Annalisa12

I love the St Regis. Classic luxury and service. In a shopping precinct.

ajca

I've only ever stayed at the St Regis for one night but was pretty disappointed - maybe I was just unlucky / cranky.

It felt to me like the St Regis was stuck in that gap between being old and stylish enough to be classic and new enough to be modern. I recall an uncomfortable bed - in fact I seem to remember it was so hard I had to get them to put a duvet under the sheets. And I'm not fussy about these things.

As someone who lives in Singapore I guess I find the St Regis area less appealing unless all you want to do is shop on Orchard Road (I steer clear of Orchard myself - aren't the luxury shops the same as everywhere else in the world? And if you want to shop just go to Marina Bay Sands where all the high-end stores are under one roof and you don't have to leave the aircon).

It's been a while since I went through a long period of trying out every decent hotel in Singapore (ie before I lived here) but personally my pick for something close to a 'luxury hotel' would still be either:

1. A shophouse suite at the Intercontinental
2. A club suite at the Ritz Carlton

Intercontinental is good because you walk outside and you're actually in a 'real' part of Singapore with local food and lively streets. Not usually a fan of the brand but the shophouse suites in Singapore are really something and the club lounge offers amazing service (and I say this after using it as a home and office away from home for a long, long time).

Ritz Carlton for the views and service and quality of the fitout and no doubt the best club lounge in Singapore.

Beyond that not a lot of high end competition in town. FS, MO, StR and SL all tired and need pretty major overhauls (although I haven't tried Valley Wing at SL so can't speak for that). Fullerton Bay I find very weird that you can see right into 2/3 of the rooms from anywhere nearby. MBS is so far from being a luxury hotel it's not funny.

Actually the Parkroyal on Pickering is pretty damn good on location and hard product and would be my third choice.

Raffles 2.0 will no doubt be awesome and Singapore's winner when it comes online!

callmedtop

Interesting that two of the best choices in SIN appear to be the R-C or the IC, both brands I don't typically associate with true luxury.

I'm going to be in SIN next year for the first time for a couple of nights on the way to Indonesia. Have been considering the R-C vs. Fullerton Bay but will also add the IC in the mix. The Club lounge at R-C and IC is a nice feature considering we will largely be recovering from jetlag. That said, the IC location seems like an advantage for first-time visitors.

I also wonder if Patina will ever open, as it looks quite special.

LillianJ

The RC is certainly considered luxury in most places and especially this one.
We considered a different location this time but on reviewing choices we stuck with the top.
Our experience was a great location. Walk to near by mall Ferris wheel thing and pick up at hotel for bus to zoo. Also walked over to Raffels to see.

ajca

Very true - at least within Asia this depends so much on the city though. I suppose the higher yield the market, the higher the market quality benchmark and the more likely the chain puts the investment in the property needed to make it good.

R-C Hong Kong I think pretty clearly luxury (even if the location isn't great), IC Hong Kong arguably so as well. R-C Tokyo well regarded although there's intense seriously competition at the top end of that market.

Unlike say Jakarta or KL where the R-C and IC properties are ... ugghhh... or Manila where the Peninsula and IC properties are ... ughhh....

Singapore maybe somewhere in the middle... fairly high yield yet competition is thin despite the presence of (old, dated) MO, FS, SL etc.

IC has a very different feel to it, which I find much more classically luxurious than the R-C or Fullerton Bay. They have done a beautiful job of the fitout making it feel kind of historical while still chic and modern. I would only recommend the Shophouse Suites at the IC though, not the tower rooms. The Club lounge people will take very good care of you from checkin to checkout.

One thing I'm not sure if it has been mentioned before is that R-C gets a lot of big tour groups which does lower the tone a bit. And Fullerton Bay has a lot of tourists wandering around and the lobby areas are totally open to the public so despite the spectacular (ly expensive) fitout it doesn't feel as exclusive as it should.

Patina does look special and would certainly be unique in the Singapore market. if it ever opens. Unless/until we one day see an urban Aman in Singapore one day (actually whatever you think of the urban concept, an urban Aman in Fort Canning Park has potential to be quite special!)

Perhaps Patina will raise the market standard and force the other older luxury properties in town to step up their game.

There are however some fairly major challenges in Singapore around finding the kind of staff who really want to work in hospitality and can make a luxury hotel into perfection - the brilliant staff at the R-C/IC and a few other club lounges are a fairly rare exception to this rule.

BENLEE

To be honest, I don't think truly world class luxury hotels like those in HK, Paris and London exist in Singapore. OK, maybe Raffles but I have not stayed there.

IC and RC are very good business luxury hotels but not in the same class as in other cities. But they are still very nice for what it delivers considering the room rates relative to the other big cities mentioned above. RC is more secluded but short walking distance across the street and there is the Marina Bay Sands Shoppes where the casino is located and everything under the sun for luxury brands is there if you are into that sort of thing. By comparison, IC location is more lively and "local" and if you bother to venture out, there are a lot of local food outlets and shops to explore. Both of them have nice club lounge. For food offerings, I will actually give a slight edge to IC. View wise RC is much better of course.

callmedtop

Thank you all. I know SIN will not compare with the likes of HK or Tokyo, nor do I expect it to given everything I've read about the hotel market. At this point we're just looking for someplace comfortable to kick off our honeymoon, including:

Restful sleep to kill jetlag
Quick access to hawker centres
A comfortable club lounge

Given that it will be June, we won't be doing much walking around, so trying to be realistic. The IC seems like a very strong choice given the above.

Who knows, I'm sure I'll change my mind 8 times between now and June, which is the problem with planning so far in advance.

LillianJ

Funny we did not find that at all in Feb.
In fact the bus to pick us up for the zoo only had a few people from the hotel but head to others to fill the bus.
Yes I did see lots of business people it add to the calm and quiet. Love the secluded pool area perfect way to get over jet lag.

Susiew237

I personally dont feel the shophouse rooms at the IC are restful. Had a terrible experience here with a lot of noise coming from the shopping centre. (also feel these rooms lack privacy)

The lounge is very nice, but I personally prefer a lounge with a view.

FlyingDoctorwu

Looks like the market in Singapore is pretty meh... reminds me of Boston.. I know that the MO is fairly lackluster but the rates on the suites are quite solid; with the fourth night free... any recent experiences in a suite at the MO? Either the city view or marina bay....

thanks
FDW

CanuckFlyHigh

I am staying in a Suite at the Fairmont in September. Will report back.

kzap

Consider the 4S if you want something more boutique, its centrally located by Orchard Road and the service is very good. Food is awesome also.

0bsidian

I can echo this - the hard product isn't great, but it's the best service I've received in Singapore to date (e.g. cleaning staff greeting you by your name when seeing them in the corridors).

m3red

MO is a nice hotel but I hate the dystopian prison lobby. As for views - bay view! We had a great view if the wheel and Marina bay - fabulous.

I did prefer the Fullerton bay though.

mike_la_jolla

The MO lobby is indeed hideous - an ugly, jarring assault on the senses. And be careful of the dress code. I hated the place and checked out as soon as I ran afoul of the silly dress code. I moved next door to the RC. If you do choose the MO make sure that you ask for furniture on the balcony. The balconies are unfurnished. They don't bother to supply chairs unless you ask.

Didn't like FS either. The soft product might be OK, but the rooms are so dark that I needed to have every light in the room illuminated during the day. I found the place depressing. And they are unfriendly towards odd check-in/checkout times.

FB is OK, but the AC was out during my stay. My room got disco noise from the dance club across the bay until ~5am. Double pane windows cannot eliminate the earth shaking bass ... Food was terrible.