Christmas – 30
There are so many memorables about Singapore’s Fullerton Bay. The public areas, nearly 100 years old and re-purposed by André Fu. Lovely, helpful staff, including a Japanese former flight attendant who says working the hotel’s front desk is more satisfying.
Wake up in water-level room 0110, by a Hong Kong designer called Rudolf Leong, open the drapes for a morning view of MBS – Marina Bay Sands rather than Saudi scion MbS. 0110’s a haven of tiger wood and mirrors and mustard colour. There’s a glass wall between the bedroom and the bathroom, with a privacy screen. Relish easy button controls for lights, plenty of USB sockets and some USCs. The welcome was so thoughtful – Veuve Clicquot next to mango and bananas and, on the desktop, everything you needed to make a martini, including additives and instructions (question to self, should have indulged last night, no use pre-breakfast). Newspapers, real bits of paper as requested, have arrived outside the door much earlier.
Up to the rooftop of the six-floor building to go to the gym. Walk along one end of the pool, its loungers being carefully set for the tourists who, having done the Botanic Gardens and other must-sees that Singapore has to offer, will be rooftop-relaxing, at least for a few hours. Breakfast, back down on the ground floor in that all-purpose Brasserie, is one of the stupendous buffets that truly justify significant salivation. It’s so expansive – two types of excellent yogurt as well as hotel-made pots, just everything you can think of. An extra order arrives even before there’s time to sit down, you esconsed in cushions (the more luxurious the hospitality product in Singapore, the more cushions are deemed desirable).
Honestly, Singapore has so MANY fine hotels, many of them, like Fullerton Bay, with history. It’s a shame that more of them are not recognised in international ratings in the way that the national airline is. Gino Tan, the Fullerton boss, lord of the whole portfolio, is, by the way, another Singapore Airlines alum.
