About Mawar Residence
Mawar Residence began as a private home on Jalan Yap Ah Loy — a street in Kuala Lumpur's oldest commercial district — and has been receiving guests in a quiet, considered way since the property was converted to a boarding house in the mid-2000s. The house is not large. It holds three rooms: a suite on the upper floor that overlooks the rose garden, a modest room in the side wing, and a separate cottage at the back beside the kitchen garden.
The kind of guests who find the house suitable tend to be those on longer stays — academics arriving for a semester of research at nearby institutions, family members accompanying a relative for a period of weeks, professionals on secondment to Kuala Lumpur, or writers and translators needing a settled base from which to work. The house suits them because it is not transient. The rhythm of the place is that of a household, not a hotel.
Breakfast is prepared each morning and served at the dining table. Afternoon tea is laid in the rear court on weekdays. The resident library — a room on the ground floor whose shelves were assembled over many years — is open to guests throughout the day. These things are simply part of staying here; they do not need to be requested.
Our Mission
To maintain a house in which guests can stay for a meaningful period of time and feel, by the second or third day, that they are settled. Not comfortable in an impersonal way, but settled — with a place at the breakfast table, a familiar walk to the nearest LRT station, and a room that holds their things without inconvenience.
Location
Jalan Yap Ah Loy, named after the Chinese Kapitan who shaped early Kuala Lumpur, sits in the city centre — ten minutes on foot to Masjid Jamek LRT, close to Petaling Street, the Central Market, and Dataran Merdeka.
The Household
A small team that looks after the house and its guests. Most have been part of the household for several years.
Siti Rahimah
House Manager
Has managed the day-to-day running of the house since 2014. Oversees guest arrangements and the preparation of breakfast. Her knowledge of the neighbourhood is extensive.
Azlan Harun
Maintenance & Gardens
Responsible for the property, the rose garden, and the kitchen garden at the rear. Has maintained the cottage and its small kitchen since it was first opened to long-stay guests.
Nurul Zainab
Guest Correspondence
Handles enquiries, reservations, and guest correspondence. Responds to all messages within one business day and assists with any arrangements guests require before their arrival.
How the House Is Kept
Standards maintained not by procedure alone, but by habit — the kind that develops in a household over years.
Room Readiness
Rooms are serviced daily for shorter stays. Linen is changed mid-week for stays of seven nights or more. The Long-Stay Cottage is cleaned weekly and laundry is included in the rate.
Privacy & Security
The house operates on a private basis. Guest information is kept confidential and is not shared with third parties. The property has keypad entry and is secured from 9 pm onwards.
Garden Maintenance
The rose garden and rear kitchen garden are tended throughout the week. Garden paths are kept clear and the rear court — where afternoon tea is served — is prepared each weekday afternoon.
Food Preparation
Breakfast ingredients are purchased fresh each morning from the nearby market. Dietary requirements notified at the time of booking are accommodated where possible. Meals are prepared in a clean, maintained kitchen.
Connectivity
The house has fibre broadband shared across all rooms. This is sufficient for email, video calls, document work, and streaming. Guests who require dedicated bandwidth for intensive use may discuss this ahead of arrival.
Guest Correspondence
All enquiries are answered within one business day. Reservation details are confirmed in writing before any deposit is requested. Guests are given a direct telephone number for use during their stay.
A Boarding House in Kuala Lumpur
Mawar Residence is a boarding house — a term that describes, with some accuracy, what the place is. It is not a serviced apartment, not a guesthouse in the backpacker sense, and not a hotel. It is a private house that accepts paying guests, looks after them with the attention one would give a long-term lodger, and sends them on their way when the arrangement ends.
The address — 36, Jalan Yap Ah Loy, 50000 Kuala Lumpur — puts the house in the historical core of the city. Kuala Lumpur began nearby, at the confluence of two rivers, and the streets in this part of the city retain traces of that origin: old shophouses, Chinese temples, the colonial courthouse, the mosques of Masjid Jamek. The neighbourhood is not fashionable in the way that Mont Kiara or Bangsar are fashionable, but it is established. Guests who stay here for more than a week come to know it in the way one knows any neighbourhood through daily habit.
The house takes guests on the understanding that they want a settled base, not a temporary room. This shapes how it operates: the dining table, the library, the garden, the afternoon tea — these are not amenities listed in a brochure but part of the ordinary texture of staying here. Guests are welcome to use them or not, as they prefer.
Considering a stay?
Write to us about your dates and which room interests you. We will reply with availability and whatever information is useful.
Send an Enquiry