Wish you were here, 1936!

A postcard dated January 15, 1936 and depicting the Railway Hotel in Hua Hin has recently come to light in the records of Centara Hotels & Resorts, who today owns and operates the hotel as Centara Gra

A postcard dated January 15, 1936 and depicting the Railway Hotel in Hua Hin has recently come to light in the records of Centara Hotels & Resorts, who today owns and operates the hotel as Centara Grand Beach Resort & Villas Hua Hin.

The hotel is about to celebrate its 90th birthday, having opened in October 1922 and had its grand opening on January 1, 1923.

Regarded as one of the classic hotels of the East, and earlier this year enlisted as a member of the Leading Hotels of the World, the property dates back to the time when Hua Hin itself was evolving into Thailandโ€™s first beach resort.

โ€œThe railway era brought great changes to Siam, as Thailand was then known,โ€ said Thirayuth Chirathivat, Chief Executive Officer of Centara Hotels & Resorts, โ€œThere were very few roads into the provincial areas, and places such as Hua Hin were known only to the local population.

โ€œWhen the railway was built from Bangkok down to Malaysia, it suddenly became possible for the aristocracy of the day to travel to Hua Hin, and to enjoy the beach and the ocean.โ€

The beauty of Hua Hin was realized by the engineers surveying the southern railway route in 1909.

Land was set aside for a station, and when the first section of the line opened in 1911, Hua Hin became a destination where wealthy Bangkok residents built their holiday homes.

The southern line to Malaysia was completed in 1921, making it possible to travel between Bangkok, Malaysia, and Singapore by train.

Royal Siamese Railways (RSR) directed Italian architect A. Rigazzi to build a hotel, and at the same time commissioned a Scottish engineer named AO Robins to lay out a golf course.

The Railway Hotel initially had only 14 guestrooms, but it was very well-appointed and furnished and had an excellent standard of service to cater for its wealthy Thai and foreign guests.

By 1928, the hotel’s reputation was international and, in order to accommodate the growing number of visitors to Hua Hin, RSR added a new wing of 13 rooms, which were built to the exact same design as the already existing building.

After World War II, more guestrooms were added, along with 3 restaurants, a downstairs bar, and a lobby with a panoramic view of Hua Hin’s glorious bay.

The value of the Railway Hotel as a building of architectural and historic interest was fully acknowledged by the Thai government when in 1986 Central Group, the parent company of Centara Hotels & Resorts, acquired the property, the preservation of the old buildings and the extensive gardens being an important condition of the contract.

The much-loved historical building has been meticulously preserved, with all the subsequent additions being designed to blend perfectly with the existing structure and to maintain the air of elegance and leisure into which the hotel was born.

Hua Hin meanwhile has developed into a royal town, a resort known worldwide for its quiet charm, the old golf course now known as Royal Hua Hin Golf Course, the Hua Hin Railway Station regarded as an architectural design marvel, and Centara Grand Beach Resort & Villas Hua Hin renowned as the center of the townโ€™s social life, as it was in the 1920s, and all the way through the subsequent decades.

โ€œWe regard ourselves as the custodians of this important part of Thailandโ€™s history, and consider it our privilege to be able to present the best of Thai service tradition to the world,โ€ said Mr Thirayuth.

โ€œHaving this lovely old hotel included as one of the Leading Hotels of the World is a great delight and honor for us, and our promise is that this heritage property will be maintained for the generations to come.โ€

Mr. Thirayuth said that postcards featuring the hotel were very popular, and that the 1936 card was found among a collection of memorabilia, some of which can now be seen in The Museum Coffee & Tea Corner, which is set in the original hotel lobby.

“The guest was clearly loving his travel experience, and our mission today is to provide a hospitality experience that exceeds expectations,” he said.

Centara Hotels & Resorts is Thailand’s leading operator of hotels, with 38 deluxe and first-class properties covering all the major tourist destinations in the Kingdom. A further 18 resorts in the Maldives, Vietnam, Bali Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Mauritius Indian Ocean, brings the present total to 56 properties. Brands and properties within Centara ensure that specific categories such as couples, families, individuals, and meetings and incentives groups will all find a hotel or resort that is appropriate to their needs.

Centara operates 24 branches of Spa Cenvaree, one of Thailand’s most luxurious and innovative spa brands, together with its newly-launched value brand Cense by Spa Cenvaree, which provides core spa services for busy travelers. The company’s Kids’ Club is available at all the family-friendly resorts to ensure that the youngsters and teens are taken care of. Centara Hotels & Resorts also operates two state-of-the-art convention centers in Bangkok, and two in northeastern Thailand, one being located in Udon Thani and the other in Khon Kaen.

For more information and reservations, please contact tel. +662 101 1234 ext. 1 or e-mail to [email protected] or visit: http://www.centarahotelsresorts.com/chbr/chbr_default.asp .

Facebook: www.facebook.com/centarahotelsresorts
Twitter: www.twitter.com/MyCentara

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Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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