Singapore

Singapore offers one of the world's most controlled expressions of modern urban life. Gardens, skyline, dining, heritage districts and exceptional infrastructure create a city where efficiency becomes part of the aesthetic.

Sir Stamford Raffles established a British trading post on the Singapore River in 1819, and the island grew into the great entrepôt of South-East Asia. Independent since 1965, it covers little more than 700 square kilometres, much of its shoreline reclaimed from the sea. The Civic District keeps the colonial core — the Padang, the old Supreme Court and City Hall, now the National Gallery — facing the towers of Marina Bay.

Around the centre lie the quarters of its communities: Chinatown with its shophouses and temples, Little India along Serangoon Road, and Kampong Glam around the Sultan Mosque. Food is the shared language, from the hawker centres of Maxwell and Lau Pa Sat to the city’s acclaimed dining rooms. Gardens by the Bay, the Botanic Gardens — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — and the beaches of Sentosa complete the picture.

Singapore lies just north of the equator, and the climate barely changes: warm and humid all year, with afternoon thunderstorms that pass as quickly as they arrive. The north-east monsoon brings the wettest weeks from about November to January; February is usually the driest and sunniest month, and the long days of mid-year are hot, with showers and the occasional haze from the region.

The calendar is shaped by festivals as much as by weather. Chinese New Year lights Chinatown in January or February; Deepavali transforms Little India in October or November; Hari Raya brings evening bazaars to Kampong Glam. In late September or early October the Formula One night race runs through the streets of Marina Bay, when the hotels around the circuit fill and rates rise with demand.

Raffles Singapore, opened in 1887 by the Sarkies brothers and restored in 2019, remains the city’s defining hotel on Beach Road. The Fullerton Hotel Singapore occupies the Neoclassical former General Post Office at the mouth of the river; Mandarin Oriental, Singapore and The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore look across Marina Bay; and Capella Singapore, set around colonial-era buildings in the rainforest of Sentosa, offers a resort a short drive from the centre.

LVXVRY books Raffles through Accor Preferred, Mandarin Oriental through Mandarin Oriental Fan Club and the Ritz-Carlton through Marriott STARS & Luminous — at the official hotel rate, with the privileges the programme attaches to the stay. For The Fullerton and Capella, LVXVRY advises on and arranges the stay. Grand Prix weekend and Chinese New Year call for early reservations.