Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok is a real hit: stylish design, fantastic suites and lots of little touches to make your stay special. Only the breakfast could be more relaxed – otherwise a perfect place to start your Bangkok trip!
Review #41
Table of content
Location
Kimpton Maa-Lai is centrally located in Bangkok, just around the corner from the famous Lumpini Park. From here you can explore the whole city and reach all the sights easily.
Getting there
Of course, you will normally fly into Bangkok and then land at Suvanabhumi Airport Bangkok. There are flights to this airport from virtually all over the world. But there is also a second airport, Don Mueang, handling domestic and intra-Asian flights. Both airports are well connected to public transport by train.
How to get to the hotel
We arrived at Suvanabhumi Airport on a direct Swiss Business Class flight from Frankfurt. From there we took a grab which took us to the Kimpton Maa-Lai in the city centre in just under three-quarters of an hour. Of course, you can also take the Air Rail Link train directly from the airport to the city centre, where you should arrive at the hotel after changing to a bus and travelling for about an hour.
Check-in
We received a very warm welcome on arrival and our suitcases were unloaded from the car, double-checked that there were only two of them, and then found their way to our room with the bellboy.
We were then escorted to a seat in the lobby where we were checked in by a very friendly member of staff. At the same time we were given a very refreshing welcome drink made of lemon and refreshing tissues that are pressed into little tablets and unfold once they absorb water. Personally, I always find this a bit gimmicky and prefer real little tissues, but that’s a matter of taste. It certainly has some entertainment value though.
We could pay the deposit of 3000 THB in cash without any problems and were given all the necessary information about the hotel as we again got the information about the additional benefits we received because we had booked through Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts. These are as follows:
- Early check-in subject to availability
- Guaranteed late check out until 16:00
- Breakfast for up to two people with prior reservation
- 100 dollar credit for hotel use
- Complimentary Wi-Fi
We were also asked right away if we wanted to make a dinner reservation, and after finishing our drinks we were escorted to our room by a member of staff.
Das Kimpton Maa-Lai im Ãœberblick
The 40-storey Kimpton Maa-Lai is part of the IHG Group and opened in July 2020. The lobby, restaurant & café with terrace are located on the ground floor. On the 3rd floor you will find the pool, pool bar, spa & gym. On the 5th floor is the breakfast restaurant, called Stock Room, and on the 30th floor the library with terrace and the very small French restaurant. At the very top, on the 40th floor, you can also visit a real rooftop bar.
The hotel has 231 rooms and suites spread over all the other floors.
Although there are five lifts in constant use, it is somehow difficult to keep up. There are usually long waiting times and because there is no acoustic signal when the lift is there, you always have to be very careful so that the lift you have called doesn’t go up and away again.
The Sindhorn Kempinski Hotel and the Kimpton Maa-Lai share a property and are connected by a small park – so you can easily reach the other hotel and visit it if you like. In fact, the sister hotel is absolutely worth a visit with its really great lobby and exciting architecture although they do not belong together and even to seperate hotel groups.
Suite
We booked through American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts and got upgraded from our original Premium Room to a very spacious 83 sqm Maa-Lai Suite. Interestingly, the category of our suite is one below the Junior Suite – yes, you read that right. The Maa-Lai Suite is smaller than the Junior Suite. Interesting, isn’t it?
We stayed on the 11th floor in room 1115 – let’s have a look together.
Welcome
Our welcome gift was not prepared when we arrived, but was brought to us on request. We then got a bottle of water, fruits and also received some sweets and additionally, as we had booked through Amex, the gift included an Amex credit card made of chocolate with edible paper. We thought that this was a really nice, funny and an innovative little extra touch.
Twice a year, Kimpton Hotels issue a password that, when used at check-in, unlocks previously unknown gifts. It could be an upgrade, free breakfast or something else – it remains a surprise. In our case, the password was ‘Good for the Sol’ and we naturally forgot to mention it at check-in. However, later in the bar we were able to make up for it and received: a bottle opener 😉!
We thought it was a great promotion and would love to hear about your experiences with the password in the comments. What did you get either in the Kimpton or in any other Kimpton property with that password? Tell us! And if you follow us on Instagram, we’ll share the latest password as soon as we know it. So stay tuned. By the way, the latest giveaway will run until the end of January 2025.
There were also three welcome letters giving us more information about the hotel and the activities available. It also reiterated the additional benefits of booking with Amex and asked us to contact the hotel manager if there were any issues that bothered us and prevented us from giving the Kimpton Maa-Lai an even 10 out of 10 score. Now that’s what we call proactive!
Entrance
Immediately after the door you are in the hallway, on the right is the bathroom, straight ahead is the living room. The bar is next to the entrance to the bathroom. There are a handful of snacks available for a small charge, as well as everything you need to make coffee and tea. A variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic refreshments are available from the minibar below, which is also subject to a charge.
Bedroom
A few steps straight ahead on the right is the bedroom with a small dining table and sofa. The super-comfortable king-size bed has four pillows and a perfect duvet. We had a fantastic night’s sleep here and didn’t want to get up! On the bedside tables to either side of the bed you’ll find your phone, remote control, Bluetooth box, pens and a lamp. There are also charging points on both sides.
The table in front of the wall of shelves is at the end of the corridor, so to speak, and offers space for two people to eat. The TV is mounted on the wall between the shelves and, of course, folds out so you can watch from bed.
The real highlight of the room, however, is the complete window front that runs the length of the wall opposite the bed. So you can enjoy the Bangkok skyline from your bed. It’s really great.
There is also a seat in front of the window, so you can enjoy the view from there too. All the curtains open and close automatically at the touch of a button.
Office
Further back, you will find the small working area. There are all the necessary connections here to be able to work without any problems. Interestingly, I found that the chair was on the wrong side of the table – I would always rather enjoy the view when working than have to look into the room and at the wall.
Bath
The huge bathroom with dressing room in front is just as long as the entire room, so it really is extremely spacious. You can access the dressing room directly from the hallway or from the study at the other end of the room.
In the dressing room you will find open storage and hanging space for your clothes and accessories, and you can also store two suitcases here. Of course, you will also find a safe, bathrobes, slippers and everything you need to clean your clothes here. An iron and ironing board, shoehorn and shoe care products are also available here. You will also find a yoga mat, an umbrella and a bag that you can use to take your things to the pool, for example.
Pass through the dressing room and you are already in the actual bathroom. On the left is a shelf with additional towels and a Dyson hairdryer, right next to it is the washbasin with two basins. Various amenities and soaps are also available for you here.
Opposite the washbasin, separated by frosted glass panels, is the toilet and right next to it, separated by clear glass, is a really impressive large shower with care products consisting of body wash, shampoo and conditioner from the Harrn brand, which smelled really great and are highly recommended.
At the very end of the elongated room is a bathtub, which really scores points with bath salts and its own seating area. So much space in one bathroom. Insane!
Turndown
As you would expect, the Kimpton Maa-Lai also offers a really excellent turndown service. Hotels can really make us happy with this – it’s not a big deal, but I think it really makes a big difference!
The hardworking staff close the curtains for you, fold the duvet, put out a rug and slippers, change the towels again, clear away all the crockery, put water and glasses on the bedside tables, provide a pleasant light and, to top it all off, they also provide two little bedtime treats. In this case, very successful!
View
The view is great. We ‘only’ had our suite on the 11th floor, so we didn’t have as spectacular a view of the skyline, but the view was still great. Very urban – we loved it. The real highlight, of course, is that you can see the whole window front as a picture from your bed. It’s really great!
Hotel Activities
The Pool
The pool at the Kimpton Maa-Lai is on the 3rd floor of the building – just the walls have been left out. This makes for a really great and exciting visual effect. You can swim dry here even if it is raining. The temperature of the pool is quite cool, which is quite refreshing considering Thailand’s outdoor temperatures and very high humidity. The pool overlooks a small park and the adjacent terrace overlooks the Kempinski and the green strip between the two hotels.
There are plenty of sun loungers, seating areas and even a few cabanas where you can choose to lie under cover or in the open air. The sunbeds are equipped with call buttons and QR codes that can be used to order drinks and pool food from the pool bar.
Fitness Center
The gym is just around the corner from the pool, on the same floor. We would have liked to show off the two rooms more, but it’s always busy here and we didn’t want to disturb the people working out. Basically, the gym is pretty well equipped. As well as the usual cardio equipment, there is a large free weight and kettlebell area, a classroom and even a small bouldering wall.
Spa
The spa is also on the 3rd floor with a pool and gym. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to test the Amaranth Spa for you during our stay as there were no more spontaneous slots available, otherwise we would have used the $100 hotel credit. But next time we hope that it will work.
Specialities
At Kimpton Maa-Lai, as at all Kimpton hotels worldwide, your pets are welcome at no extra charge. As a result, there are plenty of dogs to be seen in the lobby and a designated area on the lawn between the hotel and the Kempinski for dogs to do their business.
You can also hire bicycles from the concierge at no extra cost and explore the area. We tried this and found that you really need strong nerves to ride a bike in Bangkok traffic! We struggled to do a lap around Lumpini Park and back – but we were drenched in sweat afterwards. Still, it was great fun!
The hotel also has a small map showing a jogging path through Lumpini Park. We used the map for our short bike ride.
Die Restaurants
Kimpton Maa-Lai offers several restaurants, bars and cafes. Here is a probably incomplete selection.
Restaurant
The Italian restaurant Ms Jigger is located at the back of the lobby on the ground floor and is quite cool, hidden behind a draped curtain. However, it also has a proper bar and a really nice green outdoor area.
As our booking included a $100 hotel credit, we decided to use it for our dinner here. The atmosphere is great and the staff are super friendly and well trained. Our waiter would have been more New York in attitude, but he still did a really professional job.
Personally, the music was a little too loud for us to have a relaxed conversation while we ate, but the food was all the better for it. You can really get a first class Italian meal here if that’s what you’re in the mood for in Bangkok.
Bar
The rooftop bar at Kimpton Maa-Lai is called Bar.Yard and is a garden in the sky with lots of greenery. Here you can enjoy delicious cocktails and refreshments with a fantastic view.
In the early evening, between 5pm and 6pm, there’s a social hour for all hotel guests, where a selection of cocktails, wines and various soft drinks, as well as some nibbles, are offered free of charge. In addition to all alcoholic beverages being served only, you can also serve yourself at the bar for everything else. Again, the staff are extremely friendly and well trained.
Lobby Café
With CRAFT, Kimpton Maa-Lai offers a fully-fledged café in its lobby that invites you to linger both indoors and outdoors in a beautiful and spacious setting. Here you can enjoy snacks from the in-house patisserie and locally roasted coffee from local brand Karo Coffee Roasters througout the day, or order delicious refreshments from the bar in the evening. This is the place to find the most four-legged friends.
Terrace
On the 30th floor of Kimpton Maa-Lai, the Maa-Lai Library is another great place to indulge. Afternoon tea is served here between 1pm and 5pm, followed by delicious drinks from the bar until 8pm. The Maa-Lai Library is designed to make you feel completely at home and comfortable, and with its spectacular terrace you also have a great view of much of Bangkok’s skyline.
Breakfast
Breakfast at Kimpton Maa-Lai is served in the all-day dining restaurant Stock.Room on the 5th floor. You are greeted at the entrance by the lifts and taken to a table. We arrived, saw the queue, the Breakfast Busy-O-Meter and already had a bad feeling. The reception was actually quite friendly, but in the restaurant all hell broke loose. Madness. It was incredibly noisy and incredibly busy. Also the music was way too loud so we were both immediately tense.
When we got to our seats, we were not told anything about breakfast works and some time later a waiter came to take our hot drink orders. We had to find out for ourselves that we had to fill in a form that sat on the table to order food. The food we ordered was then brought to us by various members of staff. Unfortunately, there was no person assigned to our table – which made the whole experience extremely impersonal.
However, most of the breakfast is served as a buffet. The selection itself is really great. There were an incredible 7(!) live cooking stations and a seemingly endless selection of dishes spread around the different rooms. The food was really good and everything was available and fresh right up to the last minute.
But it really was incredibly crowded – the route from our table to the buffet was a slalom, and there were usually crowds of other guests at each station. So please don’t be fooled by the pictures – it took me a long time to get photos where there weren’t so many other guests blocking the view, and we waited until the restaurant had actually closed to take some of them.
By the way, there is a pretty strict access policy when it comes to outfits. If you show up in swimwear or flip-flops, you will be turned away. We witnessed this live – there really is no ifs or buts about it.
Check-out
As expected, checking out of Kimpton Maa-Lai was very quick and uncomplicated. Everything was prepared and we received the 3000 THB deposit in cash. We were able to pay for the rest of the meal by card – the credit had already been deducted. Very good.
Finally, we were asked if we needed any help with our departure, upon that we startet chatting a bit. The lady at reception said that the occupancy rate wasn’t very high at the moment – only 73 per cent! That’s crazy. Two weeks ago it was an incredible 98 per cent! Most hotels can only dream of that. At Kimpton Maa-Lai, however, it seems to be normal. Amazing! But in our opinion, very well deserved!
Costs
We booked through Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts and had the following additional benefits:
- Early check-in subject to availability
- Guaranteed late check out until 16:00
- Breakfast for up to two people, depending on the booking
- 100 dollar credit for use at the hotel
- Free Wi-Fi
We used our 200 euro Amex travel credit for the booking, reducing our rate from 356 euros to 156 euros. And we used the 100 dollar hotel credit for our really sumptuous dinner at the Italian restaurant and ended up paying 33 euros.
Departure and onward journey
As with getting there, you can of course continue your journey by bus, train or taxi to your next hotel or airport. We travelled by grab to Don Mueang Airport, the second airport in Bangkok, to fly to Yogjakarta on Java, Indonesia. There we will spend a few nights at the Sheraton Yogjakarta. Stay tuned to this blog for a review next week.
Conclusion
Kimpton Maa-Lai is a great hotel. Our expectations were far exceeded. We were hoping for a great stay but we were pleasantly surprised. The only flaw is the breakfast. Something needs to be done so that guests don’t start the day completely stressed, because honestly, that’s not worthy of a hotel like this!
Recommendation
We can really recommend Kimpton Maa-Lai to all types of guests. Singles, couples, families and business travellers are all well catered for.
Hotel Homepage
Rating
We award Kimpton Maa-Lai 9 out of a possible 10 points. We only deduct one point for the really unrelaxing breakfast. We think that’s a shame, because it was delicious and the choice was really huge, but just not a peaceful start to the day and not worthy of the high standard of a hotel like this.
We will definitely be back and hope the breakfast situation is better!
Go there?
Absolutely. We highly recommend it!
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