Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok’s historic and traditional association with several world-renowned authors has given its management the inspiration to name ten out of its thirty-four suites after the authors who have resided at the hotel. 

The Authors’ Residence, built in 1876, is comprised of four famous suites: Joseph Conrad, Somerset Maugham, Noel Coward and James Michener. These are most in demand. The other name suites in the River Wing are Barbara Cartland, Gore Vidal, Graham Greene, Wilbur Smith, John le Carré and Kukrit Pramoj.

“Each suite is of course decorated according to the authors’ preferences”, said Mr. Kurt Wachtveitl, Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok’s General Manager. “For instance, Barbara Cartland Suite is all in pink, extremely feminine and very romantic while the John le Carré Suite has a distinctly English masculine quality.”

In 1998 the annual literary event, the Southeast Asian Writers’ Award, celebrated its 20th anniversary and had Mr. Norman Mailer, the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award recipient, as guest speaker. And, in his honour, Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok decided to name a new suite after him.

Besides the name-suites and twelve junior suites, there are others named after ships that sought shelter on the river by the hotel a century ago, The Oriental Suite, with its colonial look evoking the aura of a turn-of-the-century summer mansion affording a magnificent view of the Chao Phraya River, is THE SUITE that has welcomed the world’s leading personalities such as the Princes of Wales, Queen of Sweden, the Sultan of Brunei, Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Jackson…

Prices of the suites range from US$ 600 for executive suites and from US$ 1,000 for name-suites to US$ 1,300 for Authors’ Suites’ (US$ 1,500 for Joseph Conrad, with balcony overlooking the Authors’ Garden and the Chao Phraya River) and US$ 3,000 for The Oriental Suite.  For the name-suites and The Oriental Suite, guests will be provided with silk bathrobes, daily snacks, champagne, and personalised stationery.