The CEO Magazine Asia - 10.2018

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STAY

It starts from the moment you pull into the private

driveway. A doorman, beautifully dressed in his Tibetan-

inspired uniform with towering headgear, greets you as if

you’re a visiting dignitary. Ushered inside to a cool lobby

that’s both contemporary and regal – with its marble columns

and floor-to-ceiling Japanese tapestries – you receive a

single orchid on arrival before staff escorts you straight to

your room for check-in. It’s easy, elegant, discreet, and

luxurious, and you realise – quickly – that this isn’t your

ordinary five-star hotel.

It’s no wonder it’s consistently voted one of the best hotels

in the world. Set on six hectares of beautifully manicured

gardens with more than 133,000 types of tropical flowers,

plants, fruit trees, and Asian herbs, not to mention a seven-

metre-tall orchid greenhouse, the Shangri-La’s been dubbed

the city’s ‘second’ botanical gardens (after the famed

Singapore Botanic Gardens) – with good reason. On an

early-morning stroll through the grounds, where you’re likely

to come across one of the resident turtles doing the same, »

S

ingapore may be the most expensive city in the

world (for the fifth year running, according to the

Economist Intelligence Unit), but it’s also unlike any

other. If you’re looking for a little luxury on your next

holiday or find yourself here on business, here’s where to rest

your head, tempt your tastebuds, and let your hair down in

the Lion City.

“Would you like another glass of Champagne?” It’s a question

they’ll ask you quite regularly when you stay in the Valley Wing

of the Shangri-La. You might be enjoying afternoon tea in the

lounge, nibbling on evening canapés in the bar, or simply

waiting in the lobby for a taxi, but when you’re a guest of this

ultra-exclusive section of the hotel, the bubbles are bountiful

• and complimentary. What’s more, so are the aforementioned
  afternoon tea and canapés, as well as breakfast, butler
  service, and personalised stationery. But even these perks
  aren’t what makes the Shangri-La so special.

A MELTING POT OF CULTURES, THE STARTLING CONTRAST OF OLD AND

NEW, AND HOME TO ELABORATE TEMPLES, EXTRAORDINARY GARDENS,

SHIMMERING SKYSCRAPERS AND OUTSTANDING FOOD, THIS ISLAND

CITY–STATE HAS BECOME ONE OF ASIA’S ULTIMATE DESTINATIONS.

WORDS � SUSAN ARMSTRONG

The lion city | INDULGE