We slept better here than anywhere else in Singapore. The room was enormous and the gardens are full of birds. Cassia, the Cantonese restaurant, is so good that we skipped a night in town for it. The only real problem is that you're out on Sentosa, so you'll be in a lot of taxis. See pictures ↓
Service
The staff are lovely and they leave you alone, which is what you want here. Whenever we needed something, someone appeared, and the WhatsApp line to the front desk usually answered within a couple of minutes. On the first afternoon someone knocked with a pot of tea and a plate of madeleines.
Our arrival was a bit flat, though. The car pulled up, nobody came out, and we ended up lifting our own bags out of the boot. It's a small thing, but you notice it at a hotel like this. If you're taking the hotel shuttle with big suitcases, mention it when you book, because the driver might say no.
They make a real fuss of children. Kids get their own robes and slippers and a little toy hornbill, and the staff are happy to walk them round the grounds looking for peacocks.
Rooms
Even the basic rooms are 77 square metres. In most Singapore hotels you'd be paying for a suite to get that. We had a Premier Seaview Room in one of the curvy new wings, with lots of dark wood and a whole wall of glass looking over the treetops to the sea, where the cargo ships sit waiting offshore. I could have done a lap of the bathroom. The deep tub is right by the window, and there's a separate shower.
Most rooms face the gardens and the city, so if you want to wake up to the sea like we did, make sure you book a Seaview Room. For real privacy you'd go for a villa, each with its own garden and plunge pool. Bigger groups can take one of the three manors, which were all redone in 2024 and come with their own staff.
Everything was spotless. The terrace is small, and to be honest it's too hot and sticky to sit out there for long anyway.
Food and drink
Don't miss Cassia. It's the Cantonese restaurant, in one of the old colonial bungalows, and it was as good as anywhere we ate in town. We still talk about the pan-fried wagyu buns, and the black pepper prawns and abalone siew mai were excellent too. Book at least one dinner there.
Fiamma is the Italian place by Mauro Colagreco, with a wood-fired oven and tables out by the pool. I'd go for a long lazy lunch rather than a big dinner. Whatever you order, finish with the tiramisu, which comes with a crackly burnt-sugar top. Breakfast is a buffet there too, and the pastries are very good. Try the pandan kaya roll.
Bob's Bar looks out over the sea, so it's the spot for a sunset drink. They do a decent laksa and chicken rice as well, for the nights you can't face a taxi into town.
Setting
The oldest part of the hotel is a pair of white colonial bungalows from the 1880s, which used to be the officers' mess for a British artillery unit. Norman Foster added the curvy modern wings around them. There are only 113 rooms in 30 acres of old trees on a hill above the sea, so it's incredibly quiet. You hear birds all day and hardly any traffic, and there are peacocks strolling across the lawns.
The main pool steps down the hill in three levels towards the water. There's also a quieter pool just for adults and a lap pool, and a path takes you down to the beach.
Getting around is the annoying part. The walkways between buildings are outdoors, so you're a bit sweaty by the time you get to breakfast. Then there's Sentosa itself, an island of theme parks and beach clubs, ten or fifteen minutes by car from the city. Any dinner in town means a taxi there and back.
Value
It's one of the priciest hotels in Singapore, and what you're paying for is space and quiet. That's money well spent if your plan is the pool by day and Cassia at night. We'd have felt differently if we'd been out sightseeing from breakfast till midnight, since you'd hardly see the room. For that kind of trip, stay in town.
Who it suits
Couples and families who want a few slow days at the end of a long trip in Asia will love it, and so will anyone who'd rather swim than shop. On a first visit to Singapore I'd stay at Raffles instead, right in the middle of the city. If you want a view of the bay and somewhere you can walk around, look at the Mandarin Oriental or the Fullerton Bay. And for a cheaper base in town with big rooms, there's the Four Seasons on Orchard.
