The Mandarin Oriental Bangkok

HISTORY IN BRIEF / IN DETAIL

1860 A Boarding House was operated by Captain James White on the land of the Privy Purse, where the hotel stands today.

1863 The first hotel called ‘Oriental Hotel’ is operated by Atkins Dyer and William West, both Americans.

1865 On 11 June 1865, a fire destroyed the Oriental Hotel.

1866 German C. Falck operates Falck’s Hotel and a bowling alley on the premises.

1876 The official ‘opening year’ of the Oriental Hotel

1881 H.N.Andersen buys the hotel. 

1885 Andersen rebuilds the hotel, today known as the Authors’ Wing. Architects: S Cardu & Rossi.

1890 H.N. Andersen, welcomed His Majesty King Chulalongkorn. His Majesty decided to accommodate Crown Prince Nicholas of Russia for one week at The Oriental in April 1891.

1910 Marie Maire buys the Oriental Hotel.

1913 Establishment of the Imperial & Royal Austro-Hungarian Legation in the Kingdom of Siam on 28 February 1913 at the Oriental Hotel.

1923 William Somerset Maugham arrived at the Oriental Hotel. He stays for several weeks, after suffering from a serious attack of Malaria.

1942 During World War II the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo took over the management of The Oriental.

1947 Jim Thompson and Germaine Krull acquire The Oriental.

1950 Mrs Eleanor Roosevelt arrived in 1950 as a guest of the Thai government to speak at the American Association luncheon held at The Oriental, where a crowd of over 1000 people awaited her. 

1967 The Bangkok based construction company Italthai buys the Oriental Hotel. Kurt Wachtveitl becomes its general manager. The name is shortened to The Oriental.

1972 The owners of the Mandarin Hotel in Hong Kong decided to establish Mandarin International Hotels Ltd and expand into Southeast Asia. The Oriental matched their requirements in Thailand. The two companies entered into a partnership, which continues, harmoniously to this day.

1976 The new River Wing was completed. The year is – in retrospect – accepted as the centenary of the hotel.

1996 The 120th anniversary of the hotel is celebrated with the launch of the first official hotel’s history book ‘The Oriental’, by Andreas Augustin.

2015/6 At the Authors’ Wing the Royal Suite, the Ambassador Suite, and on the ground floor the Somerset Maugham, James Michener, Noel Coward, the Authors’ Lounges and the Joseph Conrad Terrace are opened after six months of renovation.

Note to readers: The confusion over the opening date might lead to the impression that the history of The Oriental hasn't been research properly. Yet we actually searched for over ten years, finding evidence of an 'Oriental Lodge' in the same place during the 1850s (Bangkok Calendar). This lodge burnt down and was rebuilt. We tried to shed as much light as possible on this story in our book THE ORIENTAL BANGKOK. However, the hotel management decided to set the offical opening date to 1876. Why? Very simple. The new River Wing was inaugurated in 1976, and at this point the owning manager Giorgio Berlingiri decided to put an end to all speculation, saying: we are 100 years old NOW. And that was it. Ever since, the hotel has celebrated its birthday following the 1876 date, although it could give a much higher age. A rare example of modesty in this industry.

Royal, Noble and State Visits

The Royal Family of Thailand patronizes The Oriental since its very beginning.
The hotel is also proud to welcome the most notable international and local visitors. Here is an excerpt of its impressive guest list:
Akishino, Prince of Japan
Alahmadi Ali Muaaddi Aziz Abdul Bin
Albert, Prince of Belgium
Albright Madeleine
Alexander, Prince of Belgium
Alexandra, Princess & Sir Angus Ogilvy
Alexandra, Princess of Denmark
Amneh Althani, Princess of Quatar
Andreotti Giulio, PM of Italy
Annan Kofi, Secretary General UN
Anne-Marie, Queen of the Hellenes
Badawi Dato Seri Abdullah Bin Haji
    Ahmad of Malaysia
Bernhard, Prince of the Netherlands
Bertil, Prince of Sweden
Bhawani, Maharaja of Jaipur
Birendra, King of Nepal
Bongo El Hadj Omar Albert-Bernard
     of Gabun
Boutros Boutros-Ghali
Bush George
Carl Gustaf XVI, King of Sweden & Queen Silvia
Carrington Peter, 6th Baron Carrington
Carter Rosalyn
Chand Kanidta
Charles, Prince of Wales and
     Princess Diana
Chretien Jean
Chirac Jaques
Cinzano Count Alberto
Constantine XI
Cuellar Perez
Dini Lamberto
Diskul Subhadradis
Duke d’Antin
Estrada Joseph Ejercito, President of the
       Philippines
Fuerstenberg George Prince & Victoria
Fujimori Alberto, President of Peru
Fukuda Takeo, PM Japan
Gandhi Rajiv & Sonia, PM of India
Genscher Hans Dietrich
George Tupou V, King of Tonga
George William, Prince of Hanover
Goh Chok Tong, PM of Singapore
Haakon, Prince of Norway
Halonen Tarja, President of Finland
Hassan al-Bolkiah Mu’izzad-din
     Waddaulah Haji, Sultan of Brunei
Havel Vaclav, President of Czechia
Hawke J L Robert, Australian PM
Heath Edward, Great Britain PM
Henrik, Prince of Denmark
Hermannsson Steingrímur, PM of
     Iceland
Hitomi Hiroshi
Hohenzollern Prince Johann George
Hussein Abdullah Prince
Hussein, King of Jordan & Queen Noor
Ingrid, Princess of Denmark
Jettou Driss, PM of Morocco
Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain
Juliana, Queen of the Netherlands
Khalifa Bin Salam Al-Khalifa,
      PM of Bahrain
Keating Paul, PM of Australia
Khoman Thanat, Deputy PM
Kissinger Henry
Klestil Thomas, President of Austria
Kohl Helmut, PM of Germany
Ladawan Thawisan M L
Lee Hsien Loon, PM of Singapore
Lee Kuan Yew, PM of Singapore
Lilian, Princess of Sweden
Lusinan Jaime, President of Venezuela
Macapagal-Arroyo Gloria, President of
    The Philippines
Manmohan Singh, PM of India
Margarethe II, Queen of Denmark
Margarita, Queen of Bulgaria
Maria Teresa of Luxembourg
Masako, Crown Princess of Japan
Michael, Prince of Kent
Minnikhanov Rustam Nurgaliyevich,
     President of Tatarstan, Russia
Mohamad Datuk Seri Mahathir, PM of
      Malaysia
Naruhito, Crown Prince of Japan
Nixon Richard, President USA
Papandreou Andreas, PM of Greece
Peres Shimon
Person Goran, PM of Sweden
Pignatelli Luciana Princess
Quayle Dan, US Vice President
Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Rainier III de Grimaldi, Prince of Monaco
Ramos Fidel, President Philippines
Reagan Nancy
Rocard Michel, PM of France
Rojanastien Boonchu, PM of Thailand
Rothschild Philippine de Baroness
Saad Al Abdullah Al Salim Al Sabah,
     Crown Prince & PM of Kuwait
Sarasin Pote, PM of Thailand
Sartzetakis Christos, President of Greece
Schlueter Poul, PM of Denmark
Schmidt Helmut, Chancellor of
     Germany
Shultz George, US Secretary of State
Shah Azlan, Sultan of Perak
Sihanouk Norodom, King of Cambodia
Simeon II, King of Bulgaria
Shinawatra Yingluck, PM of Thailand
Soeharto Tojib, President of Indonesia
Sonja, Princess of Norway
Spencer Earl & Lady
Suzuki Zenko, PM of Japan
Talal Bin Mohammed, Prince of Jordan
Thatcher Margaret,  PM of Great Britain
Thein Sein, President of Myanmar
Thyssen-Bornemisza de
      Kászon Hans Henrik
Trudeau Pierre Elliott
Tupou George V, King of Tonga
Vadhana Galyani Princess
Vranitzky Franz, PM of Austria
Wangchuck, Jigme Khesar Namgyel,
      Dragon King of Bhutan
Weinberger Caspar
Weizsaecker Richard,
      President of Germany
Willem Alexander, Crown Prince of the Netherlands

******************

ARTISTS, ACTORS and OTHERS

Adjani Eric
Alexandre de Paris
Ambler John
Andrews Julie
Archer Jeffrey
Armstrong Neil
Arpels Mr&Mrs Philippe
Atkinson Kim
Attenborough, Sir Richard & L.
Aubert Jean-Claude
Aznavour Charles
Bacall Lauren & Robards
Baez Joan
Balestra Renato
Balmain Pierre
Barichello Rubens
Barnard Christian
Barnes Nick
Bartlett Hall
Baxter Anne
Beattie Anne
Becker Boris
Beckham David
Beevor Antony
Belmondo Jean Paul
Bhicharnchitr Worachai
Bisset Jaqueline
Bjornsdotter Cecilia
Blamey W S
Bocuse Paul
Bolshoi Theatre Dancers
Borg Björn
Boriboon Burin
Bouwer Sandra
Bowie David
Bradley Ed
Bradford Sarah
Brannon Robert L
Brillantes G
Brosnan Pierce
Brogen Pierre
Bronfman E M Mr &Mrs
Brotherhood of Man
Buffet Bernard
Burns George
Caine Michael & Shakira
Cardin Pierre
Carey Peter
Carr Allan
Carreras José Maria
Carroll Diahann
Cartland Barbara
Chan Jackie
Chand Meira
Chang Jung
Charles Ray
Chow Yun Fat
Cimino Michael
Clapton Eric
Clement Richard
Coburn James
Colen D J
Conrad Joseph
Connery Sean
Cooper Edward Jr
Corbett Ronnie
Cornwell David (John Le Carré)
Cousteau Jaques-Yves
Coward Noël,
Crawford Michael
Cronkite Walter
Cruise Tom
Cusack John
Dahl Arlene
Dajani A
Dalrymple, William
De Bono Edward
De Niro Robert
De Voss David
Dench Judi
De Palma Brian
Desavesa Chavane Choen
Devakul Tri M L
Dhammachoti Ussiri
Di Caprio, Leonardo
Dillon Matt
Dior Christian
Diskul Galavanardis M C
Douglas Eric
Dove Rita
Drabble Holroyd Margaret
Eastham Richard 
Eastwood Alison & Kyle
Eden Barbara
Estefan Gloria & family
Fairbanks Douglas Sr
Federer Roger
Feibleman Peter
Ferry Bryan
Field Sally
Finkbeiner-Zellmann Peter
Fisher Carrie
Fleming Alexander
Fleming Ian
Flick F K
Flierbach H Rolf
Fluor Robert J
Forbes Malcolm Christopher
Ford Harrison
Forsyth Frederick
Fox Michael J
Gabor Eva
Gainsbourg Serge
Gangler Julie
Garavani Valentino
Garret Leif
Gemma Giuliano
Gibson Mel
Giraudet Pierre
Glas Uschi
Glendinning Victoria
Godunov Alexander
Golding William & Anne
Grant Huge
Gray Linda
Greene Graham
Guerlain Philippe
Guyer David
Hackman Gene
Hagman Larry
Hancock Herbie
Harrison George
Hawke Bob
Hawn Goldie
Hayden Bill
Heath B W
Henkel Gabriele
Henkel Konrad
Hennessy Gilles
Hepburn Audrey
Heston Charlton
Hillary Edmund
Hitchcock Alfred
Holmer E C
Horowitz Anthony
Hudson Ernie
Humperdinck Engelbert
Humphries Barry (Dame Edna)
Hutasing Toum
Iyer Pico
Jackson Michael
Jagger Mick
Jarre Jean-Michel
John Elton
Johnson Don
Kane Brian
Kelly Grace
Kennedy D
Khoman Thanat
King Alan
King Don
Kingston Maxine Hong
Kitt Eartha
Kostelanetz André
Kruger Hardy
Lacoste Bernard
Lamsam Bancha
Laube William T
Lauda Niki
Laurent Yves St
Law David Jude
Leach Robin
Lee Christopher
Lemper Ute
Lennox Annie
Levin Boris M
Linen James A III
Link Alma Khunying
Llosa Mario Vargas
Loren Sophia
Lowes Tony
Luce Clare Boothe
Ludwig Christa
MacNee Patrick
Mailer Norman
Marks Mary-Ellen
Marone Cinzano
Marriott John Willard III
Martin Mary
Matteson John R
Maugham Somerset
Mehta Zubin
Menuhin Yehudi
Michener James A
Midler Bette
Mills John Sir
Mimieux Yvette
Mochtar Kusumaatwadja
Moore Roger
Moreno Rita
Morgan Rex
Mori Hanae
Morley Sheridan
Moss Kate
Moss Stirling
Mountbatten Leggy
Muldoon Robert
Murdoch Iris
Naghaway I
Naipaul Vidiadhar Surajprasad
Nakamura
Nakasone Yashuhiro
Nakorn Na Saengdoen Khunying
Nandabhiwat Boonying
Nandhabhiwat Sarapee Khunying
Navaphan Sukhum
Navratilova Martina
Newhart Bob
Nicholson Jack
Nijinsky Vaslav
Nilsson Birgit
Nureyev Rudolf
Oe Kenzaburo
Ogilvy David
Palma Brian de
Papp Joseph
Parker Maynard
Parrot JeanMarie
Pelé (Edson Arantes do Nascimento)
Penn Sean
Philips Mark
Piatelli Bruno
Poitier Sydney
Polanski Roman
Pongpaiboon Naowarat
Powell Jane
Powers Stephanie
Pramoj Kukrit
Pramoj Usni M L
Presley Priscilla
Price Vincent
Promphen Vilai
Prussia Lee
Pulitzer Joseph III
Puttnam David
Rafelson Bob
Raffin Deborah
Rampal Jean Paul
Rampling Charlotte
Rauschenberg Robert
Reagan Maureen
Rees Roger
Richard Pierre
Rockefeller David
Ross Diana
Roux Michel
Rowntree Richard
Sachs Gunter
Salikun Bin Mauri
Sarasin Pong
Sathienthai Surakiat
Sayer Leo
Schumacher Michael
Sedaka Neil
Selleck Tom
Sharapova Maria
Sharif Omar
Sheldon Sidney
Shelton Deborah
Sherry Norman
Shipley Walter
Sinclair Joplin
Singh Vijay
Smith Harold
Smith Wilbur
Squier Billy
SP Somtow
Stallone Sylvester
Stamp Terence
Stanislaw James
Steinbeck John
Stewart Jackie and family
Stone Oliver
Straub Peter
Strauss Peter
Struthers Sally
Sukarno Dewi
Sukhanetr Sribhume
Sutherland Dame Joan
Suyin Han
Taittinger Virginia Dard
Takase Nagayuki
Tamchai Orasa
Tang David
Taylor Elizabeth
Theroux Paul
Thumboo Edwin
Turner Tina
Ungaro Emanuel
Ustinov Peter
Van Cleef & Arpels
Van Damme Jean Claude
Vanderbilt W C
Vidal Gore
Vine William
Viravardaya Marisa
Virawan Amnuay
Voon Wong Meng
Vuitton Louis
Wallace Mike
Warwick Dionne
Washam Joanne
Watanabe Sadao
Webber Andrew Lloyd
West Morris
Whiting Leonard
Wilson Owen
Williams Tennessee
Williams Venus
Winchester Simon
Winter Roger
Wise Robert
Witt Hajo
Yanni John Christopher
Yeoh Michelle
Yevtushenko Yevgeniy
Yip Francis
Yipintsoi Misiem
Young Gavin
Young Paul
Zellweger Renee
 

*******

SEA WRITE AWARD

Past Guest Speakers 2012 Mr. Simon Winchester 2011 Prof. Dr. Edwin Thumboo 2010 Mr. William Dalrymple 2009 Mr. Paul Theroux (first time in 1985) 2008 Mr. Antony Beevor 2007 Ms. Sarah Bradford 2006 S.P. Somtow (Somtow Sucharitkul) 2005 Ms. Rita Dove 2004 Ms. Meira Chand 2003 The Honourable Victoria Glendinning CBE FRSL 2002 Mr. Mario Vargas Llosa 2001 Mr Pico Iyer 2000 Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul 1999 Lord David Puttnam 1998 Mr Norman Mailer 1997 Mr Frederick Forsyth 1996 Miss Jung Chang 1995 Dame Iris Murdoch 1994 Mrs Margaret Drabble Holroyd 1993 Lord Jeffrey Archer 1992 - 1991 Dr Norman Sherry 1990 Mr Sheridan Morley 1989 - 1988 Mr Wilbur Smith 1987 Sir Peter Ustinov 1986 Mr Morris West 1985 Mr Paul Theroux 1984 Mr William Golding 1983 M.R. Kukrit Pramoj 1982 Mr Gore Vidal 1981 Dr Han Suyin 1980 Mr James A. Michener

Legends and Stories from the book The Oriental Bangkok © famoushotels.org

The difference is in the robe: Like aboard a ship, there are different classes in life, and even at The Oriental. But how to recognize this? Simply watch the bathrobes - occupants of one of the fantastic suites wear silk bathrobes at the pool, the rest of us the other models.

******

Joseph Conrad One man did not stay at the hotel although he was a frequent visitor to the bar. On 24 January 1888, Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, born in December 1857 in Poland and better known as Joseph Conrad, arrived in Bangkok to take over command of a ship, the Otago. The previous captain had died at sea. While in Bangkok, overseeing the reloading of the ship and waiting for the crew to recover from illness, he spent many evenings swapping stories in the bar of The Oriental. ‘We talked of wrecks, of short rations and of heroism . . . and now and then falling silent all together, we gazed at the sights of the river.’ Early in the morning of 8 February 1888, the Otago weighed anchor and glided quietly past the foreign consulates and the still-slumbering occupants of The Oriental, on her way to Singapore. This was to be Conrad’s only visit to Bangkok and in fact his first and only sea-going command. A few years later he traded the helm for a pen and, settling in England, took up writing full time. Conrad’s experiences with the Otago provided material for a number of his stories including Lord Jim, The Shadow Line, Falk and The Secret Sharer. Here fact and fiction merge so that it is almost impossible to tell the two apart. Bangkok continued to have a strong hold on his mind and he utilised every moment of his experience in the East in his writing, embellishing here, enhancing there, until even the old timers at the Oriental bar would have been proud of him.

*******

The concert hall at The Oriental was the centre of Western arts in Bangkok. Just before World War 1 (1918-1914) the hotel’s concert hall had been successfully transformed into a theatre.

******

In 1916, Oriental owner and manageress Maria Maire had the pleasure of hosting Russian born Vaslav Nijinsky at the Oriental Theatre. Arguably the greatest dancer of the 20 century, Nijinsky was a refugee from the great war, travelling the world with his family in search for a new home.

******

On 6 January 1923 Somerset Maugham arrived in Bangkok by train from Chiang Mai and booked a room at The Oriental: ‘I was in Bangkok. It is impossible to consider these populous modern cities of the East without a certain malaise. They are all alike, with their straight streets, their arcades, their tramways, their dust, their blinding sun, their teeming Chinese, their dense traffic, their ceaseless din. They have no history and no traditions. Painters have not painted them. No poets, transfiguring dead bricks and mortar with their divine nostalgia, have given them a tremulous melancholy not their own. . . . But when you leave them it is with a feeling that you have missed something and you cannot help thinking that they have some secret that they have kept from you.’
And about The Oriental (The Gentleman in the Parlour): ‘The hotel faced the river. My room was dark, one of a long line, with a verandah on each side of it, the breeze blew through, but it was stifling. The dining-room was large and dim, and for coolness’ sake the windows were shuttered. One was waited on by silent Chinese boys. I did not know why, the insipid Eastern food sickened me. The heat of Bangkok was overwhelming. The wats oppressed me by their garish magnificence, making my headache.’
Maugham fell ill: ‘I took my temperature. I was startled to see that it was a hundred and five. I could not believe it, so I took it again; it was still a hundred and five.’ Maugham had contracted malaria while travelling. ‘Towards the end of my journey down Siam the officer in command of the post had insisted that I should stay in his own house. He gave me his best bedroom. I had not the heart to say that I preferred my own little camp-bed, which had a mosquito-net, to his, which had not. The anopheles snatched at the golden opportunity.’ It was a bad attack. For some days the quinine had no effect on him.
One morning he overheard a conversation between the manageress of the hotel, Mme Maria Maire, and the doctor. ‘I can’t have him die here, you know. You must take him to the hospital.’ The doctor replied: ‘All right. But we’ll wait a day or two yet.’ ‘Well, don’t leave it too long,’ she replied. A few days later Maugham recovered. ‘And because I had nothing to do except look at the river and enjoy the weakness that held me blissfully to my chair I invented a fairy story.’ * In 1925 Maugham was back in Bangkok, stopping again at The Oriental, and he stayed for two weeks in perfect health, much to Mme Maire’s relief. On his last visit to Bangkok in 1960 to celebrate his 85th birthday he reminisced: ‘I was almost evicted from The Oriental because the manager did not want me to ruin her business by dying in one of her rooms.’
(More about S. Maugham and some photographs here)

******

Germain Krull, The Orient legendary owner and manager during the 1950s, remembers in the book The Oriental: ‘The vogue for wanting things they couldn’t have or which didn’t belong to them was not confined to the hotel staff but extended to hotel guests. A Thai ashtray seldom remained in the hotel longer than a day. If we began the evening with five ashtrays on the bar, there were none left when it closed. ‘All the little bells, which were difficult to get, disappeared from the tables. I imported novel wooden pepper mills from abroad but they became so popular with the guests and their appearances on the tables so brief, that I gave up on ordering them. ‘I went to a great deal of trouble to have special lamps made for the tables in the Bamboo Bar. The bases were carved teak elephants about six inches high. The shades were of hide with cut-out Thai designs of flowers or animals. We only retained them because the boys knew the customers most likely to walk off with them and did not hesitate to check in the late evening hours. ‘There were times when I felt I was carrying a leaking bucket, what with money disappearing like magic into the pockets of charming employees and hotel equipment spirited away by equally charming guests.’
**********

Buying The Oriental 1967 Giorgio Berlingieri, born in Genoa in Italy in 1922, entered The Oriental’s history book in 1967 with his company ‘It', founded in the mid-fifties by Berlingieri as a joint-venture with Dr Chaijudh Karnasuta. This very Dr Chaijudh first called Berlingieri about The Oriental in 1967. Berlingieri later reproduced this conversation in An Oriental Album: ‘The first step leading to the acquisition was taken in mid-air, so to speak. My partner, Dr Chaijudh Karnasuta, co-chairman of the It, put in a long-distance call to me, as I was on a business trip to Italy. “There’s a hotel for sale.” “Forget it,” was my immediate reply. “It’s The Oriental Hotel,” said Dr Chaijudh, a man of few words. “Why didn’t you say so?” I cried. “Of course, we’ll buy it!” “That’s what I thought you would say,” the good doctor calmly remarked. And that was that.’

********

Giorgio Berlingieri was the head of the owing company of the Oriental in the 1970s. ‘People always judge the hotel by its restaurants,’ said Berlingieri. A born gourmet like many Italians, Berlingieri’s knowledge of food and wine was excellent. It seems extraordinary, that there was no spaghetti on the menu. Berlingieri explained that, ‘Spaghetti should be cooked al dente with split-second timing, a task too difficult to perform in a restaurant.’ Well, today the Italian restaurant at The Oriental proofs him wrong.

******

In 1992 The Oriental opened the first Oriental Shop at Bangkok’s Isetan shopping complex. In 1995 a second Oriental Shop was opened at the Lake Rajada office complex selling gift items, fine chocolates, pâtés, wines and almost everything needed for an exquisite gourmet dinner at home.

******

The Oriental Queen, a river boat, was one of the successful enterprises of the hotel in the 1980s and 90s. Over one million passengers travelled on her daily river cruise from the hotel’s landing pier to the ancient capital of Ayutthaya.

*****

In 2001, the 125th anniversary of The Oriental (at least the official age, as all attentive readers know by now) was the talk of the town. 1,500 of the closest friends of the hotel gathered for a champagne reception in the lobby, followed by a perfectly organized gala dinner on the terrace. A splendid fashion show and half an hour of brilliant fireworks crowned the evening.

*******

Room Attendance To avoid unwelcome disturbances an electronic detection device helps the butler to find out if the guest is in the room or not. Old guests still remember the little wooden sticks leaning at the doors. When the roomboys saw that they had fallen, they knew that the guest had opened the door.

*******

ADVERTISING the FANS One of the most successful advertising campaigns in the history of the Mandarin Oriental group is the 'Fan campaign'. It features international celebrity endorsements, performs well in advertising recognition surveys and is backed by an annual budget of approx. US$5M. All hotels contribute 1% of their annual gross revenue to be part of the campaign. The stars featured include: Barry Humphries = Dame Edna 'Megastar' Bryan Ferry David Tang Elle Macpherson Frederick Forsyth Helen Mirren I.M. Pei Jane Seymour Jerry Hall Kenzo Takada Lance Armstrong Maggie Cheung Michelle Yeoh Whoopi Goldberg Vanessa Mae Vivienne Tam Zubin Mehta

*******

"Peeping behind the scenes of the hotel in more modern times proved a real eye opener. The secret of how the Oriental achieved its world-leading status became increasingly obvious. Painstaking, meticulous work with the staff was a key element in our quest. Slowly the book grew into a manual of perfect hotel-keeping. I once asked Kurt Wachtveitl how the Oriental became the best hotel in the world. 'It's very simple,’ he explained. ‘We tell our staff exactly, what to do.' Smiling, he paused before adding: 'And we tell them what again week in, week out'." Author Andreas Augustin remembers learning the secrets of the house while researching his book on The Oriental.

********

Kurt Wachtveitl was the longest serving general manager of The Orientl (1967–2009 = 42 years). He graduated from the hotel school at Lausanne, Switzerland in 1961, read history of art and literature in Rome, Italy and philosophy in Spain. His professional career includes stops at Trois Couronnes, Vevey; Beau-Rivage Palace, Lausanne (where he met his wife Penny); Suvretta Haus, St Moritz; and the Park Lane Hilton, London.

*********

The MO Magazine has a circulation of 40,000. It is mailed to MO top clients and distributed in-room at all MO hotels.

********* 

Managing The Oriental

Some of the varied individuals who have managed the hotel.
Owners appear in parentheses.
</i>
1863 Captain James White
1878 H Jarck (C Salje)
1887 Georges Troisoeufs (Messrs Andersen & Co)
1890 Mr Allen
April 1891 Mr Smith
September 1891 George F Kornloff
1893 W J Palmer (Franklin ‘Bill’ Hurst)
1899 (a syndicate represented by a Mr W Downie)
1903 F S Robertson
1904 Carl G Edwards (Mme M O Bujault)
1910 Mme Maria Maire
1932 Lt. Col and Mrs Sylow
1935 Mr J O Hossig
1940 Maria Robins
1942 Mankichi Sugiyama
1945 Maria Robins
1947 Germaine Krull (Germaine Krull, Jim Thompson, Chai Prateepasen, Prince Bhanu, Pote Sarasin, John Wester)
1960 Robert Fassom
1963 Barrie Cross
1965 Albert Urscheler
1967 Kurt Wachtveitl (Italthai–Hong Kong Land, from 1972)
2009 Jan Goessing
2012 Amanda Hyndman
2017 Greg Liddell
2021 Anthony Tyler

******