Tuesday, September 11, 2007 Y 7:42 AM
Hotel 1929
A stay at or visit to 1929 is much like being in a playhouse cum retro museum. Love it or hate it, you're compelled to explore every quirky nook of this non hotel-looking hotel. Located on Keong Saik Road in China town, it's a consolidation of five shop houses built in 1929 (hence, the name) and houses 32 rooms. 1929 is old-world-architecture meet nouveau-chic-interiors. What it lacks in spaciousness, it makes up for in whimsical flair. No two room are alike, and each comes kitted out with a somewhat incongruous pairing of classic designer and funky vintage furniture, with tech-age amenities. So while you're lounging on the vintage Earnes LCW and DCM chairs from 1946, you can also fiddle with the state-ofothe-art flat screen Phillips LCD TV, clock radio CD player, digital phones and broadband connections.
Head down to the reception area, and you'll find an old fashioned barber's chair and first edition Hans Wagner "Bear" chair, purely there for aesthetic reasons, and not meant to be sat on. Unique furnishing and cosy clubby/homey atmosphere aside, the walls are lined with black and white archival photos of colonial Singapore, courtesy of the National Archives. Some quests find it spooky, others think it's quaint.
S & S CUBICLE it's a tight squeeze in here, just enough standing room for a quick shower, and butt space on the porcelain throne. Come inspired moments, management refers to it endearingly as the "shit and shower". Still, the hotel tries to make guests' ablutions a pleasurable, if not exactly comfortable experience. For one, each cubicle comes with two shower heads, a regular handheld set, and a special Rainforest shower head designed by Grohe, which delivers powerful spritz -- you'll emerge, feeling like you'd had a refreshing acupressure massage. What's more, it doesn't spray about, so the toilet seat stays relatively dry. Another thoughtful touch: the glass doors of cubicles in all double rooms are designed with a strip of frosted paneling in the middle, for privacy. For single rooms, it's all clear glass. According to management, "Even couples don't want to be seen by their other half doing No. 2. It's a personal thing."
LOBBY LOUNGE It's like stepping into a time capsule, back to a psychedelic retro living room. Cheery vintage furnishings abound : A pair of Poul Volther 'Corona' chairs, Arne Jacobsen 'Swan' and 'Egg' chairs, and a plush, so-soft-you-can-sleep-in-it purple. Mongolian rug thrown over a Joseph Hoffman 'Kubus' 1910 sofa. For those with near acrobatic balance and a small behind, there's even a vintage bicycle stool perch on. Instead of the usual awkward loitering common in most hotel lobbies, this one is just the sort in which you wouldn't mind whiling away the minutes or hours waiting for a tardy date. In the afternoons, when it's quite, a few casual corporate meetings are held right there, with staff serving drinks from the hotel's restaurant next door.
RESTAURANT EMBER The only modern, minimalist part of the hotel. Lots of wood,split level design, and quirky mirror panels strung like a puzzle with a series of random pieces piced together into a multitextured, reflective wall. Again, like the rest of 1929, it begs to be used for a party. For $1,000 you can book the whole 45-seater restaurant for a private function. What's more, there's room for a DJ on the upper platform.. The man behind the kitchen is ex-Marmalade chef Sebastian Ng, who whips up European fare with an Asian touch, with lots of pasta, game meats and seafood.
Quotes from 8 DaysMy first budget hotel stay ever, been dying to try it out. If you recall some of my blog posts, I have posted a few hotels before, mainly Scarlet Hotel, 1929 and New Majestic Hotel and this is one of the few hotels in Singapore that I have been dying to go to. I'm fascinated by the cute little chairs they have in the hotel, not in my room but in the lobby. Took some photos of it as well.
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I love the cute little love shapes on the pillow!
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I love the chair on the left, it's this orangey chair that can turn and it's super comfy!
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Barber Chair!
I got the standard room and it was really small, enough to accommodate a queen size bed, one medium table, one bedside table, one TV and one bathroom and sink. No cabinets for hanging clothes but there is this extension at the wall with hangers and there are storage space underneath the bed. The bed is really comfy but a little high too, nearly fall off when I first get off from it. My room view was nothing much, it was facing the streets, but you can open up the windows to the little balcony and watch over the other streets.
Honestly, I would have enjoyed my stay, but I think I pretty wasted it totally. It sucks to just watch your bf sleeps away and you have to self entertain yourself. I was really disappointed, didn't enjoy a single bit at all. I think I could have done more, make it more fun and memorable but it ain't memorable a bit at all except for the cute little vintage chairs. It felt so sad when I went to bed at 12am and I lie on my side of the bed, facing the wall, crying softly and trying very hard to sleep, and there was my bf snoring away, didn't even capturing a single bit of my emotions. It's like any other days we spend with each other and we are supposed to be on a break. Speaking about it and blogging it makes me feel like crying too, yeah I know, I'm some cry baby or sentimental freak but truly, I was really really disappointed.
On a lighter note, I went to a nice Austrian Restaurant for dinner. It's called Wiener Kaffeehaus.
http://www.wienerkaffeehaus.com.sg/wk_main.php
I had the classic Wiener Schnitzel and he had a beef stew with frankfurt (I couldn't get the dish name from the webbie). I had Vienna Ice Chocolate too and Wiener Apfel Strudel. The owner of the restaurant was even sitting beside us when we were there! Went through the restaurant and saw that they sell coffee making equipments too and different type of Austrian wine and coffee.
Had complimentary breakfast in the hotel restaurant, Ember. Was served with scrambled egges, sausage, bacon, potatoes and beans. We can also self help ourselves to the mini buffet that consists of cereals, bread and porridge. The food was okay, not bad, but I'm reminiscing more about the Austrian and French food I had recently.
Did something today that I haven't done it before, interesting experience, embarrassed slightly but an unique one, which was also kinda boring (mainly due to some reason). Well, an eye opener, for someone who hasn't experience such things before.
Overall, 2 days has passed since my holidays and I didn't really enjoyed it alot. I do enjoy the good times, but that's just like you know, any other days where we have gone out and do things together. Every moment spent is precious and important, I don't know whether I'm looking out too much or what, but I just keep feeling alot of disappointment and I feel very sad too. Every moment spent was in a rush, am I not supposed to be on a break? I was crying alot when I was blogging this post. Perhaps what I was feeling yesterday was weighing me down alot, kept having this feeling that I should just say what I feel out but why spoil the fun? Till when I really sit down then I feel it all coming back to me in a flood. Or maybe I was disappointed cause I heard so many sweet things and promises but yet and yet again, failed to see it happening?
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