Tried & Tested

Hotel review: The St. Regis Singapore

29 Apr 2019 by Jackie Chen
St. Regis Singapore - Exterior

Background

Officially opened in April 2008, The St. Regis Singapore is the 13th St. Regis hotel in the world and the third in Asia. It has a reputation of being “home to one of Asia’s finest private art collections”, with over 70 original works of art commissioned or curated by local and international artists being exhibited in the public areas and suites of the hotel.

Where is it?

The hotel is located at the crossroad of Singapore’s shopping and entertainment belt Orchard Road and the embassy district at Tanglin Road. Singapore Botanic Gardens, the city-state’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the popular retail and dining district Dempsey Hill, are both within walking distance. Normally it takes slightly more than 10 minutes to walk from the nearby Orchard MRT Station, and traffic permitting, it’s a 30-minute drive from Changi Airport.

What's it like?

As mentioned above, The St. Regis Singapore is renowned for its exclusive art collections, including paintings, sculptures and prints. Upon arrival, you’ll be immediately greeted by a few works of art at the hotel entrance, including a sculpture of a reclining woman, the “Riding Bodhisattva” sculpture featuring the Buddha on a dragon, as well as an art installation called “Sense Around” inspired by Chinese ribbon dance that implies prosperity and aspirations for the hotel.

St. Regis Singapore - Riding Bodhisattva sculpture
St. Regis Singapore - Sense Around

Every St. Regis hotel has an art mural. The St. Regis Singapore features a Chinese art mural behind the reception area. The art mural, named “Gathering of the Immortals”, was created in the 17th century, implying that the hotel is a gathering place for all their distinguished guests. The large mural, built into the wall, also sets the colour scheme in the hotel interior with warm gold and yellow tones. There are a few more works of art being exhibited in the lobby, including paintings commissioned by local artist Chen Ke Zhen.

St. Regis Singapore - Lobby art mural

This iconic Grand Staircase has become a popular photo spot for guests as well. Next to the staircase is a sculpture named “New Horizons” by American sculptor William Zorach, which showcases a seated woman with a child lying across her lap.

St. Regis Singapore - Grand Staircase

On the mezzanine level, there’s another sculpture named “Dancing Nude Couple” located outside the hotel’s largest John Jacob Ballroom, a candy-shaped sculpture featuring the Singapore flag, and the Lotus Pond painting series.

There’s a 30-minute art tour every evening called “The Art of Living”, led by a St. Regis butler. If you have time and would like to know more about the art works in the hotel and the stories behind them, you can join this tour held at 6pm every evening by reaching out to your butler or via the Butler Service Desk.

The room

The St. Regis Singapore has 299 rooms and suites, divided into 11 categories. I was staying at a 52-sqm Executive Deluxe Room outfitted with a king-sized bed.

My room was on Level 11. Unlike most other hotels where you just need to tap the room key card on the reader above the doorknob, you have to insert the card into the door slot to unlock the door.

St. Regis Singapore - Room door

The door was a bit heavy to open. At the entrance, there’s a full-length mirror on the left side. Then you can find the coffee and tea station, featuring a TWG tea collection of English breakfast tea, sencha (Japanese green tea) and chamomile.

The mini bar was fully stocked with chargeable soft drinks, alcoholic beverages and a good selection of snacks, including nuts, crisps, chocolate, gummy candy and instant noodles.

St. Regis Singapore - Mini bar alcoholic drinks
St. Regis Singapore - Mini bar snacks

Proceeding to the bedroom area, you’ll see the workspace facing the room entrance. The oval-shaped work desk provided more than enough space for me to place my laptop and other documents. Two universal sockets and other ports could be found beneath a flap, and there was also a network cable. However, no USB sockets were available, which was pointed out when our consulting editor stayed at the hotel two years ago.

St. Regis Singapore - Work area 1
St. Regis Singapore - Work area 2
St. Regis Singapore - Power sockets

Beside the work desk, there was a long sofa with a few cushions placed on it. The large windows behind, occupying nearly the whole wall space, offered ample natural light in the day and a view of the St. Regis Residences and the adjacent high-rise buildings at the back of the hotel.

St. Regis Singapore - Window side sofa

Both nightstands were equipped with a control panel, where you can find buttons controlling the lighting, drapes and room signs.

St. Regis Singapore - Room bed
St. Regis Singapore - Nightstand control panel

The bathroom, decorated with French marbles, was also spacious and looked bright. A freestanding bathtub occupied the centre of the bathroom, equipped with an AD Notam television above that allowed me to watch TV while taking a bath.

St. Regis Singapore - Bathroom

Alternatively, there was also a jet-massage shower, outfitted with Laboratoire Remède toiletries.

St. Regis Singapore - Jet-massage shower

At every St. Regis hotel, guests have access to the brand’s signature Butler Service. The St. Regis Singapore is the only hotel in Singapore to offer butler services to all the guests, whether they stay at rooms or suites. The duties of butlers range from food and beverage delivery, to in-house restaurant reservations, package services, shoe shining and garment pressing.

Not long after I arrived at my room, a female butler rang my doorbell and served me with some welcome fruits and chocolate. Then in the evening, I felt like having some hot tea. Instead of making the tea on my own, I dialed the butler service hotline, and in roughly five minutes, a pot of hot tea was delivered to my room.

St. Regis Singapore - Welcome fruits and chocolate

Food and beverage

There are five in-house F&B outlets in The St. Regis Singapore.

Brasserie Les Saveurs on the lobby level is an all-day dining restaurant featuring Contemporary French cuisine, where breakfast (6:30-10:30am), lunch (12-2:30pm from Monday to Saturday), afternoon tea (3-5pm from Monday to Saturday, and 4-6pm on Sunday), dinner (7-10pm) and Sunday brunch (12-3pm) are served.

St. Regis Singapore - Brasserie Les Saveurs

I went for a buffet breakfast on a Sunday morning. I arrived at the restaurant at around ten past ten, and had to queue and wait for around five to eight minutes to get a seat. A member of staff told me that the morning breakfast hours would be extended 15 more minutes to 10:45am on Sunday, given there are usually more guests on the weekend. There was a good choice of bread, dim sum, yoghurt, and fruits, along with a noodle station as well as a waffle and pancake station.

St. Regis Singapore - Breakfast 1
St. Regis Singapore - Breakfast 2

However, the service seemed a bit too rushed. After I finished the first round of food, I went out for some congee. But when I came back to my seat, I found that the tableware and my tea had already been cleared.

The Drawing Room is the hotel’s lobby lounge, open from 6:30am to 10:30pm. Coffee, tea, as well as light bites and snacks are served throughout the day. There’s also a grab-and-go counter.

St. Regis Singapore - The Drawing Room

The Astor Bar is near the hotel entrance, open from 12pm to 2am the next day. Here you can not only find a collection of more than 200 whiskies, but also savour the brand’s signature cocktail Bloody Mary, as well as the exclusive spicy concoction in The St. Regis Singapore – the Chilli Padi Mary, made with vodka, sugar syrup, tomato juice, as well as local ingredients such as chilli padi, lemongrass and ginger. A live jazz music show is held every evening after 6pm.

St. Regis Singapore - The Astor Bar

The Chinese fine dining restaurant Yan Ting is situated on the mezzanine level of the lobby, serving lunch (12-2:30pm), dinner (6:30-10:30pm) and weekend dim sum brunch (10:30am-12:30pm, and 1-3pm on Saturday and Sunday).

St. Regis Singapore - Yan Ting

On Level 2, the Italian restaurant LaBrezza is open between 12 and 10pm daily. The poolside restaurant has both indoor and al fresco seating areas. The Italian Barbecue Night is held every Friday evening (7-10pm).

St. Regis Singapore - LaBrezza
St. Regis Singapore - LaBrezza al fresco dining

Leisure facilities

The 24-hour fitness centre, the Tropical Spa Pool and the Remède Spa are all located on Level 2.

St. Regis Singapore - 24h gym

The swimming pool is open from 7am to 10pm daily. There’s a sculpture named “Float to Sukhavati”, which depicts the scene of the Buddha floating on a cloud, representing tranquility and leisure.

St. Regis Singapore - Tropical Spa Pool

Remède Spa

The spa is located on Level 2, open from 9am to 10:30pm every day. It’s the first Remède Spa out of the United States, offering a wide range of customised spa treatments inspired by water. The Pedi:Mani:Cure Studio offers pedicure treatments designed by French podiatrist Bastien Gonzalez. Major facilities in the spa include seven treatment rooms, a couple suite, a wet lounge area, a sauna room, a steam room, a Vichy shower treatment room and an outdoor spa garden with a foot reflexology path.

St. Regis Singapore - Remède Spa Reception
St. Regis Singapore - Remède Spa Wet Lounge

During my stay, I tried out their signature 90-minute Warm Jade Stone Massage. Both heated and cooled jade stones were used in the treatment actually. This kind of hot and cold therapy can help stimulate the metabolism, flush out toxins in the body, loosen muscles and thus eliminate fatigue.

First, I was asked to get changed, and then lie face up on the bed, on which a few heated jade stones had already been placed. The jade stones were kept at a suitable temperature so they weren’t too hot to lie on. Then my therapist started to use other heated jade stones to massage my limbs and other parts of my body. After the massaging, she placed the stones on my body. The jade stones were smooth to the touch, and remained hot for a few minutes.

Next, she asked me to sit up so that she could remove the stones on the bed. Then I lay down again, facedown this time, so that she could massage my back with heated stones.

After that, I was required to lie face up again, and my therapist began to use cooled jade stones this time. After being treated with the heated ones, I couldn’t help shivering when she put the cool stones against my skin. But I soon grew accustomed to them. She also used these cool jade stones to massage my face, which is said to contribute to rested-looking and radiant skin.

Before the treatment, I took a two-hour afternoon nap and woke up tired and drowsy. When the treatment was done, I did feel more refreshed and less tired. After the treatment, I was served a pot of floral tea as a post-treatment drink and ate some handmade chocolate at the spa lounge.

Meeting and event facilities

The St. Regis Singapore has over 1,500 sqm of event space, including a grand ballroom, five meeting rooms and a boardroom. The largest John Jacob Ballroom is located on the mezzanine level of the lobby. The pillarless ballroom covers an area of nearly 710 sqm and can seat up to 600 guests.

St. Regis Singapore - John Jacob Ballroom

Caroline’s Mansion, opened in January this year just next to the main hotel, is a newly unveiled event venue of The St. Regis Singapore that can be used to host different kinds of events, functions, corporate dinners and weddings. Converted from an indoor tennis court, it features a “modern luxury” design with a neutral color scheme using a mix of clean colour tones like white, grey and black, which distinguishes it from the classic luxury design in the main hotel where gold and yellow are dominating colour tones.

St. Regis Singapore - Caroline's Mansion Entrance
St. Regis Singapore - Caroline's Mansion Foyer
St. Regis Singapore - Caroline's Mansion Ballroom

The new event venue consists of a pre-event area and foyer, a long staircase, as well as a ballroom, which can be further divided into three more intimate venues, including a connecting saloon. The ballroom is equipped with five projection screens, elevated projectors and lighting equipment.

Verdict

It was indeed a comfortable stay at The St. Regis Singapore, thanks to the spacious and quiet room environment, easily accessible location and the 24-hour butler services. It’s a classic luxury experience. The exclusive art collections at the hotel will also be a plus for art connoisseurs.

Quick Facts

  • Best for… The artistic atmosphere in the hotel and the classic luxury experience.
  • Don’t miss… Joining the evening art tour around the hotel and getting a spa treatment at Remède
  • Price Internet rates for an Executive Deluxe Room in late May start from SG$392 (US$287.47), including tax and surcharges.
  • Contact 29 Tanglin Road, Singapore 247911; +65 6506 6888; stregissingapore.com
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