Renting ASAI HOTEL’s Lobby,
One Coffee at a Time

One free tram stop from Starbucks, I opened my MacBook

In the first column, I wrote about why a Thai hotel had come to a town that barely exists yet. The reason is clear enough now. What isn’t clear is whether the bet will pay off. So I took my MacBook to the lobby of ASAI HOTEL Gamuda Cove, just down the road, ordered a coffee, and had a look.

Shinya Takei, Managing Partner, GASPARD & CO.16 October 2026

The lobby of ASAI HOTEL Gamuda Cove, with timber louvres, a large tree, rattan lamps and sofas — The lobby of ASAI HOTEL Gamuda Cove. On a weekday afternoon, I nearly had it to myself.

Breaking another promise

Last time, I promised the coffee chain story “next time”. Sorry: this one is about coffee, but not from a chain. Leaving a trailer hanging seems to be turning into a tradition of this column. The chain story will be left to mature a little longer.

One free tram stop from Starbucks

My usual office is the Starbucks nearby. From there, I take the vintage-style electric tram I showed in No. 03, one stop. It’s free. Step off, and you’re at the hotel. The commute is shorter than the time it takes a coffee to go cold. Close enough that the coffee doesn’t go cold, you might say.

One coffee, RM12.50

The coffee I ordered at the lobby café cost RM12.50.

Black coffee in a glass cup with sugar sachets — The RM12.50 coffee. White sugar, raw sugar or sweetener: even the choices feel like a hotel.

My usual Starbucks coffee is RM9.90, so the difference is RM2.60. What does that RM2.60 buy?

Space. High ceilings, deep sofas, fast Wi-Fi. Step out onto the terrace and the view runs out across the lake and the greenery. The gap between tables is several times wider than at Starbucks. Honestly, the difference in space dwarfs any difference in the coffee. For RM2.60, you rent an entire hotel lobby. If that isn’t luxury, I don’t know what is.

A hotel guest seen from behind, looking out over the lake and greenery from the terrace — A hotel guest taking in the lake and the greenery from the terrace. The view comes with the price of a coffee.

A MacBook on a terrace table, with seats and greenery beyond — Today’s office. The Starbucks bear hanging off my bag looks a little awkward. Outside, a touch of haze, as usual.

Thai-style small talk

The other highlight was the people. A Thai guest relations officer stopped to chat every time she passed, and before long we were deep in small talk. Even a few minutes of small talk lifted my mood.

Silhouettes of staff chatting by a large window — Staff chatting by the window. Beyond the glass, a little hazy again today.

Malaysia’s easygoing ways, plus the warm, smiling hospitality of a Thai hotel. This place takes the best of both. I felt I finally understood, in my bones, what I meant in the first column by “a Thai hotel just moved in next door”.

The lobby café counter with green tiles and wooden-legged stools — Order at this counter. Green tiles, wooden stools. Already a world away from Starbucks.

An office with plenty of places to reset

This office also offers no shortage of ways to reset.

A sofa cushion in the foreground, the lounge blurred behind — Deep sofas and soft cushions. After a long video call, a good place to catch your breath.

A rattan hanging chair in the lobby, a pool table at the back, canopied daybeds on the terrace, even a big table enclosed by curtains.

A rattan egg-shaped hanging chair in the lobby — The hanging chair in the lobby. Just the right amount of sway for thinking things through.

A pool table with the balls racked in a triangle — Between tasks, a game of pool to reset the mind.

Finish a focused stretch of work, then move seats to reset. Being able to stroll around your own office is a luxury only a hotel lobby offers.

A large oval table enclosed by curtains, with swan ornaments — The big table behind the curtains. It would suit a small meeting nicely, swan ornaments included.

Blue canopied daybeds with white curtains on the terrace, the view behind hazy — Canopied daybeds on the terrace. The hazy background is courtesy of No. 04.

Through a business lens

Occupational hazard, so briefly. A hotel lobby is at its emptiest in the daytime. Guests have checked out and gone; the next ones haven’t arrived. Opening that idle time and space to neighbours for the price of a coffee: the RM12.50 is less a coffee price than an admission ticket to the lobby.

Rattan chairs and a side table by the window — Rattan chairs by the window. Nobody sitting here either.

Starbucks spread across the world by creating a “third place”, neither home nor work. One stop away, a hotel is selling a more upmarket third place. And the residents who come may one day choose this hotel for family dinners, or for friends visiting from afar. Growing regulars in the daytime lobby is the most patient, and most reliable, way to put down local roots.

A glass cup of coffee at a lounge sofa seat — A coffee on the sofa. Spacious all the way out of focus.

Whether the bet pays off depends on the town, and the hotel

On the weekday afternoon I went, I nearly had the lobby to myself. As a user, I’d honestly like it to stay that way. As a neighbour, though, I’d like far more people to come. Mixed feelings, to say the least.

A dining area with a long banquette along the windows and wooden chairs — The dining area at the back. The space between tables is generous, to say the least.

Whether this bet pays off comes down, I think, to two things. The first is the town’s growth. Gamuda Cove’s population is expected to grow more than tenfold by 2030. More neighbours will naturally mean more people working in the lobby and more families eating here.

Blurred window light with a sofa cushion in the foreground — Light from the lake softens beyond the window. Sink into the sofa, and even time slows down.

The second is the hotel’s marketing. Perhaps the lobby is empty on weekday afternoons because few people know they can work here for the price of a coffee. How will the hotel tell residents how to use its lobby? Rather than simply waiting for the town to grow, can it go out and win regulars itself? That’s where the game will be decided.

All I can do is keep coming, and write about how it turns out. It seems I’ve found a reason to keep coming back, one coffee at a time.