A deliberate choice it was that I should come at this newly opened hotel under the Holiday Inn Express brand of the IHG Group- simply because I had visited this property before it was an Express, and now I dearly wanted to see how the transformation was.
I say 'transformation' because this property had, at one time, whilst under the management of another hotel brand, been functional at best, but outdated, heavy and aesthetically poor at worst. It was a place that you could shower and crash, but it wasn't necessarily a place which you would want to.
Holiday Inn Express changed all that.
No more did the lobby/dining area have old, heavy wooden tables with scratches on its surface, chunky carved hard-seated chairs made out of dark wood and dull, heavy furnishings on the walls. Now the place looked modern, bright, welcoming and comfortable. The wall décor was bright, the light fixtures were neat, and the furniture was now colourful, easy, and minimalist.
And of course, no where was the change more distinct than the rooms themselves.
The floor area is large, yes, but where once by the window there stood a dark wood dressing table with elaborate carved legs, an old fashioned mirror mounted on the wall, and a heavy, impossible-to-pull-out chair, now there was a desk with the very, very important electrical power points above.
No more was there just a plain hard mattress with thin linen, half flat pillows and a thin blanket, now the bed was (I think) higher, with a thicker mattress, two types of pillows soft and firm, and the fold-down bedspread that doubled as the blanket. Above your head now was a blue patterned design instead of faded white wall paint.
There were hangers on the open-concept wardrobe, and although you might think is not so big a deal, but hey, there didn't even use to be hangers at all.
Of course, the largest transformation (and what I really wanted to see) was the bathroom. The bathroom used to be this plain, ugly place with (clinical) white tiles on the walls, white fluorescent lighting and large blue tiles on the floor. It was built with a single washbasin, a turn tap, and absolutely no where to put the mug or the toothbrush. The shower area was, well, functional at best, with a large, old-school, rough-looking shower head that was screwed to the ceiling, sprayed harsh, needle-like jets everywhere and which took twenty minutes for the water to heat up.
I was so glad to see that the cold, blue, harsh, almost prison-like atmosphere was gone, replaced instead with warm lights, patterned tiles on the wall, a small, square shaped washbasin with a little bit of space at the side for the handtowels and toothbrushes, and best of all, shower heads that released powerful, but comfortable streams of water.
But one does not come to this property and stay all day in the room (unless you so wish) for the reason that it sits snugly in the middle of everything.
To begin with, Jalan Besar is one of the most interesting neighborhoods on the outskirts of town. It is a place that mixes a bit of heritage, a bit of sport, industrial feels (I found a marine industry company here once), industrial-chic vibes, and down-to-earth (read: uncle aunty type) coffee shops that stand in proud contrast with hipster cafes.
In front of the property, however, down Jalan Besar will head you towards Downtown, the city center, Orchard, Clarke Quay, Boat Quay and Chinatown.
And across the road, a five minute walk will land you in the vicinity of City Square Mall- for the retail joys of Decathlon, Daiso and Don Don Donki, Mustafa Shopping Center (no need to explain) and of course, the Farrer Park stretch of Little India.