Rex Hotel and Tivoli Hotel on Batu Road, Kuala Lumpur

132, 134, 136 & 138 Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman (Formerly Batu Road)

These 4 blocks of 3-storey shophouses at No, 132, 134, 136 and 138 Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman (formerly Batu Road) in Kuala Lumpur used to house 2 popular budget hotels by the name of Rex Hotel at No. 132 and 134 and Tivoli Hotel at No. 136 and 138.

This row of shophouses features prominent Art Deco architectural style. Art Deco architecture originated from Europe and America in the mid-1920s but the architecture gained its popularity in Malaya only from the early 1930s until the World War II erupted.

Typical Art Deco features include the abstraction of the facade into strong horizontal and vertical elements.  Shanghai plaster was used to achieve the same visual result as the more expensive stone used abroad.

These four blocks of shophouses are fine examples of  Art Deco architecture, featuring stuccoed facades, stepped gables, flagpoles, vertical fluting and slim windows.

Rex Hotel and Tivoli Hotel (Photo taken in 1959. Source: The Internet)

Rex Hotel was started in 1941 by a group of Hainanese shareholders.  The hotel was popular with the Colonials.  In the restaurant were the original furnishings including the visitors' board. Hainanese Chicken Rice was the specialty of the restaurant and it was the chicken rice to die for according to those who have savoured it before.

The front facade of No. 132 Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman

Manager Lim Hong Wan was one of the eight partners who started Tivoli Hotel next door in 1938.  Like the Rex, it operated as a budget hotel. The restaurant downstairs was leased out to an operator serving nasi kandar.

Formerly Rex Hotel and Tivoli Hotel