The best boutique hotels in Singapore
An insider's guide to the top boutique hotels in Singapore, including the best for designer interiors, historic and contemporary décor, luxurious rooms, rooftop pools, gourmet dining, Marina Bay views and swimming pools, near the Singapore River, Downtown Singapore and Marina Bay.
This historic 1895 building was once a spice warehouse, and then an oil mill. It has now been transformed into a 37-room boutique hotel. The double-volume ceiling festooned with custom lightings inspired by pulleys found in godowns illuminate the space, while a feature wall in exposed brick harks back to the building’s heritage past. There is no lack of designer details either. If you like your digs with a voluminous ceiling, book a room on the upper floor. Service by the young crew is aptly polished and quietly professional.
• The best hotels in Singapore
Clean lines, neutral tones, earthy wood and the occasional artsy furniture pieces mingle to create the contemporary design theme in this boutique hotel. Look out for B&B Italia furnishings, Poltrona Frau sofas, Moroso carpets, Artemide and Foscarini Diesel lamps and Magis’ Piña armchairs dotted throughout the property. Rooms are cleverly designed to maximise space. If you’re looking for something a little out of the ordinary, pick one of the two spacious Andy Warhol-inspired rooms (Eden and Nirwana). There's a swish infinity pool and bar on the roof.
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Time comes to a standstill here, aided by the bucolic setting and the hotel's rustic colonial charm. The hotel is housed in a Twenties black and white building that once served as a British army garrison and a halfway house before it fell into neglect. The building has been carefully restored to instill an air of old Malayan charm and, at the same time, reflect Singapore's colonial past. Throughout the hotel's public spaces you will see vintage centrepieces collected from the owner's journeys in East Asia. Rooms share a common theme of whitewashed walls and recycled wood.
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The journey says it all: arrive in style via the historic Clifford Pier – once a landing point for the country’s early settlers since 1933 – past the dazzling marble mosaic-paved Landing Point into the hush of the soaring grand reception, where an imposing gilded chandelier hangs. Indeed, this is a hotel to be seen in, but also one to see, as it is entirely clad in steel and glass – all the better to take in the surrounding views of the Marina Bay skyline. Rooms are imbued with a touch of masculine glamour by way of glossy rosewood, sleek leather and chrome fittings.
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Hotel Indigo pays tribute to the rich Peranakan heritage of the neighbourhood where it resides; a vibrant Straits Chinese design theme integrates the historic former Joo Chiat Police Station dating back to 1928. There's a gym and rooftop infinity pool. In the lobby, a feature wall bears a collage of Peranakan ceramic patterns, and a pop-up Sixties 'mama stall' (a convenience stall usually found in housing estates) doubles-up as a book stand. Rooms are fashioned in the style of a Peranakan home with wall murals of Katong's street scene by a local urban sketcher.
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With just 108 rooms, this boutique hotel can hardly compare in size to the outposts of bigger luxury chain hotels along the Orchard belt like Grand Hyatt or Shangri-La. But what it lacks in size, it more than makes up for in style - think glass and steel façade, glass-wrapped lobby with egg-shaped suede sofas, iMac computers and quirky art installations like the fiberglass torso display. Design-driven sensibilities like stone feature walls and in-room luxuries like 400 thread count bedding and Molton Brown toiletries perk up the otherwise petite studio rooms. Corner suites are spacious.
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The hotel is designed like a quaint British inn, albeit a trendy one, with occasional design pieces dotted throughout the common spaces, such as the Jan Ekselius-designed Etcetera chair and ottoman. Check-in takes place in the rooms, as the hotel "lobby" is a mere reception desk shared with the resident all-day diner, Mr & Mrs Maxwell, which is lavishly furnished like the living room of a bon vivant. Each room has a slightly different layout but is swathed in the same soothing grey palette of wood panels, upholstered fabric headboards and blinds, and boast Hypnos beds.
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Its 19th century neo-classical façade gives way to a plush – if ostentatious – Parisian-inspired interior. This funky hotel is decked with eclectic design pieces including a vertical 'wall' comprising a crystal-studded hexagonal art installation separating the original heritage building (So Heritage wing) from the newly built tower (So Hip wing). Paris-based designer, Karl Lagerfeld, makes his presence felt throughout the boutique property by way of his custom-designed Lion’s Seal emblem sported on doorknockers (So Heritage wing only), bathrobes and bookend art pieces.
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Once you get past the entrance, you are teleported into a sultry, red-swathed Parisian-inspired Vagabond Salon dressed in luxurious red velvet drapes, designed by Jacques Garcia. There are six gold-leafed 'Banyan trees' that rise up dramatically from the wooden floor to decorate the ceiling, a Lalane-inspired Rhino reception desk in gold and a Franck Le Ray-designed golden baboon at the bar. Standard features include wooden flooring, wooden headboards, plush furnishings in a purple hue and the most comfortable bed blanketed in Italian-made Egyptian cotton.
