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25-480: 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

50-663: 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. 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

75-452: A highly famous spiritual landmark. The hotel building was designed in the applied Thai style, with an ornamented gabled roof topping the four-storey structure housing 175 (later expanded to 250) guest rooms. It was opened by Phibunsongkhram on 9 November 1956, a week prior to the IPU conference. The hotel initially struggled in its operations due to a lack of expertise among Thai staff, but

100-771: A private joint venture. The plan was approved by the Cabinet in 1985, and the Erawan finally closed down on 2 January 1988. The redevelopment contract was awarded to the Amarin Plaza Company (now The Erawan Group ), the owner of the next-door Amarin Plaza . The new hotel was opened under the Hyatt brand in 1991, as the Grand Hyatt Erawan . 13°44′36″N 100°32′26″E  /  13.74333°N 100.54056°E  / 13.74333; 100.54056 Fodor%27s Fodor's / ˈ f oʊ d ər z /

125-470: A state enterprise, The Syndicate of Thai Hotels and Tourists Enterprises, which was founded in 1953 with police chief Phao Sriyanond as its head. The company originally planned to build the hotel on the corner of Sala Daeng Intersection occupied by Lumphini Park , but the idea was rejected. Instead, a location on the southeast corner of Ratchaprasong Intersection in Pathum Wan District

150-543: Is a producer of English-language travel guides and online tourism information. It was founded by Hungarian Eugene Fodor , who created his first travel guide, 1936...on the Continent , with the intention of improving upon the directory-type travel guides in existence through the inclusion of practical guidance, such as tipping advice, and levity (the introduction noted that "Rome contains not only magnificent monuments [...] but also Italians."). Fodor’s pioneering book

175-665: 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 . 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 , but especially suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020–2021, as its business segment relied over 80 percent on international guests. Other high-profile incidents that occurred at

200-563: The Siam InterContinental and the Dusit Thani hotels in the following years. The Erawan prospered in the 1960s, hosting many foreign dignitaries and celebrities, but declined over the 1970s as it was unable to face rising competition from private enterprises. From 1979, the company board explored several plans to revive the hotel, and after several years it was finally decided to demolish the hotel for redevelopment under

225-500: 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. 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. A review by Fodor's gives the opinion, "This sophisticated hotel provides

250-620: The Syndicate owning the remaining, and a thirty-year lease agreement for the land. 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. Rangsan's design for Amarin Plaza had involved

275-500: The addition of spa rooms in 2005 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 . 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. The hotel, which

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300-592: The best in service, quality, and amenities, and rightfully so for the price... the Grand Hyatt truly has something for everyone." A recommendation in New York magazine called the spa cottages "Bangkok's best-kept secret for the modern posh set". The north end of the hotel building, (towards the intersection) is dedicated to a shopping mall, named the Erawan Bangkok and opened in 2005. It is positioned as

325-418: The combination of Greco-Roman columns with a glass-walled office tower, a postmodern style popular with tenants but heavily criticized by fellow architects. 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. His original proposal, following a method described as Thai Mannerist,

350-757: 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. 13°44′36″N 100°32′26″E  /  13.74333°N 100.54056°E  / 13.74333; 100.54056 Erawan Hotel The Erawan Hotel ( Thai : โรงแรมเอราวัณ )

375-415: The government of Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram adopted a policy of promoting the hospitality industry in order to accommodate the rise in international air travel. A government project, initiated by finance minister Prayoon Pamornmontri , was then launched to build a modern luxury hotel for Bangkok's hosting of the 45th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) conference in 1956. This was undertaken through

400-470: The hotel and have it rebuilt in a private joint venture. 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

425-465: The hotel include a suspected murder-suicide by cyanide poisoning in July 2024. 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

450-400: 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 . During the post- World War II period,

475-455: 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,

500-735: Was a success in England and the United States, and was immediately updated as 1937 in Europe . After an interruption caused by World War II , Fodor's Modern Guides, Inc., was founded in Paris in 1949, and a year later David McKay Company became its publisher. Fodor’s was acquired with McKay by Random House in 1986 and sold to Internet Brands in 2016. Fodor's has published more than 440 guides (in 14 series) on over 300 destinations, and has more than 700 permanently placed researchers all over

525-637: Was attacked as a disrespectful appropriation of sacred forms, and Rangsan acquiesced to the project owners' requests to cut several components. 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. The Amarin Plaza Company

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550-425: Was chosen instead. The Crown Property Bureau , which owned the land, acquired a minority stake in the company's shares as part of the purchase. Construction began shortly after, but the project was plagued by delays and accidents, and costs rose from the planned 20 million baht (US$ 1M) to 100 million ($ 5M). Rumours that the setbacks were caused by malevolent supernatural causes gained traction, and advice

575-426: Was sought from Luang Suwichanphaet, a naval physician and mystic. He stated that the building's foundation stone had been laid on an inauspicious date, and recommended that a shrine to the Hindu god Brahma (known in Thai representation as Phra Phrom ) be built to appease the gods and ward off the evil fortune. This was done as construction of the hotel was completed in 1956, and the Erawan Shrine would later become

600-706: Was successfully turned around when Chalermchai Charuvastr , an army general who had just become the first director of the Tourist Organisation of Thailand (now the Tourism Authority of Thailand ), was brought on to oversee its management in 1960. Chalermchai promoted hospitality career paths for young women, and pushed to make Thainess a distinctive atmosphere at the hotel. Its interior was redone, Thai cuisine featured in its restaurant, and employees would now wear Thai-style costumes. This positioning would be replicated by new establishments such as

625-472: 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. Construction began in 1988, and the hotel opened in late 1991. The hotel has undergone several renovations, including

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