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.
History
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. The agreement specified that the five-star hotel would have 33 stories and 400 rooms. Two companies, M Thai Group and China Resort Co, controlled All Seasons Property in a joint venture. All Seasons Property planned to build a ฿14billion (US$560million) structure with five towers that would include the Conrad Bangkok hotel.
Conrad Bangkok began business in January 2003. When the hotel opened, The Nation said that it would become a "serious contender" to The Athenee Hotel, which was close by. The Nation noted that although there was a glut of hotels in Bangkok, new hotels like Conrad Bangkok kept being developed. 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. 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. In response, the hotel was patrolled by soldiers carrying automatic rifles and bomb-detecting dogs. 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. On the hotel's opening day, it hosted an event where 10 people climbed up its walls dressed as Spider-Man. Princess Ubol Ratana attended the launch event in March 2003, and Cirque du Soleil performed.
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. Businesspeople from Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States comprise most of the hotel's clientele. 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. The Bangkok Posts Pongpet Mekloy praised the initiative, writing, "The facelifted interior subtly but beautifully blends Thai elegance with modern feel and practicality."
Location
Connected to the shopping mall All Seasons Place, it is located on Wireless Road, a road populated by condominiums and embassies. When the hotel opened, All Seasons Place had American chains including Starbucks and Burger King and upscale shops. The hotel is within walking distance of Sukhumvit Road, which has numerous entertainment options. Phloen Chit BTS station is its nearest BTS Skytrain station and can be reached through a five-minute bus trip.