Pageturner

Kuala Lumpur’s Hotel Journal is a modern yet nostalgic narrative of culture and community.

- Patrick Kasingsing

“This project started first as a typical budget hotel,” says Ramesh Seshan, principal of Seshan Design, the interior design team behind Hotel Journal. “But it got a whole lot interesting after.”

While the understated glass-clad exterior of the Hotel Journal melts into the architectural smorgasbord of retail district Changkat Bukit Bintang, pushing through its glass doors reveal a different story. One is first greeted with a spacious lobby with copious wood textures and dark-colored walls and flooring, punctuated with boldly colored geometric carpets and mid-century inspired furniture pieces. You then notice the geometric wrought iron-grilles, reminiscent of the ones found in heritage houses in the older parts of Kuala Lumpur, which serves to delineate the lobby from the café area. And finally, the curiously hypnotizing art piece by Miracle Watts mounted on the wall facing the entrance, where a row of barber’s poles, another retro reference, display a multitude of people (and animals!) swiveling in and out of sight, instead of the usual red and white stripes. If first impressions count, then Hotel Journal has gotten our attention.