- The Blue Mansion is a museum and hotel in Malaysia. In many ways, staying there is a VIP experience.
- I really enjoyed my meals. Plus, being able to sleep inside somewhere so historic felt incredible.
- However, the old hotel had drawbacks and I didn't like pushing through crowds to get in and out.
Ever since I read the kids' novel "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" as a third grader, I'd always dreamed of spending a night in a museum.
In the chapter book, a pair of suburban siblings run away to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, bathing in a fountain and sleeping in the beds of long-ago royalty.
It sounded like magic, and as an adult, I discovered how to (sort of) make my childhood fantasy a reality at The Blue Mansion in Malaysia.
The Blue Mansion is a working museum and hotel.
The Blue Mansion, also known as Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, is a heritage hotel, meaning it's a historic building with places for visitors to sleep.
The iconic 38-room home was completed in 1904, and it's where the famous Chinese businessman Cheong Fatt Tze typically stayed when he was in Malaysia.
He was nicknamed "the Rockefeller of the East" for his staggering wealth, and a lot of it is still on display in the mansion's museum devoted to his life.
Guests get free guided tours of the exhibits.
As guests at The Blue Mansion, my husband and I were welcome to a free guided tour of the museum, but we elected to do the cellphone tour at our leisure instead.
My favorite exhibit had clothing worn by Cheong Fatt Tze and some of his eight wives, including sumptuous silk cheongsams worn by his seventh (and supposedly favorite) one. She also once lived at The Blue Mansion.
We felt like VIPs checking into our stay.
When we checked in, the staff at the front desk took us to our room, one of just 18 that are reserved for guests.
Each room is named for a facet of Cheong's life. We stayed in the Scholar room, so named for his devotion to gaining knowledge.
It was comfortable and its antique furniture, all from the 19th and early 20th century, even included bookshelves with vintage tomes.
Parts of the mansion are blocked off for hotel guests, but a lot of the property is fair game for visitors.
Both wings of the house with the guest rooms are separated from museum visitors by a rope and a sign saying the area beyond it is only for hotel guests.
Once outside the confines of the hotel corridors, though, most spaces seemed to be fair game to everyone.
During the day, visitors streamed in through the gates, sometimes making it difficult for us to get in and out of the property. Throughout our stay, several museum-goers asked us to take photos for them as we were trying to leave.
These moments were tiring, but worth dealing with for the privilege of staying in a museum.
The property is next to a large food market, which was convenient but noisy.
During our first night at The Blue Mansion, we headed next door to Red Garden Food Paradise, a bustling local food market. We got clay-pot rice, satay, and lots of fresh watermelon juice.
It was karaoke night when we visited, which was fun when we were having dinner. However, the event carried on late into the night and the sounds drifted into our nearby room.
Fortunately, the thoughtful hotel staff provided each of us with earplugs to drown out the singing.
Guests at The Blue Mansion are invited to start each morning at the breakfast buffet.
The hotel's impressive breakfast spread includes everything from a house-made yogurt bar to a snip-your-own salad.
Over my four-night stay, my favorite hot dishes included rice noodles with fish cakes and hot chiles and freshly steamed chicken siu mai with vinegared chile sauce.
I especially enjoyed the fresh juices and Penang-influenced fusion dishes
In addition to the buffet, we could also order freshly squeezed juices and a few other dishes from a small menu.
It included things like Asian-style breakfast salads and Western-style beans, sausage, and toast. The most memorable foods I tried were Penang-influenced fusion dishes.
The red-and-mung-bean pancakes topped with palm sugar and salted coconut milk were my favorite.
I also enjoyed paratha madame, a take on croque madame with masala-spiced béchamel, and stir-fried radish cakes with egg and chicken sausage.
Our stay was mostly idyllic, but not everything was great.
Our Blue Mansion stay was filled with wonderful touches, from the courteous hotel staff to the colorful Malaysian sweets deposited in our room each time the cleaning crew stopped by.
However, it wasn't perfect.
The charm of the place was sometimes outweighed by the fact that we were, in essence, staying in a creaky old mansion — albeit one that was featured in the mahjong scene of "Crazy Rich Asians."
Given the age of the place, the soundproofing was (understandably) not ideal. My husband was bothered by the sounds of heavy footsteps of museum guests and diners and staff at the hotel restaurant whenever he tried to nap.
Navigating groups of visitors snapping photos and blocking the exit was frustrating at times, too.
Although our stay was only about $120 a night, that rate is also relatively high for the area — most nearby hotels in Malaysia are about ¼ of the price.
I'm not sure I'd stay again, but I'm grateful I got to live out my Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler dreams while enjoying some really delicious food.
If I return, I'll probably just stop by for tea or lunch.
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