IPOH, Feb 23 — A new “nest” for the weary traveller has opened right smack in the heart of Old Town here.
Sarang Paloh, located along Jalan Sultan Iskandar (previously Hugh Low Street), is hard to miss due to the elaborate Art Deco facade of the two buildings it occupies.
Its director, Peggy Lim, said it is actually her parents’ “baby” and they spent a lot of time and effort restoring every part of the row of four buildings for more than three years before they opened for business.
This brings us to the interesting name of the hotel — Sarang Paloh — which is a combination of a Malay word for nest and a traditional Cantonese word “paloh” which means dams.
In the old days, Ipoh was known as Paloh by the locals because of the dams constructed along the Kinta River for fishing.
“My father travels a lot so he’s always flying everywhere like a bird, this is why we have an aviary theme in our hotel and that’s why we decided on ‘sarang’ as it’s like a home for travellers here,” Lim said.
Sarang Paloh, consisting of 11 rooms furnished with antiques and pre-loved old wooden furniture, is a collection of three houses — two that formed the former OCBC bank headquarters and one, the former Yik Woh Goldsmith and Jeweller shop.
Lim said the buildings were left vacant for quite a number of years so most of the interior had to be replaced but they sourced for similar materials such as marseille tiles for the roof and reclaimed timber for the flooring on the upper floors.
“We want to respect the rich heritage of the buildings so we only used materials that are as close to the original as possible in our restoration works,” she said.
The end result is a tastefully furnished boutique hotel with a beautiful garden courtyard in the centre, offering a green respite right in the middle of the busy town.
Sarang Paloh also has a hall on the ground floor that is available for events such as weddings and company dinners while it also has an art centre on the second floor.
“We opened Sepaloh Art Centre early last year and we have had four art exhibitions since and we will be hosting an event there this April,” Lim said.
The coffee shop next to Sarong Paloh — Lim Ko Pi — also belongs to the Lims as the row of four shophouses were sold in a lot.
Sarang Paloh
16, Jalan Sultan Iskandar
30000 Ipoh, Perak
Tel: 05-2413926
Email: [email protected]
www.sarangpaloh.com
