LF Review: ★★★★.5
As soon as I entered the hotel through a discreet entrance, and reached the lobby under a glass ceiling, my eyes are caught by the gargantuan art works on the walls. One is a huge tapestry with blocks in candy colours, called Readers and Writers, created by local artist Heman Chong that pays tribute to books. Another ink painting by local artist Lim Tze Peng, of traditional shophouses, captures the vibe of Old Singapore. With designer chairs, soft lighting and tables lined with books, it feels inviting and cozy.
My boutique hotel, 21 Carpenter, located on Carpenter Street in the middle of Singapore’s Central business district, a member of Design Hotels, is a delightful love letter to its immigrant past. The hotel is housed in a set of four shophouses from 1936, that functioned as a remittance house, where Chinese workers and first immigrants came to send their earnings back home to China. The hotel has nine floors with 48 rooms spread over a nostalgic heritage wing with the old shophouse charm. A more modern urban wing is located on levels five to eight.
Set on a street off New Bridge Road, between Clark Quay and Chinatown, the grey building on New Bridge road has an Art Deco façade with the inscription 1936, and the dollar symbol intertwined into the wrought iron railings of the balcony, indicating that it was a remittance house. Behind this is the modern aluminium sheet covered modern rear annexe.
Award winning local architect firm WOHA was behind the transformation of this heritage building into a charming boutique hotel. When the architects stripped off the façade to paint it, they discovered the original grey Shanghai plaster that was in vogue in the past, and they restored it to its original glory, as an authentic nod to history.
Three hundred year old Chengal wood from the original structure has been repurposed throughout the property, from floor panelling in the heritage wing, to hand railings outside the building and even in the lobby area, where the wooden desk is made using this reclaimed wood.
The original windows were retained and triple glazed to keep out the sound. Around the property, in the rooms and even in the lifts, are laser cut metallic words and phrases in Chinese calligraphy and in English, that were derived from vintage letters that the migrant workers wrote back to their families.
These are hidden among the abstract dots and squares of the aluminium façade both vertically and horizontally. There are poignant messages of hope and longing, some even poetic, like “the moon waxes and wanes, flowers bloom and fall” and “day and night, when will we reunite”. You see, these letters were written by professional scribes sitting outside the remittance house, as the workers were illiterate. I am told that there are 22 of them, scattered through the property.
My spacious heritage suite in an inviting and muted palette, with Art deco touches, has white curtains, ribbed glass windows and linen bed throws. I love the back story of the Chinese calligraphy artwork behind the headboard. Each of the rooms has a Chinese calligraphy behind the bed, and if you put the 48 sections together, it spells the Chinese character for home or family!
I smiled at thoughtful touches, like the tasty gula melaka cookies from Fat Kid bakery as a welcome gift, soft linen robes designed by a local fashion brand, B&O speakers, and a high tech TOTO toilet and rain shower in the bathroom, that I am grateful for after a long day! An interesting feature is the sliding heritage door, that hides a mini bar and sink, as well as a tea and coffee station with local snacks. Nothing is generic – even the glass container provided for toothbrushes is an upcycled glass bottle, and the coffee mugs are from a local ceramic studio.
The street level restaurant Kee’s (which is a pun on both the name of the old remittance house and its location near the Quays) serves breakfast and doubles up as a bar and restaurant too. Decorated with bright artwork and floor to ceiling windows, the menu presents a mix of global and local dishes, like tuna tartare and seafood laksa. The cocktails are a nod to local heritage too with ingredients like gula melaka, a native palm sugar, star anise and kaffir lime. They also have their own in-house brand of gins with ingredients like orange peels and peppercorns as well as beers.
A shaded garden terrace on the third floor is a great space to relax or do yoga in. Filled with native plants like pepper and nutmeg, which used to be found here in the 1930s, the garden offers comfortable seating. Another great spot for a panoramic view of the city is the plant fringed rooftop infinity pool (Singapore’s first stainless steel infinity pool) which is tiny but popular at sunset for cocktails. There are comfy sofas and a selection of magazines for those who want to lounge here and take in the views. A hand-drawn charcoal mural created by Dawn Ang adorns the wall here.
21 Carpenter takes sustainability seriously. It uses solar panelling; perforated aluminium panels help in cooling the temperature and dissipating the heat of the sun; and the rooms use a hybrid cooling system combining fans and air conditioning. There is a zero plastic policy and there are refillable water stations. I even love the circular wooden room key which is stamped with the hotel’s logo.
What stands out for me is how beautifully the past is integrated into the present with subtle touches throughout the property. And that’s what I feel will make me keep coming back to this hotel.
LF Review: ★★★★.5
Coordinates: 21 Carpenter Street, Singapore
