The Classic Malay House KL – INTERVIEW
The Classic Malay House KL is a traditional twist in the midst of the busy city life. When you step into the premise, you might feel as if the place seems almost out of place with all the modern facilities surrounding it!
The reason we say this is because the Classic Malay House KL is exactly as it sounds – it’s a traditional Malay-style home with plenty of wooden structures and intricate decoration designs. There is also a clear influence of Bohemian designs in the decor items used within this home – so much that they are also referred to as a lovely Bohemian loft by their guests!
Over all, the home was so well designed and decorated that the Airbnb host has created different staying packages for just a stay, a video shoot and/ or photoshoot session due to the demand they received! A visit to their Facebook page will show you just how photogenic their home is.
One thing that we especially fancied was the other pagodas and ‘pondok’ structures surrounding the home itself – keep reading to find out why these structures are so unique!
Sherry(mother) & Ellina on the right
2) Can you share the history of The Classic Malay House KL with us?
My parents, Amin & Sherry, are antique collectors. They collect everything from little trinkets to something as big as… yes, a house. Abah would travel all around Malaysia and Indonesia to find rare items and would bring them home. This includes some of the smaller house structures you see in Classic House.
They were all rebuilt using used and original parts from an old, classic house. He will also redesign these mini-houses while they were at it. So we have a few of those houses on our backyard, used as an antique storages.
3) What’s the reason inspired you to make part of your family house into an Airbnb?
All the hard work of building beautiful houses and leaving it as a storage would go to waste. I suggested we revamp them into a living space and list them on Airbnb so that other people could appreciate and experience living in a classic house. Our location is also a bonus.
4) Can you please tell us about the design concept of your The Classic Malay House KL Airbnb?
We were first heavily on Bali-Indonesian style. But we combine in cultures and styles of the South East Asia. From Bali to Baba Nyonya, and decorated with some Malaysian made rattan.
So it’s basically everything classic and kampung style and we would like to call it ‘Living Kampung style in the City’.
5) There are a lot of vintage paraphernalia and decorations in in Classic Malay House KL. Can you please share with us the details about where you collect them from?
My parents are antique collectors; They collect tembaga, old bikes, large mirrors, old irons, and many more. Some were family heirloom, some were items they got during their holidays in Jogja, or items randomly stumbled upon at a flea market in Penang or Tokyo.
Furnitures were mostly solid, sturdy woods and came all the way from Indonesia as well.
6) What is the most challenging part to maintain this classic construction well?
Since the buildings were made of woodens. From time to time, we will be employing pest control to eliminate termites or ants. There were some old roofing that we used to have and they had to be taken down as they were too old. We will also need to do cleaning every now and then to maintain cleanliness.
7) Which corner of the Classic Malay House KL you like the most and why?
My current favourite is our new listing, the Classic Bohemia Loft House, the living area! It’s a combination of bohemian decor style with a classic styled house, something different from what most are used to, yet still familiar enough to let our guests feel like they are staying in a classic environment.
As for the outdoors, my favourite would definitely be our “Bali Pintu Gerbang” by the entrance. Its very iconic and instagram-worthy!
8) We noticed you provide breakfast to your guest upon request. Are you the one who cooks for the guests? Can you recommend and introduce your best breakfast set for us?
We do provide breakfast upon request and upon our availability. My mom’s best would be her Mee Goreng and her teh tarik. We also outsource from the neighbourhood area, especially when it comes to the kuih-muih.
In a standard breakfast set – they will each get a main dish, a selection of traditional nyonya kuih-muih, some bread (roti canai, capati or murtabak), coffee/ tea/ teh tarik and fruit juice. It’s a pretty large breakfast set and all of our guests were delighted with the variety of food.
9) Have you ever met any special guest that made a great story to Classic Malay House?
We have met a lot of special guests! A lot of artists too. We have received Bernie Lynch from the band Eurogliders, a Perth-based indie pop band from the early 80s.
The most memorable would be the Youtuber, Fung Brothers, who came all the way from the States to stay in our humble abode. We were selected from Airbnb to host them personally.
The Fung Brothers
10) What is your greatest sense of accomplishment to become an Airbnb host?
That would definitely be meeting up with people from all walks of life. It is not just the guests who are experiencing something new. We, as hosts, get to experience different cultures as well.
11) Can you tell us more about the neighbourhood surrounding your place? Any hidden gem to share?
Kampung Datuk Keramat is an old malay-neighbourhood area. We do not have fancy cafes here, but the people are friendly and we do have a lot of good food around.
12) What’s your recommended food in your area?
The famous Wan Chopati is only few minutes walk from our home, and there’s also Satay Zainah Ismail.
13) Any plan that coming soon in the near future?
We are planning on building another Homestay in Keramat which will be at a different piece of land and perhaps, a slightly different concept. However, for the current Classic House, any renovations will be an improvement and we always try to do better for the guests (ie: game room, small rooftop, pool?)
14) Anything else you'd like to share with the audience that I didn't ask?
Well, you didn’t ask for a discount! We would like to give Placefu’s readers an additional 10% for whatever price they found online!
Discount is only for staying purpose as we do have different rate for Photoshoot / Video shoot / Any commercial stuffs. We are also coming up with a Birthday or Bridal Shower Package which includes Photo-booth rental as well!
If you have read this far, then you are already eligible for a discount on your stay at Classic Malay House KL. Thank you Ellina for the exclusive offer you made just for our readers!
Just so you know, you won’t need to worry about transportation if you’re planning on staying here, because the Putra LRT station is barely 250m away from their home!
Interested to know more?
Contact Ellina and mention you’re from Placefu’s reader to get the discount!
Book your stay at this beautiful Airbnb via the listing page below
P.S. Do you have any unique Airbnb/lodging to share with us? Comment below and we’ll reach out to them!
P.P.S This is not a paid advertising, all the interviews are done by invitation only.
P.P.S Check out our collection of unique lodgings and add them to your wishlist.