The Chow Kit wins best Hotel Renovation & Restoration and Visual Identity at the AHEAD Awards 2021 (All photos: The Chow Kit)
Ormond Hotels' had another cause for celebration on Malaysia Day. Its swanky boutique hotel The Chow Kit had won two AHEAD Awards (Awards for Hospitality, Experience and Design) for Hotel Renovation & Restoration as well as Visual Identity from Sleeper Magazine. It is the only Malaysian hotel on the Asian list, no less.
Located in one of the most historically and culturally rich districts in Kuala Lumpur, the eponymous 113-room design-led hotel blends tradition with modernity, sporting contemporary interiors with finishings that celebrate the area's quirks and allure.
The judges sung praises for The Chow Kit, which occupies the space of the first-ever Tune Hotel, also by the Ormond Group, describing it as “an impressive transformation that has infused the new perspective of a neighbourhood in rejuvenation, while maintaining elements of the regional cultural context.”
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The hotel aims to rethink the notion of luxury for the modern traveller. “The visual identity of The Chow Kit is based on simplicity, editing out unnecessary, extravagant designs to focus on simplified luxury,” AHEAD’s website claims. “The ambience of the hotel gives the traveller the sense of comfort, purpose and balance — allowing them to focus on what matters most.”
It was for the same reason (on top of bang-for-your-buck prices) that The Chow Kit also scored a place in National Geographic’s Big Sleep Awards, Travel + Leisure’s It List: The Best New Hotels in the World and The New York Times’ 52 Places to go in 2020 list last year. And as KL eases into Phase 2 of the National Recovery Plan, what better time than now to book a long-overdue staycation.
The annual AHEAD awards, which celebrate outstanding hospitality projects around the world, are split into four regions: the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Middle East and Africa. It will culminate in a global finale later this year.
See the rest of the winners here. Reserve a room at The Chow Kit here.
