The hotel
The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore
Check-in
It wasn’t so long ago that cruise ships were collectively dismissed as little more than glorified floating hotels. However, the truth was that cruise ships were little of the sort and were actually in urgent need of emulating the best attributes of hotels. Such a realisation eventually dawned on cruise lines and that metamorphosis is now more or less complete. Hotel brands, such as the exclusive Ritz-Carlton group, are now morphing into an eponymous cruise line itself. It’s the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection that leads your reviewer to a two-night stay at the 608-room The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore, before a seven-night cruise aboard Luminara, the line’s newest vessel, on a cruise between here and Hong Kong (though I disembark halfway in Ho Chi Minh City).
The look
On entering the hotel – designed by Irish-born American Pritzker Prize-winning modernist architect Kevin Roche – you’re confronted by a spectacular, gleaming lobby of marble. If anything, it’s a little reminiscent of a classic and extravagant cruise ship atrium. The grandly curved ceiling above the lobby, from where a ship-like statement spiral staircase winds down to the floor below, is glazed in mother-of-pearl, which by day shimmers in its characteristic multicoloured lustre. Suspended from the vaulted roof is Cornucopia, a massive art installation by American painter and sculptor Frank Stella. It’s a key piece in the hotel’s extensive modern art collection that has been valued, conservatively it would seem, at $S5 million ($5.63 million).
The room
For my stay ahead of my cruise, I’ve scored a luxurious and more than spacious room replete with polished floorboards, offset by rugs and a restrained light brown, beige, cream and white palette. It overlooks Singapore’s Marina Bay and its triumvirate of Marina Bay Sands towers. The most distinctive feature of the bathroom is the octagonal window. A soaking in the adjacent tub is best timed for the evening, when the Marina Bay and city centre are spectacularly illuminated.
Food + drink
The lobby is flanked by two sizable restaurants and bars, Colony and Republic, named in honour of Singapore’s transition from a British possession to an independent state. Upscale South-East Asian hotels pride themselves on their lavish brunch offerings. The one here is a veritable haven of hash browns and pan-Asian delights, most cooked to order by toque-donned chefs at their food stations. But without doubt, the culinary standout is the hotel’s Michelin-starred Cantonese-but-probably-not-as-you-know-Cantonese Summer Pavilion restaurant. The wonderfully creative modern Cantonese dishes of executive chef Cheung Siu Kong, originally from Hong Kong, are delicate, delectable and beautifully presented on exquisite, specially designed Italian porcelain tableware.
Out + about
On a typical two-night stay, there’s enough to keep the arty and foodie guest willing to splash some cash entertained and enthralled without leaving the hotel. There’s even a free, augmented reality hotel art tour, but if you must leave, many of Singapore’s main attractions are virtually right outside. These include the vast Marina Bay Sands shopping centre, a short walk away across the Helix Bridge, designed by Australia’s Cox Architecture, while not far away is Gardens by the Bay. The hotel is also convenient to Singapore Cruise Centre, where Luminara departs.
The verdict
Luxury hotel brands don’t come more shipshape than Ritz-Carlton with this Singapore outpost, an art, architecture and culinary haven, a perfect exemplar and a fine companion to its companion fleet of so-called yachts.
Essentials
Rooms from $654. Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore, 7 Raffles Avenue, Marina Bay, Singapore. Ph: +65 6337 8888. The next 14-night Singapore to Hong Kong cruise aboard Luminara departs on February 28, 2027 (note that a pre-cruise stay at the hotel is an additional expense to the overall cruise fare). See ritzcarlton.com; ritzcarltonyachtcollection.com
