Grand dame by the river

Some things just get better with time. Like wine – we’ll drink to that! Like some cheeses – say (blue) cheese! Like that old Christmas goody – the fruitcake. And like The Oriental, Bangkok, the grand dame by the river who turns a graceful 130 years old this year. A few weeks ago, the grand dame played gracious hostess to six journalists (including this writer) from the Philippines. We took an evening flight via Lufthansa and landed before midnight at the Bangkok International Airport. There, three BMW limousines from The Oriental, Bangkok waited to whisk us off to our hotel. As the chauffeur in impeccable white uniform opened the door of our limo for us, we knew the best was yet to come.

Situated on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, The Oriental, Bangkok has been making waves since it was built in 1876. Its opening in May 1887, attended by Thailand’s creme de la creme and Bangkok’s foreign community, was the social event of the year, nay, of the decade. Writes William Warren, an American who has lived in Bangkok since 1960: "... it meant that at last Bangkok would have a truly grand hotel befitting its status as the fast-growing capital of the only country in Southeast Asia not to fall under colonial rule. And the stately building, designed by an Italian architectural firm, lived up to all expectations, from its imposing facade overlooking the broad river to its lavishly furnished interiors and its superb cuisine, prepared by a chef with the engaging name of Georges Troisoeufs who had formerly worked for the nearby French Legation."

Since then, The Oriental has become a name the world over, garnering enough awards to fill a book – "Top 10 Hotels in the World" from Conde Nast UK, "101 Best Hotels – Great and Good," Travel & Leisure, "Best Hotel in Bangkok," AsiaMoney, "Best Business Hotel in the World,"2001 Business Traveller Awards, "Number 5 Top 20 Hotels in Asia," Conde Nast Traveller Reader’s Travel Awards 2002, etc.

Over a year ago, the grand dame hosted another gala party to celebrate the completion of a multi-million-dollar restoration (yes, the grand dame underwent a face-lift) of the Authors’ and Garden Wings, the two oldest sections of The Oriental. Let Warren take you to that night: "Nostalgia was the prevailing emotion that night, for much of The Oriental’s fabled history has taken place in these two wings. From a winding pathway in luxuriant gardens near the river, filled with orchids, palms, ferns, and other ornamental plants (not to mention two chatty mynah birds in a cage, who call out a greeting in Thai), guests could look up and see the hotel’s original pediment, depicting a golden rising sun, on a two-storey wing in the spacious neo-classical style that was popular in the late 19th century. (Thanks to Bangkok’s sleek new sky train mass transit system, some of them could also arrive by water once more, as nearly everybody did in the old days; an old teak barge plies regularly back and forth from the hotel to pick up guests at the train’s Taksin Bridge stop.)"

We couldn’t wait to check into our River Wing rooms with their unique split-level layout and a breathtaking view of the Chao Phraya River. As we peered through our floor-to-ceiling window, we imagined how Anna Leonowens – remember the widowed British school teacher who charmed the King of Siam in The King and I? – must herself have looked out the draped window of her Oriental suite to catch a glimpse of the fabled river on a balmy, lazy afternoon.

All the guestrooms, embellished with Thai silk and teakwood, have a color TV with satellite programming, hi-fi system with CD player, refrigerator, mini-bar, dual telephone lines with direct international dialing, and broadband high speed Internet access.

We were to learn later that The Oriental, Bangkok has 393 luxuriously appointed rooms and suites, and five restaurants – Le Normandie, The China House, Lord Jim’s, Sala Rim Naam, and outdoor Italian bistro Ciao – plus The Bamboo Bar, The Verandah coffee shop, Riverside Terrace, and Authors’ Lounge.

Authors’ Lounge? Yes, you read that right. Literary legends like Somerset Maugham, Joseph Conrad, Noel Coward, and James Michener once stayed at The Oriental’s Authors’ Residence. Today, there are suites named after them. There are also suites named after other famous guests – Graham Greene, Barbara Cartland, Gore Vidal, Wilbur Smith, John le Carre, and Kukrit Pramoj.

Says Kurt Wachtveitl, The Oriental general manager, "Each suite is decorated according to the authors’ preferences. For instance, the Barbara Cartland Suite is all in pink, extremely feminine and very romantic while the John le Carre Suite has a distinctly English masculine quality."

The grand dame has welcomed royalty (the princes of Wales, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden, the Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg, Princess Alexandra), heads of state (Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who preferred the Authors’ Suite, Prime Minister of Bahrain Shaik Khalifa Bin Sulman Al-Khalifa, Indonesian President Megawati Soekarno-putri, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam, Malaysian Prime Minister Dato Seri Abdullah Bin Haji Ahmad Badawi, sports celebrities (David Beckham, Maria Sharapova, Venus Williams, Roger Federer, Vijay Singh), showbiz celebrities (Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, Michael Douglas, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Hugh Grant, Renee Zellweger, Pierce Brosnan, Matt Dillon, Michelle Yeoh) and fashion designer Valentino.

As we nibbled on our scones at the Authors’ Lounge amid a charming Victorian ambiance (think turn-of-the-century style wicker furniture and handpainted fabrics), we couldn’t help but agree with English novelist W. Somerset Maugham when he said, "It’s a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it."

Note: On a plaque near the entrance to the Authors’ Lounge are listed the names of Asian writers who have won in the SEA Write Award. Two of the names are very familiar to Filipinos: Nick Joaquin and Greg Brillantes.

A divided stairway leads to the second floor housing the most-in-demand Noel Coward, Joseph Conrad, Somerset Maugham, and James Michener Suites. We had a look-see of the suites, where these famous writers must have penned (or inspired to write) some of their works. According to Warren, Coward was particularly fond of the riverside terrace where, or so Coward wrote in his journal, "we have drinks every evening watching the liver-colored water swirling by and the steam tugs hauling rows of barges upriver against the tide."

Warren adds that Maugham also found the terrace a restful place – there he nursed his malaria which he got while traveling through upper Burma, working on a fairy tale about Siam.

Too bad for Coward and Maugham, they didn’t live to see The Oriental Spa and get the kind of pampering as only it can give. Regularly voted "Best Spa in the World" by Travel & Leisure magazine, expect only the best from The Oriental Spa. Count on a spa experience like no other – make that 10 restorative spa experiences that draw on traditional 2,000-year-old herbal preparations, among them Oriental herbal wrap, Oriental body wellness, jet lag massage, and lymphatic detoxification massage.

Aside from the spa, other facilities include a day care center, a business center, two outdoor swimming pools, shopping arcades, a beauty parlor and barber shop, a fully equipped sports center, function rooms, conference facilities and, yes, The Thai Cooking & Cultural School. The latter’s success inspired Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi in Chiang Mai to put up its own Thai cooking school.

So, what else is the grand dame cooking up?

For sure, prepare to be dazzled by this amazing lady.

* * *

For reservations and more information, call The Oriental, Bangkok at +66(0)26599000 or log on to the Group’s online reservations service at www.mandarinoriental.com.