The Standard opens in Bangkok
The Standard hotel brings its playful personality to Bangkok, along with a glamorous new Mexican restaurant, the city’s highest rooftop bar and design from Jaime Hayon
From the eye-popping optics of the Vienna-inspired tea room to the pixelated exterior of the skyscraper it calls home, there’s no part of The Standard Bangkok Mahanakhon that doesn’t celebrate the very best of design. But then we’d expect no less from the hotel group garnering global attention for its own particular brand of cool.
Laden with personality, each property makes its mark on a key destination – whether it’s London or Ibiza – and The Standard’s latest opening is no exception.
Set in Bangkok’s central business district, the hotel occupies a significant chunk of the landmark King Power Mahanakhon skyscraper, transforming 78 floors to a hospitality playground. The Standard’s new Asia flagship has 155 rooms, four food and drink outlets and a pool on the roof terrace, all set against a backdrop of the city’s dramatic skyline.
No matter where you look, you’ll get an eyeful of world-leading creativity: Jaime Hayon, the visionary artist and designer behind Hayon Studios, collaborated with The Standard’s already talented in-house team to create an almost otherworldly space that leans on his characteristic bold-yet-whimsical approach. Expect retro-tinged interiors, with bold pops of colour and curvaceous velvet furnishings in mustard, peach and shades of blue.
Small touches reference The Standard’s other properties: in the lobby, ‘The Box’ will house rotating art exhibitions in a nod to the Los Angeles original; while The Standard Grill – inspired by American brasseries – is a reinterpretation of the original restaurant in the New York site. Altogether, the property offers a slightly different vibe to the city’s other hotels, making it one of this year’s most significant hotel openings around the world.
But for all its global influences, The Standard Bangkok Mahanakhon celebrates its home with small yet special design accents like locally handmade rattan lamps and hand-picked art, antiques and curiosities that reflect the city’s increasingly vibrant creative scene and brilliantly contradictory personality. Elsewhere, Bangkok Design Week 2022 saw a series of installations created by Hayon, introducing visitors to an immersive work inspired by a traditional Thai shadow puppetry art known as nang talung.
Like the other Standard properties, the Bangkok Mahanakhon has restaurants that make the hotel a destination whether or not you’ve booked to stay the night. The jewel in its crown is Ojo, wrapped by floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Thai capital. It matches glamorous interiors with an innovative menu by one of Mexico’s top emerging chefs, Francisco ‘Paco’ Ruano.
‘Ojo’ means eye in Spanish, referencing the restaurant’s soaring spot on the 76th floor, as well as the concept of Ojo de Dios (Eye of God), which is deeply rooted in Mexico’s daily life, folklore and culture. Ruano has a CV well-seasoned with experience at Mugaritz, El Celler de Can Roca and Noma, so you know you’re in good hands, and Ojo’s menu is intended to introduce Bangkok and the surrounding region to the complexities of Mexican culture. The retro-infused gold interiors and jaw-droppingly-good view definitely don’t hurt, either.
Not only does The Standard Bangkok have a rooftop bar, but it has the highest rooftop bar in the city (no mean feat), offering US-inspired bites designed for grazing alongside a creative cocktail list. The American flair continues at The Standard Grill, a fresh take on the classic steakhouse; The Parlour is a communal space designed for co-working and events like lectures; while Mott 32 nods to New York’s Chinatown. And finally, Tease, the tea room, has a graphic black-and-white decor that’ll leave you wanting more…
From 125 USD per night
