Wallpaper from old can labels, barbers' chairs and others made from shopping trolleys and road signs. Nothing is too strange to be part of this design.
‘The owner liked collecting weird chairs, then he opened a hotel so he’d have somewhere to put them,’ marketing manager Wahidah tells me. The obsession has taken over, and the Unlisted Collection now has hotels in Singapore, London and Shanghai. And a lot of odd chairs.
I stayed in Wanderlust Hotel, formerly a Chinese school in Singapore’s Little India (that in itself was quirky), which now features perhaps the most ‘out there’ interior design in town.
They gave me the ‘Yellow Submarine Room’. It’s a song, by the Beatles, according to the yellow neon sign above my bed.
Yep, it sure is yellow.
Yellow walls, yellow curtains, yellow tiles everywhere – under the claw foot bathtub, in the shower and even on the step up to my bed.
Fittings and linen were classy, the grapefruit shampoo in the shower was a nice touch, and after a few tries I even managed to get the in-room Nespresso machine to work. If George Clooney can do it, so can I.
‘None of the architects had ever done a hotel interior before,’ Wahidah informs me. Three different firms were each given a floor to work on, and eagerly set out to make an impression.
The design companies’ names give you the idea…Asylum, Phunk and ffurious.
The flower room
The Space Room - LED lights in the wall make it into a Planetarium in the dark.
A comfy sofa in the Typewriter Room. I should have stayed here myself.
You may not find it totally relaxing to sleep in a loft designed to resemble a treehouse (the cleaning staff hate it too), or to sit on a bench of typewriter keys, but it is fun, and I can guarantee you will have bragging rights.
There's no room for a pool or gym, but they did squeeze a jacuzzi onto the outside terrace.
Sharing of tables is encouraged in Cocotte, the French restaurant and breakfast room.
For more information and room rates, see wanderlusthotel.com.
Looks interesting. I would certainly want to try it out!
It is good fun, and quite unusual in a city which is very conservative in many other ways.
Interesting hotel! Never know that hotel before!
It’s quite a new hotel in an old building, Timothy. Worth having a quick look at (or a drink in the bar) even if you are not staying there.
This does look like a delightfully quirky place to explore. I agree it is probably not the most Cosy or Homely, but it sure is photogenic.
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