Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok scores with a super central location, a lovely terrace with a large pool and a wide choice of restaurants, but is also showing its age and a refurbishment is long overdue. Despite some minor flaws, this is a solid city hotel with good transport links and well worth a visit. But read for yourself!
Review #58
Disclaimer:
Unfortunately, between our stay and this publication, our laptop and external database containing all the hotel’s images were stolen in a break-in. Luckily, we had already backed up all the videos to another computer.
Unfortunately, we have no choice but to work with screenshots of the videos for this article. We apologise for the quality, which is not up to our standards and is not up to the standard of the other reviews. Nevertheless, we didn’t want to deprive you of this review.
Thank you for your understanding & enjoy reading and discovering!
Content
Location
Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok is truly at the heart of the Thai capital’s hustle and bustle – at the famous Erawan Shrine. The hotel is just a stone’s throw away and next door to the Waldorf Astoria. Two of the city’s main arteries, Rama I and Ratchadamri, meet at the nearby intersection, as do the Silom and Sukhumvit MRT lines.
As you can see, the hotel has excellent transport links, making it a great base for exploring the city. The CentralWorld shopping mall and the downtown golf driving range are nearby. The Klong bus stops are also a 10-minute walk away.
Getting there
Sure – you usually travel to Bangkok by plane. Getting to the Thai capital by plane from almost anywhere in the world is always easy.
Of course, you can also travel by bus or train from neighbouring countries. Both are well developed and popular with budget travellers.
How to get to the hotel
We arrived at Suvanabhumi Airport from Frankfurt on a direct Thai Airways 777-300 ER Business Class flight and travelled from there to our first hotel, the Sofitel Bangkok, for one night. The easiest option for us was to grab a taxi on the morning of our arrival. Of course, you can get to all the hotels in Bangkok relatively quickly and easily this way, but you can also take the metro from BKK airport to the city centre without any problems.
To get to the Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok, you can take the Airport Rail Link (ARL) directly from the airport and change at Ratchaprarop station to a bus which will drop you off at the hotel entrance after just 3 stops.
We took the MRT from our first hotel to the Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok. The Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit is only two stops away, so it was certainly almost faster than sitting in a traffic jam with the grab – and it was cheaper too.
Coming from the MRT station, the hotel has its own entrance on the elevated walkway that first takes you through the small Erawan Mall and down to the lower lobby level. This means you don’t have to go all the way down to the street and then up the steep access to the main entrance of the hotel.
Check-in
Reception is at the back right of the huge lobby. We wanted to test the official route through the main entrance for you and were warmly greeted and ushered in. At first I was a bit confused and didn’t know where to go to check in as the reception is a bit hidden.
We got there at around 1.30pm – about 90 minutes before check-in time – had booked the cheapest room as usual and were upgraded to a room on a higher floor due to our World of Hyatt Explorist status. Upon politely asking if it would be possible to get a bigger room, the receptionist started checking and discussed the topic with his supervisor, and some time later we actually got a corner room – another upgrade. Cool, right?!
Lounge access was not included in our price, so we booked it in addition while checking in. Our room wasn’t ready at this early hour, so we were able to go up to the lounge, have a drink, enjoy the view and wait for our room to be ready.
Grand Hyatt Erawan at a glance
The Grand Hyatt Erawan is over 30 years old and was built on the site of the former Erawan Hotel, which opened in 1956 and closed in 1980. The current hotel was opened in 1991 by the Erawan Group, which still operates it today. The group’s other properties include the JW Marriott Bangkok.
The entrance to the hotel is built relatively high with the driveway. Below the lobby with the reception and restaurants is the lower lobby with more restaurants, bars and access to the MRT station via the small Erawan Mall, as well as car parking further down. Above the lobby is another restaurant on the mezzanine level. There are also conference and meeting rooms on all three levels.
Rooms and suites are located on the floors above, and on the 5th floor there is a pool, spa and gym, as well as a series of small villas on the terrace. The Grand Club Lounge is located on the 17th floor.
The Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok has a total of 380 rooms and 53 suites, including the Garden Villas. The hotel was last completely refurbished 10 years ago and in our opinion is in desperate need of an update.
And yes – the Grand Hyatt Erawan is the hotel where an apparent extended suicide took place in July 2024, killing 6 people. We didn’t notice anything about that, though. The hotel was really quite full and very well booked.
Room
So, after our double upgrade, we were booked into a 42 square metre 1 King Bed Deluxe room. This is in one of the corners. In our case unfortunately at the back.
So for this one night we stayed in room no. 708.
Welcome
Unfortunately, when we arrived in our room, there was no welcome letter for us and no little gift. We thought this was a shame, but put it down to our low status and the low price.
However, to be honest, we were a little premature, because when we returned from our time in the pool, there was some fruit waiting for us as a welcome gift and a little card to say hello. We probably just checked in a little early and were given a different room. The housekeeping crew just couldn’t keep up. This can happen and is not a problem at all.
Living room and bedroom
Immediately behind the door is a small hallway with the bathroom off to the right, which leads straight into the actual hotel room. In the middle of the room is the very comfortable king-size bed, with a bedside table to the right and a shelf to the left where a compartment doubles as a bedside table. Here you will also find a clock radio and a ‘power centre’ from which you can control virtually all electronic devices and settings. The bed itself has two pillows of different firmness and thickness for each sleeper, plus a duvet.
In the corner at the head of the room is a kind of corner bench with a 90s retro glass table and armchair. Getting onto the bench is not easy and requires a bit of acrobatics.
The wardrobe is just to the right of the entrance and contains one of the two bathrobes, an iron and ironing board, slippers and the safe.
There is a desk opposite the bed in front of the window, although this is mainly used to hold the huge television. There is also a fully stocked minibar, which is subject to a charge. You will also find everything you need to make yourself a cup of tea or coffee.
Bathroom
As mentioned, the bathroom is to the right of the entrance door, and as you enter the room, the toilet is open and fully mirrored on the right. It remains to be seen whether you like watching yourself – I found it rather disturbing.
Straight ahead is the shower, with a normal hand shower and rainshower installed in an alcove on the left. Straight ahead is the bath and to the right is the vanity with a sink and some toiletries. Anything else you might need is on a list on the wall and can be ordered from housekeeping. The body lotion, shampoo and conditioner are by Balmain.
Fun fact: there are other items on the list that you can buy. Including the bathrobes and the kettle… 😉
View
Well. Unfortunately, as mentioned above, our view was not to the front, but to the tennis court and the roofs of the annexes to the rear. The great thing about a corner room is that you ideally have windows on two sides rather than just one. But even that didn’t really improve the view in this case. Unfortunately.
Lounge
Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok offers status clients and guests with lounge access the Grand Club Lounge for relaxation, all-day refreshments, breakfast and evening cocktail canapés. You can also check in and out here, of course.
To be honest, the lounge is getting a bit long in the tooth and could really do with a refresh, but there is plenty of room at the tables. However, you won’t find any cosy lounge corners or sofas here.
The selection of snacks and drinks is okay, and during the evening cocktail hour you can order alcoholic drinks from a small menu and help yourself to the small buffet. There are also a handful of hot options. See below for more information on breakfast.
Hotel activities
On the 5th floor of the Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok you will find the spa, gym and swimming pool with Jacuzzi.
Pool
The large outdoor pool is prominently located on the hotel’s terrace and is well shielded from the outside world by lush greenery all around. Sure, there’s a main road and the MRT elevated line right outside, but I think you’ll notice very little of that when you’re by the pool.
The pool itself is quite cold, so if you like it refreshing, you’ve come to the right place. However, the hotel also has a really large hot tub with a jacuzzi and a decent 36 degrees. Interestingly, we both found it very relaxing despite the 30°C outside and really enjoyed the hot tub option and used it extensively.
There are sun loungers with parasols around the pool and there is also a pool bar. You can take towels from a pile and once you have made yourself comfortable, water and some delicious nuts are brought to you. Great, isn’t it?
Fitness Center
A really well-equipped gym with all kinds of cardio and strength equipment. There is also a free weights area. We liked the fact that the gym is quiet and you can work out in peace and quiet. Water, towels and cold towels are also provided.
Spa
The i.sawan Residential Spa & Club at the Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok offers 6 individual treatment villas on the hotel’s 5th floor terrace. All the usual treatments are available, as well as Swedish aromatherapy.
Spa guests can also use the sauna, steam room or Jacuzzi before and after their treatments.
Special features
A narrow path leads to the tennis court you saw from the window earlier. Here you can really test your tennis skills in a big city setting, wedged between tower blocks.
Restaurants
The Grand Hyatt Erawan really does offer its guests a wide choice of restaurants and bars. We weren’t able to try them all or even see them from the inside. Due to the large number of outlets, I’m going to go by floor in this review and not describe each outlet individually.
2nd floor
At the Erawan Tea Room you can enjoy your tea or dinner with a view of the famous Erawan Shrine from above.
Mezzanine
A classic osteria, Salvia offers everything your heart desires in Italian cuisine!
Lobby
The all-day dining restaurant, The Dining Room, serves breakfast, lunch and dinner with a wide range of international and local specialities with a strong focus on Asian cuisine.
The Garden Lounge offers classic lobby hospitality with snacks, tea, coffee and evening cocktails.
Lower Lobby
The French bistro Gaston offers snacks as well as lunch and dinner. We had a tarte flambée and a burger in the evening. Both were solid but not particularly tasty.
The Noodle House You & Mee offers – as the name suggests – Asian noodle specialities in endless variations.
The Erawan Bakery offers French baking specialities and is more of a gourmet bakery.
The BAR @ 494, on the other hand, is a bar for true wine connoisseurs, with an exceptionally large and good selection of quality international wines.
Breakfast
At the Grand Hyatt Earwan, breakfast is served in The Dining Room, located next to the lobby in the hotel’s huge atrium. As well as the classic Western dishes, the buffet is quite extensive, with Asian and Middle Eastern options.
In addition to the buffet, there was also a live cooking station for egg dishes and hot drinks were taken and served at the table.
And as we also had access to the lounge, we also tried the breakfast there for you. Of course, this version is a bit more stripped down, but it’s also a bit quieter and less crowded. The selection was fine and there were two hot options straight from the kitchen. This included a choice of different egg dishes. The lounge also has a very small menu from which we ordered an okay egg benedict.
The hot drinks are of course ordered and served at your seat, but you can get all the other drinks from the buffet or from the fridges.
Check-out
We checked out in the lounge and were through with all the formalities pretty quickly.
Costs
We used a free night certificate for that one night at the Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok, so the night and upgrade were free for us. On top of that, we only had to pay 2354 THB for access to the Club Lounge, which at the time of our stay was the equivalent of a good 64 Euros.
Pretty cool, isn’t it? This stay also shows us once again that it really does pay to collect points and/or overnight stays with certain loyalty programmes!
Departure and onward journey
As mentioned in the section on how to get there, the Grand Hyatt Erawan is very well connected and centrally located. From here you can easily reach all points in the city by taxi/grab or public transport.
The (bus/MRT) stations are within easy reach and both airports can be reached within an hour. Please always check which airport you are departing from when travelling by plane to avoid arriving at the wrong airport and not being able to check in!
Conclusion
I can’t quite get my head around the Grand Hyatt Erawan. The substance is not bad and the terrace on the 5th floor with pool and jacuzzi is really cool, as is the impressive entrance hall! However, the hotel really needs a major facelift. The staff were all very nice, but only the absolutely fantastic lady at reception in the lounge really stood out.
Somehow this place is not very pretty from the outside, and although it is very well connected, it is anything but idyllic or tucked away at one of the city’s main junctions. There is absolutely nothing magical or enchanting about this place. Nevertheless, I would return under the right circumstances – I would definitely like to try the garden villas again.
Recommendation
In its current state, we would classify the Grand Hyatt Erawan as midscale and find it suitable for all target groups. Families, single travellers, business travellers and couples can all get their money’s worth if the hotel meets their requirements.
Hotel Homepage
Rating
We give the Grand Hyatt Erawan a rating of 9 out of 10 possible points.
We deduct one point because the hotel really desperately needs an update.
Go there?
Yes. You can do it. The Grand Hyatt Erawan is certainly not our favorite hotel in Bangkok, but it is definitely solid.
Our crazy Bangkok weekend
We had a birthday to celebrate and wanted to try something crazy, so we decided to fly to Bangkok for the weekend!
We took a direct Thai Airways Business Class flight from Frankfurt to the Thai capital and stayed at the Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit for our first night, then moved on to this hotel before flying back home on Thai Airways. So stay tuned for this exciting short series and join us for a crazy weekend in Bangkok!
YouTube Review
And as always, we invite you to watch our YouTube review if you are interested in the original sounds of the city and the moving pictures of this written review.
I highly recommend it – Fabi always does it for you with love and passion! So be sure to check it out!
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