Paloh was a malay & orang asli (“native”) kampung (“village”) that has been around from at least the 18th century. Apparently the names comes from the founder of the village itself Toh Paloh. Paloh, or palung, also means a depression in the ground that holds water, or a fishing hole to catch fish. It is believed that Paloh was also a boat dock in the past. Some other views hold that the Hakka were the founders of Paloh, and only later came the Cantonese. According to this theory, the origin of the name is a symbolic reference to the dams that were constructed along the Kinta River for fishing purposes. These dams were referred to as “Pa-Lo” in the Cantonese dialect and eventually the area became known as Paloh. Paloh today has of course become the heart of the city of Ipoh. In this old part of the city pre-war Shop Houses line the streets, with a predominantly Chinese character. “Sarang” is a malay word meaning nest, hence “Sarang Paloh” means “The Nest in Paloh”, evoking the image of the hotel as a place of rest for the weary traveller. Located on Jalan Sultan Iskandar (formerly Hugh Low Street), Sarang Paloh is located in pre-war two storey shop houses that originally were the premises of a Goldsmith and a Bank more than 90 years ago. The façade of one of the buildings still has the name of the Goldsmiths on its façade in English, Chinese and Malay (jawi script), with the stately bank building still has the name of Overseas-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited on its front. Across the road, Sarang Paloh has another shophouse of which the ground floor has been converted into a carpark. If you have a car, this is where you would park. Parking is complimentary, but you must exercise caution, turning right into the shophouse entrance as Jalan Sultan Iskandar is a pretty high traffic road, and the building inside is quite narrow, with the cars having to be parked bumper to bumper, in two rows. Exit is out through the back of the shophouse into a back lane. Do bear in mind that if the shophouse is full of cars, you may get boxed in by other parked cars and not able to exit! Fortunately this did not happen to us while we stayed here. Getting to the hotel means having to cross the busy road again on foot, with your luggage, from the car to the hotel. The main reception area was in the former Goldsmith’s building, and the entire front of the shop house is dedicated to the reception. To get in the front door, you will need your access card, or the staff inside will have to let you in, if you have yet to check in. The central part of shop house is a courtyard with a spiral staircase going upstairs to the 2nd floor, and in the back is a sort of pantry area with dining table. Staircase at the back also leads upwards. We had booked a room at the back of the shophouse on the 2nd floor, as we were aware of reviews that rooms in front may have some street noise. The rooms are all named after birds, in line with the hotel itself being a “nest”. Our room wa
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