A Breath of Fresh Air

For a decade, Joan Chang has reshaped the hospitality landscape with the boutique sanctuary Lloyd's Inn. Following the recent opening of its third property, this time in Kuala Lumpur, the Ove Collection founder discusses preserving the spirit of outdoor living in her hotel ventures

- Nafeesa Saini

For Singaporean millennials, Lloyd's Inn serves as a significant cultural touchstone. Its rebrand in 2014 coincided with social trends that have come to define the generation, notably the bloom of the fourth wave of Singapore's coffee culture, characterised by a surge in local, barista-run cafes. The same era also saw the rise of the photo-sharing platform Instagram and the photo-editing app VSCO, known for its distinctive, transformative filters, that can be used to capture flatlays, #OOTDs and Insta-worthy places. The penchant for aesthetically pleasing photographs cemented Lloyd's Inn as one of the key cultural zeitgeists of the 2010s; the boutique property channels the Kinfolk look-defined by minimalist design elements such as clean lines, natural materials and raw finishes, and serene palettes complemented by generous daylight-that anchored the Instagram accounts of many a millennial.

But before it was a stylish boutique haven, Lloyd's Inn, owned by Herman Chang, founder of property developer Macly Group, was a run-down budget hotel. Its transformation was spearheaded by his daughter Joan, who was at the time in her early 20s-the very age of the millennial set that the hotel catered for then. "Boutique hotels and social media were still quite new [then]," says Joan. "I saw [the revamp] as an opportunity to use my interest in design and aesthetics to change the brand and introduce something different in the market."

Joan's success was not without sacrifice. As a then-recent Singapore Management University graduate with a double degree in finance and marketing, she faced a pivotal decision: accept a job offer in New York or Seattle, or stay and undertake the challenge of rebranding Lloyd's Inn. Joan chose the latter and her decision ultimately led to a number of significant achievements.