By Willy Wilson | Aug 14, 2009
Piccolo: The Eco-Friendly Hotel
Boutique hotel is part of a new breed of luxury hotels mushrooming in the big cities where the tourism industry thrives. Characterised by a thematic furnishing with an eclectic mix of quaint interior design, boutique hotels usually cater to the more sophisticated travellers who have grown tired of the cliché five-star treatments and yet long for personalised services not necessarily doable in budget hotels.
Typically operating in renovated buildings, boutique hotels possess a magic ability to transform dull, worn-out neighbourhoods into trendy and sophisticated ones. This phenomenon is nothing new in cities wherein tourism contributes a big part to the countries’ economy like in Singapore and Bangkok.
Much like our neighbours, Malaysia’s tourism industry is one of the biggest contributors to the country’s economy. According to the Malaysia Tourism Board website, in 2007, approximately 20.97 million visitors landed in Malaysia, bringing in more than RM46.1 billion to the country. In 2008, it was recorded that 22 million people visited Malaysia. With such traffic, it is no surprise that Kuala Lumpur is on the list of top 10 Asian destinations.
If Singapore and Bangkok are any indication of perfect tourism destination capitals, then it is safe to say that Kuala Lumpur is in dire need of quality boutique hotels. Spotting this opportunity is Dr. Kurt Svrcula who, together with his wife, is the brains behind Kuala Lumpur’s hippest boutique hotel, Piccolo Hotel.
Location, Location, Location
Nestled strategically in the business, shopping and entertainment district of Kuala Lumpur, Piccolo Hotel occupies a 13-storey office property built in 1974, which back then was the tallest establishment in Bukit Bintang. The building was still functioning as an office when Dr. Kurt first opened his famed Italian restaurant, then named L’Opera, in 2000.
“Bukit Bintang was a quite a dead place after office hours then. You would only find a sugar-cane van by the road side,” says Dr. Svrcula.
But he and his wife had a good feeling about the rather rundown building. Located right in the heart of Kuala Lumpur’s golden triangle, everything seemed to
gravitate around this building. On its right side are the exclusive blocks where five-star hotels and high-end stores reside whereas its left side is occupied by rows of budget hotels and lower-end stores.
Evidently, Dr. Svrcula’s instincts paid off well; the restaurant business was doing so good that the couple decided to take over the building and run it as a budget hotel in 2001.
But it wasn’t without its challenges. Although the business potential is intriguing, Dr. Svrcula could already foresee the major work that lay ahead of him. After a few years of conceptualising his idea with professional architectures and interior designers, Dr. Svrcula knew that he was going to create a boutique hotel.
“The idea of my guests having to use shared bathroom is too tacky for me. So I took the idea of budget to hotel to the next level: a boutique hotel.” And so, he was ready for gut renovation.
Continue Your Reading : Piccolo : Architectural and Design Challenges »
 |
Piccolo hotel |
 |
101, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur |
See Related Articles:
|