Mandarin Oriental, Singapore
A Singapore icon that has recently been given a serious upgrade
When John Portman practically invented the modern hotel atrium in 1967 at Hyatt Regency Atlanta, its 22-storey lobby changed what guests expected to feel when they walked through a door. By the mid-1980s, Portman had perfected the grandeur in Singapore, where the Marina Square atrium feels like a fan, a deliberate nod to the Mandarin Oriental emblem. It’s also the kind of audacious lobby that would only sit in a hotel that can match it via room and service quality.
After a six-month closure in 2023, reportedly costing upward of US$100 million and involving Jeffrey Wilkes of DesignWilkes (the firm behind Mandarin Oriental Bangkok and Mandapa, A Ritz-Carlton Reserve) the interiors at the Mandarin Oriental Singapore have been reworked from the ground up.
The renovation leans into specifically Singaporean references, with Peranakan architectural motifs, batik patterns drawn from the view outside each window and Vanda Miss Joaquim orchid details threaded through the soft furnishings. Rooms facing Marina Bay use a cooler palette that plays off the water whereas ocean-facing rooms warm up. It is a rare case of a renovation where design logic actually changes depending on which direction you look.
Dining at the Mandarin Oriental, Singapore runs ten concepts deep. Squeeze in the Cherry Garden for Cantonese dim sum brunch, Zuicho for intimate kappo-style Japanese, poolside Italian at Dolce Vita, and MO Bar, which has been a fixture on Singapore's cocktail circuit for years.
On the 21st floor, the former club lounge has become HAUS 65, a members-style space with a full wine and cocktail list available from morning onward, offering free-flow Ruinart for club-floor guests before the sun sets.
But its the Mandarin Oriental’s positioning which is the real argument. Marina Bay, the Esplanade theatres, Gardens by the Bay and the Singapore Flyer are all within walking distance. Promenade MRT is minutes away on foot. Changi Airport is 20 minutes by taxi, which the hotel will happily organise you in the blink of an eye.
Portman's fan still opens onto one of the best sightlines in the city, but the rest of this sublime Singapore hotel has been brought firmly into the 21st century.
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