Northstar

www.travelweekly-asia.com | 19 HOSPITALITY Marie Baxter still remembers the day in 2008 she called Singapore hotelier Loh Lik Peng with her find of the Town Hall building in Bethnal Green, in the East End of London. "I told him I'd found this marvellous old building and he'd like it for sure, and when he asked me where the location was, I mumbled it." She mumbled it three times to be exact, because back then, Bethnal Green wasn't exactly the most glorious of neighbourhoods – in fact, most Londoners would call it gritty and that would be a polite term. She persuaded him to take the next flight to London. "You have to see it," she insisted. And she was right. Loh, known for his love of restoring old buildings into boutique hotels, fell in love with it, met the then-owner and a deal was sealed pretty much on the spot. "When I first walked into the building, my jaw hit the floor. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Loh told the Financial Times. Marie Baxter. From Singapore to Sydney, Loh Lik Peng has made the unfashionable fashionable, developing trendy hotels and, at the same time, transforming seedy neighbourhoods. He recounts his journey to Yeoh Siew Hoon. "Some of the neighborhood's back alleys remain endearingly dodgy, but Bethnal Green's influx of boutique hotels, boutique firms and boutiques, are quickly adding to its rising stardom. Art galleries and swanky lounges share Bethnal Green with its resident cast of gentlemen's clubs – the sort of venues that lend the neighbourhood its mischievously illicit atmosphere." A total of £20m (US$26.3m) went into the conversion of the hotel, which has 20 individually designed rooms and suites. The building was privately owned and used as a film location for about 15 years. Town Hall is a collaboration project "between myself, Marie and our architects as well as local talent", said Loh. "Although Bethnal Green could have been considered undesirable back in 2008, there was clear evidence that it held a certain magic to it. With its extensive history and the fact that the city was growing eastward, it seemed, although risky, an obvious choice to both of us. "I wanted to create a lifestyle hotel that showcased the best of London. Rather than tourists, I wanted our guests to feel like Londoners when staying with us. I think we've managed to achieve that through our apartments and great food and beverage offering." "I love how Town Hall Hotel epitomises what Unlisted Collection represents. It's a cutting edge hotel in an equally cutting edge location. It helps to be a curious traveller to stay, dine or drink there." Loh says the focus of development has shifted from new projects to established ones. "So, over the next two years, we'll be refurbishing some existing projects – all in an effort to avoid spreading ourselves too thinly. Once this is done, I'd love to work on new projects within the markets we're in now, as well as in Dublin. "We also like to ensure each project remains original and never a photocopy of another." The building is rather special. Opened in 1910, and extended during the 1930s, the building fell into disrepair in the 1980s and was used as a location for movies such as Atonement, Snatch and Edge of Love. Loh is also known for picking neighbourhoods that are on the verge of becoming fashionable. He did it with his first hotel in Singapore, Hotel 1929, taking an old shophouse in Keong Saik Road, the red light district of Chinatown, and converting it into Singapore's Loh Lik Peng. HOW A SINGAPORE HOTELIER SHONE A LIGHT ON A DODGY PART OF LONDON first urban boutique hotel. Today, the area is flushed with bars, cafes, restaurants and hotels. He also did it in Sydney, taking over the Carlton Brewery in Chippendale, and spent years refurbishing and converting it into the Old Clare Hotel, which is now the media darling of Sydney, winning awards for its hotel as well as food & beverage. His hotels and restaurants fall under the Unlisted Collection. With the Town Hall, Loh also seems to have struck gold although he downplays any claims of him being a visionary when it came to this property. "I would have done this even if this was much further out. The location didn't bother me, although in retrospect, it is pretty good. It's one Tube stop to the city." Today, this part of London boasts the highest rental growth in the city, said Baxter, and it's becoming the new place to be for the young, trendy and hip, with plenty of bars, cafés and restaurants in the vicinity. Airbnb describes it as such: "Once considered as dim as a dusty candle, Bethnal Green is experiencing a revival that's transforming it into a chandelier. We like to ensure each project remains original and never a photocopy of another.

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