DISCOVERIES

Why Singapore’s new sustainable hotels want tree-hugger guests

Some new Singapore lifestyle hotels may leave you in a ‘gender fluid’ tizzy. A review of eco-friendly beds for corporate meetings and weddings that will delight tree-huggers and latter-day Tarzans who like jungle vines in the lobby. And a look at some reimagined properties with a fresh face.

by Vijay Verghese

1 December 2023, Updated September 2025

SEE ALSO Singapore shopping | Small corporate meetings in Asia | Bangkok hotel guide | Hong Kong business hotels | Kuala Lumpur hotel guide | Jakarta business hotels | Asian casino hotels | Hong Kong Guide to Milk Tea | Asian medical tourism | Singapore business hotels | Pod and Capsule Hotels guide

(Left and centre) Arrival experience at Raffles Sentosa Singapore that mixes modern cubism with heritage and nature; (right) the rustic chic Mandai Rainforest Lodge by Banyan Tree is right in the middle of a nature reserve/ photos left and right: hotels/ Lotus pond centre: Vijay Verghese

LUXE NATURAL CHIC THE 62 pool-villa Raffles Sentosa Resort & Spa (www.raffles.com/sentosa/about/) — 1 March 2025 — combines a mix of heritage, moderrnism, and natural foliage (with much new planting gradually taking shape). A giant 100-year-old ficus looms over the reception area garden to one side, its fronds laden with hoary tales. The resort comes with coveted Green Mark Gold certification, solar powered outdoor lamps and electric buggies that putter around the circular one-way track that girdles the enclave. The spa is insouciantly housed in a section of the historic British military barracks where smartly polished boots once stomped smartly to attention. Its colonial charm and wellness offerings make up for the location, close to a small public road (from where guests can lazily amble down to Tanjong Beach).

Secluded, self-embracing, low-slung grey-walled villas with plush interiors, spoiling toiletries and alert Japanese pottie,s run along the buggy tracks, their private gardens festooned with bursts of White Costus (Hellenia Speciosa) that hang down almost resembling overripe fruit. There is a definite sense of the tropics. Smiles are aplenty, even when larger 'vintage' vehicles slow down to perform improvised three-point turns on hairpin bends while guests marvel at lotus ponds in bloom.

These retreats have echoes of some Bali escapes. The best views, however, are to be found in the meditative interiors — plunge pool villas with sumptuous decor and the Royal China and Empire Grill restaurants. Large floor to ceiling windows everywhere stream in natural light. Atop the stately Grand Ballroom (400 for banquests) that faces the alfresco 30m pool, is the Garden Room with a breezy outdoor section and sunset views of the distant bay. The overall design is cubist, minimalist and quietly zen. It is a calm pulse-slowing space helmed by the indefatigable Giovanni Viterale who is everywhere at once greeting guests and keeping an eye on service flow. Raffles Sentosa is for inward journeys and peripatetic romantics seeking healing, discovery and deeper connection.

The rustic chic Mandai Rainforest Resort by Banyan Tree (www.banyantree.com/) — April 2025 — one-ups the sustainable hotels crowd with a location smack in a nature reserve. With architecture described as 'biophilic' it offers guests a chance to expand their vocabulary while taking in a zoological park, squawking birds and night safaris. Merging effortlessly into its natural surrounds — with room decor mimicking the rainforest canopy — this 338-room spa resort overlooks the Upper Seletor Reservoir with much stretch room and generous balconies fitted with netting to prevent bird strikes perhaps. A beige and cream Retreat King room serves up 36sq m of quiet uncluttered space with mosquito net, pillow menus, special toiletries, mini-bar, WiFi and for those who must, a television. Light pastel jungle murals adorn various walls. A Sanctuary King room offers a more open reservoir view. For those craving space and style, the 63sq m Mandai Treehouse ups the ante with a patio and garden views. And yes, there's a soaking tub. Family rooms with bunk beds are available. Mandai offers a pleasant immersive getaway but with 338 rooms to service — and kids on the loose — does not provide a great deal of intimacy in dining spaces like the vast and busy Planter's Shed where breakfast and dinner buffets are rolled out. But it has the makings of a wonderful family retreat.

COMO Metropolitan Singapore style (from left): Sunny rooftop pool; Minimalist room in pastel and cream; Pink floral video wall art at lobby bar; and Bruno the robot barista being watched by a Japanese guest/ photos: Vijay Verghese

A MODERN CAVEAT THERE was a time when coming to Singapore you had to have your hair trimmed and the gum hidden. Now you need to be potty trained. It’s alimentary. Not that travellers are being impertinent when they stare at toilets instead of using them. But things have changed. “Could you help me?” the immaculately dressed gentleman asked.

I viewed the object of his concern. It was a toilet, the kind often described as state-of-the-art for gender fluid folks. The potty, set in a nice handicapped-friendly room, mood-lit in the manner of an aircraft cabin, faced an automatic sliding door. The white-haired gentleman pointed to the controls. “I will press the ‘close’ button,” he said, uncertainty creeping into his voice. “Please let me know if the red ‘occupied’ light is on outside. This is very important.” We eyed each other like summiteers roping up before the final ascent. Then he bowed and vanished into the perfumed air.

LIFESTYLE INTERRUPTUS Having just emerged from the next cubicle, I assured him it was safe and vowed to stand guard. The problem was that once inside, pressing ‘close’ turned off the ‘close’ button light while at the same time switching on the ‘open’ button light (a rather counterintuitive arrangement). Some could assume the door was open, raising concerns about an Instagram-perfect Thinker pose being rudely interrupted at a critical juncture. Awkwardly for some, the bidet hose can only be operated by the left hand. And thus was I introduced to the understated delights of the très chic COMO Metropolitan Singapore (opened 1 Sep 2023, como-metropolitan-singapore) off Orchard at 30- Bideford Road (opposite Paragon mall), with its ‘tech-forward touches’.  

Better known for its meditative COMO Shambhala retreat in Bali and luxe lodges in Bhutan and the Maldives, this is a discrete easy-to-miss high-rise urban property with tall, dark, glass frontage and sparse cream décor furnishings by Giorgetti. Service is friendly and attentive with the reception on the sixth floor refreshingly drenched in natural light. It leads to a video-art wall lounge bar — where Bruno the robot barista toils, his two arms in constant motion — and on to a leafy alfresco sitting area draped around the building for when the weather is being kind to Giorgetti. Lots of pleasant snuggeries for a quiet chat or boisterous cocktails.

This 156-key property has rooms starting at an economical 28sq m, with blonde-wood Emerald Rooms at 36sq m and suites running from 57-97sq m. Expect lots of light and skyline views, Bose sound, valet boxes with key-card access, microwave, complimentary mini-bar, and multi-plug sockets either side of the beds with USB ports. The electronic potty will wink at you with its coloured lights. Starched white sheets and black frame windows are matched by light-wood floors, powder grey divans and dark tables sporting oranges and assorted fruit (the sole burst of colour), the end effect borderline formal, or leisure for those who like their living space muted like unfussy slip-ons. The standard bedrooms, though small, appear to offer more elbow room than in the suites where most of the space is allocated to the living areas.

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The pièce-de-résistance is the rooftop Level 19 open-air pool that runs a generous length above the city with the de rigueur peekaboo glass strip set below for sly street views. Comfortable, neat, and very low-key, COMO offers a blank canvas waiting for you to write your own story. There are several handicapped-friendly features. The hotel is popular with European and American guests as well as wealthy Indonesians who visit the city for medical procedures and check-ups. The elegantly dark lifts are very handicapped friendly with the floor buttons set way down. But this handicaps tall people who have to bend down and squint hard to read the almost illegible floor numbers.

Raffles Sentosa plush Villa (far left);, Royal China restaurant (centre), the genial GM Giovanni Viterale who sets the personalised service tone at Raffles; and (far right) small but pleasant well configured room at the Mondrian Singapore/ photos: Vijay Verghese

HELLO SWEETHEART A friend of mine walked into the mod Mondrian Singapore Duxton (opened 1 Sep 2023, mondrianhotels.com/singapore-duxton), set on a low rise above the colourful Tanjong Pagar shophouses, to be greeted by a beaming staffer. “Hi sweetheart,” he cooed. She was surprised, not offended, and recounts this tale with a grin and a giggle. In-your-face informality that may leave some off balance is the norm here and it attracts a cool crowd with gelled hair and body-hugging Lulu Lemons that scream, “I WORK OUT DAILY”. The older set appear equally comfortable beneath the pink-glass cubist Star Wars ‘chandelier’ at Christina’s. This convivial entrance-level café serves as an informal arrival and greeting area.

“We don’t really have a lobby here,” said dapper launch GM Robert Hauck with a chuckle. “We’re short staffed so I step out and open doors.” For him, a hotel should offer something different to the home, but “hospitality, which comes from hospitable, will never change.” What level of informality is right? Hauck’s forehead creases in thought as he leans forward: “We like our staff to be confident and look people in the eye.”

“People complain restaurants are boring so we hire creative people. But creativity dies if wings are clipped and there are too many reports and formality. We like our staff to be humble, not arrogant, and set their own boundaries. We like eye contact. We have created something different here [hands make a sweeping gesture]… we’re changing hospitality.” Many of the Mondrian’s diverse hires were from outside the hotel industry with colourful backgrounds, from barmen to lawyers. So wild was the pre-opening hype that when the place eventually opened there was an expectation gap that took a while to be met. Several faces changed in the process and Hauck moved on too.

The place has a special vibe and many will overlook the pint-size 22sq m rooms that are surprisingly well planned, airy, and come with 55-inch TVs, Lavazza coffee machines, hairdryers, irons, safes, Bluetooth speakers and magnifying make-up mirrors. Water comes in small Tetra Pak cartons printed to look like miniature shophouses.

Virginal white The Sultan boutique hotel (far left); New-look Conrad Singapore Orchard (the former Regent) with its signature atrium lifts and bright welcoming rooms (cenrtre); Conrad Orchard GM Thomas Hoeborn fresh from Conrad Maldives brings flair and experience: "We keep innovating," he stresses; (Far right) lobster 'har gau' dim sum at Michelin star Summer Palace/ photos: Vijay Verghese

This is a 302-key hotel though it may not appear quite so muscular on the approach. Suites in a shophouse wing are more classic in appeal and start from 45sq m with the bathtub-equipped Mondrian Suite weighing in at a roomy 70sq m. A large bed flips upright in James Bond fashion to create extra space for small intimate gatherings. Listen up ladies. One press of a button will get rid of your husband though his hands and feet might stick out. There are no meeting facilities here nor herds of nerds stampeding for a morning session. There are also no closed wardrobes, just open niches with rods and hangers.

Expect red-tile views, the contrast nowhere more striking than from the scenic rooftop infinity pool where the blue water sets off the contrast nicely. Hauck shuns words like ‘luxury’ and ‘lifestyle’ that are overused. These mean different things to different people.  “It’s like art,” he quips, “or porn, as some like to say.”

“You may not understand it but you always know it when you see it.” He laughs like a seditious schoolboy, eyes alert, watching staff and guests intently, his patrician nose whipping around like a weathervane towards significant interactions. All’s well. He turns back to face me, relaxing for a moment: “What can we give rich kids in expensive cars?” he asks. “They have everything [shrugs]. We create engagement.” No money has been spared on fabulous artworks, and expensive coffee machines from Slayer in Seattle. “These are our Lamborghinis,” says Hauck with a grin.

Another new Singapore lifestyle hotel that is drawing attention is the 143-room The Standard Singapore (www.standardhotels.com) nestled in Orange Grove Road seemingly within the embrace of the stately Shangri-La. Featuring hip design that gets around the tight 23sq m starting room space, snappy service, an alfresco pool, and a location close to both Orchard Road and the Botanical Gardens, this trendy escape is collecting accolades.

SUSTAINABLE SCI-FI At one end of Orchard Road and its glitzy shopping malls at 10 Claymore Road is the 347-key 23-storey Pan Pacific Orchard Singapore (www.panpacific.com/orchard) that returned 1 June 2023 after a rebuild and dramatic rethink. The arrival experience is like approaching some dark, brooding, extra-terrestrial beast in modular design with soaring ceilings and ‘lost world’ foliage climbing up pillars above a ‘floating’ lobby bar set on a raised mirror-smooth black pool. The heart quickens with expectation, the eyes dart, and the sweat has your shirt clinging to your back as the morning sun sends a hot shaft through the reception area, open to the elements.

Pan Pacific Orchard has conference heft with massive modular terraces with green features and rippling water; The 'Beach' level with pool; Black sci-fi entrance; Balcony room/ photos: Vijay Verghese

This is one of Singapore’s new breed of eco-friendly hotels, and it comes with impeccable credentials, including the occasional sweats, no plastic bottles (though hot and cold filtered water is on tap in rooms, with glass bottles on hand), and air-conditioning at a consistent 23C (still too warm for some European guests who prefer Singapore’s customary frigid settings). The hotel says greenery covers a whopping 14,000sq m and "occupies over 200 percent of its land area" (vertically).

This cubist extravaganza, both minimalist in intent and gigantic in scale, features numerous energy savers like rainwater harvesting, solar power, and bio-waste treatment. It may take some getting used to by conferencing suits but many love the breezy natural feel of the place, best exemplified by its imposing 18th floor alfresco Cloud Terrace Lawn (concrete actually) for up to 150 guests. Expansive views open up over the city while on either side are spaces for small corporate meetings (Scott’s rooms) and larger Singapore conferences in the natural-light Claymore Ballroom (very different from the normal underground bunkers) for up to 670. The ballroom boasts a huge immersive LED video wall.

On the 11th floor is the Garden Terrace Lawn for 270. This is a real lawn, perfect for cocktails. There is also indoor space for up to 50 guests. All these meeting spaces double up as creative weddings venues.

The hotel ascends through four themed blocks – Forest (the lobby), Beach (starting at the fifth-floor pool), Garden and Cloud, each with its own colour profile from grey-brown to green to white. Each cubist space is built around a vast square atrium terrace with greenery running up huge pillars. A 30sq m Deluxe Balcony King is a contemporary space with sofa, ottoman and a bright veranda overlooking the pool terrace. Expect a pillow menu, 400 thread count linen, floor-to-ceiling windows, electronic safe, 55-inch LCD TV, three-pin (international) plug sockets and USB charging ports. Keep an eye out for the hotel's in-toom specially curated Singapore's Orchard Gin. A light-filled Cloud Terrace Suite offers 68sq m of room with twin vanities, a slim rectangle soaking tub, two 65-inch LCD televisions, and access to the Pacific Lounge Club on the 11th floor.

The welcome here is chatty and brisk with smiles aplenty. At the far end of the second floor reception is the hotel’s main all-purpose restaurant, the high-ceiling Mosella that serves breakfasts and Mediterranean meals with Peruvian influences. A muscle hotel dressed as a demure nature babe is an odd mix but will appeal to many.

THE CENTRE OF THINGS Close by on Scotts Road off Orchard the storied Grand Hyatt Singapore (www.hyatt.com/grand-hyatt) reopened fully in mid 2025 after a major facelift with its freshened Grand Wing, a reimagined Terrace Wing, and the marble-stone-wood Damai urban wellness escape. This is a popular Singapore business hotel and meetings specialist to watch. The show kitchens of Mezza9 have been replaced by a new 'casual fine dining' concept —Le Pristine Singapore (helmed by Michelin-star Chef Sergio Herman), while the popular Pete's Place continues a new season of Italian flavours in the basement along with the rhythm and blues BRIX night spot.

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Artyzen is a breathtaking high-ceiling lifestyle hotel with Peranakan flavours — breakfast set-up in progress (left); cool rooftop infinity pool with vast views (centre); and bright richly textured room (right)/ photos: Vijay Verghese

PROUDLY PERANAKAN A short stroll from Pan Pacific on the other side of Orchard at 9 Cuscaden Road is the luxury lifestyle hotel Artyzen Singapore (opened 24 Nov 2023, artyzen-singapore), built on a modest plot that formerly housed a celebrated mansion owned by the late philanthropist Tan Tock Seng. Everywhere, eager to please staff — many drawn from airlines — will intuitively leap in to help and offer suggestions. This makes for a welcoming arrival experience and smiles are aplenty. A Peranakan leitmotif (check the glass art in the lifts) runs through this otherwise very modern breezy construct with its vertical gardens and large cubist sky terraces that will draw some inevitable comparison to Pan Pacific Orchard. But here the similarities end.

Artyzen is bright, light-filled, woody, and brimming with colour and textures, from its vertiginously high-ceilings (the first thing to catch the eye as you enter), to its lush foliage and Roof Garden that offers cocktails and nibbles by the 25m cantilevered pool with its see-through strip and lipstick red umbrellas along one side. Swim, work out, try yoga. This is a hotel built on an intimate scale that draws the eye in to linger on all its rich architectural features. Artyzen is no cheek-by-jowl meeting hotel but more a retreat for leisure and business punters who enjoy soothing surrounds, tasteful décor, intuitive service, and imaginative food. Quenino by Victor Liong offers a fusion take on Strait cuisines. A minor niggle for some may be the paucity of comfort foods that would make a welcome addition to the mix.

The hotel’s 142 rooms start from a generous 42sq m Deluxe Balcony Room King going up to 89sq m in a Grand Terrace Room King with its smorgasbord of amenities – soaking tub, vast 55-inch LED TV, fast WiFi, Nespresso coffee machine, safe (no in-room iron), lazy ceiling fans, B&O Bluetooth speaker and a Dyson hairdryer. Also expect e-newspapers and complimentary ‘premium’ bottled water from Swedish company Nordaq.

Finely woven fabric covers the walls, giving off a faint metallic sheen. As you enter, an open wardrobe and a restrained Japanese potty (that will not rear up expectantly) are to one side with the bathing area on the other, the soaking tub peeking into the bedroom through louvred windows. The toilet has a clay herringbone floor that prevents slips and there's plenty of soap (hurrah) but no rain shower grab handles for the wobbly kneed. Pillows are large, the small pipe reading lights are focused and discrete, and the master switch actually works. Two varied USB sockets and a three--pin plug point are set either side of the bed with options for mood lighting.

A high-ceiling Penthouse serves up 448sq m of stretch room with a 98-inch LED television. Everywhere, find floor-to-ceiling windows welcoming of light, bursts of foliage, blonde wood underfoot, neat black piping around wall panels, glass art, arrays of hanging copper lamps, and modern slim-line ottomans and divans with plump cushions in turquoise, gold, and prints. It is an eye-catching ensemble. Unobtrusively flitting through the scene you might spot the quiet and affable GM Jeff Crowe walking a short-loan guide dog. "He's being socialised," he grins.

DON'T SPILL ANY WINE Directly opposite on Cuscaden Road is the 204-key The Singapore EDITION (opened 9 November 2023, www.editionhotels.com/singapore). The hotel is horizontal rather than vertical in its design, a mid-rise layered pastry with delicate gold piping between the floors. As with EDITIONS elsewhere the favoured palette is cream and gold and this creates reverential hushed interiors with high ceilings and plenty of space for the eye and mind to wander through.

The SIngapore EDITION (from left): Entrance; clean line cream rooms with blonde-wood floors; Pink pool table at lobby bar; green 'living lung' courtyard; Leafy lobby corridor / photos: Vijay Verghese

No slouch when it comes to sustainability, the buzzword that has newer hotels salivating, this address offers a surprisingly green sun-drenched tropical courtyard that abacus-fingering building owners of yore may have considered wasted space. And should you need water, a chilled Tetra Pak is on hand. As you enter through tall doors, a cavernous lobby lounge greets you with a purple-lit bar, a pink pool table and chill music. Comfy cream sofas extend along the glass courtyard frontage under green fronds and palms up to the signature restaurant Fysh at EDITION. The Pump Room bar with its blue tones is one floor down, accessed via a discrete circular stairwell.

Everything here is in cream, from floors to walls to chairs. The ensemble is unabashedly feminine and attracts unfailing “oohs” and “aahs” from female visitors but smoothly handles brisk-stepping business too. Higher up, a cantilevered private pool stretches across the courtyard catching generous rays. This too features a ‘viewing hole’ at the bottom for those interested showing off. Don your best Vilebrequins, suck in your tummy, and dive in.

Tall pale-wood doors set along cream corridors lead to modular bedrooms in straight clean lines. Crisp white beds on light-wood floors face wall-to-wall windows with black frames and large slatted blinds. The views look onto the street and buildings opposite. Padded cushioning runs along part of the window ledge. Find a white armchair and a large flat-screen TV. Room switches are tactile and user-friendly as are the bedside lamps. Below these are three-pin multi-plug electric sockets with USB ports, all within pillow reach. Toilets offer soaking tubs and electric potties to do your bidding. It’s all dazzling white. Just don’t spill any red wine around here.

SOMETIMES OLD IS GOLD The Conrad Singapore Orchard (1 Cuscaden Road, conrad-singapore-orchard/) where I was a devout regular under the previous Regent) returned late December 2023 after considerable upgrade. But it remains, thankfully, a hushed light-filled atrium affair with rooms in pale woody beige pastels and white louvered side blinds. It is a classic homey feel. Expect a huge flatscreen TV, a nice window-length divan (some rooms offer balconies), familiar salmon-marble floors in the toilets with reassuringly simple potties that will not rear up and lunge at you at night. Think rain showers, in-room safe, iron, hairdryer and a great selection of teas and coffee.

In a remarkable homage to the Regent of yore, the darkly inviting Manhattan bar remains as do the Italian specialty Basilico, the lobby level coffee-and-cakes Dolcetto, and the Michelin star Chinese Summer Palace. All remained in operation since the January 2023 takeover along with the Royal Pavilion Ballroom for up to 700. Most staff were kept on the payroll and this provides some useful service continuity. GM Thomas Hoeborn, fresh in from Conrad Maldives March 2025 brings new flair and experience with attention to detail. He is an often-spotted lobby cruiser, shaking hands with guests and encouraging staff. He feels the residential end of Orchard Road offers special locational advantages. "But our dining is the key driver," he explains. "Basilico is legendary for Italian, Manhattan is unique — now with the private 12-person members' East 47 for crafted drinks and tailor-made food — and the newlook Summer Palace with its Michelin star." The hotel is "strong for weddings and meetings" and "continues to innovate."

VIRGINAL WHITE UPGRADE The St Regis Singapore (the-st-regis-singapore/) with its plump bronze Botero at the porch and suitably plump bills for guests, launched with much marbled fanfare in 2008. It commenced a rolling nip and tuck in late 2023 to gently transition to contemporary chic, spacious rooms kitted out in creams and pastels with faux-wood herringbone floors — deep blue sofas replacing burgundy reds and a clear bathroom mirror replacing the spookily-veined ‘stained glass’ Murder on the Orient Express adornment of yore. Now well-heeled guests can shave and apply makeup without starring in an Agatha Christie mystery.

The St Regis Singapore has evolved since 2023 into a reimagined contemporary space with all the luxe trim (as in the rooms, left), but now in cream tones and with bright refreshed dining spaces (right); the 'stained glass' mirrors remain in the lifts (centre) but have gone from the bathrooms / photos: Vijay Verghese

The 299 guestrooms are welcoming of light and views. The S$20 daily charge for WiFi at launch has turned complimentary at blazing speeds. In 135sq m Premier Specialty Suites find the 42-inch TV upgraded to a monstrous but sleek 65-inch screen (with Bluetooth connectivity). The irksome combination light settings — romance, movie, mood — have been swapped for simple switches that return control to the occupant. Small guest-friendly changes make a huge difference. Expect twin vanities, chandeliers, cream divans, soaking tubs that peek into the bedroom, standalone safe, three-pin plug sockets with USB ports, Nespresso machines and push-button hot and cold drinking water spouts that eliminate plastic bottles. Pleasingly, quiet touches of luxury abound, from woody wall panels to hand-painted chinoiserie silk wallpaper.

The bright lobby remains virginal white with delicate inlay work across the marble floor and F&B areas have been freshened up with a new-look The Tea Room, and the Astor Bar making way for the darkly elegant The St Regis Bar with cosy snuggeries for CEO chinwags and lovelorn glances while sipping on a Chilli Padi Bloody Mary (infused with lemongrass, chilli and ginger). And, of course, those quick stepping butlers are on hand to do your bidding — or even to take you on a tour of the 70 fine art pieces the property is home to.

Meetings spaces have been thoroughly overhauled. This is the speciality here. Think a 600 capacity John Jacob Ballroom with huge LED walls and skylights. Après work there’s indoor air-conditioned tennis courts and a gym for adrenalin junkies. More soothing is The St Regis Spa (formerly Remede) where guests can enjoy a warm jade stone massage, ‘garden rose’ treatment, facials and assorted massages. The St Regis Singapore is often compared vs the Conrad Singapore Orchard (formerly the Regent) across the road for conferences and events. Its new product has several fresh arrows in the quiver and rates high on our late 2025 review.

AND IN DEEPEST AFRICA The 583-room PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay (pr-collection-marina-bay) is the new incarnation of the Marina Mandarin, and what a wonderful change it is. It hits you the moment you step into the atrium lobby filled with natural birdsong and an astonishing sprouting of greenery everywhere. The hotel boasts a collection of 2,400 trees, plants and exotic shrubs for modern environmentally conscious Lord Greystokes who appreciate an eco-friendly set-up with motion sensors regulating cooling and lighting, and solar panels powering the lifts. The birdsong has an oddly calming effect.

As at sister hotel Pan Pacific Orchard, there are no plastic bottles in-room, just on-tap filtered hot or cold water and glass bottles. This is sustainability in action and you can literally swing from tree to meet beating your chest. Find your Bezos or Jane.

Chat in a cool lobby ‘birdcage’ or explore a myriad conference and meeting rooms from the Garden Ballroom that can do cocktails for 600 to the Atrium Ballroom for 250, small corporate meeting venues, and CEO boardrooms. It’s a versatile spread. Best of all it doesn’t feel at all like a dull dark bland conference hotel at all. PARKROYAL COLLECTION doubles effortlessly as a Singapore hotel weddings venue too.

PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay is for latter day Lord Greystokes with their Jane and apes in tow: A delightful sustainable eco-friendly conference hotel and a hard act to follow. (From left) Signature atrium; sunny pool; The jungle arrival; Garden deck with city views / photos: Vijay Verghese

The attractive wraparound glass window COLLECTION Club Lounge is on the alfresco 5th floor that serves up a vast pool, lawn, sun loungers and umbrellas along with breath-taking views of the city skyline including the giant silver durian Esplanade. If sunshine and vitamin D is part of your self-sustainability agenda this is as good a spot as any for a fast-tan Instagram moment.

Spacious rooms run from 31sq m for a Signature Marina Bay Room to a 63sq m Family Room or a 66sq m Lifestyle Suite. Club rooms are bright with pale blonde wood walls and floors and plump white beds with turquoise bolsters and silvery runners. Expect balconies, bathtubs, hairdryers, bathrobes, irons and ironing boards, and in-room safes. A black-top ledge running across the room under the TV serves as a work space and also hosts a large Nespresso coffee machine.

Next door the fresh-look Mandarin Oriental Singapore (www.mandarinoriental.com) is back after a six-month shutdown and rework. It is already hosting banker balls and annual conferences with verve and beaming Morgan Stanley pinstripers were all over the place like a rash November 2023. The hotel is humming with colourful but hugely pleasing classic rooms (a Family Room with Balcony starting at a mammoth 56sq m and standards at 34sq m). But it's in its arsenal of suites that the hotel really shows its class with textures and pastel fabrics. The Royal Marina Bay Penthouse dishes out a quietly lush 380sq m with vast views. The old salmon atrium has been brightened up but is instantly recognisable, favourite eateries are back, and the Bay@5 is open from 6pm for sundowner Marina views. Stylish meetings with service on rails are to be expected with LED walls everywhere. Spa, meet, work, play, get wed, celebrate a wedding anniversary, or dive into The Mandarin Cake Shop. Once classy, always classy. A top Singapore luxury hotels address as ever on our review of the city's latest 2023 offerings.

DASH OF LIFESTYLE COLOUR All around Singapore the skyline is churning as new hotels emerge, many in the contemporary gender-neutral grey and pastel shades that have become the norm. The two newer Pullmans, one off Orchard (Pullman Singapore Orchard) and the other on Hill Street (Pullman Singapore Hill Street), provide contemporary accommodation with daubs of colour and modernist art in rooms that start at a somewhat tight 25sq m. Views from higher floors and cool design compensate well for business travellers in a hurry. Pullman has a work-hard-play-hard ethic that is part of its design and playful touches will pop up here and there.

Those 55-inch flat-screen TVs are di rigueur as are irons and ironing boards and complimentary WiFi. Expect small corporate meetings facilities. Pullman Porters are on hand for insider tips to Singapore and the neighbourhood. Pullman Orchard has a cramped, dark, arrival experience with a touch of overhead bling in the arrays of gold-tinted chains while the Pullman Singapore High Street breaks out with its brighter access and rail carriage theme with sticker emblazoned luggage providing a playful lift.

The Hilton Singapore Orchard (hilton-singapore-orchard)arrived 24 February, 2022, a makeover of the old Meritus Mandarin), and is less of a standout on design and concept. It is simply HUGE and offers 1,000 neat but unremarkable beige-and-grey rooms, and 2,500sq m of conferencing, meeting, events and wedding space. A 34sq m King Deluxe City View (23rd floor and up) could be the value option for elbow-room, views, and price. Kids’ Ambassadors will set up children with fun kits and space for ‘junior explorers’. It is in the heart of the shopping zone, however.

New Mandarin Orienal Marina-facing room and Cake Shop (pics: hotel); Pullman Orchard; Hilton's bling but underwhelming arrival experience; voco (lower case) lifestyle marble makeover with dash of colour in the rooms/ photos: Vijay Verghese

Farther along Orchard nearer Scotts Road, the stately original landmark Hilton with its gold art façade and glittering brand showrooms has morphed into the voco Orchard Singapore (voco/singapore). It opened 1 January 2022, from InterContinental Hotels, with a lower case name to let you know this is a cute lifestyle escape and you are not in the clutches of some botoxed grand dame. Travellers may nevertheless experience some déjà vu as they enter the dark marbled lobby with its Rolex and Cartier showrooms and peruse the old-fashioned alfresco rooftop pool.

Rooms are certainly mod and inviting with welcome colour, 55-inch TVs, irons and ironing boards, coffee machines, ergonomic chairs, safe, and ‘sustainable bedding’ (whatever that is). Try a 32sq m Deluxe High Floor where the views open up. Meetings? Weddings? This address does it all with a Grand Ballroom for up to 500 guests. If you’re a bit confused, worry not – voco is one of the many emerging faceless hotel names that have upended brand perception. As IHG says in a fit of profound non-speak, these are “hotels that are reliable enough to depend on but different enough to be fun.”

BIT OF BALI AND A SHOPHOUSE GEM Over on toll-charging Sentosa Island – a nature reserve brimming with birds and casinos – the Sofitel Singapore Sentosa Resort & Spa (rebranded from Beaufort in 2015, sofitel.accor.com) remains a relaxing, tropics-embracing work in progress. If you need an urban escape with peacocks to boot, this is it. Launched as a Beaufort in 1995 and designed by Australian architect Kerry Hill, the 27-acre resort effortlessly conjures up a vision of Bali with its verdant foliage, impressive pool, water features and red-tiled roofs.

Beaufort Director Adrian Zecha who went on to found Aman Resorts, GHM and then Azerai, was behind much of this thinking. The hotel interiors were lushly re-envisioned for Sofitel by French designers Beatrice Martinet and Pierre Maciag. This address has, as its great helmsman, the livewire everywhere-at-once Cavaliere Giovanni Viterale. As he told me in an earlier interview, “We need to go back to basics. We have a lot of assistance from technology but we cannot forget our customers. They are our oxygen. We have to help guests create memories.” Rooms offer plush furnishings and rich texture, plump inviting beds, and sleek wooden floors.

This is one of the best Singapore family-friendly hotels on our reviews and polls and in addition to its child-friendly features and spa, it is a great venue for corporate meetings, events and romantic weddings with cliff-side views of the sea. Unsurprisingly, The Cliff, with its Southern Italian fare, is a signature restaurant. Also on Sentose, the. Hard Rock Hotel Singapore (part of Resorts World Sentosa) transformed into The Laurus, a Luxury Collection Resort (the-laurus-a-luxury-collection-resort) late 2024 with rooms starting at 72sq m.

A BIT OF OLD AND NEW Last but not least, in the thrumming Arab quarter at 101 Jalan Sultan is the beautiful boutique all-white 60-room heritage shophouse The Sultan (thesultan.com.sg), which has had a lick of paint and a design lift. The pale-wood lobby is airy and cheerful. Curiously, the shelves here have ‘books’ facing away from the interior to present a bland, beige, cardboard effect. “The designer likes this,” I was told. No breakfast but the hotel nevertheless serves up friendly service and solid facilities including TV (with CNN), iron and ironing board, mineral water, bath amenities including shampoo and conditioner, a fast and furious rain shower, and complimentary WiFi. Pick a roomier 17sq m Sultan Room or a more richly designed 27sq m Puteri Room. Lots of food and moneychangers in this Beach Road/North Bridge Road area. And in the evenings The Sultan has a bar that cranks up the volume.

Plush villa interior (left) at Raffles Sentosa and its Tuscan flavours Empire Grill (centre left); the pulse-calming Sofitel Singapore Sentosa Resort & Spa with water features and sunny pool (right two)/ photos: Vijay Verghese

More upscale and not too far from here is the mid-2024 lifestyle long-stays entry Lyf Bugis Singapore (www.discoverasr.com/en/lyf/singapore) on Middle Road — hotel residences managed by Ascott that replaced the designer Hotel G. The trendy Wild Honey cafe at street level is an added draw. And find another early 2025 addition within walking distance to City Hall and the Clark Quay MRT stations — the remodelled and reimagined Wyndham Singapore Hotel (www.wyndhamhotels.com) that now overlays the former Peninsula Exelsior where attractive rates and a boisterous nightclub once reigned. Prices are still affordable, the rooms modern, straight lined and low key with wooden floors.

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