By Clara Chooi
Saturday October 25, 2008
You can get a taste of ye olde England in Cameron Highland’s colonial-styled Smokehouse Hotel.
IT is not often that I am rendered speechless, least of all by a tourist destination in my own country, but the words failed me when I stepped into the Smokehouse Hotel.
I wondered if I had just stepped back in time.
Tea time: Nancy Lee enjoying the Smokehouse Hotel’s signature freshly baked scones, which is served with homemade strawberry jam, whipped cream and a steaming pot of Devonshire tea.
Nestled atop a hill in an almost secret part of Tanah Rata in Cameron Highlands, the Smokehouse Hotel is a bed-and-breakfast establishment reminiscent of the days of the colonial masters. Built in the mock-Tudor style, complete with mossy creepers on its walls and surrounded by highland blooms, the building is 71 years old.
But it has been cared for and has aged well. Wandering through its pretty gardens, I stopped to admire the wrought-iron benches and tables.
Everywhere I turned, I noticed new varieties of green, or something just as satisfying to the eye, like the whitewashed concrete fountain at the front portion of the garden.
The interior didn’t disappoint either. It felt like a different time and place inside. Everything seemed like it had been taken from an Englishman’s home in the 1930s and placed here, from the ancient oil lamps to the gramophone sets and steel-plated swords and shining gold bedpans.
The reception itself was like a shrine of sorts, lined with things that even the English would gape at. Everything seemed like it must have been back when Englishman Douglas Warin built the inn in the Christmas of 1937.
“This place is all about fine, country house hospitality. And it doesn’t get any better than this,” said the hotel owner Nancy Lee, 72, who took over from her late brother Peter.
“Everything here is a collection of things we have picked up from all over, especially from England. We believe in keeping the tradition of the place and making it as homely as possible for our patrons,” she said.
Stepping back in time: The gorgeous Smokehouse Hotel in Cameron Highlands is located on a hill in Tanah Rata and is a beautiful sight indeed with its mock-Tudor style architecture and dark mossy green creeper plants adorning its walls. — Lew Yong Kan
According to Lee, the Smokehouse began as a modest, six-room establishment opened to Warin’s homesick comrades and no one else.
“They never allowed the locals in back then and this only changed when my brother took over the place. He would tell me, ‘Hey, this life is for us, too’. And he was right. Why can’t we enjoy the life of the English ladies and gents of the old days?” Lee asked.
Before Peter bought the Smokehouse, however, the inn changed hands several times. During the Japanese Occupation, the hotel was used as an officer’s mess. After the war, the Warin family tried to salvage what they could of the place but gave up in the end and sold it to one Mr McDonald.
McDonald, in turn, sold it to a Mr Cowling who, after a few expansions, gave up and sold it to a fellow Englishman Lt Col Stanley Foster. Apparently, it was Foster who built the business up before finally selling it to Lee’s brother in 1977.
“We added rooms; we now have 13 suites, and we have slowly built smaller cottages within the same compound but outside of the Smokehouse. There is now also a study where patrons can relax, read, watch TV, or even play billiards should they fancy the game. We have also improved on the garden,” Lee said.
But, these little improvements aside, the Smokehouse has pretty much maintained its olden-days charm.
Lee said she was all for keeping the inn in as original a state as possible, from the decor down to the extensive menu of the restaurant. Much of the hotel’s appeal, she said, was down to its delectable food, which was why many people loved to stop by for a bite.
“We serve English food. Not Western, but English. Remember, it is English food. People often confuse the two,” Lee pointed out.
“You may not be able to find this kind of food elsewhere. Yes, perhaps there are places with good English food. But here, we have stuck as closely as possible to the recipe the British had perfected,” she said.
“In fact, many foreigners tell us that they can’t even get English food this good in London!”
The chief chef, John Cheah, is as old as the hotel itself! Cheah worked for the British in the early days and had learned their traditional recipes when he was cooking in the British army. Once, his British bosses even took him to London to have him hone his skills in a restaurant for two months.
“The recipes have stuck with me since,” said the jovial man.
Beef Wellington, Yorkshire pudding, steak and mushroom pies, roast lamb with red currant jelly and roast turkey with stuffing are some of the highlights of his kitchen.
The restaurant also boasts sweet delights like the fresh fruit flambe, souffle with strawberry sauce, fresh strawberries and cream in meringue basket, sherry trifles, and their popular teatime favourite €” hot scones with homemade strawberry jam, fresh cream and steaming pots of Devonshire tea.
The roast beef was done medium rare and was juicy and tender. It was served with a side of steamed vegetables that were not overdone and just crunchy enough to the bite.
The dishes here are really reminiscent of the entire hotel itself - created with painstaking attention to detail and with pride and passion.
This is what Smokehouse is all about, said Lee; passion and a love for things old and forgotten are the reasons the place has withstood the test of time.
“This is what we wanted to give to the people. Especially those who know how to appreciate the finer things in life. This place is considered a heritage site. And in fact, we are the only hotel like this in South-East Asia.
“We have seen lots of celebrities dine here over the years. Jackie Chan once dropped in too,” Lee said.
Expatriates like to frequent the Smokehouse too.
“We even had couples coming up here and renting out the entire inn for their wedding ceremony. The place does lend a lovely wedding background,” she said.
The Smokehouse has also been featured in the BBC’s television programme Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and in the European edition of Elle magazine. The Herald Tribune of New York once labelled it the “Foreign Correspondent’s favourite secret place.”
There can be no doubting the charm of the place, but don’t expect the amenities of modern-day living, though.
Sure, there is water heating, television, good bathroom facilities, but bear in mind that the Smokehouse is not a boutique hotel built to look old; it really is old.
So the plumbing may occasionally go “clank” in the night and the floorboards creak beneath your feet, but that’s okay because this is a place of nostalgia, of traits long abandoned, and of a world that once was and is no more.
> Room Rates: RM345 for the Junior Suites, RM460 for the Suites (for two), RM500 and RM530 for its two Executive Junior Suites (for two), RM530 for the Family Suites (for three), RM575 for the Executive Family Suites (for four) and Executive Suites (for two), and RM690 for its Honeymoon Suites (for two). For more information, call 605-4911215 or email: smoke1@tm.net.my. --- The Star Lifestyle
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