Huone Singapore takes meetings out of boardrooms

Fancy a meeting in an igloo or a forest?

Huone, described as “a hotel without bedrooms,” offers an innovative solution for meetings and events. The concept originated from Finland and has now opened its doors in Clarke Quay. Huone Singapore offers 11 differently themed inspirational meeting rooms for 5 to 150 people such as Igloo Room, Sandbox Room, and Forest Room.

“No two rooms in Huone are the same,” shares Joewin Tan, CEO of Huone Singapore. “Huone’s service will help customers to choose the right setting and room, taking into consideration the meeting goals.”

For brainstorming, for example, the Swing Room or Sandbox Room might be the right surrounding, providing the right playful vibes. For a more serious seminar or workshop, the organiser could pick the Cottage Room or Theatre Room.

In Huone, Tan says, the customer is at the center of everything. The Huone service is designed to help and consult customers with various event needs. Through a unique online service, clients can check availability and pricing, book the room, and use an event manager tool 24/7.

Huone is a full hotel-style service focussing on events with a Nordic twist. Customers enjoy the atmosphere of a creative venue, end-to-end service with Huone’s own kitchen providing the guests with delicious food.

Malaysian-Finnish couple Evon and Jussi Söderlund are the brains behind the events hotel concept. They co-founded the first unit in Helsinki and have now organised over 4,500 various events, and the venue was recognised as the best in Finland twice in three years. Tan collaborated with Evon and Jussi, and together they combined the concept to fit the Singapore market.

The Asian office is located in the middle of Clarke Quay and faces the Singapore River. It took them nine months to find their venue. “During this time, we looked at venues in a lot of places, from shopping malls to office buildings, but none of them offered what we were looking for,” Tan notes.

With the Clarke Quay venue being in a conservation site in Singapore, Tan says they had to work around the restrictions. “There were walls and pillars that we couldn’t knock down, so we had to rehash our designs and work with them in mind,” he says. In the end, they managed to utilise the feel and structure for their benefit. “We are 100 percent happy of the outcome and sure that our customers will be able to enjoy the nearly 200 year-old building with our fresh interior,” notes Tan.

Huone Singapore’s interior design was done with the company Huone worked from the beginning, Malaysian design company DMZ International. Their lead designer Mc Ho has created the look and feel together with the founding team.