Standing on the chic 34th floor rooftop bar, with a cocktail in hand, I took in the sprawling views of Bangkok’s glistening skyline around me and was frankly amazed. It was my first visit to Thailand’s capital and the vast cityscape certainly impressed; from my lofty position atop the recently opened INNSiDE by Meliá Bangkok Sukhumvit I could see for miles in every direction and the dazzling views were truly captivating.
Hotel
Bringing a hint of Spain to Thailand’s bustling capital city, the design-led hotel offers a stylish space in the up-and-coming On Nut district to unwind after exploring Bangkok’s many treasures. From the glass bottomed pool at that lofty bar to delectable dining and design highlights to smiling staff who go out of their way to ensure you’re well-looked after during your stay, there are a lot of good things to be said about this newcomer to the city’s skyline.
The all-inclusive hotel opened in July last year and allows guests to make the most of its views with floor to ceiling windows, double height restaurant The Kites Eatery, an open air infinity pool and bar and accommodations that sit at the upper part of the building with capacious windows. Chic, modern décor depicts Bangkok’s notable landmarks while the fresh, open plan design within its public spaces embodies a cool, casual feel.
Melia Hotels International is a Spanish hotel chain with INNSiDE by Melia a collection of urban and beach hotels with a strong design focus. The collection’s first foray in the Bangkok skyline ensures guests can blend a little Mediterranean flair with their Thai travels with LUZ Bangkok Tapas Bar taking palates on a journey across Spain, while The Kites Eatery serves up a banquet of local delights, which are destined to please those in search of tantalising Thai cuisine.
Business travellers are well catered to with meeting rooms, while everyone will appreciate Wi-Fi, laundry service, a 24-hour reception, and the private car park, 24-hour gym, security, room-service are just a few more of the useful services available at the hotel.
Room
There are 208 rooms in total and two types to choose from – an INNSiDE room or The Townhouse suites which are all dressed in white with metallic touches. INNSiDE rooms come with a king size bed or twin beds and are on the compact side with a shower behind one sliding door, a toilet behind another and a sink in the middle of the room with a clothes area to one side. They make for a fine option if you’re visiting Bangkok and plan on spending your waking hours out and about exploring the city.
Useful amenities include a rainfall shower, air conditioning, floor to ceiling windows to soak up the views, a large bed, robes and slippers, fridge, multiway plugs in case you’ve forgotten your adaptor, and a useful DND button.
The Townhouse suites, meanwhile, boast double the space (44sqm) and benefit from a dining table and seating for four (ideal when travelling with others in interconnecting rooms), a chaise sofa, twin sink and bathtub, and coffee machine.
Food and drink
As mentioned, the two main dining hot spots in the hotel are LUZ Bangkok Tapas Bar and The Kites Eatery. The former is headed up by Laia Ferrer who honed her craft among some of the finest restaurants in Barcelona before taking the reins here. The two-level restaurant offers a casual atmosphere where diners can relax with a rioja and tuck into some traditional tapas that offer a touch of Spain in Thailand.
I was lucky enough to enjoy dinner at the 33rd-floor tapas bar where big comfy chairs surround spacious tables and Mediterranean music filters throughout offering a luxe lounge vibe. The meal consisted of mouth-watering mini plates including a tomato gazpacho, cheese croquette, tuna, crispy sardines with a romesco sauce, seafood risotto with mussels and prawn, short rib beef with mash and gravy, and a dessert of ‘sangria’ – a deconstructed dish of tasty little elements including jelly and crumbled biscuit, which tasted like one of their supremely sippable sangrias. You can also enjoy your meals outside and sit around the oval bar to watch food being prepared, gaze out at the city and spot swimmers in the glass bottomed pool above.
The Kites Eatery serves up a hefty breakfast buffet of international favourites with pastries, juices, breads, hot food, pancakes, cheeses and the like, but dinnertime is where the restaurant shines.
Thailand born executive chef Katisak Pinkaew is in charge of the offering here which showcases central, northern, north-eastern and southern Thai cuisine, serving up an array of dishes, which I tucked into one evening. Highlights included flavourful chicken with cashew nuts and vegetables, crispy chicken wings, beautiful crispy panko king prawns, chicken curry with yellow sauce, plain rice, beautiful rare steak, seafood tom yum and fruits for dessert.
If you don’t end your meal with a digestif at The Giant Swing Pool Bar then you’re missing out! The infinity pool is open until midnight and views from the 34th floor across the city are something else. Instagram lovers will no doubt love the opportunity to snap a photo in the swing with the city in the background. I gravitated to the sky bar often during my short stay in this stylish hotel, not least for the panoramic views, but to enjoy a drink in the cooler evening air after hot days in the city and to bask in the buzzing atmosphere this spot offered up so well.
Another must visit place in the hotel is The Open Living Lobby, where the scent of coffee fills the air and the bright white space housing sofas, armchairs and tables offers up the ideal spot to catch up on some work or, better yet, catch up with friends.
To do
Being in a city so vast and vibrant as Bangkok, you really have to plan your time effectively if you want to see the best of what the capital can offer. You cannot visit Bangkok without meandering a selection of the food markets that are littered throughout the city; smells and sounds clash as locals and visitors alike seek out their new favourite stall serving the freshly made foods and drinks prepared right in front of you.
Shoppers will be in luck with the many monumental malls to be found throughout, while the Grand Palace – the official residence of the Kings of Siam since 1782 – and well-know temples including Wat Arun and Wat Pho are not to be missed. Those looking to get creative can try their hand at batik painting, while visitors seeking entertainment long into the night will be well placed in the hotel as it sits in the Sukhumvit area, which is synonymous with nightlife.
In a nutshell
Chic design meets Spanish flair in this Bangkok city hotel where evenings are best spent sipping on cocktails at the rooftop bar after having devoured delicious dinners at the restaurants downstairs.
Factbox
Address: 1472 Sukhumvit Road, Phrakanong, Klongtoey, Bangkok, 10110 Thailand
Tel: +66 (0) 2 340 5499
Email: reservation.innside.sukhumvit@melia.com
Website: https://www.melia.com/en/hotels/thailand/bangkok/innside-bangkok-sukhumvit
Getting there
I travelled to Bangkok with EVA Air in their plush Royal Laurel Class. EVA Air flies non-stop daily from London Heathrow to Bangkok onwards to Taipei, offering passengers a choice of three classes of cabin service: Royal Laurel Class (business class) with almost two-metre-long flat beds and 82’ seat pitch, award-winning premium economy class and economy class.
Fares start from £728 from London Heathrow to Bangkok. To book visit evaair.com or read more about my experience in Royal Laurel Class here.
See snippets of my travels on Instagram @tashheard_food_travel
Imagery provided by INNSiDE by Meliá Bangkok Sukhumvit
