Thailand

55 years old one of Bangkok’s true heritage hotels is seeing a new lease of life, after extensive refurbishment. As ‘The Revival of the Original’ Montien Hotel Surawong Bangkok stands ready for guests to discover the ‘Homely embrace of Montieness’, with new experiences that respect the rich history of the past. Happy Hour Asia talks to the in Thailand seasoned hotel manager Pierre-André Pelletier (previously Regional Vice-President, Operations at Onyx Hospitality Group, and before that in various roles at General Manager for nearly 21 years for Amari).

The Area General Manager has overseen the whole process of the iconic Bangkok hotel’s rejuvenation, which took place in partnership between its Thai owning family and Conduit House, a Hong Kong based Assets Management Company.

Hotel manager Pierre-André Pelletier on the value of being and independent hotel

“As an independent hotel we take decisions faster than a big group of properties can do. And we have great owners – third generation owners – who are engaged in the property and have been in the hotel business now for 55 years. And we in the team have fantastic support from them.”

Her Majesty Queen Sirikit the Queen Mother inaugurated the hotel on 14 February 1967. Expansion of the hotel followed ten years later, in 1977, with the opening of the South Wing adding 345 rooms and Ruenton restaurant. And more recently, in 2018, the owning Tantakit family entered into the partnership with Conduit House.

Every hotel has its cycles. Montien Surawong (near Silom Road) had reached the end of its previous golden era. Now a new one has started, as it remains one of actually very few remaining independent hotels of any stature, and also can brand itself as a heritage hotel within Bangkok’s crowded hotel market.

“We are very proud of the reflection of the Thainess that you can find throughout the property. But for us it was very important to keep the keep the heritage because we have a lot of stories behind it but to build it up for the new Millennials, paired with things relating to food and beverage. And that’s the success of being an independent hotel,” begins Pierre-André Pelletier

Chicken and rice legend

Talking of food, Montien Surawong could also very well have the tagline ‘The chicken and rice hotel’, as it is home to the ‘Best Hainanese Chicken Rice in Bangkok’- served at the Ruenton restaurant since 1983!

Any foodies with knowledge about Asia will know that something as simple as a staple food dish should not be taken lightly. And Happy Hour Asia can bear witness to that chicken and rice can be amazing, just as it can be dull, as the chicken does often not live up to the expectations etc. But the one served by the Ruenton is just amazing – and one that requires long preparation through slow-cooking of the chicken. So no wonder that Thais are queuing up daily to enjoy their chicken and rice at this hotel restaurant, which has many office buildings in the vicinity!

Thainess and personalisation are key for Montien Hotel Surawong Bangkok
Back to the topic of ‘Thainess’, personalised service is key. Says Pierre-André: “When I started my career with Mandarin Oriental 30 years ago, it was an iconic hotel; number one in the world. and it wasn’t about the biggest rooms, it wasn’t even the largest hotel – but it had the best service, and that’s what makes the difference. And this is what we focus on here as well; by focusing on the Thainess. And among our hosts, like the doorman welcoming our guests and is part of the legend, some key people have been with the hotel for 30 years.”

“And personalised service is definitely where we want to excel, making sure that in the end people recommend and build up this momentum to see the new Montien hotel, one of the leading hotels in Bangkok, Thailand and Southeast Asia! That’s what we are aiming for – but through people. So we have done a transformation of the product. And we have brought in some Millennials as well to bring this to the next step in our team. That gives our differentiation.”

Hotel manager Pierre-André Pelletier adds: “Miss Universe 2021- 2022, Mrs. Tourism… all these events would normally have happened on the premises of any of bigger hotels, but they wanted to have an independent hotel – with the Thainess – so they arranged it here. And we’re very proud of that. So we have kept this Thainess throughout the property.”

From historic to a new kid on the block

“I think the hotel’s success went in waves. When I came to Bangkok in the early 1990s Montien Surawong was, along with maybe 3-4 other hotels, the hotel where all the big functions were taking place. And you didn’t have all these big international chains like now – only a few. So it was one of the flagship hotels – 100 per cent.”

“As for its location, for me in this is one of the best you can have in Bangkok with both the MRT and BTS close by, walking distance to Lumpini park, the river 20 minutes away… so you’re really in the centre with easy access to two airports via four different highways. It’s just ticking all the boxes. And the hotel has been successful in the past as well, through the location and the name the hotel had on the market.”

“The only thing that happened later – with no reinvestment into the property – is the hotel getting tired and losing its ‘Grand Dame’ status. Eventually it was time for doing a full renovation or a revamp of the property, where the owners, together with Conduit House, decided together to create the new Montien.”

“And we did not reinvest a considerable sum of 55 million USD only to do the same business you’ve been doing in the past; you have to reinvent yourself. And even being an independent hotel, we as well have Conduit House here as the operator. We are proud of the legacy, but we communicate about today, tomorrow and what comes in the future. We move forward. You can talk about the past, but today it’s a new Montien.”

“It’s so important to us because it is exactly what happened here. It’s a revival of the original. We are proud of what was in the past but it needed changes, repositioning and this is where we are the today.”

On the hotel’s heritage being attractive to guests:
“That’s the case 100 % and you need to put a story behind it; people love to see that we have kept the heritage, including all the team members who have built this heritage. We have a lot of regular guests here from Japan, Australia, the US and Europe. And we have kept the building and its architecture; we have only touched up a few things. We have not demolished to build up something new just to tick all the boxes. The brief was clear from the owing family: to keep the building, and reinvent ourselves within the property. And now our restaurants are full every day, the functions are very busy, and with staying guests from within both the local and international markets! And when people see the product and get the experience by staying, they go ‘wow’ triple times! And I think that’s what we need: to build up this momentum, having people recommending it, and via colleagues of the industry.”

Montien Hotel Surawong Bangkok: Recognition of the revival

In the first half of 2022 the hotel earned a top ten placement, ranked #9 on the on the top ten social media brands within the hotel & tourism category by ThailandZocialAwards.com  – among competitors such as the larger online travel agents with much larger marketing capacity.

“It’s all made possible through our owners being ready to reinvest into the product and reposition it into the market. We are the now new kid on the block, with people not only following us on social media but it’s also being reflected on the results for the property. It’s once again very busy and successful. And we have been the only five-star hotel in Bangkok to be number one during four and a half months on Tripadvisor as ‘Best Hotel in Bangok’.”

“Just looking at what people think about your hotel will tell you about the repositioning of the property. The best example is the voices of our guests. We in the team can talk about how good we are but at the end of the day it’s the guests telling to the world about how well they felt during a stay that is the most important one.”