It opened in 1991, replacing the ailing government-owned Erawan Hotel, on a corner of Ratchaprasong Intersection in the modern city centre.

[2] Rangsan's design for Amarin Plaza had involved the combination of Greco-Roman columns with a glass-walled office tower, a postmodern style popular with tenants but heavily criticized by fellow architects.

[2] His original proposal, following a method described as Thai Mannerist,[3] was attacked as a disrespectful appropriation of sacred forms, and Rangsan acquiesced to the project owners' requests to cut several components.

[2] The result was a similar postmodern design to that of Amarin Plaza, but with the Western-historicism inspiration replaced by traditionalist Thai elements, most visibly gigantic square columns with indented corners and capitals in the style of temple architecture.

[8][9] The hotel, which is managed by Hyatt, survived the 1997 Asian financial crisis thanks to its being able to quote prices in dollars, helping it avoid losses due to the fall in value of the baht.

The hotel was negatively affected by the bombing at the nearby Erawan Shrine in 2015,[10] but especially suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020–2021, as its business segment relied over 80 percent on international guests.

[7][13] Its lobby occupies a vast atrium with towering columns that dominate the building's interior as well as exterior, and is decorated with artworks by prominent contemporary Thai artists.

Dedicated to the Hindu god Brahma, known in Thai representation as Phra Phrom, the shrine was built along with the original Erawan Hotel to ward off the bad fortune that had been plaguing its construction.