Singapore is home to a vibrant hotel scene that includes some of the coolest boutique hotels in the world. Here are my favorites:
New Majestic
Number of rooms: 30
Location: 31 Bukit Pasoh Road, near Chinatown. This is a great district for restaurants and nightlife, and it’s super close to downtown and Marina Bay.
What I love: Every room is different. I especially love the Cheshire Suite with its side-by-side tubs. Also, the best restaurant in Singapore—Restaurant Andre—is located next door, loosely affiliated with the hotel.
Rates: from $305
Reservations: +65 6511 4700
Wanderlust
Number of rooms: 29
Location: 2 Dickson Road, between Little India and Bugis Village, a great spot to watch Singapore’s youth culture come to life at sundown.
What I love: It’s the same owners as New Majestic, with a similar free-spirited jet-set attitude. Here again, every room is different. Some are intensely colored. Others are multi-story. And there’s a great little French brasserie in the hotel called Cocotte.
Rates: from $230
Reservations: +65 6396 3322
The Club Hotel
Number of rooms: 22
Location: 28 Ann Siang Road, just off of Club Street, which is a popular nightlife corridor for expats and locals alike. Bordering Chinatown and very convenient to downtown and Marina Bay.
What I love: The white-on-white façade is gorgeous, an impeccable restoration of a historic shop house. This place is owned by the guy who also owns the famous Harry’s Bar. The rooms are small but very comfortable and serene (at least they are after the popular rooftop and basement bars have closed up shop for the night).
Rates: from $305
Reservations: +65.6808.2188
Quincy
Number of rooms: 108
Location: 22 Mount Elizabeth, just off Orchard and Scotts Roads, in the heart of Singapore’s luxury shopping mecca.
What I love: First, this is an all-inclusive hotel, so all meals, snacks, mini bar, self-serve ice cream, etc., is included in the price (and the food is pretty darned good). Second, the rooms are lovely. Third, OMG, the 12th floor pool kicks ass. Fourth, did someone say shopping on Orchard Road?!
Rates: from $288 for single occupancy, or from $348 double occupancy, all-inclusive.
Reservations: +65.6496.7699
The Saff
Number of rooms: 79
Location: 55 Keong Saik Road, just around the corner from New Majestic, with tons of great restaurants and nightlife nearby.
What I love: This place just opened in September, so it still feels really chic and polished. It’s got a crazy sexy South Indian vibe. There’s no restaurant inside the hotel, but in this neighborhood, that’s not a big deal, just merely a slight inconvenience.
Rates: from $275
Reservations: +65 6221 8388
Wangz
Number of rooms: 41
Location: 231 Outram Road, in an awkward spot practically in the center of one of the busiest intersections in town, but very close to one of the best outdoor hawker food courts, Tiong Bahru
What I love: This hotel is in a circular tower, so the rooms are all curved on one side. Some of the bathrooms’s showers are positioned directly against the windows facing the busy street below, which can be good or bad, depending on a person’s exhibitionist tendencies. Also, the rooms are truly very nice (and come with turndown service), although feather pillows are available only by special request (so be sure to take care of that in advance of arrival). One of the city’s top chefs relocated his restaurant, Nectar, here when the hotel opened in 2009. The rooftop lounge offers incredible, close-up views of downtown Singapore.
Rates: from $384
Reservations: +65.6595.1388
Klapsons
Number of rooms: 17
Location: 15 Hoe Chiang Road, at the edge of the downtown and the CBD, very near Marina Bay.
What I love: The sheer intimacy of this place is fab, making the entire experience highly personalized. There’s a great new rooftop bar and a pretty good restaurant onsite. The design is mod and fun, and while the location is good, some might find it odd to be staying in what is basically a cordoned-off section of a business tower—but then again, that’s part of what makes it so private and gives the place an “underground” vibe.
Rates: from $210
Reservations: +65 6521 9000
See also: Where to Eat in Singapore
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