Review: First in: The Singapore Edition

Why book The Singapore Edition?

No one does “cool” luxury quite like Edition, and this slick, greenery-bedecked hotel looks set to become the new clubhouse of Singapore’s creative crowd. And it’s well located on the quieter edge of Orchard Road, Singapore’s vibrant retail and dining precinct.

Set the scene

The Singapore Edition delivers a true sense of arrival once you’re ushered through its main doors, with a dramatically spare lobby that evokes Greek temple-meets-Zen minimalism. Its white, circular walls are left unadorned to place emphasis on the gold leaf-covered domed ceiling that’s gently illuminated to resemble a glowing moon, as well as a seductively solid Venetian plaster staircase (an ancient lime-plaster technique currently enjoying a renaissance) that spirals to the floor below.

The air is (subtly) infused with Edition’s signature Black Tea fragrance, its smoky and sweet notes crafted in collaboration with US perfume brand Le Labo. On the left is the living-room-esque Lobby Bar – a cosy arrangement of cream-coloured Christian Liaigre doe-leather chairs set around an oversized, pink-backlit bar brimming with glittering crystal decanters and sculptures. To one side stands a rather sexy bespoke Calacatta marble pool table strikingly topped with fuschia felt.

Sunlight streams through the long, airy conservatory that runs all along the far wall, topped with a curving glass roof and festooned with over 300 tropical plants and 162 suspended fern spheres. Stepping through it reveals an unexpectedly large sunken timber-decked courtyard (which the hotel wraps around) filled with even more large potted plants and greenery spilling off its terraces, a nod to Singapore’s “city in a garden” ethos.

The rooftop pool is suspended nine floors above the courtyard, which contains a transparent acrylic oculus that gives swimmers a fish’s eye view into the greenery below. (The pool’s tessellated exterior may evoke another local landmark – Safdie Architects was also behind Marina Bay Sands and its iconic surfboard-like Skypark.)

And true to any Ian Schrager creation, the Singapore Edition’s art collection is intriguing but strictly #IYKYK, as none of them – from the immense Christian Furr painting of Singapore’s early settlers in the hotel’s restaurant, Fysh, to the large Johina Conchesos hanging in the lift lobby – are labelled.

The backstory

Edition was conceived by famed developer Ian Schrager (the Studio 54 co-founder often credited with creating the boutique hotel concept) in partnership with Marriott International. The former was closely involved in every aspect of the hotel’s design, a collaboration with interior design firm Cap Atelier. Apparently, it took just one glance for Schrager to determine how many fern spheres the conservatory needed and at which heights they should be hung.

The rooms

I stayed in a Garden Premier King room, which, like most of the hotel’s 204 rooms, looks out into the planted courtyard. Electronically adjustable sheer curtains, blackout shades and external louvres allow you to filter the sun and adjust the view.

General manager Ranim Ben Romdhane aptly says the Edition’s rooms “give you everything you need as a luxury traveller, but aren’t too complicated.” I like that its quiet guest rooms offer sensory relief through a restrained palette and careful use of negative space. My room features white oak floors, rugs and seating, with the only colour accents in the brushed gold Axor bath fittings, onyx dining chairs and bedside lamps, and, of course, the sleek, tall bottles of Edition-Le Labo black tea-infused toiletries (£71 per bottle, should you be tempted to take one home). Fluffy La Bottega robes, Frette-Edition bed linen and Schott Zwiesel glassware add style and comfort.

Particularly delightful is my welcome amenity. Inspired by a similar sculpture in nearby Botanic Gardens, it depicts a woman’s face rendered in chocolate airbrushed to suggest patinated bronze, from which radiates chocolate vines topped with colourful butterflies. The entirely edible artwork is one of many in Edition’s “lookbook” of creative welcome amenities, which include locally inspired chicken floss buns, kaya doughnuts and even a mini “chilli crab”-shaped dessert.

Food and drink

The Singapore Edition’s showpiece restaurant is undoubtedly Fysh, a smart and elegant high-ceilinged affair with plush, forest-green velvet banquettes and Calacatta marble tables, along with a custom bar in green, scalloped Antico Verde marble. It’s a fitting stage for Josh Niland’s first restaurant outside of Australia, where he can showcase the sustainable, gill-to-fin approach and dry-ageing fish technique on which he’s built his name.

For dinner, I particularly enjoyed Niland’s dry-aged Murray Cod, an oft-overlooked Australian river fish that beguiles with firm, white flesh, shatteringly crisp skin and piquant eel gremolata. Also good is the Fysh Egg Tart, with its glistening pearls of trout caviar and creme fraiche. The Valrhona Chocolate Macaron filled with tuna ice cream is a must-order. Made using yellowfin tuna eyes as an egg substitute, it tastes nothing like fish (which will delight or disappoint, depending on the kind of foodie you are).

The Lobby Bar offers a suite of well-calibrated cocktails inspired by scents like tuberose, ylang ylang, bergamot and shiso leaf, along with wines and Dammann Freres and Jing teas. Meanwhile, the Yves-Klein blue, speakeasy-style Punch Room (Edition’s signature bar concept) serves locally-inspired punch bowls like the popular Bukit Merah Punch, a gin, mezcal, tamarind and banana concoction inspired by a local legend in which a young boy fends off swordfish attacks using banana trunks.

The pool-facing Roof is all about breezy, beachy sips and bites, like watermelon coolers and champagne coladas, coupled with local favourites like chicken rice, satay and chilli crab spring rolls.

The service

Assuredly Edition, thanks to the global crew – like Simone Ruta from Madrid at the Lobby Bar – which descended prior to opening day to guide their Singapore colleagues – a crew already seasoned from stints at several of the top luxury hotels here.

The neighbourhood

Located just off the west end of Singapore’s iconic upper Orchard Road with all its glitzy shopping malls, Michelin-starred restaurants, sightseeing and entertainment, The Singapore Edition is located in Cuscaden Road, a leafy, upmarket neighbourhood studded with luxury hotels and pricey pied-a-terres.

Who comes here?

Edition fans for one, like a fellow punter at the Lobby Bar who’d declared 2023 an “Edition year” with prior stays in its Shanghai, Reykjavik and Barcelona properties. And with its unique brand of creative cool, art, music and fashion folk.

For families and pets

Baby cribs are available upon request and children are welcomed upon arrival with child-friendly shower amenities. Pets are not allowed at the hotel.

Eco effort

The Singapore Edition was awarded BCA Green Mark Platinum, a green building rating system which recognises a building’s environmental impact and performance. Its many eco-friendly features include using “green cement” in its construction as well as recycled material for staff uniforms and boxed water in guest rooms. The wood and bamboo smart card room keys are carbon neutral and biodegradable.

Accessibility

The hotel offers mobility-accessible Garden King rooms, catering to guests in mobility devices such as wheelchairs. These come with a spacious bathroom area and features including roll-in showers, lowered phones in toilets and lever handles on guest room doors. Licensed service dogs are also welcome.

Anything else to mention?

There is a Techogym-outfitted gym and a spa with soothing treatments using Le Labo and Swiss Cellcosmet products. A small boutique is still being filled, but offers an interesting curation of local makers such as sustainable swimwear from Align Swim and pleated bags from Ling Wu. And the elementally beautiful plates and bowls by Australian potter Sam Gordon – featuring a white glaze made from fishbones sourced from Niland – are sure to sell out quickly.

Is it worth it?

Yes, The Singapore Edition gives travellers easy access to Orchard Road’s myriad delights while offering its own stylish drinking and dining experiences your local friends will only be too glad to join you at.