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Inside Thailand's incredible railway-themed hotel that time-warps guests to the golden era of rail travel, with vintage train carriages upcycled into luxury bedrooms and a 'Poirot bar'
When I arrive at InterContinental Khao Yai Resort, I’m instructed to ring a gold bell.
The bell isn’t supposed to summon anyone.
Rather, it mimics the platform bell rung before trains depart from railway stations in Thailand, where the hotel is located.
It’s a clever way to throw me into the concept behind the retreat - recreating the 'golden age' of rail travel in Thailand, a period beginning in the late 1800s when the country’s first railway system was established under King Rama V’s reign.
It’s a theme bound to the resort's setting in Nakhon Ratchasima, a province that flourished as a railway hub in that era. To realise this vision, vintage train carriages have been recast as sumptuous hotel suites and dining areas. Separate guesthouses, with 45 retro rooms between them, are named after local railway stations.
Ailbhe MacMahon stays at InterContinental Khao Yai Resort in Thailand, which recreates the 'golden age' of rail travel in the country. To realise this vision, derelict vintage train carriages have been upcycled and restored as sumptuous hotel suites and dining areas
Nineteen suites are housed in 2.5m- (8ft) wide carriages. Ailbhe stays in a Heritage Railcar One Bedroom Pool Villa (above)
Ailbhe's villa features a curtained outdoor tub. She describes her room as 'opulent'
It's all the invention of Bangkok-based designer Bill Bensley, who says it's 'a time warp into another era, filled with train memorabilia I collected myself'.
After my bell-ringing session, a waistcoat-wearing staff member escorts me to 'Khao Yai Station' (the reception) to check in.
Beneath its gable roof is a train departures board and a ticket window. A cart piled with antique trunks is parked outside. A nook holds a train conductor’s bunk bed with vintage Playboy magazines hidden underneath the mattress.
The hotel's lobby area (above) is called 'Khao Yai Station'. Ailbhe writes: 'Beneath its gable roof is a train departures board and a ticket window. A cart piled with antique trunks is parked outside. A nook holds a train conductor’s bunk bed with vintage Playboy magazines hidden underneath the mattress'
LEFT: The exterior of the station-style lobby. RIGHT: One of the spa carriages has been left partially unrenovated
A sign above the toilets reads: 'Do not flush when the train is in the station.'
I'm getting a kick from the theatre of it all.
I'm chauffeured by a golf buggy around the grounds, a former cornfield that, with zealous landscaping, has been turned into a verdant 19-hectare (47-acre) expanse surrounding a vast artificial lake.
Scanning the property, I see railway paraphernalia resourcefully put to use; luggage racks store cocktail glasses and railway sleepers mark out pathways.
What's brewing? The golden era of rail. Above is the elegant interior of the hotel's afternoon tea carriage
Pictured above is the ‘Terminus’ poolside bar. Ailbhe remarks that she gets a kick from the theatre of the resort
The idea for the hotel, which opened two years ago under IHG, first came to Bensley when he saw a Bangkok trainyard full of derelict train carriages. So began his daydreams of bringing them back to life.
In a process he describes as a 'scavenger hunt', he tracked down carriages all over Thailand - some were long abandoned and clotted with tree roots.
Radical upcycling of these carriages, which average 80 years old, followed. A crane planted them on the resort grounds.
Nineteen suites are housed in these 2.5m- (8ft) wide carriages, the name of the fictional train line 'Khao Yai Express' embellished on their sides in looping lettering.
Ailbhe's room, above, 'revolves around an odyssey to Cambodia, manifesting in richly patterned ceilings, golden bathroom fixtures and an angular headboard shaped like the towers of Angkor Wat'
Ailbhe says that while ensconced in her compartment (above), she can kid herself 'into thinking I’m rattling along on a supremely luxurious train journey'
LEFT: The shower and hallway in Ailbhe’s Heritage Railcar One Bedroom Pool Villa. RIGHT: A neighbouring carriage holds the 'Back On Track' spa
The resort's tiny wooden tram car
Each one is a canvas for Bensley’s wonderfully far-reaching imagination, designed to represent a make-believe train journey to a real destination.
My 'Heritage Railcar Pool Villa' revolves around an odyssey to Cambodia, manifesting in richly patterned ceilings, golden bathroom fixtures and an angular headboard shaped like the towers of Angkor Wat.
Inside this opulent compartment, I can kid myself into thinking I’m rattling along on a supremely luxurious train journey.
Stepping outside brings me back to my stationary reality; on my patio, a pool and curtained outdoor tub fixedly overlook some of the 30,000-plus trees on site.
Khao Yai National Park, Thailand’s oldest national park, lies a short distance away.
A neighbouring carriage holds the 'Back On Track' spa. 'A new experience… a spa on a train!' my massage therapist Pim warmly announces ahead of my treatment.
Nearby train cars hold a kids' club, an afternoon tea venue and a sultry cocktail bar, each a playful study of period glamour.
Parallels with the Orient Express are addressed at the moodily-lit brasserie restaurant 'Poirot', named after the star detective from Agatha Christie’s 1934 best-seller Murder on the Orient Express.
Murder mystery parties are often hosted here, I learn over an elegant meal of mushroom-truffle tart and Chenin blanc wine from the nearby GranMonte vineyard.
Breakfast the next morning is had at Somying's Kitchen.
Though the restaurant specialises in Thai cuisine, it’s pure Americana in design, imitating an old-time diner with baby blue leatherette booths and vintage posters advertising the Pennsylvania Railroad.
Before I leave, I enquire about taking a spin on the resort’s tiny wooden train car, which volleys along a 500m (1,640ft) track line.
Each carriage is designed to represent a make-believe train journey to a real destination
A Bunk Bed Premium Lake Vie room at IHG Khao Yai Resort
I’m told I must pick up a ticket for it at 'Khao Yai Station'. Of course!
The slip I’m handed reads: 'Khao Yai to Bangkok, special express, first class.'
These replicas of genuine Thai train tickets were the idea of Resort Manager Danuphol Thawachoo.
He tells me they’re a reminder of his childhood, when his family would travel from southern Thailand to Bangkok by train.
Nostalgia has a home here.
Through a winning blend of retro whimsy and good, old-fashioned luxury, the resort manufactures a fantasy of Thai railway history.
A stay here is an express line to a bygone era.
Named after the star detective from Agatha Christie’s 1934 best-seller Murder on the Orient Express, the Poirot bar, above, hosts murder mystery parties
LEFT: Parallels with the Orient Express are addressed at the brasserie restaurant 'Poirot'. RIGHT: A bird’s eye view of InterContinental Khao Yai and some of its 30,000 trees
Breakfast in the morning is had at Somying's Kitchen, above