Time was when you went to Singapore you stayed at the Raffles. But that, as they say, is history. The 55-storey-high hotel towers (not one, not two, but three) of the just opened Marina Bay Sands, a casino-based vacation resort, stand testament to this city’s insatiable appetite for development, and its surprising capaciousness (with a little reclamation to help things along). In Singapore, there’s always room for more. Especially rooms. They run the gamut here — from the great luxury chains to cool designer jaunts, the business-like business hotels, the value options, the backpacker haunts. There’s even talk of boutique hostels these days. Singapore’s hotel scene is neither dodgy (it’s Singapore after all) nor stodgy (read on). Over the last few years, the city has been in the throes of a room renaissance, and boutique is now pretty much bottom line. Entire streets have been rejuvenated as a result with even locals checking in for a taste. The steady redeployment of Singapore’s old shop houses as hotels (luxury and otherwise) has spawned a whole new cult following. That it’s actually an interesting place is no longer Singapore’s best-kept secret. But with rooms like these, why would you even want to step out?
Capella
Those who thought that Sentosa was just an island of cheap thrills should check into the Capella, which debuted last year, for some correctional therapy. Built around a colonial building from the 1880s (which was masterfully restored) is a jaw-dropping modern wing (trust Norman Foster), whose curvilinear shape follows the natural contours of the hill it’s set upon (bonus: maximum view and privacy per room). With rooms so spacious you could get lost in them, mod-cons to make even the tech geek jittery, a three-tiered cascading pool that effortlessly recalls paddy terraces, a 12,000 sq ft spa, all this in a 30-acre tropical forest setting — the bar has been set very high indeed. The spa, Auriga, named for the constellation whose brightest star is Capella (though it may as well have been the other way round) offers treatments attuned to the phases of the moon. Most rooms offer expansive views of the sea while some peek into the forest. There are spacious villas too, with plunge pools and outdoor bathtubs. To a bird, it probably looks like a doughnut gone awry — from our humbler vantage, we’re just slavering.
Location: 1 The Knolls, Sentosa
Accommodation: 112 rooms, suites and villas
Food: Chinese at Cassia, international fare at The Knolls and a view to die for at Bob’s Bar.
Tariff: from S$550 (S$1= Rs 34) Contact: +65-63778888, www.capellasingapore.com
Klapsons
Design is a mere whisper as you enter the lobby, but by the time you’ve covered the few short paces to the reception (tripping over Zaha Hadid’s iconic ‘Moraine’ sofa on the way), it’s risen to a sharp crescendo. Lots of design ideas here, but the reception, encased in a hand-polished stainless steel sphere, takes the cake. Designed by William Sawaya, Klapsons is Singapore’s edgiest new hotel. It is part of Design Hotels, an international selection of hotels with a strong design emphasis. So it’s painted in bold strokes, but functionality is still key. The globular reception, I was told, amplifies voices to improve communication. Design has a tendency to leave one cold but at Klapsons it actually engages. A see-through shower in the middle of your room cannot but engage after all. Goose down bedding, pillow menu, Egyptian cotton sheets? Of course. With only 17 guest rooms, this is as intimate as it gets.
Location: 15 Hoe Chiang Road
Accommodation: 17 rooms and suites
Food: Contemporary European at Lucas (try the wagyu beef burger).
Tariff: from S$385; Contact: 65219030, www.designhotels.com
Four Seasons
Singapore’s service standards are frequently remarked upon — for the wrong reasons. But in this island city, the Four Seasons is an island unto itself. Don’t let the rather understated façade mislead you. Nor should you be put off by its somewhat conventional good looks. This is luxury that hasn’t been messed with (they still use old-style door keys). Attention has instead been directed at perfecting the art of preempting your every whim. You’ll appreciate the obsession with guest comfort if, like me, you arrive on a red-eye flight, appropriately cranky. You will be checked in with a minimum of fuss. Shortly, you’ll be watching the crisp rain falling on to one of the greenest views in Singapore, as a breakfast of croissants and coffee is wheeled into your room. Oh, before you drop off, you will notice that the room’s pretty large, an obvious luxury. Later, hotel doors will swing open miraculously and you’ll be greeted by name as you stroll out to über-avenue Orchard, round the corner.
Location: 190 Orchard Boulevard
Accommodation: 255 rooms and suites
Food: Jiang-Nan Chun (‘South of the Yang Zi river during Springtime’) does Cantonese, international fare at One-Ninety, the bistro-grill.
Tariff: from S$410; Contact: 67341110, www.fourseasons.com
Mandarin Orchard
One can’t help feeling some affection for this grand dame of Orchard. Built in 1971, the hotel has seen Orchard Road transform from a rural backwater to the throbbing nucleus of Singapore. Previously known as the Meritus Mandarin, the hotel underwent a name change in January to identify it more closely with its prime location. Last year, the hotel completed a multi-million dollar refurbishment and is looking very much a young bride, belying her years. The Meritus Ambassadors (affectionately called the Mandarin Girls), who cut a graceful figure in their distinctive red cheongsams, haven’t aged a day either. The hotel’s popular Chatterbox restaurant was the first five-star establishment to serve the humble Hainanese chicken rice. They were clearly on to a good thing. Some time this year they’ll be selling their 10 millionth plate of Singapore’s unofficial national dish.
Location: 333 Orchard Road Accommodation: 1,051 rooms
Food: Asian and Western at Chatterbox, international buffet spreads at Triple Three, coffee and cakes at, well, Coffee & Crust, award-winning Cantonese at the Pine Court Chinese Restaurant
Tariff: from S$550; Contact: 67374411, www.meritus-hotels.com
New Majestic
Lawyer turned hotelier Loh Lik Peng is a man with a mission. He adores designer chairs (but he loves barber chairs even more). And he’s always scouting for space to store his ever-burgeoning collection. So he builds one outrageous hotel after another. And the New Majestic is the most audacious of them all. At least that’s my theory. From the unfinished ceiling in the lobby to the swimming pool that floats above the restaurant, every rule has been rewritten here. They don’t even call those thingummies beds anymore — they’re bedscapes. Another gem from the Design Hotels collection, the New Majestic, on a street lined with beautifully restored conservation shophouses (it used to be Chinatown’s ‘mistress row’ once), is a happy marriage of heritage chic and edgy modernism. Nine local artists were invited to decorate the rooms — and each room is distinct. I stayed in Hey Diddle Diddle, where artist Sandra Lee’s mural views the old rhyme through Asian eyes. It was a night to remember, and not just because the World Cup final was playing itself out in Jo’burg.
Location: 31-37 Bukit Pasoh Road
Accommodation: 30 rooms
Food: Mod-Chinese at the Majestic Restaurant
Tariff: from S$400; Contact: 65114700, www.designhotels.com
Naumi
Naumi’s next door to the Raffles, but once you step in you’re a world away. Named for the auspicious ninth day of the Hindu month, the hotel used to be a dingy budget trap called the Metropole until Surya Jhunjhnuwala (whose interests include the well-regarded Rang Mahal restaurant chain and the Hard Rock Hotel in Sentosa) spotted an opportunity. A snappy makeover later, Naumi has bloomed into one of the most stylish, intimate hotels in Singapore. The façade now wears a trendy grey-steel origami trellis covered with flowering creepers that hint at the urban oasis within. The garden motif continues inside and the low-key rooms, which come with attached kitchenettes, nudge you to extend your stay just a bit more. There’s even an extra-secure ladies’ floor here. The icing on the cake though is the infinity pool on the rooftop, offering one of the finest views in Singapore — landmarks like the Raffles, Marina Bay Sands, Esplanade and the Singapore Flyer all look close enough to touch.
Location: 41 Seah Street
Accommodation: 40 rooms and suites
Food: Set lunches and dinners at the Naumi Bar & Lounge (there’s a superlative chana masala on the menu). They also have an extensive collection of single malts. And do try the Naumitini, their signature mocktail.
Tariff: from S$500; Contact: 64036000, www.naumihotel.com
Goodwood Park Hotel
The Goodwood Park has had many avatars. It began life in 1900 as the Teutonia Club, a popular hangout of the German expat community. In 1918, three Jewish brothers by the family name of Manasseh took over the property and renamed it Goodwood Hall. It was registered in 1922 as a restaurant-café-entertainment establishment, the same year Anna Pavlova performed here. In 1929, the Manassehs turned Goodwood Hall into the Goodwood Park Hotel, catering to travelling businessmen from Malaya. During the Japanese occupation it was a residence for high-ranking Japanese soldiers and later a British war crimes court, before being returned to its true calling in 1947. Interestingly, it was the first hotel in Singapore to have a swimming pool. Today, this briskly-run heritage hotel wears its history lightly (even though the central tower is a national monument). Set on a small hill, among six hectares of lush grounds with two large pools, and poolside suites to boot, it’s a tranquil escape from the frenzy of nearby Orchard Road. The entire hotel has been done up in a soothing neutral palette, with fluted columns, delicate woodwork, decorative plasterwork and graceful archways. I walked in from Orchard into the thick of their annual durian pastry festival, and could no longer smell the shopping.
Location: 22 Scotts Road
Accommodation: 233 rooms and suites
Food: Numerous dining options, including the celebrated Sichuan restaurant Min Jiang and the Coffee Lounge (the extensive Taiwan porridge menu and lavish afternoon tea are highlights)
Tariff: from S$550; Contact: 67377411, www.goodwoodparkhotel.com
Gallery
Although it quietly lapped up an award for best boutique hotel last year, this 10-year-old 233-room hotel — by its own admission — is anything but (it’s too big to make the cut). It’s something a little more interesting actually, occupying the interstices between boutique, designer, art gallery and business hotel. But what it really likes to call itself is ‘hip art hotel’, courtesy of 19 quirky rooms that were done up by budding artists as part of a Creative Youth Exchange (CYX) programme (sounds familiar? These are the guys who started it all). The post-modern building (it’s nabbed an award too) enjoys an enviable location on the Singapore river in the trendy expat enclave of Robertson Quay, its most distinctive section being the Glazzhaus, with its boldly framed windows. Annoyingly provocative nude photographs, male and female subjects equitably represented (commissioned and executed in-house!) pop up all over the place. There’s other art as well, some of it for sale. The first prize in the CYX competition was bagged by Suite 409 aka Singaporean Dreaming (pic above), the work of Mohd Anwar Bin Rafiee and Roy Pang Ping Jing. A decade on, the aesthetic hasn’t dated. And the glass-sided cantilevered wading pool is still as inviting.
Location: 1 Nanson Road
Accommodation: 233 rooms and suites
Food: Lots of Japanese, European and Asian too
Tariff: from S$320; Contact: 68498686, www.galleryhotel.com.sg
Albert Court Village
This smartly restored hotel in Little India is one of the largest to be housed in pre-war shophouses. A spot of rebranding last year turned it into a Village hotel, a Far East Group brand which is all about experiencing the specific cultural enclave the hotel is set in. So, when they can spare the time, guests are taken for walks in the area and, for when they can’t, they’re treated to teh tarik (pulled tea) demonstrations and kathi roll tastings within the hotel. I was taken on a toddle through Bencoolen Street where I discovered a charming open-air market I hadn’t run into before. And then, of course, through Little India which I have to say turned out to be a lot like Big India. I cooled off with some chilled soymilk from one of those nondescript establishments on Selegie Road that Singaporeans like to worship, but you wouldn’t know it if they didn’t let you in on it.
Location: 180 Albert Street
Accommodation: 210 rooms and suites
Food: Local and international at Albert Café, Indian and Nepali at Shish Mahal
Tariff: from S$130; Contact: 63393939, www.stayvillage.com
Hangout
Full disclosure: this is the hotel I most often stay at when I visit Singapore. It’s easy on the wallet. More importantly, few hotels in Singapore can claim such a tranquil location. Set atop the green expanse of Mt Emily Hill at the end of a quiet lane, this is more swish budget hotel than backpacker hostel (although it calls itself a ‘boutique hostel’ these days). The hotel’s a steep climb through Mt Emily Park from the Little Indian MRT station but this has never bothered me (note to the subway-allergic: cabs are cheap and plentiful in Singapore). The rooms are smart, if basic, outfitted entirely with Ikea furniture. The best rooms are towards the front, boasting massive windows overlooking the verdure of Mt Emily Park (sadly, these rooms cannot be guaranteed at the time of booking — but don’t let that deter you from putting in a request). Look Out is a lovely lounging area on the rooftop, a great place to swap tales with fellow travellers. Local calls are free, as is the Internet. One doesn’t really need much more.
Location: 10A Upper Wilkie Road
Accommodation: 51 rooms
Food: Wild Rocket, a much-feted Singapore restaurant, is a Hangout tenant.
Tariff: from S$80 for a double (dorm beds for S$40); Contact: 64385588, www.hangouthotels.com