Orient Express to return as Bangkok hotel

Orient-Express is dead. Long live Orient Express. 

Nearly five years after the Orient-Express brand (with hyphen) became Belmond, and more than a year since AccorHotels partnered with SNCF Group, owner of the Orient Express brand (without hyphen), to launch a new collection of hotels under the name, a new property is underway.

The first Orient Express hotel of the brand's new era will open in the King Power Mahanakhon Building in Bangkok. The hotel is slated to open in the last quarter of 2019, 136 years after the Orient Express train made its maiden voyage from Paris.

“The launch of the world’s first Orient Express Hotel at King Power Mahanakhon truly completes our vision of creating an extraordinary landmark that celebrates the city and adds a new milestone to Thailand and the world’s hospitality industry, while further elevating Thailand to a truly world-class destination,” said Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, CEO of King Power Group. 
 
“We are proud to bring the multicultural heritage, mystery and exoticism of the legendary Orient Express brand to Bangkok” said Michael Issenberg, chairman and CEO AccorHotels Asia-Pacific. “Orient Express redefined rail travel in the 1900s, introducing the first sleeper cars linking West to East and delivering unprecedented levels of comfort and dining. We look forward to bringing this same luxury and refinement to the new incarnation of Orient Express hotels.”
 
Designer Tristan Auer turned the Art Deco stylings and plant motifs of the original Orient Express train carriages into a modern skyscraper. At 78 stories, King Power Mahanakhon Building is currently the tallest building in Bangkok and a visual landmark, thanks to its exterior, which is encased in a glass curtain with cuboid spiral cut-outs that give it a pixelated appearance.

The Orient Express Mahanakhon Bangkok will have 154 rooms, including nine suites and two penthouses. It also will have an entire floor devoted to wellness, including an outdoor pool and Jacuzzi as well as an Orient Express Spa by Guerlain. The hotel will feature two signature restaurants: Mott 32 and Mahanathi by David Thompson. 
 
Within the complex is the recently launched Mahanakhon SkyWalk, Thailand’s highest observation deck on levels 74, 75 and 78, while a King Power duty free and retail area occupies levels one to four. The building will have a rooftop restaurant and bar on level 76.
 

AccorHotels and SNCF Group signed a strategic partnership in 2017 to develop Orient Express hotels after AccorHotels acquired a 50-percent stake in the share capital of the brand.