Official Website of the Kimpton Maa-Lai, Bangkok at Pathumwan

After a rather long construction period this brand new 362 room hotel has finally opened during a very challenging time.

I was able to check in on opening day and have to say I'm pretty impressed, probably one of the best hotels in BKK and certainly the best IHG hotel as far as the overall property is concerned.

Property:

The hotel is located in Pathumwan which is right behind the U.S. Embassy / Wireless Road, near Lumphini Park. Utilizing the BTS it requires a little walk but Ratchadamri, Chit Lom and Ploen Chit are all possible.

I was the first official guest who checked in at this hotel and aside from the F/D casually mentioning it there was zero recognition of the fact. I didn't check in early to be the first guest but I found it very strange that there was nothing at all to welcome the first guest of the hotel on opening day and the hotel staff were more busy with arranging their own opening photo op. Never experienced this at the other six or so hotels in the recent years where I stayed as #1 on opening day.

I booked the hotel on points (22,500 right now vs ~ $200 revenue rate) and received what they call a Premium Room which ended up having several defects that were only apparent at night.

Food & Beverage

The hotels f&b outlets have been open for some time at this point and are very popular with the locals, especially the rooftop bar.

• Bar.Yard Rooftop bar - Casual bar and restaurant with a nice view of Bangkok and a BBQ themed menu (prices very reasonable IMHO)
• Craft Coffee Bar and Patisserie in the Lobby - Very popular, nice lounge, people can bring their pets and a lot of them do
• Ms. Jigger Cocktail Bar & Restaurant on the ground floor - Pretty posh and well decorated, didn't end up going there this time
• Stock.Room - Think of a stylish food court with various stalls and stands, I didn't end up going there

I also wasn't able to go for breakfast as I was told it closes at 9:30 during the week (at least when I stayed there during opening) which I consider to be a joke.

Rooms:

The rooms are spacious and well finished. The design is excellent as is the hotel overall as far as construction and hard product is concerned.

Problem was that the room suffered plenty of electrical malfunctions. In the middle of the night the lights went on and off all the time, likely due to a short circuit in the control panel (lights behind the panel were flickering as well). The window curtain motor moved every 15 minutes and drove me crazy, Air condition control panel is far away from the bed and it was either too hot or too cold in the room. I couldn't sleep for more than maybe 5 hours.

The beds (mattress) are excellent.

Elite treatment:

They do have the wine hour at the Bar.Yard Rooftop Bar which is nice but I didn't receive any information about this until I went back down and specifically asked for it.

I'm Spire Ambassador and yes - IHG Rewards Club hasn't properly integrated Kimpton in the program. It's more than time for that because honestly I'm not putting up with this any longer considering there are pretty much no benefits.

I got an upgrade to the Premium King room and a small welcome amenity (Snack & Mineral Water) in the room. The hotel didn't have a welcome letter ready for guests to outline benefits and details of the hotel.

Here are a few images: