IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A CHANGE FROM HOTEL CHAINS, WHY NOT GO BOUTIQUE? ERRIN FAWCETT REPORTS ON A FEW OF THE BEST ON HIS ASIA TRAVELS
INDONESIAN ICON
Kemang
Light and spacious, Kemang Icon is an exclusive 12-room facility owned, conceptualized and orchestrated by prominent architect Ir B Sardjono Sani.Before checking-in the staff request you fill in a form that covers all your personal tastes (from type of pillows to the beverages and fruits you’d like in your room).This is all a part of their approach to “urban living with on-premise lifestyle managers”. Even the hotel’s restaurant, The Edge, can prepare personalized food.
Prices range from USD125/PHP5,070 to USD195/PHP7,906 Kemang Icon, Jalan Kemang Raya 1, Jakarta 12730, tel +62 21 719 7989, www.alilahotels.com/kemangicon.
HONG KONG LOVE SHACK
JIA
JIA’s entrance and lobby bear the signature of French design guru Philippe Starck, featuring teak wood floors and white sheer curtain-covered walls.
JIA, Mandarin for “home”, opened in late 2004, transforming a 16-year-old residential building into one of Hong Kong’s coolest places. Each room is clearly defined into living, dining and working areas.
Room rates start at USD200/PHP8,110 for a petite, up to USD350/PHP14,190 for the penthouse. JIA Boutique Hotel, 1-5 Irving St, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, tel (852) 3196 9000.
ARTY COOL IN BANGKOK
Reflections Rooms
The owner, an eccentric Zurich native, calls this an experimental art hotel. It’s dressed in primary colors and Marcel and his friend, owner Anusorn Ngeryuang invited 25 designers to individually renovate, decorate and re-invigorate each of the rooms of an old house in Soi Ari. There are two sizes, small (USD40/PHP1,622) and large (USD55/PHP2,230). Whether you want to be princess for a day, lie in a hammock on a beach or bask in a bit of Eastern European style – it’s all here. Our pick? The Disco Room. I couldn’t resist the mirror ball hanging from the ceiling over the bed and the multi-colored disco lighting panels along the wall – even in the bathroom!
Reflections Rooms, 244/2-18 Pradipat Road, Samsennai, Phayathai, Bangkok 10400, tel 02 270 3344, email rooms@reflections-thai.com, www.reflections-thai.com
SINGAPORE SURPRISE
New Majestic
Located in the heart of Singapore’s bustling Chinatown, this 30-room boutique has earned a place on Conde Nast Traveler’s prestigious Hot List. Opened early last year by 34-year old former lawyer Loh Lik Peng, the man behind the cult boutique hotel 1929, it features chic contemporary interiors by prominent local designers, while at the same time tastefully preserving an historic shop-house building which dates back to 1928.
The New Majestic is aimed at the hip urban-hip traveler with room rates ranging from approximately USD150/PHP6,080 to USD250/ PHP10,136.
New Majestic Hotel, 31-37 Bukit Pasoh Ed, Singapore. www.newmajestichotel.com
MALAYSIAN GRANDEUR
Eastern & Oriental
The E and O conjures up the spirit of past grandeur, the skilfully carved ceiling in the reception, the teak and gold paneled bar lounge. It was built in 1885 by the Sarkies brothers, who also ran the legendary Raffles Hotel in Singapore. Magnificent suites with either a sea or city view have six different themes to choose from. The pool next to the seawall is like a secret haven in Georgetown, especially during the night when the lights are dimmed to a soft whisper and the sea is black, but brimming with stories of trade guilds, pirates and much more.
Room rates are between USD40/PHP1,625 and USD80/PHP3,245. Eastern and Oriental Hotel, Penang Island, tel (6) 04 222 2000, www.e-o-hotel.com
SINGAPORE FLING
1929
Hotel 1929 is a heritage building (and a former brothel), and a wonderful union of old and new. Eames LCW and DCW chairs, a 1910 Joseph Hoffman “Kubus” sofa, Arne Jacobsen “Swan” and “Egg” chairs are among many vintage gems.
However, rooms are equipped with broadband internet connections, flat screen TVs, and glass walled dual-pressure showers. The two suites also have private rooftop gardens, and a rooftop Jacuzzi.
Book well in advance, as room sizes can vary enormously. Room prices range from USD50/PHP2,030 to USD100/PHP4,054.
Hotel 1929, 50 Keong Saik Road, Singapore. www.hotel1929.com
MACAU
MONUMEN T
Sao Tiago
While Macau is brimming with Casino resorts and hotels, Sao Tiago is currently the city’s only boutique hotel. Found on the quiet southern tip of the peninsula, away from the craziness of town, it was built directly into the walls of a 17th century fortress. The 5-star Sao Tiago has just 12 spaciously laid out rooms, with balconies overlooking the garden and the vistas beyond, with their Portuguese architecture and inner furnishings from times long gone.
Pousada De São Tiago Macau, Fortaleza de São Tiago da Barra, Macao, tel (853) 2837 8111.
BANGKOK’S
BRIGHT STAR
S15
From the street, this hotspot might strike the casual passer-by as an interior design store. However, outsized window panels offer a glimpse of the suave furnishings that lurk inside. The visitor is greeted with warm, earthy tones and reflective sheet metal; natural materials interplay with Italian lighting, and large black and white imagery adorns the walls. S15 is popular with both high-rolling travelers and funksters alike.
It is also located right in the heart of Bangkok. With 72 rooms it is close to falling out of the boutique bracket, but we’ll let that slide…
S15 Hotel, 217 Sukhumvit 15, Klongtoey-Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand, tel (662) 651 2000.
SHANGHAI
SWANK
JIA
After the success of the JIA Hong Kong, owner Yenn Wong, the 28-year-old Singapore entrepreneur, opted to go with the Australian interior designers Hecker Phelan & Guthrie for her latest endeavor. Based on the same hotel-as-domestic space concept, where rooms feel more like apartments, JIA Shanghai has transformed a 1920s apartment building. Each of the 53 chic rooms and two large penthouses have timber-paneled walls, with hints of chinoiserie, and funky accents like Gio Ponti chairs and bespoke art by Andre Fu. Just like its older brother, the hotel is affordably priced, attracting a young hip crowd.
JIA Shanghai, 931 West Nanjing Road, tel (8621) 6217 9000.
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A CONCIERGE
Jeb Ravina, senior bellman at the Hilton Cebu
We have three shifts, 7am-3pm, 3pm-11pm and the “graveyard” shift 11pm-7am. I like the morning shift. I get up at 6am, go swimming and have breakfast.
I love to mingle with Westerners because it’s an opportunity to practice my English. As hoteliers we learn the basics of the languages we come into contact with. There are certain Japanese phrases: “Could you please identify your luggage?” and, “Your luggage will follow afterwards.” A lot of communication is done with body language as well.
The tone for foreign languages is difficult to master. Japanese has a hard tone, Korean floats. In Korean, what’s different is that when you greet people there’s just one phrase that caters for everything: “An yung ha sayo”.
People staying here often request information about water sports such as scuba, snorkelling and power-skiing. I love cruising the Mactan channel, 100 feet up in a harness with a balloon, pulled by a boat. One day I was at the gazebo when a banana boat passed by in a flash, but what caught my eye was that the people in the boat were positioned as though they were riding a motorbike and the last one was holding on by his arms!
We have an initiative at the Hilton Cebu called “Be My Guest”. Each year, we have the chance to be a guest. On my turn I realized that if everybody greets you with “Good morning!” it soon gets annoying!
I’m a family man and have twins, a boy and a girl. They’re five-years-old so when I get home in the evenings I unwind and play with them.