[Photos] A Kuching Landmark Just Became Malaysia’s First Voco Hotel, It Also Has A Senior Wellness Centre

A former hospitality property in Kuching has been reborn as Wisma Elica, housing Malaysia’s first Voco Hotel under IHG Hotels and Resorts alongside Care Collective, a senior wellness centre — opened Tuesday (28 July) by Sarawak Premier Abang Johari.

Fernando Fong

In Brief

Wisma Elica in Kuching has become Malaysia's first Voco Hotel under IHG, housed within a renovated heritage building on the waterfront.
The property uniquely combines Voco Kuching's 321 rooms with Care Collective, a senior wellness centre, under one roof.
Sustainability features include recycled bedding, refillable amenities, filtered water taps, and three complimentary Tesla Destination Chargers for guests.

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Kuching’s newest hotel occupies a building that was here long before it was.

That is not a contradiction — it is, increasingly, the point.

Wisma Elica opened today (28 July), with Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg doing the honours.

The building, a former hospitality property on Kuching’s waterfront precinct, has been renovated into two things at once: the first Voco Hotel in Malaysia under InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) Hotels and Resorts, and Care Collective, a senior wellness centre occupying the same address.

Downstairs, Wisma Elica already houses Best Borneo, known for its Borneo-inspired handcrafted products, alongside the hotel — with a Gourmand supermarket, Acai Flow and Tata Hair Salon still to come; two tenants for now, more on the way, all inside a building that nobody had to tear down.

Abang Johari framed the opening in the language of confidence.

This opening symbolises confidence in our future. It reflects the willingness of the private sector to invest in our economy, create new opportunities and contribute meaningfully towards the long-term development of our state.

For Sarawak, Wisma Elica, owned by Elica Equity Sdn Bhd, is more than a ribbon-cutting; it is a proof of concept.

Elica Equity managing director Datuk Bobby Ting said the hotel was not just a new building — it was a fresh start for a landmark that Kuching has known for a long time.

Today is far more than the opening of a building it marks the beginning of a new chapter for this landmark and for everyone who will walk through its doors in the years ahead.

Also present at the launch were Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian and Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri, the Minister of Women, Family and Community Development.

From Century Hotel To Malaysia’s First Voco

The state has been quietly assembling the infrastructure for a longer-stay tourism economy — an autonomous rapid transit (ART) system under construction in Kuching, AirBorneo jet routes now running to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, with Japan and South Korea in the pipeline.

The Premier has said he wants visitors who come and stay, not visitors who come and leave.

A Voco Hotel inside a restored heritage building, paired with a wellness centre designed for older guests, fits that brief precisely.

Voco is IHG’s upscale conversion brand — designed specifically for independent hotels and existing buildings that want the network without the new-build. Wisma Elica is its first Malaysian address.

The building has changed; the address has not.

That is the whole idea.

Voco Kuching comes with three complimentary Tesla Destination Chargers and four universal EV bays in its covered carpark for hotel guests — a detail worth knowing, given that Tesla Malaysia now charges at RM0.88 per kWh through the Tesla app.

Pool, Ballroom, Laksa Bar, Boutique

Voco Kuching sits five minutes from Kuching International Airport and 15 minutes from the waterfront, with 321 rooms and suites ranging from 36-square-metre standard rooms to a penthouse with a private jacuzzi.

The hotel runs two dining outlets — LUMA, a restaurant with interactive live cooking stations including a Sarawak laksa bar, and AMPM, a café that transitions into a cocktail lounge by evening.

Facilities include an outdoor pool with cabanas, a plunge pool, sauna, 24-hour fitness centre, and the pillarless Rainforest Ballroom which seats up to 1,350 guests.

On the sustainability side, rooms eliminate single-use plastics through filtered in-room drinking water taps, refillable bulk amenities by Apotheke – a luxury home fragrance and candle brand founded in New York – and bedding made from 100 per cent recycled materials.

For shopping, CityOne Megamall and Kuching Boulevard Shopping Complex are both within a ten-minute drive, while the heritage streets of Main Bazaar and Carpenter Street are a short ride toward the city centre.

The hotel also runs its own boutique shop on-site, stocking hotel amenities alongside fashion and lifestyle items — useful if you forgot something, or just want to leave with more than you arrived with.