SANDAKAN – Planning is under way to turn the oldest hotel in Sandakan, Nak Hotel, into a community hub similar to the Zhongshan building in Kuala Lumpur.
As a result of the travel ban and movement control order (MCO) in March, the family-owned hotel was unable to sustain its business, causing it to close on June 15.
General manager Linn Ngui said the tourism sector here had been badly affected since the MCO.
“We are not reopening the hotel. We have reopened both our F&B outlets, the rooftop restaurant (Ba Lin) and the kopitiam (San Da Gen).
“We have looked into business options but none of them look positive or profitable.
“We are now considering turning the hotel into a community hub,” she said.
Ngui said the community hub is at a conceptual stage, and details will follow at the end of this year.
“We are trying to find ways to gather local artists, makers and small entrepreneurs to operate the space together – like Kuala Lumpur’s Zhongshan building. We want to repurpose the building and invite others to use it.”
Nak Hotel located in Sandakan town was opened in 1966, and named after Ngui Ah Kui, a local clerk turned MP. It is owned by the Ngui family, and when it opened, it was one of two large hotels in the port town.
The hotel had 24 rooms and was famous for its rooftop restaurant that overlooked the coast. – The Vibes, October 5, 2020
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