi). A large part of the district area is taken up by the campus of Chulalongkorn University and the green expanses of Lumphini Park and the Royal Bangkok Sports Club. By the turn of the 20th–21st centuries, the district had become known as the modern-day city centre, home to the prominent shopping areas of Siam and Ratchaprasong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erawan Shrine</span> Shrine in Bangkok, Thailand

The Erawan Shrine, formally the Thao Maha Phrom Shrine, is a shrine in Bangkok, Thailand, which houses a statue of Phra Phrom, the Thai representation of Brahma, the Hindu god of creation. The name also refers to Mahabrahma, the ruler of the Brahma realm in Buddhist cosmology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siam Square</span>

Siam Square is a shopping and entertainment area in the Siam area of Bangkok, Thailand. The square is located at the corner of Phayathai Road and Rama I Road and is owned by Chulalongkorn University, managed by its Property Management Office, known as "Chula Property". It is connected to nearby shopping centers and shopping districts, such as MBK Center, Siam Paragon, and Ratchaprasong shopping district, by a skywalk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CentralWorld</span> Shopping mall in Bangkok, Thailand

CentralWorld is a shopping plaza and complex in Bangkok, Thailand. It is the ninth largest shopping complex in the world. The complex, which includes a hotel and office tower, is owned by the company Central Pattana. In 2006, after three years of design and renovation, CentralWorld was expanded to 550,000 m2 (5,900,000 sq ft) of shopping mall and 830,000 m2 (8,900,000 sq ft) of complex, topping nearby rival Siam Paragon in terms of size.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ratchaprasong</span> Intersection and shopping district in Bangkok, Thailand

Ratchaprasong is the name of an intersection, and a shopping district named after it, in Pathum Wan District, Bangkok, adjacent to the Siam area, at the BTS Skytrain's Chit Lom Station and the intersection of Phloen Chit, Rama I, and Ratchadamri Roads. The area is home to many shopping malls and hotels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaysorn Village</span> Building in Bangkok, Thailand

Gaysorn Village is a building complex in the Ratchaprasong area of Bangkok. It also includes the Gaysorn Tower, an office tower block, and the Amarin Plaza shopping centre.

Amarin may refer to:

The Erawan Group Public Company Limited is a hospitality company of Thailand, formerly known as Amarin Plaza PCL. The company and its affiliates operate hotels, office buildings and shopping centers. The Erawan is headquartered in Bangkok and listed on the SET100 Index of the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaysorn Amarin</span> Shopping mall and office building complex in Bangkok

Gaysorn Amarin, previously known as Amarin Plaza (อัมรินทร์พลาซ่า), is a shopping mall and office building complex located in the Ratchaprasong shopping district in the city centre of Bangkok. It comprises a five-storey shopping mall podium with over 300 shops, above which rises the twenty-two-storey Amarin Tower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chit Lom BTS station</span> Metro station in Bangkok, Thailand

Chit Lom station is a BTS skytrain station, on the Sukhumvit Line in Pathum Wan District, Bangkok, Thailand. The station is located on Phloen Chit Road at Chit Lom intersection to Lang Suan and Chit Lom Road. It is also linked by Skybridge directly to Central Chidlom department store, and Sky Walk to Ratchaprasong intersection where Central World, Gaysorn Plaza and Erawan Shrine is situated next to Pratunam clothing market within walking distance from the intersection. The Sky Walk also links the station with Siam station, with cluster of luxury shops in Siam Square and Siam Paragon shopping mall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siam area</span>

Siam is a shopping district in the heart of Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. It is situated alongside a stretch of Rama I Road in the city's Pathum Wan District, from Pathum Wan Intersection to Chaloem Phao Junction, beyond which it meets the adjacent Ratchaprasong neighbourhood. The area is home to multiple large shopping malls, and, together with Ratchaprasong, forms what has been termed the city's central shopping district, functioning as the modern-day city centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sathorn Unique Tower</span> Unfinished skyscraper in Bangkok, Thailand

Sathorn Unique Tower is an unfinished skyscraper located in the Sathon dictrict of Bangkok, Thailand. Planned as a high-rise condominium complex, construction of the building was halted during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, when it was already about 80 percent complete. The Sathorn Unique Tower is now among the most prominent of Bangkok's many derelict buildings, and has become a destination for urban explorers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Bangkok bombing</span> 2015 terror attack in Pathum Wan District, Bangkok, Thailand

On 17 August 2015, a bombing took place inside the Erawan Shrine at the Ratchaprasong intersection in Pathum Wan District, Bangkok, Thailand, killing 20 people and injuring 125. Thai police were reported to have arrested two suspects, the second of whom confessed to having been the bomber. He later retracted his confession.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phloen Chit Road</span> Street in Bangkok, Thailand

Phloen Chit Road is a major road in central Bangkok. Located entirely within Lumphini Subdistrict of Pathum Wan District, it runs a short distance of 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) between Ratchaprasong Intersection and the Maenam railway branch line, forming a continuation of the westward Rama I Road and then itself continuing on to the east as Sukhumvit Road. It serves the neighbourhoods of Ratchaprasong, Chit Lom Intersection and Phloen Chit Intersection, which are home to major shopping malls, hotels and office towers. The areas are served by the Chit Lom and Phloen Chit Stations of the BTS skytrain, whose Sukhumvit Line runs above Phloen Chit Road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Asiatic Building</span> Historic building in Bangkok

The East Asiatic Building is a historic building in Bangkok's Bang Rak District. It sits on the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya River, opposite the Oriental Hotel on Soi Charoen Krung 40 and adjacent to the Catholic Mission and Assumption Cathedral. The building was built c. 1900 in Renaissance Revival style to designs by Annibale Rigotti, and served as the headquarters of the East Asiatic Company (Thailand) until 1995, receiving the ASA Architectural Conservation Award in 1984. In 2023, Asset World Corporation announced plans to renovate the building into a hotel under the Plaza Athénée brand, in partnership with Nobu Hospitality.

Rangsan Torsuwan is a Thai architect, known for many buildings during Bangkok's period of explosive growth from the 1980s to early 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erawan Hotel</span> Former hotel in Bangkok, Thailand

The Erawan Hotel was a luxury hotel in the Thai capital Bangkok. It was one of the first modern hotels built to accommodate the expansion of international air travel, and was operated by the government-owned company The Syndicate of Thai Hotels and Tourists Enterprises. It opened in 1956, following many delays which prompted the construction of the Erawan Shrine to ward off bad fortune. After initial struggles, the hotel prospered in the 1960s under the management of Chalermchai Charuvastr, who featured a Thai atmosphere in its decor and services, but declined in the following decades as it faced rising competition. The hotel stood until 1988, when it was demolished for redevelopment under a private joint venture. It reopened in 1991 as the Grand Hyatt Erawan.

References

  1. 1 2 "โรงแรมเอราวัณ ภาคปฏิบัติของนโยบายแปรรูปรัฐวิสาหกิจ". Manager (in Thai). January 1988. Archived from the original on 2021-09-03. Retrieved 2021-09-07.
  2. 1 2 3 "รังสรรค์ ต่อสุวรรณ: อาจารย์ สถาปนิก นักธุรกิจอสังหาริมทรัพย์ ผู้ทรงอิทธิพลที่สุดคนหนึ่งของสังคมไทย (2)". The Momentum (in Thai). 3 March 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 Chanowanna, Satanan (9 December 2015). "Arguments on the Postmodern Movement in Thai Architecture During the 1980s". EAU Heritage Journal Science and Technology. 9 (3): 10–24. ISSN   2651-1738.
  4. 1 2 3 สุภัทธา สุขชู (August 2006). "ดิ เอราวัณ เต็มไปด้วยบทเรียน". Manager (in Thai). Archived from the original on 2019-11-24. Retrieved 2021-09-05.
  5. 1 2 Warren, William (3 November 1991). "What's doing in; Bangkok". The New York Times.
  6. ↑ Glusac, Elaine (15 July 2007). "The Room as Spa, and Vice Versa". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  7. 1 2 "Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok unveils new guestrooms". Bangkok Post. 19 December 2012. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  8. ↑ "เอราวัณปฏิเสธหนุนเสื้อแดง". Post Today (in Thai). 9 April 2010. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  9. ↑ Ünaldi, Serhat (2014). "Politics and the City: Protest, Memory, and Contested Space in Bangkok". In Liamputtong, Pranee (ed.). Contemporary socio-cultural and political perspectives in Thailand. Dordrecht: Springer Science & Business Media. p. 218. ISBN   9789400772441.
  10. ↑ Polkuamdee, Nuntawun (20 August 2015). "Attack fallout could hurt Erawan Group". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  11. ↑ Orawan Marketeer (20 May 2021). "ดิ เอราวัณ กรุ๊ป ไปต่ออย่างไร ความท้าทายของตระกูล "ว่องกุศลกิจ" และ "วัธนเวคิน"". Marketeer Online (in Thai).
  12. ↑ Shippen, Mick (25 December 2012). "Innovative Ideas for Talk-of-the-town Events at Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  13. 1 2 Feinstein, Paul. "Grand Hyatt Erawan Expert Review". Fodor's Travel. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  14. ↑ "Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok". Travel + Leisure. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  15. ↑ Parks, Andrew (2019). "Where the Locals Would Stay in Bangkok If They Weren't Local". New York Magazine. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  16. ↑ อรวรรณ บัณฑิตกุล (October 2003). "Erawan Bangkok ไลฟ์สไตล์แห่งใหม่ของคนเมือง". Manager (in Thai). Retrieved 11 August 2021.[ permanent dead link ]
  17. ↑ Khanthong, Thanong (10 July 2000). "Sogo to keep Bangkok presence". The Nation. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  18. ↑ Daily, The ASEAN (2024-07-17). "Bangkok officials confirm cyanide poisoning in mysterious hotel deaths, probe deepens". THE ASEAN DAILY. Retrieved 2024-07-18.

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