New 7th Storey Hotel walking into History

The New 7th Storey Hotel, a 55 year old landmark in Rochor Road, will check out its last guest by the end of the year. It will then have to make way for the construction of the new Bugis MRT station for the upcoming Downtown Line. With the hotel gone, we have one less pick up & drop off point without entering the ERP.

Government agencies said that the plot of land housing the hotel will be needed to build parts of the new station, such as the entrance and lifts. The new Bugis station is one of six that will form Downtown Line Stage 1, to open in 2013. Constraints in the area have left the authorities no choice but to build the new station under the hotel popular with budget travellers and backpackers.

The hotel's management only heard the news few days back on 26 Jun & Government officers had showed up with notices of the land acquisition. They were all taken aback as there's no advance notice at all. Now, they have to deal with those guests who have made advance reservations for early next year.

The hotel, which actually has nine storeys despite its name, was opened in 1953 by the late property magnate Wee Thiam Siew. It has largely remained in the Wee family since then. In its early days, the then-five-star hotel was popular with politicians and businessmen visiting Singapore. It now caters more to backpackers but retains an air of old-world charm. It still uses a manually operated 'cage' lift, reportedly the last of its kind here.

Although neighbouring shophouses have been torn down over the years, the hotel has stayed intact. It stands out now as the lone building on a plot of land close to Bugis Junction. Next to the hotel lobby in the same building is a Hainanese steamboat restaurant, which will also have to pack its bags by the end of the year.