ADVERTORIAL
MAXIMUM SINGAPORE
Live your best life amid the best of the city,
at JW Marriott Singapore South Beach.
One thing we appreciate most about our favorite hotels
is their ability to distill the best of their destination
within their luxury walls, while also keeping
boundaries fluid and helping us deep-dive into the city.
Checking into J W Marriott Singapore South Beach, it
was clear we were in just such an evolved urban hotel,
a place that could open our eyes in many directions at
once. In fact, you might say that this brilliantly fused
complex of heritage buildings and hotel towers is
Singapore incarnate.
We love the senses of peace and of place you get
from a good walk. And one reason we booked here
was that it’s only a few blocks to so many wonderful
cultural attractions, from the National Gallery to St.
Andrew’s Cathedral to the Singapore Art and the Asian
Civilisations Museums. One day we challenged our
fear of heights on the Singapore Flyer, and descended
for a constitutional in lush, historic Fort Canning
Park—a bit beyond which are the adorable, winding,
shophouse-lined roads of Chinatown.
Exploratory cravings sated, we were delighted to
divine that we could meet all our drinking and dining
desires under our own rooftop. Michelin-starred
celebrity chef Akira Back has an eponymous restaurant
at J W Marriott Singapore—it’s all fun Japanese fusion,
and it took all our strength not to order five of his
famous tuna pizzas, which come, incidentally, on plates
painted by his own mom. The next night we hit up The
NCO Club, a lovingly restored heritage building on the
hotel grounds that’s home to sultry Madame Fan. Here,
beautiful Cantonese fare is deeply rooted in tradition
yet just enough evolved to keep things exciting. The
black pepper Wagyu with foie gras had us swooning,
and, come dessert, we turned to the innovative bar for
a (Not) Classic PBJ—when the base of your drink is a
peanut butter fat-washed Scotch and it’s accompanied
by a box of smoked chocolates, you know you’ve ordered
well. That had us prepped to pop down to Cool Cats, for
live music in a nouveau-throwback jazz den.
Little tip: the best time to schedule your spa
treatments is the day after a big night like that one! Spa
by J W is a super-Zen labyrinth of wellness, adorned
with art from the owner’s personal collection and
soothing with Aromatherapy Associates. We were
interested to learn that there are express spa suites for
business travelers on the go, but luckily we had enough
time to indulge in the steam, sauna and Jacuzzi as well
as restorative massages and facials.
No surprise that we proceeded to spend the rest
of the day sprawled out in the partially submerged
daybeds in the pool of Flow18, surveying the Lion City
skyline and feeling pretty smug about our holiday
planning skills. Great hotels make us better travelers,
teach us about ourselves and the world around us. With
the festive season coming up, we’re thinking a return
visit to J W Marriott Singapore South Beach is in order,
to renew that sense of wonder, appreciation and, of
course, premium pampering.jwmarriottsingapore.com