Take a break from the frenetic pace of Singapore and head 10 minutes across the causeway bridge to Sentosa Island, a wonderland of resorts, beaches and leisure activities that are more reminiscent of laid-back Thailand than business-focused Singapore. Here are three of the most friendly hotels on the island; all have free bike hire and access to Sentosa’s two golf courses.
Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort & Spa, run by general manager Ben Bousnina, opened in 1993 and was completely redone in 2011. My favourite of the 454 rooms are the end rooms, numbers 601 to 1101, all with massive balconies. Inside, big bathrooms have all-glass walls allowing you to look out from the shower or the tub at the dozens of ships always moored out in the Singapore Strait.
Dining choices include Silver Shell Cafe, with its two buffets (one set lower to the ground for kids), a seafood or Sunday brunch at Barnacles and sharing-plates at Casserole. There are beautiful sandy beaches that are safe for swimming and lots of natural greenery. A complimentary bus leaves every 20 minutes from 09.30am to Vivo City shopping mall. To recover, try a Singapore massage in the hotel’s CHI the Spa, or burn up the carbs in the Life gym, open 24 hours.
Mövenpick Heritage Hotel Sentosa, built in 1940 as a British military barracks, opened as a 191-room hotel in 2012. Heritage rooms have stone terraces surrounded by glass that look out into lush greenery. Interiors by Japanese design company Super Potato include a single trunk of Indonesian wood that forms a deliberately misshapen 14-seat table in The WoW bar.
WoW, incidentally, stands for World of Whiskies, and the hotel’s general manager, Roland Svensson, has arranged a partnership with the original WoW in the historic Waldhaus am See hotel in St. Moritz, Switzerland. That hotel’s legendary owner, Claudio Berlusconi, has 3,500 different whiskies.
On Sentosa, the Mövenpick is able to offer 300 of those labels to sate the appetites of the growing number of Singaporeans and expats who enjoy whisky and food pairings. You might be lucky enough to try Macallan 1946, which sells for US $24,000 a bottle. Away from the tastings, the hotel has the relaxing Tablescape restaurant, a 24-hour Technogym and a 20-metre outdoor pool. Two minutes’ walk from Resorts World and Universal Studios, the hotel also offers free transport to Vivo City.
W Singapore – Sentosa Cove is the ultra-fun youngest sibling of this Sentosa trio. Run by general manager Stephane Fabregoul, the hotel comprises 240 rooms and nearly the same number of private residences over five hectares of lush land. Since opening in September 2012, the W has become a popular honeymoon and, perhaps incongruously, conference location (convention-goers appreciate the ceiling-hung, noise-cancelling ‘lampshades’, under which you can hear your mobile phone without interruption).
For the best rooms, try the 80 sq m rooftop Fantastic Suite, with its large private terrace, or one of the nine Away Rooms, with small private gardens, plunge pools, and direct access to the spa. The Technogym is 24 hours, and there’s a massive curvilinear outdoor pool.
The hotel’s designer, Rockwell Group, has put in many fun elements: all-day The Kitchen Table restaurant has wooden ‘tables’ hanging upside down from the ceiling, while the salt and pepper containers are made from Laguiole horn in Skirt steakhouse and shaped like apple-green tree trunks in The Kitchen Table.