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In May of 2022, the InterContinental Bangkok closed for a much-needed refurbishment and a little over a year later, in June 2023, the property reopened with renovated rooms and public areas as well as a refreshed Club Lounge.
On our recent visit to the Thai capital, I stopped by the InterContinental Bangkok (not to be confused with the new InterContinental Bangkok Sukhumvit) to see what effect the refurbishment has had, and you can see the results of the refurbishment below.
Location/getting there
You’ll find the InterContinental Bangkok in the Pathum Wan district of the city next to the Holiday Inn Bangkok, across the road from the Erawan Shrine and the Grand Hyatt Bangkok, and a couple of blocks aways from the Central Embassy mall and the Park Hyatt Bangkok.
The closest BTS station to the hotel is Chit Lom, so if you’re arriving from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport (BKK) and want to take public transport, take the Bangkok Airport Rail Link to Phaya Thai station (the end of the line) and then change to the BTS rail service (you’ll need to get a separate ticket for this) heading for Kheha.
Chit Lom station is 3 stops away from Phaya Thai on the Kheha line and a 2-minute walk from the InterContinental Bangkok.
The hotel – general
The InterContinental Bangkok sits in a building with 37 floors with the hotel’s 381 rooms and suites starting on the 17th floor.
The Club InterContinental Lounge and the swimming pool are located on the top floor, the fitness center and spa are on 36th floor, and Espresso (the hotel’s all-day dining venue and where breakfast is served) is on the mezzanine floor alongside the property’s Cantonese restaurant – Summer Palace.
The balcony lounge and Butter (a coffee shop) are on the Lobby level while the property’s California-style restaurant (SoCal) and its steak and seafood restaurant (Fireplace Grill) are both on the ground floor.
The lobby & balcony lounge
The check-in area is directly ahead as you walk in through any one of the doors at the property’s main entrance …
…and the Balcony Lounge sits to the left looking out towards Phloen Chit Road and the BTS.
Joined to the lounge area is ‘Humidor’ which, as the name suggests, offers a range of cigars from around the world (no ban on Cuban cigars here) and a range of high-end whiskies too.
Espresso – all day dining + breakfast
The InterContinental Bangkok has several eateries (including ones offering Chinese and Southern Californian cuisine), but the one eatery that most guests are likely to visit is ‘Espresso’ (where breakfast is served).
A la carte dining is available at Espresso, but it’s the buffets that it offers that the establishment is best known for.
The restaurant is open daily between 06:00 and 23:00 with the following schedule for the buffets:
- Breakfast:
- 06:00 to 10:30 (Monday to Friday).
- 06:00 to 11.00 (Saturday and Sunday).
- Lunch: 12.00 to 14.30 (Monday to Saturday).
- Dinner: 18.00 to 22.30 (Friday and Saturday).
- Sunday: 12.00 to 15.00 hours.
We visited between services and while the lunch buffet was being prepared.
A Classic King room (high floor)
Moving up from the lower levels of the building, the guest room start on the 17th floor and go up from there.
The InterContinental Bangkok has the following split of room types:
- 151 x Classic Rooms (485 sqft/45 sqm).
- 118 x Classic Rooms – High Floor (485 sqft/45 sqm).
- 73 x Premium Club Lounge Access rooms – (485 sqft/45 sqm).
- 33 x Junior Suites – (720 sqft/67 sqm).
- 1 x Premier Suite (755 sqft/70 sqm).
- 1 x Executive Suite (970 sqft/90 sqm).
- 2 x Ambassador Suites (1,065 sqft/99 sqm).
- 1 x Diplomatic Suite (1,615 sqft/150 sqm).
- 1 x Royal Suite (2,690 sqft/250 sqm).
The room that I viewed was a Classic King room on the 32nd floor.
The room feels spacious and light and the light-colored furnishings look good set against the dark wood of the floors. The beds are fitted with Posturepedic Sealy mattresses, and ‘luxurious linens’ and a pillow menu is also offered for guests for whom the room’s standard pillows aren’t quite right.
All the amenities that you usually see in a room at a property of this stature appear to be present, with a coffee machine sitting on top of a cabinet that houses the mini-bar, coffee cups, snacks, and tableware.
The bathroom in a Classic King room is large and modern (as you’d expect after a recent refurbishment) and offers guests a deep ‘soaking tub’ as well as a separate rainshower.
There isn’t a great deal of closet space built into the room’s corridor, but there should be enough hanging and drawer space for a visiting couple.
All the rooms and suites at the InterContinental offer high-speed Internet access as well as flat panel Chromecast televisions and Bluetooth speakers, and in this room, both sides of the bed and the desk/table are served by universal power outlets and USB-A/USB-C ports.
This particular room overlooks the huge Central World shopping area, while rooms on the other side of the corridor would look out over the Holiday Inn and towards the Central Embassy mall.
Infinity fitness
Carrying on with our journey up through the floors, we come to the hotel’s 24-hour fitness center on the 36th floor, and the first thing that you notice as you enter is just how much light and space there is here.
The second thing that you notice are the views that you get from all parts of the fitness area.
The third and final thing that’s hard to miss is how well equipped the fitness centre is. Technogym and CrossFit equipment is plentiful, as are the weights machines and free weights.
Separate female and male facilities are also available here (open between 06:00 and 23:00) and which include a dry sauna, a steam room and a jacuzzi.
Changing rooms are also provided, and these are equipped with lockers, showers, and even hairdryers (for those times where you can’t be bothered to wait to get back to your room before you dry your hair).
Spa InterContinental
Sharing the 36th floor with the fitness center is the hotel spa – Spa InterContinental – which is open between 09:00 and 23:00.
The spa has a central waiting area with treatment rooms off to every side …
… with areas for Thai Massages …
… regular massages and couples massages all present.
The couple’s massage room viewed on this visit even included a large whirlpool tub.
The body treatment products used are a Thai brand called HARNN while the facial treatment products are by Elemis.
The Club InterContinental lounge
Moving up to the top floor of the building (37th floor) we come to the Club InterContinental lounge which I don’t recall visiting before the renovations, but which I’m told has seen significant changes.
The lounge is open between 06:00 and 23:00 daily and can be accessed by guests staying in ‘Premium Club Lounge Access’ rooms, guests staying in suites, Royal Ambassador elites, and guests paying for entry on a day-by-day basis.
The lounge offers guests a complimentary buffet breakfast, afternoon tea, evening cocktails and canapés, as well as coffee, tea, soft drinks, fresh juices, and snacks throughout the day.
Guests can also make use of the various business services on offer as well as the Club InterContinental meeting room.
The pool
The last thing I saw on the visit to the InterContinental Bangkok was the rooftop pool and bar (Oasis) that’s open to all hotel guests between 07:00 and 22:00 daily.
The pool is definitely on the small side for a property that has 381 rooms, but on this visit (which was at around midday), it wasn’t crowded or even particularly busy … although the new whirlpool was popular enough that I didn’t feel comfortable taking pictures.
This area offers views towards just about every area of Bangkok (officially it offers 270-degree views) and we’re told, is a popular spot to watch the sun rise over the city.
Pricing
With prices starting from around THB 8,000 (~$220) per night on all of the dates that we checked, the InterContinental Bangkok appears to be priced somewhere between what the Grand Hyatt, the JW Marriott, the Hyatt Regency, and the Conrad charge and what the St. Regis, Park Hyatt, and the Waldorf Astoria charge, so it appears to be occupying a middle ground (of sorts) in the highly competitive Bangkok market.
The current rates are probably justified based on the fact that most of the competition cannot offer the shiny new rooms and public areas that the InterContinental can, but how long that lasts for will be interesting to watch.
Overall
This article is not going to offer up an overall opinion of the InterContinental as having not stayed at the property on this visit, I can’t comment on the food or the service levels that the property offers.
What I can opine on, however, is the overall feel that the property has and on that front, there’s no question that the year-long top-to-bottom refurbishment has given the InterContinental Bangkok a much needed lift, and that it now feels like a modern luxury property that can, once again, compete with its local rivals.
The rooms are bright and modern, the public areas are welcoming (as were all the members of staff that I encountered), and this feels and looks like what a good city-centre InterContinental should look and feel like – I was impressed.
Currently, successful new applicants for the 
