The sun is gloriously rising above the horizon, the light leisurely pierces through the pearly white clouds and you’re all revved up to start the day, until a massive gridlock and merciless honkings greeted you at your front door.

Yes, a trip to a bustling metropolis that hardly sleeps such as Singapore can be taxing especially on the travelling magnates, but if there’s one thing our recent visit to the island had taught us, it’s that a night at The Warehouse Hotel is the only survival kit you’d need for the ultimate work-cation.

Built in 1895, this grand edifice has been restored as a contemporary independent hotel that’s somewhat removed from the city setting, and as it was erected on the banks of the Singapore River, the accompanying serene and picturesque panorama goes without saying. And just like it was one of the breeding grounds of secret societies and underground activities, the inconspicuous facade leaves plenty to the imagination.

Behind the whitewashed walls is a “portal” to a new dimension, one that’s warmly painted in the palette of walnut, fawn and beige. The feeling you get upon entering is almost cosmic. Hard vacuum dusted with a density of particles, the towering high ceilings are dusted with vintage pinwheels. Talk about an otherworldly experience.

It’s hard to imagine that such a display could get any better but it does. When the night falls, the dangling light bulbs emit an affectionate glow, against the peeking darkness on the other side of the windows.

This builds an amorous ambience which makes it also endearing to the lovebirds who wish to nest in one of its 37 rooms that boast signature triple-pitched roof and original masonry walls. All the ingenuities behind The Warehouse Hotel are in fact a toast to Singaporean’s excellence — from the incorporation of the nation’s culture and history into the building of this industrial chic establishment, to the ones who did the incorporating, notably the homegrown agency Asylum who did wonders in the designing department.

Another worth mentioning quality is the opulent carte du jour. The famed Chef Willin Low, also the chef-partner at the hotel’s flagship restaurant, Po meticulously fashions the hotel’s culinary splendour. We would vouch for his exclusive charcoal-grilled iberico satay and spicy tamarind barramundi in a heartbeat. To wash it all down, head down to the lobby bar for the eclectic in-house cocktail programmes designed to reflect the three distinct eras of the hotel’s past — you’ll be humming all the way to an undisturbed slumber, just like we did.

Words by Nikita Nawawi.

From: L’Officiel Malaysia, June/July 2017.

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