Review: Park Hyatt Bangkok (Bangkok, Thailand)

I was so excited to be staying at the Park Hyatt Bangkok. The Park Hyatt Bangkok was originally slated to open in 2014, though their opening was pushed back a couple of years, so they only officially opened in mid-May 2017. I was able to see a couple of photos of the hotel when it first opened, which only added to my excitement of staying at the hotel.

After our Thai Airways flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok, we had arranged our own private transport to the Park Hyatt. The Park Hyatt is located above Central Embassy, one of the newest malls in Bangkok. The mall is big, beautiful and contains everything you would possibly want (from a plethora of shops to many great Thai restaurant options), though everything is quite expensive as well. Nonetheless, the hotel looks beautiful from the outside.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Exterior

The entrances to the hotel are glitzy and feature ostentatious gold touches. Pictured below is the “pedestrian” entrance to the ground floor of the hotel.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Entrance

As you’d expect for a hotel of this caliber, a driveway is also featured, separate to the driveway leading up to the Central Embassy mall.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Driveway

Park Hyatt Bangkok Driveway Entrance

Alternatively one could use a side entrance when returning to the hotel directly from the Park Hyatt Bangkok, which would take you to the ground floor. The elevators between the ground floor and the lobby also pass by the 6th floor of Central Embassy, which houses a luxury food hall (river prawns and octopus for breakfast, anyone?).

Park Hyatt Bangkok Entrance from Central Embassy

We were welcomed by bellmen who took our luggage from the driveway and informed us that they would take them to our room.

Immediately when I walked into the ground floor concierge area, I was struck by how stunning the hotel was. The finishes were gorgeous, consisting of pale wooden and marble finishes, with subtle gold touches.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Ground Level

Seriously, how gorgeous is this staircase?!

Park Hyatt Bangkok Ground Level Staircase Art

Ultimately the ground floor of the Park Hyatt Bangkok is only the concierge area, as the lobby is located on the 10th floor (labelled “L” on all of the hotel’s lifts and directories).

Park Hyatt Bangkok Concierge

We were directed towards a stunning lift lobby, with three lifts providing access to the lobby, as well as the Central Embassy exit on the 6th floor.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Ground Level Lift Lobby

The lobby itself consisted of one long hallway with multiple seating options, with two reception desks at the end of the hallway.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Lobby

We walked towards the reception desk and were welcomed by an associate called Mew, who had to take all of our passports and input all of our information into their booking system. When she clarified with us that we had booked a Deluxe Corner King room and a Park King room, I had to correct her that we had booked a Park Twin room. She apologised and told us that they would separate the beds later in the day.

She processed our information for a long while with her team. We just stood there for a while, before she advised us to have a seat at the library area.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Lobby Reception

While our passports were being processed, I took a walk around some of the lobby’s stunning features. Past the reception area was another seating area with views of Bangkok, along with a statue of sorts.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Lobby

There was even a metal sculpture located on the water display outside the lobby facing the inside of the hotel.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Lobby Art

The library area was stunning, and we sat there for around 20 minutes. At this point another associate escorted us into the meeting room located inside the library, and detailed our room rates, as well as receiving our payments. He also informed us that only our entry-level Park King room was available as of now – while I specified on the website that we’d be arriving at 11 AM, I understand that other guests might want to check out late, etc.. Still, a 35-minute check-in process is unacceptable, in my opinion.

Personally I don’t think that this was the fault of Mew and her team. I blame the long-winded check-in process on management for a number of reasons:

Clearly the hotel still has a learning curve due to how new the hotel is, as the team of associates looked flustered as they tried to put together our room details
It shouldn’t be that hard to tell whether a customer booked a king room or a twin room – if they’re listed as separate room types during the booking process, they should be listed as separate room types in the system
One passport for each reservation should be all you need – if Thailand has alternative laws that need to be complied to, there should be a way to provide this information beforehand
There shouldn’t be a need to hand out keys in a separate enclosed meeting room – while I get that the hotel’s aiming to be hospitable, it just adds to the already long-winded check-in process

Regardless, at 12 PM (around 30 minutes into the check-in process), we were set. It’s worth noting that when we came back to the hotel after lunch, Mew and her team were able to recognise us and hand us our room keys accordingly.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Library

While in the library I spotted a “VIP” check-in area of sorts.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Private Check-in Area

We were then escorted to our room. While I personally don’t find a room escort necessary (and would have declined the offer were I traveling on my own), I appreciated the offer.

The lift lobby towards the rooms could be accessed through a rather gorgeous hallway.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Hallway to Rooms

Park Hyatt Bangkok Lift Lobby

The hotel itself is U-shaped, with all rooms facing the outside of the hotel.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Floorplan

The hallways were gorgeous, with biomimetic wood and green colour tones.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Hallways

We found our room 2306 somewhere in the middle of the hallway. Up until this point I was impressed by the hotel’s gorgeous design, so I was very eager to check out what my room looked like.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Park Twin Room Entrance

Park Hyatt Bangkok
Check-in: Saturday, September 30, 2017
Room Type: Park Twin
Room Number: 2306
Stay duration: 2 nights
Check-out: Monday, October 2, 2017

The room featured a wide entryway with the bathroom to the left and the closet area to the right.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Park Twin Room Entryway

The room itself was gorgeous. It featured a large king bed (soon to be separated into two comfortable twin beds), a chaise longue, a desk and chair, a flatscreen TV, as well as a Bose SoundLink Mini speaker.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Park King Room

I loved the bright finishes of the room, and appreciated that it incorporated Thai elements as well, such as the city skyline panelling next to the headboard. Best of all, the room was a good size (though, in fairness, space doesn’t seem to be an issue in the massive city of Bangkok).

Park Hyatt Bangkok Park King Room

I didn’t actually find the beds to be as comfortable as some beds I’ve stayed at other top-end luxury hotels – they can’t compete with Westin Heavenly Beds or Mandarin Oriental beds. Nonetheless, the beds were still very comfortable.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Park King Room Bed

The chaise longue was also comfortable, though unfortunately I found myself perched there when working from my room most of the time.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Park King Room Chaise Longue

We never actually put the flatscreen TV to good use – while I obviously appreciate that it’s there, I never actually end up using the TV, since it’s much harder to navigate around than my laptop (I don’t watch TV at home, so take my opinion with a grain of salt).

Park Hyatt Bangkok Park Twin Room Flatscreen TV

The desk was big and featured two chairs. It wasn’t one of the biggest desks I’ve seen in a hotel (and the chairs weren’t great – furthermore, I far prefer when a desk faces a room instead of away from it), but it certainly did the job.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Park King Room Table

The bedside table featured an alarm clock, controls for lighting and electronically controlled window shades, power ports, as well as a Bose SoundLink Mini speaker.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Park King Room Bedside Table

I always find it so cool when a hotel room features a speaker, especially when it’s as high-quality as Bose. I’ve never seen tremendous value in investing in a speaker myself, though I’ll be the first to admit that I geek out over virtually anything tech-related, so I found it a very nice addition to an otherwise incredibly well-equipped room.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Park Twin Room Bose SoundLink Mini Speaker

I also appreciated that power ports were so conveniently placed by both the desk and the bedside table. There were universal power ports embedded into the desk and located by the bedside tables, and the desk featured USB charging as well.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Park King Room Power Ports

The bathroom was equally impressive, featuring double sinks, a separately enclosed toilet, and a separate tub and shower.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Park Twin Room Bathroom

I loved the marble finishes, as well as the floral decoration of sorts embedded into the wall behind the bathtub.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Park Twin Room Bathroom Tub

It’s quite remarkable that the Park Hyatt Bangkok features double sinks even in their entry level rooms – that’s something a lot of high-end hotels I’ve been to don’t provide. It certainly isn’t crucial, though it helps so much with keeping things organised.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Park Twin Room Bathroom Double Sinks

Park Hyatt Bangkok Park Twin Room Bathroom Enclosed Toilet

The shower itself was great. A rainforest shower was featured, though a handheld shower head was also available. The temperature was easy to adjust, and water pressure was awesome.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Park Twin Room Bathroom Shower

The bathroom featured Le Labo toiletries. I know that Le Labo’s a really high-end brand and acknowledge that a lot of people like them – however, I thought the smell was only okay and the texture was a little viscous for my liking. Still, though, props to the hotel for offering such high-end toiletries.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Park Twin Room Bathroom Shower Toiletries

The usual amenities were featured – glasses, lotion, water, dental kits, etc. – though they were laid out so immaculately. Most of the toiletries were located in a separate standalone drawer, and I particularly enjoyed the full-size bottles of deodorant and Colgate toothpaste (as opposed to the worm-sized tubes that hotels normally provide you with).

Park Hyatt Bangkok Park Twin Room Bathroom Amenities

Park Hyatt Bangkok Park Twin Room Bathroom Toiletries

The cupboard featured a safe, a bathrobe, an ironing board, etc..

Park Hyatt Bangkok Park Twin Room Closet

Located near the entryway was the room’s minibar. Located on top were some glasses, a Nespresso coffee machine, as well as a couple of spirits.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Park Twin Room Minibar

There was also a fridge with chilled drinks, and I appreciated that there was space to put your own chilled goodies and beverages as well.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Park Twin Room Minibar

While the minibar wasn’t complimentary, there was free water, tea, as well as a box of beautiful chocolates, all of which were immaculately presented.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Park Twin Room Minibar

Park Hyatt Bangkok Park Twin Room Minibar Chocolates

While our views were obstructed by a couple of nearby buildings (including the Okura Prestige Bangkok), we were still able to catch a glimpse of Bangkok’s skyline from our room.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Park Twin Room View by Day

Park Hyatt Bangkok Park Twin Room View by Night

After we returned to the hotel in the afternoon, our beds were separated as the hotel had promised – very nice!

Park Hyatt Bangkok Park Twin Room

Overall, I loved the Park Twin room for what it was, as it was gorgeously designed, had ample space, and was incredibly well-equipped (it’s clear that a lot of thought was put into this place when it was designed).

As aforementioned, my mother and Hailey were staying in a Corner King room, which was adjoined to our Park Twin room. It was ready at around 4 PM in the afternoon, so I joined my parents in checking it out.

The room featured a much bigger entryway which forked left into our room, straight into the main part of the room and right into the walk-in closet that led to the bathroom.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Deluxe Corner King Room Entrance

The room itself was seriously stunning, while adhering to the design principles that reflected Bangkok’s skyline. It featured a king bed, a standing flatscreen TV, a separate sitting area with an armchair and a sofa, and a desk and two chairs next to the minibar area.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Deluxe Corner King Room

The room was around 50% bigger than our Park Twin room (and also priced at around exactly 50% more), and was designed so pleasantly.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Deluxe Corner King Room

The bed itself was as comfortable as the two beds featured in our Twin room.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Deluxe Corner King Room Bed

The quasi-L-shaped sofa was the highlight, and suffice to say that my parents and Hailey found good use out of it during our two-night stay. I loved the way the sofa integrated perfectly into the room’s design – even the colours were picked to blend in perfectly with the room, down to the single green armchair.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Deluxe Corner King Room Sitting Area

I far prefer the desk setup in the Deluxe Corner King room, as you face the room while working, and the desk is also much bigger. At the same time I’m not one for working in someone else’s room, so I stayed in the comfortable realms of my chaise longue.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Deluxe Corner King Room Desk

The walk-in closet itself was impressively big – it was around the size of my bedroom at home.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Deluxe Corner King Room Walk-in Closet

The bathroom itself was equally impressive, though laid out slightly differently. I’d say that the bathroom in the Deluxe Corner King room was slightly smaller, even, though that’s a small price to pay for the otherwise stunning layout of the room.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Deluxe Corner King Room Bathroom

Park Hyatt Bangkok Deluxe Corner King Room Bathroom Tub

Park Hyatt Bangkok Deluxe Corner King Room Bathroom Shower

Park Hyatt Bangkok Deluxe Corner King Room Bathroom Double Sinks

While I do prefer the Corner King Room to the Park Twin room, the Corner King room comes at a substantially higher price point. The Park Twin room is marked up around 20-30% from some cheaper luxury hotel options in Bangkok, while the Corner King Room comes at around double the price.

Later in the day an associate brought up three glass cartons containing snacks. I believe they were meant for Hailey, though the associates left the sweets in our room instead.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Deluxe Corner King Room Children’s Goods

Later in the afternoon the housekeepers rang the bell to provide turndown service, which was done immaculately.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Park Twin Room Turndown Service

In terms of the hotel’s other services, breakfast is provided from 6 AM to 10:30 AM, which I find pretty reasonable. While breakfast wasn’t included in our room rate, we all decided it was a good idea to try it out on our day of departure. Breakfast is served at the Embassy Room, located on the ninth floor of the hotel.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Walkway to Embassy Room

There is a stunning stairway leading from the lobby to the Embassy Room, which tends to be a popular spot for Instagram pictures.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Walkway to Embassy Room

The Embassy Room was designed somewhere along the lines of the rest of the hotel. It was probably my least favourite part of the hotel as far as design was concerned, though overall it was still a pretty nice place to eat.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Embassy Room

We decided to go with the full breakfast spread, which cost around HK$150 per person. That’s a substantial amount for a breakfast spread in Bangkok, though speaking on the scale of luxury hotels I’ve certainly seen worse prices.

The breakfast spread was actually massive. At first I was underwhelmed, before I realised that the hotel provides their hot and cold food spread options in separate areas of the restaurant.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Embassy Room Breakfast Spread

The best thing about the spread itself was probably the fact that you could order from a selection of Thai popular breakfast/snack dishes. There was normally a wait – you’d have to bring a card over from your table (the card would have your table number on it, which the waiter would then clip to your order), and the waiters would serve you directly after your dish is prepared. I’ll talk about how the actual food was in a bit.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Embassy Room Breakfast Spread

In addition to a-la-carte orders, there was also an abundance of Western and Asian selections.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Embassy Room Breakfast Spread

I was happy to see that there was a separate smoothie stand, though didn’t take advantage of it that morning.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Embassy Room Breakfast Spread

The spread also featured many juices, all of which seemed to be freshly squeezed. There was coconut juice too – the flavour was insane, and clearly came from a fresh coconut.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Embassy Room Breakfast Spread

There was also a pancake station. Freshly made sweet breakfast options make my heart happy!

Park Hyatt Bangkok Embassy Room Breakfast Spread

For your reference, the full menu read as follows (though I’m pretty convinced that the breakfast spread was by far the best value, as you’d get access to a multitude of other a-la-carte options too):

Park Hyatt Bangkok Embassy Room Breakfast Menu

The breakfast specialties menu read as follows (all were included within the price of the breakfast spread):

Park Hyatt Bangkok Embassy Room Breakfast Spread Menu

The quality of Western food was simply exquisite. My pancakes were freshly made (saucing mine, so it’s not the breakfast chef’s fault that the below picture looks like someone squirted a blood clot onto a bunch of pancakes), were made to order (strawberries and bananas were actually incorporated into the batter upon order while cooking) and tasted delicious.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Embassy Room Breakfast Pancakes

There was a bagel with lox on offer, which also tasted very good.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Embassy Room Breakfast Bagel with Lox

The eggs were also well-prepared.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Embassy Room Breakfast Eggs

However, the Asian options were a little lacking, especially the Thai options. We had wonton soup, chicken skewers and Kao Kai Jiaw – the wonton soup was a little salty for our liking, the chicken skewers were bland and monotonous for the most part and the Kao Kai Jiaw just seemed (and tasted) like an overcooked omelet on a bed of rice.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Embassy Room Breakfast Wonton in Soup

Park Hyatt Bangkok Embassy Room Breakfast Thai BBQ Pork Skewers

My caramel macchiato was good, though.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Embassy Room Breakfast Caramel Macchiato

I have to give credit to the Park Hyatt Bangkok’s diverse breakfast spread, and most options were high-quality. I personally would pay HK$150 for this breakfast spread, though it’s worth noting that you can probably get better food at the luxury food court located on the 6th floor of the Central Embassy mall, right outside the Park Hyatt’s sixth-floor exit, for less. (It’s worth noting that Central Embassy only opens at 10 AM, so food options at Central Embassy are unavailable until then.) Still, though, even though the breakfast spread wasn’t perfect, the food was some of the better food I’ve had at a hotel.

Service at the restaurant was a little scattered, as the waiters first had issues seating our party of seven, then had mishaps with serving us the right food, etc.. I don’t blame them, as the restaurant was crowded that morning, and they certainly were a hard bunch to deal with. They were pointing at things on the a-la-carte menu demanding to order while interrupting conversations between staff and other guests, etc..

I believe the restaurant manager was in the room that morning, so he decided to waive our breakfast charges due to “management issues”. I’m glad that the hotel is taking responsibility for its mistakes from early on, showing that they’re ready to learn from them and become more successful in the future.

The bar is located on the lobby level. I had the chance to check it out while it was empty – it seems like a great place to hang out and have a few drinks.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Bar

There’s an outdoor area that looked nice as well, though unfortunately hot and humid Bangkok weather got in the way of good photos – or anyone’s opportunity to have a good time outside.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Bar

In addition to the bar, I also spotted another outside lounging area which could be a nice place to hang out in during the cooler (or, in Bangkok terms, “less hot”) months.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Outside Lounge

Park Hyatt Bangkok Inside Lounge

The pool is open from 6 AM until 9 PM, and is located on the 9th floor of the hotel. The pool was an infinity pool that had great views over the Bangkok skyline, though I only had the chance to check it out while it was raining. It’s a substantial size, and I suspect it would be a great place for sunrise viewing.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Pool

Park Hyatt Bangkok Poolside Lounge

The gym and the Panpuri spa are located on the 11th floor of the hotel.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Hallway to Gym

The gym itself was really well-equipped, even for a city hotel in Bangkok. It featured a range of equipment, including resistance machines, cardio machines, weights, medicine balls, exercise balls in a range of different sizes, etc.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Gym

I appreciated that there was a separate multipurpose area located at the far end of the gym, suitable for yoga, bodyweight training, etc..

Park Hyatt Bangkok Gym Multipurpose Area

The gym also featured amenities – in addition to the water and towels featured below, there was also a fridge that featured cold towels, cold water, apples, etc.. A fitness trainer is assigned to look after the gym from 7 AM to 11 PM every day. I was in the gym late at night for both nights of our stay, so the fitness trainers told me before they left both evenings, and advised me to call reception if I needed any assistance. I found that nice of them, and the fitness trainer supervising the gym on the first night also informed me about the fridge, which I wouldn’t have noticed otherwise.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Gym Amenities

While the spa was closed after my second visit to the gym, I was able to have a peek. The Panpuri Spa opened the month of my visit, and looked really nice, though I can’t say much since I didn’t get any use out of it.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Panpuri Spa

Apart from mishaps at The Embassy Room and the initial long-winded check-in process, service was impeccable at the hotel – extremely well-intentioned and often executed without any noticeable flaws. No, you won’t be addressed by name upon every single interaction at the Park Hyatt Bangkok, but I did appreciate that reception acknowledged us and said hi to us every time we passed by, etc..

It’s worth noting that I went above and beyond what I should’ve asked for at the hotel, and asked if they had any suites available so I could do a photoshoot for this review. I was expecting confused looks and a “sorry, you cannot do that”, but instead the associate I talked to said that all suites were fully booked for the night, and asked me to leave my email address so they could send me pictures. Unfortunately I haven’t heard from them since.

Bottom Line: Park Hyatt Bangkok

The Park Hyatt Bangkok is undoubtedly a compelling luxury hotel option in Bangkok, and I love how it’s gorgeously and practically designed, connected to the Central Embassy mall, and is laid out pretty much flawlessly for a luxury hotel. While the hotel does still have many issues to iron out, based on the attention to detail that was evident in every aspect of the hotel, I’d say the delayed opening was worth the wait.

I have one skepticism of the fact that the Park Hyatt Bangkok is the best option for travelers looking for a luxury hotel option in Bangkok. The Park Hyatt Bangkok is currently priced higher than some other luxury options in the area, such as the St. Regis Bangkok, the Siam Kempinski Bangkok and the Okura Prestige Bangkok. Since the Park Hyatt Bangkok was the first luxury hotel I’ve stayed at in Bangkok, I can’t make a judgement as to if the Park Hyatt Bangkok is worth the extra cash. However, because of how low-yield the Bangkok hotel market is in general, I’d have no qualms staying at the Park Hyatt Bangkok again, and would highly recommend it if you’re into practical, gorgeous minimalist design, don’t mind paying slightly more than the market average for a Bangkok hotel room, and don’t mind waiting a bit during check-in and breakfast.

P.S. After my stay, I was sent a survey where I detailed my initial thoughts of the hotel. I talked about some of the mishaps I’d gone through at check-in, and merely a couple of days later I received an email from the hotel apologising for the long check-in process, saying it was “unacceptable” and they had “with urgency addressed this with the entire team and retrained the relevant staff”. I hope the hotel realises that the long-winded check-in process lies in faults largely related to management issues, and doesn’t place the blame directly on the “relevant staff”. Nonetheless, the prompt reply is another indication of the hotel’s commendable customer focus.

Bottom Line: Park Hyatt Bangkok

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