It was the faceted pink counter tiles that first caught our consideration. We additionally liked the cloud of flowers hovering over the café. And the lime-washed tranquility of the visitor rooms with century-old moldings. That was earlier than we realized that Rotterdam’s 14-room Lodge âme is past boutique: it’s a mom-and-pop institution created and run by Angel Cheung-Kwok and Manfung Cheung.
The couple leased the 1867 constructing pre-pandemic and devoted years to shaping its new guise. They got here to the mission with a shared ardour for Japanese and Scandinavian aesthetics if little expertise: previous to changing into hoteliers Angel says she “labored within the telecom business and Manfung spent greater than 15 years as a web based marketing consultant.” They each, she provides, grew up within the Netherlands “however our roots lie in Hong Kong. That heritage has all the time been an essential a part of who we’re: we really feel deeply related to Asian tradition, not solely in household traditions but in addition in the way in which we stay, suppose, and do issues.”
They designed the resort and café themselves, making use of this sensibility all through. “After all we labored with expert craftsmen, builders, and specialists,” Angel tells us, “however we had been very concerned all through. The constructing itself guided us in some ways. We needed to protect its soul—the excessive ceilings, unique ornaments, and beneficiant stream of sunshine—whereas creating a recent area that feels calm and timeless.” Be a part of us for a tour.
Images by Manfung Cheung (@mnfng.studio), courtesy of Lodge âme (@hotelame).
