Hope all of you had a great weekend! I just came back from a wonderful short getaway trip at Ipoh! I am a frequent traveller and i do have a habit of choosing some unique hotel, hostel or guesthouse whenever and wherever i can. And M Boutique Hotel overwhelmed me, tucked away in the tin mining town called Ipoh, this quaint colonial hotel have a lot to offer. I seldom give the highest grade on any hotel as there is almost always room for improvement. Perfection is hard to achieve, but they are close. This is an exception. Here’s a hotel that places itself as one of kind in Ipoh and the first of its’ kind in Malaysia. Whenever such a testimonial pops up in one of the travel search engines or reviews, I get all revved up to experience it just to see whether it lives up to what others had viewed of it. I was very well-prepared to be awestruck. Indeed. By far, this hotel impressed me of all the decorations and space planning, most importantly, the theme and concept. Material wise are in good quality. Professional service from staff, things are well-organized. If you are looking for gateaway location, less hazard and noise, M Boutique is an ideal place to stay with in Ipoh. The hotel interior design is so impressive that every level and rooms have different theme and unique setup. It is an ideal hotel for people who look for a different hotel staying experience. The first thing you see on top of the corner lot building is the M Boutique Hotel signage and below it the popular Ipoh Old Town Coffee House with heavily tinted windows. Just beside it was the entrance to the hotel, a tall and wide glass door which needed both hands to push it open. In the glass display was two mannequins white bathrobes, surrounded by suitcases and other apparels. This to me, didn’t feel like the normal hotel-on-a-shop-lot but instead oozes a certain grandness as I stepped inside. The overall atmosphere is a slice from Malaysia’s colonial past, updated to give it a modern urban twist. The neo-European ambience may make you feel as though you are in Paris for a second. The rustic interior matched with adorable chandeliers. When you step into the hotel, you'll be greeted by hand-stitched lampshades, Broadway-style lighting and large luggage boxes that echo a long-forgotten age of exploration. You may rest on vintage French-style chairs or marvel at how old gasoline jugs are recycled into industrial-chic furnishing. With the theme “Strangers as Friends – come as strangers, leave as friends”, staff here are young, friendly and helpful too. I really had a wonderful time during my recent stay here. M Shop, a fashion and furnishing boutique store that offers guests custom-made products such as plush cushions, organic soaps, scented candles and apparel. Most of the items are handcrafted in small batches to ensure quality and to showcase the workmanship involved. With wild animal motifs, rusty suitcases, sand colored sofas, it feels like a luxury base camp for a safari expedition. I had a sneak peek of the first floor where the gym, meeting room and (surprise!) a laundry room area. The sprawling lounge had a cozy feel to it and I can imagine sitting here flipping through magazines or a good book for hours. On the same floor and in the same area is where i found an empty gym with ample of equipment for the health conscious (since there’s no swimming pool here) and beside it is a large meeting room for fruitful discussions or brainstorming. The elevator to the inspiring rooms and facilities in the hotel were labelled as ‘The Adventure’, ‘The Majestic’ and ‘The Excelsior’. With rooms spread over three levels of the building, M Boutique Hotel, at first glance, comes with the “wow factor”. It is said that with 93 rooms, comes 93 different interior designs. The first level, Adventure Floor. The Majestic Floor (2nd level) has a 1930s Art Deco vibe paired with a rawer New York City warehouse decor. You'll see exposed cement walls adorned with “cave art”, tungsten lights and the use of numbers as ornamentation. A more violent palette is employed on the third and highest level of the hotel at the Excelsior Floor (3rd level), Nature is truly “red in tooth and claw” with bold colours and insect illustrations. A very large mirror frames the entire room to give it more imaginative space and tall frame with hand written postcards were carefully placed on a shelf just above the television. My attention was also focused on the travel inspired cushions sitting on the sofa at the end of the bed and of course the plush four-poster bed that goes along with it. A big thank you to the M Boutique family who arranged for my room and made my stay a welcome one. I left feeling M-spired by my first stay in Ipoh’s finest boutique hotel. The hospitality was wonderful. I give them an enthusiastic "thumbs up"! Who would have thought Ipoh would have such a gem of a hotel?
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Dear Jennifer,
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