The Warehouse Hotel Hotel

Singapore

Visitors to Singapore would do well to check in to a stand-out hotel housed in a historic wharfside building whose latest, industrial-chic incarnation might just be its most audacious yet.

There’s something about taking a run-down heritage building and turning it into a knockout hotel – it inherits character without even trying. Enter Singapore’s Warehouse Hotel. From Robertson Quay – a trendy residential neighbourhood and dining hub – the trio of low-lying former 19th-centurygodowns sit in striking contrast to modern urban towers surrounding. Similarly incongruent are it’s former lives: as a spice warehouse, oil mill, illegal distillery, opium den and Eighties rave disco.

Inside, the sleek abode marries historic industrialism, contemporary minimalism and home-grown comfort – it’s a common European design lexicon; less so here, but gaining pace. Old-school pulleys hang from the steel rafters of triple-height ceilings; masonry walls remain exposed; polished concrete dominates.

Upstairs, a glass-walled rooftop pool nails function and form, while open- plan bedrooms showcase metal beams, pale wood and sharp-angled furniture. Colour schemes stay muted, accented by copper and locally crafted textiles.

Mini bars ‘of vice’ set the tone on the food front, including local snacks like salted egg yolk crisps. It’s followed through in restaurant Pó, where local top chef Willin Low creates spruced- up hawker-style street food inspired by his granny – think popiah platters and 24-hour kurobuta char siu that’ll transform stopovers from hassle to heaven.

Doubles from £145. 00 65 6828 0000, thewarehousehotel.com

Words by Blossom Green.

This review was taken from the January/February 2021 issue of Food and Travel.

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