They may look like wrecks to most people, but to Singaporean hotelier Loh Lik Peng creaking warehouses or unused school buildings can be architectural gems just waiting to be polished. The former lawyer is Singapore's boutique-hotel king, and he is credited with spearheading a trend to create intimate accommodation that is both hip and historic in a city dominated by gleaming skyscrapers.

在大多數人眼中，它們可能只是斷垣殘壁，但對新加坡旅館業者盧立平而言，搖搖欲墜的倉庫或閒置的校舍，可能可以打造為建築瑰寶。這位律師出身的新加坡精品酒店大王，成功引領潮流，他所創造的親密住宿空間，在這個以閃閃發光的摩天大樓居多的城市，既時尚又有歷史意義。

“I like finding old buildings that are a bit of a wreck,” Loh told AFP in the lobby of his newest hotel, Wanderlust, which opened last year in Singapore's Little India district. “For me, it's a huge amount of fun and it always makes my heart beat faster when I see a beautiful, old building and it's available to restore, and I imagine what I could do with it.”

盧立平在他旗下最新的流浪酒店大廳告訴法新社：「我喜歡有點破舊的古老建築。」這家酒店去年在新加坡小印度區開幕。「對我來說，其中充滿樂趣，當我看到一棟美麗又古老的建築可以修復還原，再想像自己能夠揮灑的空間，就心跳加速。」

Loh's move into the hotel industry would never have happened if not for his previous stint as a lawyer winding up companies that had collapsed after the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s. It was during one of his assignments that he came across a derelict three-storey shophouse that generated little buyer interest because of the slump and the fact that it was located in a red-light district in Chinatown. But Loh saw an opportunity. “I realized there were no interesting, cool, little boutique hotels at that time,” said the 38-year-old. “They were all large, chain hotels and weren't that different from each other.”

如果不是因為之前在90年代末亞洲金融危機期間當律師時，盧立平負責清算結束一些倒閉的公司，他進軍酒店業的事永遠不可能發生。一次奉命出去辦事時，偶然看到一棟破舊荒廢的三層店屋，因經濟衰退和位於唐人街紅燈區的事實，沒什麼買家感興趣。但他從中看到商機。38歲的盧立平說：「我意識到當時還沒什麼有意思又酷的迷你精品酒店。它們大都是大型連鎖旅館，彼此沒什麼區隔。」

Against warnings from well-meaning friends, Loh bought the site for Sg$3.5 million （about NT$82 million） in 2001 with financial support from his parents, both doctors. After a complete refurbishment, he renamed the building Hotel 1929 after the year it was built and opened its doors to the first guest in February 2003.

無視於朋友的善意警告，2001年，盧立平在都是醫生的父母財力贊助下，以350萬新幣（接近8200萬台幣）買下這個店面。經過全面整修後，他以這棟大廈當初興建的年分重新命名「新加坡1929酒店」，並在2003年2月開幕，迎接第一位投宿的客人。

Customers were wowed by the 32 individually-styled rooms done in what Loh called “nouveau chic” decor, with black and white photos of Singapore in the early 20th century lining its corridors. Janet Greasley, an English retiree from Nottingham, stayed at the hotel in January this year and liked what she saw. “I did connect the fact that the decor and the name of the hotel were linked and liked it,” she said. “Too often developers throw out what they call 'dated things' unless they are over 100 years old.”

客人對32間風格獨特的客房大為驚艷，這些房間以盧立平所謂「新潮時尚」的風格裝潢，走道兩側掛滿新加坡20世紀初的黑白照片。英國諾丁漢大學退休人員珍妮特．格雷斯利今年1月住進這家酒店，她很欣賞旅館的陳設。她說：「我的確把裝潢和酒店名稱配套這個事實串連在一塊，同時很喜歡這點。除非已經有百年以上的歷史，不然建商往往扔掉他們所謂『過時的東西』。」

The success of Hotel 1929 came as a surprise even to Loh but he realized he had tapped into something worth pursuing. Three years later, he opened the New Majestic Hotel across the street from Hotel 1929. “I had never kind of imagined that it would be that successful,” said the accidental hotelier, who has not donned a tie to work since the day he gave up his legal career in 2002. “I would say at that time ignorance was bliss, I didn't really know what I was getting myself into and I had no idea whether people would respond to it.”

新加坡1929酒店的成功，連盧立平也大感意外，但他已經醒悟，他挖掘到值得追求的東西。3年後，他在1929酒店對街再開新大華酒店。這位意外的酒店經營業者說：「我從來沒有想過會這麼成功。」他自從2002年放棄律師工作那天開始就沒打過領帶上班。「當時，我會說無知是福，但我真的不知道，自己正一頭栽入什麼，也不知道客人是否會有正面回應。」

Trendy boutique hotels in Singapore do not come cheap, though. An online check showed the New Majestic's published rate for a basic room averages Sg$280 （NT$6560） a night, while at the nearby four-star Amara hotel it is Sg$260 （NT$ 6090）. By comparison, the best available online rate at the Singapore Marriott Hotel for a night's stay is Sg$450（NT$10540） while the Hilton Singapore charges from $Sg409.40 （NT$9590） onwards.

但投宿新加坡時尚精品酒店代價可不便宜。上網查看大華酒店公布的宿費，基本房平均一晚280新幣（6560台幣），附近四星級安國酒店則是260新幣（6090台幣）。相形之下，在新加坡萬豪酒店住一晚，網上最便宜的價格也要450新幣（10540台幣），希爾頓飯店則從409.4新幣（9590台幣）起跳。

The four-storey, 29-room Wanderlust hotel in Singapore's ethnic Indian enclave is housed in a former school building. In the lobby, a pair of huge old-fashioned barber chairs from the 1930s sit alongside a dental surgeon's lamp, all from Loh's personal collection. Guests can rest on handmade chairs made from recycled road signs when they're not in rooms that can resemble a space rocket with friendly aliens or reflect neon themes inspired by the Beatles' hit song “Yellow Submarine” or “Purple Rain” by Prince.

在新加坡印度裔聚居地有29間客房的流浪酒店樓高4層，原是學校大樓。大廳裡，一對1930年代巨大的老式理髮椅和牙醫的照明燈並排，全是盧立平個人的收藏。客人如不想待在房裡，可以在用路牌回收再生並以手工打造的椅子上休息，這些房間可能像住著友善外星人的太空火箭，或反映靈感得自披頭四熱門歌曲〈黃色潛水艇〉或王子的歌〈紫雨〉的霓虹燈主題（見圖／法新社）。

Johan Svanstrom, Asia-Pacific managing director with booking website Hotels.com, says boutique hotels appeal to well-travelled guests who want something different. “A boutique hotel has now become a unique experience,” he told AFP. “What people like about boutique hotels is that they feel closer to the staff. It is not mass production.”

Hotels.com亞太區總經理史凡斯壯說，精品酒店對旅遊常客很有吸引力，他們想找點不同的風味。他告訴法新社：「精品酒店如今已成為一種獨特的體驗。客人所以喜歡精品酒店，是他們覺得更親近工作人員，而且不是大規模量產的。」