Trips

Office Matters

Rex & Tivoli Hotels

Art Deco architecture had its origins in Europe and America in the mid-1920s but was not introduced to Malaya until the late 1930s. Typical Art Deco features include the abstraction of the façade into strong horizontal and vertical elements. Shanghai plaster was used to achieve the same visual result as the more expensive stone used abroad.

This block of four buildings are fine examples of Art Deco architecture, featuring stuccoed façades, stepped gables, flagpoles, vertical fluting and tall windows.

Rex Hotel was started in 1941 by a group of Hainanese shareholders. It was popular with the Colonials. In the restaurant are the original furnishings including the visitors' board. Hainan Chicken Rice is the speciality of the restaurant.

Manager Lim Hong Wan is one of eight partners who started Tivoli Hotel next door in 1938. Like the Rex, it operates as a budget hotel. The restaurant downstairs is leased out to an operator serving nasi kandar (rice and curry speciality of the Indian Muslims from Penang).