Best Luxury Hotels in City Hall

The place for a Singapore Sling, the colonial-era hotel invented the beverage in 1915 and serves it in its famed Long Bar. In a city where littering is illegal, the Long Bar has the unusual privilege of allowing patrons to discard the shells of monkey nuts (provided along with drinks) on the bar floor. Raffles hotels can now be found in other locations, but this was the original, named after Singapore’s founder, Sir Stamford Raffles. The ambience is refined, with an old world feel, as it was described in the novels of Somerset Maugham and Rudyard Kipling, with butler service, pretty verandahs and an elegant afternoon tea.

Right above the City Hall and MRT train stations, this high-rise Fairmont property couldn’t be more convenient. Bedrooms and suites are located across its two towers — north and south — with views of either the eighth-floor pair of circular pools or the city skyline. Guests can take fitness classes and indulge in some hydrotherapy at the Willow Stream Spa, swim and play tennis. And when it comes to dining, you have a choice of the Asian Market cafe, Mikuni, prego, Clove Anti:dote, The Stamford Brasserie and Skai with its double-height floor-to-ceiling windows showcasing the panorama.