Justin Chen and Javier Perez were informed by the creativity and eclecticism of Kuala Lumpur when building their first hotel project
One of the most exciting boutique hotels to open in recent memory, Else Kuala Lumpur occupies the former Menara Lee Rubber, built in the 1930s by the late rubber tycoon Tan Sri Lee Kong Chia and was once the tallest building in Kuala Lumpur. Today, the building has been revived to its former glory thanks to Justin Chen and Javier Perez, the brainchild behind Else Kuala Lumpur. The spruced up exterior maintains its original Art Deco design while the interior retains the charm of the old world but boldly reimagined for a contemporary audience.
"We weren't necessarily looking specifically to do a hotel project but we were given the opportunity to work on this icon of a building and it felt almost appropriate that it serves as a place that people could come back to as a landmark and as an icon in this whole Chinatown precinct," remarks Chen, who is also the deputy CEO of Arcc Holdings, a hospitality-oriented company focusing on creative spaces and neighbourhoods. He partners with Singapore-based restaurateur Perez on this hotel project, their first ever.
"Both Javier and I have always been fascinated with hospitality and what really drove us to develop Else is the sense that there is still a gap for an Asian Asia-based hospitality brand," declares Chen.
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Indeed, every effort was taken to make Else as Malaysian as possible. Acclaimed local interior designer Studio Bikin was engaged to breathe new life into the heart of the heritage building. Luxury rug designer Omar Khan didn't just add a soft touch to the cold, hard floors, his creations also hang on walls like works of fine art. Former chef de cuisine at Kikubari Jun Wong has taken on the role of culinary director at Else and will be running her own restaurant, Yellow Fin Horse, on site.
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Being foreigners themselves [Chen grew up in Canada while Perez is a Puerto Rican], working on Else was also very much a discovery of Kuala Lumpur and its wealth of creative talents for them. "Prior to this, I had a superficial understanding of KL. I know about KLCC, Bukit Bintang, Jalan Alor and the whole Changkat [Bukit Bintang] area," Chen admits. "But there is a lot of creativity under the surface. A lot of young creatives are doing projects like APW, Sentul Depot and even here in Chinatown."
Perez says: "A lot of our guests never looked at KL as somewhere they'd escape to for a weekend. If you have three days off, you're going to think about Bangkok, you're going to think about Bali, or Hong Kong in better times. But KL was never on their list. But after staying with us, they said thank you for reintroducing them to KL and now they are interested in coming back and get to know more of KL. They didn't know that Chinatown had such a good bar and restaurant scene or that A Little Farm on the Hill existed only 40 minutes away."
