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Dear Ms Anindita Ghosh,
"I noticed your cable was loose, and I wanted it to be nice and tidy, so I tied it up."
—Room attendant Jack
This sweet note greeted me when I entered my room on my first night at the Four Seasons Hotel Singapore.
After the almost six-hour flight from Delhi and a quick check-in, I headed down to the executive Club for a bite. When I returned to the room, the lights had been dimmed, my clothes folded away, the downy Four Seasons bed turned down for the night, and my messy phone and laptop cables neatly rolled up and tied. It wasn't much, but it still left a warm, fuzzy feeling in my heart, and Singapore suddenly felt a little more like home.
This tenor of warm hospitality—from the friendly girl who received me at the airport to the ever-smiling doormen to the servers who always remembered that I was allergic to chocolate—was a constant during the three nights and four days I spent at the Hotel.
Built in 1994 and renovated in 2019, the Four Seasons Hotel Singapore is located on a verdant stretch of Orchard Road lined with ancient trees with broad canopies. These magnificent specimens are the remnants of the orchards and plantations of the early 20th century, which have mostly been replaced with glitzy shopping arcades and office buildings.
The Hotel's central location makes visiting tourist hotspots like the Singapore Botanic Gardens, a Unesco World Heritage Site, and the Singapore Zoo accessible. It is conveniently located about 500 metres from the Orchard Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) station on the Brown or Thomson line, so you can take a train down to Maxwell like I did for a sumptuous Chinese breakfast at the Hawker Centre or go further up to Marina Bay admire 360-degree views of the Singapore skyline from the SkyPark Observation Deck.
The Concierge team will organise a personalised tour if you'd like help exploring the city. For instance, you could start at Gardens by the Bay, marvel at the Chinese Baroque-style houses of Emerald Hill and relish some glutinous rice and dumplings at the Maxwell Food Centre. More elaborate and exotic tours are on offer, like a trip to The Intan, a much-awarded private museum of Peranakan (descendants of early Chinese settlers in Singapore) artefacts run by the redoubtable Alvin Yapp. If you look carefully, this former Singapore Airlines employee (you can catch a glimpse of him and his house in the SA flight instructions ad) has collected over 1500 antique artefacts, from intricately beaded ladies' slippers to enamelled chamber pots. Regular guests get treated to some tea and cakes at the end of the tour, but we, the exalted media guests, got a full seven-course delicious Peranakan dinner cooked by Yapp and his father. But that is a tale for another day!
If you are fortunate enough to stay in a Boulevard Room at the Four Seasons Hotel Singapore, you could also do none of the above but stare at the incredible views from the bay windows all day and enjoy the Hotel's many luxuries. From my Boulevard Room on the 13th Floor, I could see the Singapore Chinese Embassy, the conical structure of Wheelock Place, the swanky Orchard Residences, and, in the distance, the unmistakable architecture of Marina Bay Sands. The Hotel arranged many activities and experiences for me. Still, the temptation to lounge around on a super-comfy King bed piled high with pillows and cushions monogrammed with the Four Seasons logo was immense. As was the sinful urge to excuse me from the daily excursion and sink into the marble tub armed with an Espresso Negroni from the minibar.
Unlike the Hotel's somewhat old-fashioned reception area, the rooms are entirely contemporary. They are done up in a palette of dusty cool blue tones and lime green accents, with an aesthetic mural wall composition of traditional Peranakan tiles.
Thankfully, the packed schedule did allow me some much-needed R&R in the form of a treatment at the Four Seasons Spa. I had been signed up for a Peranakan Signature Therapy based on Peranakan healing philosophy and traditional Chinese medicine that reminded me strongly of our Ayurvedic traditions. For instance, this signature therapy works on a person's cool or warm energies. Much like a "potli," a handsewn compress of nutmeg, ginger, and rice is applied rhythmically to different body parts to relieve pain, improve mood, and rebalance energy.
My therapist first started with gentle strokes before building up to medium pressure. Then, as she placed the warm pouches of herbs and spices on my lower back, which was always a problem area, the relief was almost instantaneous. The aches and pains were suddenly soothed, and sixty minutes seemed too little for such bliss.
Singapore is legendary as a culinary destination. A melting pot of Chinese, Malay and Tamil cultures, its cuisine is a rich amalgam of various cultural influences. At the Four Seasons Hotel Singapore, my two most memorable meals were at their standout restaurants—Nobu and Jiang-Nan Chung. The former is the popular world-renowned franchise founded by Chef Nobuyuki "Nobu" Matsuhisa, the Japanese celebrity chef known for his unique brand of fusion cuisine featuring Japanese and Peruvian flavours.
Opened in June 2022, the restaurant serves signatures like Yellowtail Jalapeño and Nobu Classics such as Toro Tartare with Caviar, Cup Sushi and Nobu Crispy Rice, but if there is one dish you must have here, it is the Black Cod Miso—a dish you'll find at most fine-dining Japanese restaurants, but the version here is quite exceptional.
My other phenomenal meal was at the Hotel's Cantonese restaurant, Jiang-Nan Chung. The restaurant is inspired by the concept of "Xiang Le Zhu Yi," or the principle of enjoyment and happiness, and reprises the pastoral lifestyle of the Jiang Nan region. A testament to a restaurant's popularity is how well-liked it is by the local populace. On the day I visited, it thronged with local Singaporean families enjoying an authentic Cantonese meal. We were, of course, nestled in a private dining space and treated to a seven-course repast. From a medley of dumplings to my favourite hot and sour soup with shredded chicken to the sweet and sour pork with fresh figs, the meal's highlight was the Signature Jiang-Nan Chun Cherry Valley mesquite wood-roasted Peking duck. The chef first expertly carved the glazed, perfectly done duck and then served a square of crispy skin topped with caviar and slivers of duck meat in a roll—heavenly!
Address: Four Seasons Hotel Singapore, 190 Orchard Boulevard, 248646 Singapore
Contact: +(65) 6734-1110
