10 things I love most about The Oriental Bangkok
October 22, 2006 | 12:00am
I have a dream hotel. One that is very Filipino, very modern and very world-class.
When I say very Filipino, I do not mean it should have a nipa hut-inspired roof. It should ex-press pride in what we have and what we are.
When I say very modern, it should bask in today’s new genre of hotels with a design that is cosmopolitan yet with romantic, poetic and even surprise-laden elements.
When I say world-class, it should be a place where President Bush – or make that Brad Pitt – would love to stay. Yes, Brad Pitt has an eye for design.
We used to have a hotel we could be proud of because it had a Filipino heritage and history. But all that five-star nationalist pride was lost when it became a kitschy Manila Panciteria Hotel.
So why can’t we create a new one? My dream hotel is one where no two rooms are alike. Rooms or suites will individually be designed by the brilliant provocateurs in architecture and interior design – Lor Calma, Ed Calma, Andy Locsin, Joey Yupangco, Conrad Onglao, Anna Sy, Ramon Antonio, Chito Antonio, Manny Minana, Budji Layug, Anton Mendoza, Ivy Almario, Cynthia Almario, Bong Recio, Meloy Casas, Francisco Mañosa, Johnny Hubilla and Gerry Contreras. Special suites will be designed by artists with a unique and fearless eye for interiors like Claude Tayag, Impy Pilapil, Reimon Gutierrez, Popo San Pascual and Gabby Barredo.
Fashion designers like Inno Sotto, Auggie Cordero, Randy Ortiz, Cesar Gaupo, Ernest Santiago, Efren Ocampo, Lulu Tan Gan and Rajo Laurel – they breathe fashion even in their own personal spaces – can design the hotel uniforms. Better still, it would be nice if they could create rooms.
Food menus should carry culinary creations by our country’s progressive chefs/restaurateurs like Larry Cruz, Gaita Fores, Glenda Barretto, Maritel Nievera, Myrna Segismundo, Bernard Dee, Nellia Silverio-Dee, Cely Kalaw, Vicky Rose Pacheco, Florabel Co, Heny Sison and Gene Gonzales. And Bernard’s pritchon and Gaita’s laing spaghetti would certainly taste better while you dine on furniture by Budji Layug, Kenneth Cobonpue or Milo Naval.
But perhaps I should stop dreaming. We do not have a local Ian Schrager or Philippe Starck to build a Pinoy boutique hotel, a la Hudson Hotel. We just keep on relying on international chains of hotels to put luster in our tourism landscape. Of course, we need lots of money to do this – and hotel heiress Nicky Hilton just happens to have it. This socialite has her first boutique property in Miami called Nicky O South Beach (O as in Olivia, her second name, not O as in Onassis or O as in…now, don’t be naughty!). It has a $5,000-a-night penthouse designed by fashion designer Roberto Cavalli. The hotel will even have its own signature scent.
When Nicky Hilton guested on David Letterman’s TV show, he told her: "You’re only 23 and you’re already building your own hotel. When I was your age, I couldn’t even afford to stay in a hotel!"
Well, I’m over twice her age and I certainly can’t afford to stay in her Cavalli Suite. But recently, I experienced something infinitely better – a weekend at The Oriental Bangkok courtesy of Susie Hansirisawasdi, the hotel’s public relations director.
It was a dream weekend that got me dreaming: The Oriental Bangkok is a lovely shrine to the Thai people’s sense of patriotism, a part of their revered patrimony. Why can’t we have a hotel that is proudly Filipino?
Once a simple trader’s boarding house, the 130-year-old hotel is now one of the finest hotels on our planet. The Oriental Bangkok has reaped all the top awards a hotel can aspire for, and despite its venerable age, it is in superb form. It has a charming colonial ambience yet the hotel has a very invigorating, refreshing look.
There are over 130 reasons to visit The Oriental Bangkok as it celebrates its 130th year. But there are simply 10 reasons why I love The Oriental Bangkok. Just little details, but as a famous architect once said, God is in the details.
1. Love that lobby. You can usually judge a hotel by its lobby, be it big or small. The Oriental Bangkok’s lobby just happens to be big, the better to capture the soul of the place. From the chairs to the lighting fixtures to the carpets, the lobby throbs with a Thai beat. The layout is conducive to what Ian Schrager calls "lobby socializing," a concept he introduced in his highly successful Royalton Hotel and Paramount Hotel.
2. Nationalism in bloom. Only local flowers such as orchids, kalachuchi, bromeliads and champaca decorate The Oriental Bangkok’s every nook, cranny and table. These flowers are so beautiful. (I wonder why our own hotels have to import flowers when we have flowers like these plus unique ones like ilang-ilang, Mickey Mouse, and everlasting.)
3. Writers’ refuge. In l923, Somerset Maugham "stumbled" into the hotel with a case of malaria. Naturally it became part of his work, Gentleman in the Parlor: A Record of a Journey from Rangoon to Haiphong, which truly reinforced the hotel’s literary legend. The Oriental Bangkok has become such a magnet for literary greats that 10 out of its 34 suites are dedicated to authors who have resided at the hotel. Thus there are suites named after Somerset Maugham, Joseph Conrad, Noel Coward, James Michener, Barbara Cartland, Gore Vidal, Graham Greene, Wilbur Smith, John le Carre and Krukrit Pramoj. The Oriental general manager Kurt Wachtveitl explained: "Each suite is decorated according to the author’s preference. 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 hotel also opened the Author’s Lounge, an afternoon tea area with that old colonial charm. Its white-washed rattan furnishings, bamboo and palm trees make the place a comfortable refuge for anyone with writer’s block. You can browse through vintage books here while trying their scones which are good, by the way.
4. Good night, good words. While other hotels put a mint chocolate on your bed as a sweet lullaby, The Oriental tucks in your pillow a card with a fragrant champaca and words of wisdom. The words vary every night. Samples: "I’ll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours"(Bob Dylan); "Sleeping is no mean art: for its sake, one must stay awake all day." (Nietzsche);" O magic sleep!... great key to golden palaces" (Keats); "Sleep, the universal vanquisher" (Sophocles).
5. Truly fruity. The Oriental Bangkok gives its guests a truly Thai taste by putting a different bowl of local fruits each day in your room, complete with descriptions and how to eat them. One day, you will find star fruit, longan, and rambutan. Next day, it will be tamarind, atis, balimbing and lychees. Then it will be mangosteen, farang (big sour apple), and good old bananas. (Again, how I wish Philippine hotels would follow this example of taking pride in our very own fruits.)
6. Heart in their art. All artworks in the hotel bespeak Thai talent or history. In my room were murals so picturesque, I spent much time scrutinizing the details depicting fragments of Thai history and culture.
7. Spa-cial place for beauty. When in Bangkok, The Oriental Spa is a must place for de-stressing, relaxing and beautifying. The pioneer of the Thai spa industry, The Oriental Spa features 2,000-year-old Thai healing techniques and herbal remedies. Samples: body scrub, lymphatic detoxification massage, herbal wrap treatment, herbal steam bath (this one is for removing dead skin cells ), and water treatments such as the Rhassoul bath (for healthier, rosier skin), vitality salt bath, detoxifying marine pebble bath. Oh, yes, they even do a jetlag massage. The Oriental also offers half-day, whole-day, or three-day/two-night spa packages.
8. Breakfast by the riverside. My favorite meal of the day was breakfast/brunch, which I took at the Verandah Terrace where a refreshing view of the magical Chao Phraya River whets the appetite. On the buffet table were sumptuous and healthy treats, from assorted salads to Asian noodles to energize the body for a day of sightseeing and shopping. The Terrace area was Noel Coward’s favorite. In his journal, Coward wrote: "We have drinks every evening watching the water swirling by and the steam tugs hauling rows of barges upriver against the tide." It was also here where Maugham lounged while recuperating from the malaria he contracted on a difficult journey through Burma, working on the fairy tale about Thailand (then called Siam) which is part of his travel book.
9. A five-star classroom. Where there is good food, there are good chefs, and good cooking teachers. My dream is to enroll at The Oriental’s Thai cooking school (a five-night/six-day package includes limo transfers, massage, daily buffet breakfast, and a superior room) so I can learn to cook all the Thai dishes I love to eat. The best thing about it is that it’s a "hands on" school. No boring lectures, just real kitchen cooking.
10. 24-hour butler. After shopping at Chatuchak Market in Bangkok (check out the really nicely-priced modern dinnerware and utensils there), I trudged back to the hotel before midnight, my cheap "finds" so badly in need of professional packing. The hotel’s 24-hour butler so graciously and quickly did a wonderful job, and I was on time for my morning flight the next day.
For inquiries and reservations, call The Oriental Bangkok at 66(0) 2659-9000 or e-mail orbkk-pr@mohg.com or visit www.mandarinoriental.com. In the Philippines, call The Mandarin Oriental Manila at 750-8888.
When I say very Filipino, I do not mean it should have a nipa hut-inspired roof. It should ex-press pride in what we have and what we are.
When I say very modern, it should bask in today’s new genre of hotels with a design that is cosmopolitan yet with romantic, poetic and even surprise-laden elements.
When I say world-class, it should be a place where President Bush – or make that Brad Pitt – would love to stay. Yes, Brad Pitt has an eye for design.
We used to have a hotel we could be proud of because it had a Filipino heritage and history. But all that five-star nationalist pride was lost when it became a kitschy Manila Panciteria Hotel.
So why can’t we create a new one? My dream hotel is one where no two rooms are alike. Rooms or suites will individually be designed by the brilliant provocateurs in architecture and interior design – Lor Calma, Ed Calma, Andy Locsin, Joey Yupangco, Conrad Onglao, Anna Sy, Ramon Antonio, Chito Antonio, Manny Minana, Budji Layug, Anton Mendoza, Ivy Almario, Cynthia Almario, Bong Recio, Meloy Casas, Francisco Mañosa, Johnny Hubilla and Gerry Contreras. Special suites will be designed by artists with a unique and fearless eye for interiors like Claude Tayag, Impy Pilapil, Reimon Gutierrez, Popo San Pascual and Gabby Barredo.
Fashion designers like Inno Sotto, Auggie Cordero, Randy Ortiz, Cesar Gaupo, Ernest Santiago, Efren Ocampo, Lulu Tan Gan and Rajo Laurel – they breathe fashion even in their own personal spaces – can design the hotel uniforms. Better still, it would be nice if they could create rooms.
Food menus should carry culinary creations by our country’s progressive chefs/restaurateurs like Larry Cruz, Gaita Fores, Glenda Barretto, Maritel Nievera, Myrna Segismundo, Bernard Dee, Nellia Silverio-Dee, Cely Kalaw, Vicky Rose Pacheco, Florabel Co, Heny Sison and Gene Gonzales. And Bernard’s pritchon and Gaita’s laing spaghetti would certainly taste better while you dine on furniture by Budji Layug, Kenneth Cobonpue or Milo Naval.
But perhaps I should stop dreaming. We do not have a local Ian Schrager or Philippe Starck to build a Pinoy boutique hotel, a la Hudson Hotel. We just keep on relying on international chains of hotels to put luster in our tourism landscape. Of course, we need lots of money to do this – and hotel heiress Nicky Hilton just happens to have it. This socialite has her first boutique property in Miami called Nicky O South Beach (O as in Olivia, her second name, not O as in Onassis or O as in…now, don’t be naughty!). It has a $5,000-a-night penthouse designed by fashion designer Roberto Cavalli. The hotel will even have its own signature scent.
When Nicky Hilton guested on David Letterman’s TV show, he told her: "You’re only 23 and you’re already building your own hotel. When I was your age, I couldn’t even afford to stay in a hotel!"
Well, I’m over twice her age and I certainly can’t afford to stay in her Cavalli Suite. But recently, I experienced something infinitely better – a weekend at The Oriental Bangkok courtesy of Susie Hansirisawasdi, the hotel’s public relations director.
It was a dream weekend that got me dreaming: The Oriental Bangkok is a lovely shrine to the Thai people’s sense of patriotism, a part of their revered patrimony. Why can’t we have a hotel that is proudly Filipino?
Once a simple trader’s boarding house, the 130-year-old hotel is now one of the finest hotels on our planet. The Oriental Bangkok has reaped all the top awards a hotel can aspire for, and despite its venerable age, it is in superb form. It has a charming colonial ambience yet the hotel has a very invigorating, refreshing look.
There are over 130 reasons to visit The Oriental Bangkok as it celebrates its 130th year. But there are simply 10 reasons why I love The Oriental Bangkok. Just little details, but as a famous architect once said, God is in the details.
1. Love that lobby. You can usually judge a hotel by its lobby, be it big or small. The Oriental Bangkok’s lobby just happens to be big, the better to capture the soul of the place. From the chairs to the lighting fixtures to the carpets, the lobby throbs with a Thai beat. The layout is conducive to what Ian Schrager calls "lobby socializing," a concept he introduced in his highly successful Royalton Hotel and Paramount Hotel.
2. Nationalism in bloom. Only local flowers such as orchids, kalachuchi, bromeliads and champaca decorate The Oriental Bangkok’s every nook, cranny and table. These flowers are so beautiful. (I wonder why our own hotels have to import flowers when we have flowers like these plus unique ones like ilang-ilang, Mickey Mouse, and everlasting.)
3. Writers’ refuge. In l923, Somerset Maugham "stumbled" into the hotel with a case of malaria. Naturally it became part of his work, Gentleman in the Parlor: A Record of a Journey from Rangoon to Haiphong, which truly reinforced the hotel’s literary legend. The Oriental Bangkok has become such a magnet for literary greats that 10 out of its 34 suites are dedicated to authors who have resided at the hotel. Thus there are suites named after Somerset Maugham, Joseph Conrad, Noel Coward, James Michener, Barbara Cartland, Gore Vidal, Graham Greene, Wilbur Smith, John le Carre and Krukrit Pramoj. The Oriental general manager Kurt Wachtveitl explained: "Each suite is decorated according to the author’s preference. 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 hotel also opened the Author’s Lounge, an afternoon tea area with that old colonial charm. Its white-washed rattan furnishings, bamboo and palm trees make the place a comfortable refuge for anyone with writer’s block. You can browse through vintage books here while trying their scones which are good, by the way.
4. Good night, good words. While other hotels put a mint chocolate on your bed as a sweet lullaby, The Oriental tucks in your pillow a card with a fragrant champaca and words of wisdom. The words vary every night. Samples: "I’ll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours"(Bob Dylan); "Sleeping is no mean art: for its sake, one must stay awake all day." (Nietzsche);" O magic sleep!... great key to golden palaces" (Keats); "Sleep, the universal vanquisher" (Sophocles).
5. Truly fruity. The Oriental Bangkok gives its guests a truly Thai taste by putting a different bowl of local fruits each day in your room, complete with descriptions and how to eat them. One day, you will find star fruit, longan, and rambutan. Next day, it will be tamarind, atis, balimbing and lychees. Then it will be mangosteen, farang (big sour apple), and good old bananas. (Again, how I wish Philippine hotels would follow this example of taking pride in our very own fruits.)
6. Heart in their art. All artworks in the hotel bespeak Thai talent or history. In my room were murals so picturesque, I spent much time scrutinizing the details depicting fragments of Thai history and culture.
7. Spa-cial place for beauty. When in Bangkok, The Oriental Spa is a must place for de-stressing, relaxing and beautifying. The pioneer of the Thai spa industry, The Oriental Spa features 2,000-year-old Thai healing techniques and herbal remedies. Samples: body scrub, lymphatic detoxification massage, herbal wrap treatment, herbal steam bath (this one is for removing dead skin cells ), and water treatments such as the Rhassoul bath (for healthier, rosier skin), vitality salt bath, detoxifying marine pebble bath. Oh, yes, they even do a jetlag massage. The Oriental also offers half-day, whole-day, or three-day/two-night spa packages.
8. Breakfast by the riverside. My favorite meal of the day was breakfast/brunch, which I took at the Verandah Terrace where a refreshing view of the magical Chao Phraya River whets the appetite. On the buffet table were sumptuous and healthy treats, from assorted salads to Asian noodles to energize the body for a day of sightseeing and shopping. The Terrace area was Noel Coward’s favorite. In his journal, Coward wrote: "We have drinks every evening watching the water swirling by and the steam tugs hauling rows of barges upriver against the tide." It was also here where Maugham lounged while recuperating from the malaria he contracted on a difficult journey through Burma, working on the fairy tale about Thailand (then called Siam) which is part of his travel book.
9. A five-star classroom. Where there is good food, there are good chefs, and good cooking teachers. My dream is to enroll at The Oriental’s Thai cooking school (a five-night/six-day package includes limo transfers, massage, daily buffet breakfast, and a superior room) so I can learn to cook all the Thai dishes I love to eat. The best thing about it is that it’s a "hands on" school. No boring lectures, just real kitchen cooking.
10. 24-hour butler. After shopping at Chatuchak Market in Bangkok (check out the really nicely-priced modern dinnerware and utensils there), I trudged back to the hotel before midnight, my cheap "finds" so badly in need of professional packing. The hotel’s 24-hour butler so graciously and quickly did a wonderful job, and I was on time for my morning flight the next day.
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