Bangkok Beauty

From the moment you step into the ar-
rival hall at Bangkok International
Airport, you immediately sense that
something is different. The sharply dressed Thai carrying the Metropolitan’s chocolate brown sign certainly stands out in the crowd of less dignified airport greeters. In minutes, he discreetly whisks you and your luggage away to a champagne hued Mercedes, thoughtfully stocked with bespoke bottles of water.

The hotel is a brisk half hour ride from the airport, on South Sathorn Road, in the heart of the city’s Central Business District. Walking into the hotel’s lobby is a pleasure for the senses. An exotic perfume wafts in the air, uptempo lounge music plays lightly in the background and the lobby is a study in understated elegance.

As you check in, you notice that the entire staff is clad in sharp Yohji Yamamoto suits and shod in Adidas sneakers. After a few moments of check-in procedures, you’re escorted to your suite. What you find is a generously sized assemblage of dark Makha wood, lush silk and creamy sandstone. No, this is not your usual hotel.

Welcome to the Metropolitan Bangkok.

Back In The Day

It’s taken some time before the boutique hotel concept finally arrived on the shores of Asia. As far back as the 1980s, hoteliers began to develop unique hotel properties as an alternative to cookie cutter chains. American hoteliers Ian Schrager and Andre Balazs pioneered the scene with the Morgans Hotel in New York and Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. It seemed that the defining characteristics of the boutique hotel were the spotlight on design and the spectacle of celebrity.

Design stars such as Philippe Starck and Andree Putnam were commissioned to transform hotels from a mere place to sleep into a grand theater of spectacle. Cinematic lobbies, high style restaurants and velvet-roped bars became the new order. People were so eager to get into the new hotels’ VIP bars that they would book a room just to get in. But of course, what else would you expect from the man who brought us the glamour of Studio 54?

In the early days, the only people who stayed at boutique hotels were celebrities, media types, and the designer set. Today, there’s one in every major European and American city and the clientele includes upscale vacationers and hip business people. One major hotel chain, Starwood Hotels (which owns the Westin and Sheraton brands) even joined the fray by creating their own boutique hotel brand, called the W.

The Asian Scene

It’s surprising that in Asia, boutique hotels haven’t yet proliferated in a major way. Even more so as Asians have always been quick to latch onto trends. Perhaps the coterie of grand hotels such as the Peninsula, the Mandarin, and the Raffles has kept travelers’ modernist yearnings at bay. One other hotel in Bangkok, the Sukhothai, might be considered as the first true boutique hotel in Asia. Designed by Kerry Hill and Ed Tuttle more than a decade ago, the Sukhothai was the groundbreaking forerunner of the now ubiquitous Modern Asian aesthetic. It’s no mere coincidence that the Metropolitan was built right next to the landmark Sukhothai.

Thankfully, the Metropolitan steers clear of the now hackneyed Modern Asian style. There still is an Asian flavor to the hotel, but it is subtler and skims below the surface. Dark woods and Asian iconography are used throughout the property, but it’s done in a fresh, contemporary approach. For example, the lotus, Thailand’s national flower is a recurring theme, but it is beautifully abstracted in paintings, sculpture and graphics.

All-Star Cast

Almost all the proponents of the Metropolitan Bangkok hail from Asia, which lends the property a distinct sense of place. It is owned by COMO Hotels and Resorts, the first two letters signifying the initials of its proprietor, Christina Ong. Ong is Singapore’s leading fashion retailer and the owner of the highly publicized Metropolitan Hotel in London. The Met Bangkok’s designer, Kathryn Kng similarly hails from Singapore and has been a long time collaborator of Ong. Lighting design is an integral aspect of the space and is done by Arnold Chan, who lights the works of design giants such as Philippe Starck, Christian Liaigre and John Pawson. Staff uniforms are by Tokyo-based designer Yohji Yamomoto, and an upcoming Thai artist named Natee Utarit was commissioned to do the hotel’s artwork.

The one non-Asian on the team is Sydney native chef Amanda Gale. She directs the two restaurants: Cy’an and Glow. Cy’an serves modern Mediterranean fare with a Moorish accent in a spare, elegant space that overlooks the hotel’s stunning pool. Glow serves fresh, light cuisine as an alternative for those who choose a more rigorously healthful diet. Along these lines is the hotel’s health center, COMO Shambhala, which offers health treatments, yoga tuition and a fitness gym. It is a sophisticated urban retreat for guests who need to relax and ease the stresses of modern living. For those looking for more tox than detox, there’s the Met Bar. It’s a members and hotel guests-only lounge, where you’re sure to find the city’s BYTs sipping on martinis such as the bar’s signature Tom Yum Tini.

Service Deluxe

One problem you always find with boutique hotels is their service, or more precisely, the lack of it. Sure, lounging at the Hudson’s bar might make you feel like you’re in a Stanley Kubrick film, but try asking your concierge for a cell phone charger past midnight. He’ll probably tell you to try bidding on one on ebay. At the Metropolitan, I was surprised at the level of service they lavished on guests. During my stay, I asked the concierge to help me find an obscure variety of Thai tea. On the day of my departure, the concierge presented me with a shopping bag containing two large tins of my desired tea. It seems that someone has finally merged the high style of a boutique hotel with the pampering service of a grand hotel.

Software And Hardware

What’s even more pleasant than the hotel’s striking design and excellent service are the thoughtful little details that make your stay truly special. The watermarked stationery and desk set is a nice touch. In the closet is a yoga mat for use in the room or in the hotel’s yoga studio. The bespoke bath products are an invigorating blend of exotic essential oils. Even the bathrobe is in a reversed terry fabric that’s uniquely plush.

In addition to these "soft" details, the Metropolitan is hardwired with state-of-the-art electronic devices. At your disposal is a finely edited CD collection, which can be played in your room’s Bose Wave CD player. The entire hotel is equipped with wireless Internet access, allowing you to work on your laptop anywhere you want to. For people who’ve left their laptop behind, there’s even an iMac in the lobby for web browsing.

All of these extras add up to what’s close to a perfect hotel. With all the trappings on offer to Bangkok’s visitors and with its real estate at such bargain prices, it’s always been tempting to own a place there. But with a hotel like the Met, that’s one fantasy less to dream about. It’s clear that Christina Ong isn’t stopping here though. She’s currently opening Uma Paro, an ultra luxury resort in western Bhutan. Uma is COMO’s remote countryside resort brand is a direct assault on Aman resorts, who is concurrently opening another resort in Bhutan called Amankora. If Uma Paro will be anything close to the perfection she’s achieved at the Met Bangkok, Amanresorts better be ready for some serious competition.

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Rooms at the Metropolitan Bangkok range from $240 for a city room to $2,000 for the presidential suite. Log on to www.metropolitan.como.bz for more information.