Cherie Howie enjoys two nights at Singapore’s hard-to-miss Pan Pacific Orchard Hotel, which opened in June 2023.
Location: Claymore, Singapore
Style: Garden-style hotel that works with its tropical location to bring the outside in.
Price: Room prices range from the deluxe room at NZ$435 per night to the Premier two-bedroom suite at around $1000 per night.
Perfect for: Enjoying a unique and modern hotel amid lush greenery, water features and multiple communal relaxation spaces just off Orchard Rd, Singapore’s premier shopping, dining and entertainment hub.
First impressions: I’ve never seen a building like it. The hotel’s four nature-inspired relaxation and recreation spaces (Forest, Beach, Garden and Cloud) act as sky terraces (excluding ground-floor Forest), with guest rooms overlooking the first three. I love how each reflects off the all-glass ceilings, making for confusing and fun posts on Instagram!
Rooms: I stayed in a Premier Balcony King ($510/night). I loved the rain shower, 100 per cent edible welcome treat, bedside lighting controls and of course the amazing bed - if I could’ve squeezed it into my bag, I’d be sleeping in it tonight.
The extra-high ceiling also made the already ample space seem larger, and I never heard a peep from my neighbours.
The electronic blinds-enclosed balcony had a lovely view over the garden terrace, but was sadly seldom used by me thanks to Singapore’s hot and sticky climate. Other guests may be more hardy.
The only bummer was the lack of a desk. I’m told this is deliberate, as modern workers can and often choose to work anywhere - but sometimes you just want to work in the most convenient space available to you, your room.
Other room options include the Premier Balcony Loft, which has a loft-style mezzanine with couch, and costs $622 per night, and the unique Beach loft rooms with their direct “swim-out” access to the hotel’s massive pool ($917 a night).
Bathroom: A space for the basin leads off to the roomy rain shower with its fabulous water pressure. Both the separate toilet and the bathroom area in total can be closed off from the rest of the room by sliding walls.
Eco-friendly refillable shampoo, conditioner and soap containers are fixed to the shower wall, and complimentary hand soaps and moisturisers are provided.
Food & drink: You will eat. A lot. It starts with an all-edible welcome gift of chocolates and fruit, with daily fruit plates to your room to follow.
Breakfast at on-site restaurant Mosella is a chunky $58 if not already included in your room rate but the buffet caters to every Eastern and Western taste imaginable. A chef is on hand to cook your eggs just how you like them.
Those with Pacific Club privileges can eat in the more intimate Pacific Club Lounge, where breakfast options are fewer but more elite - think caviar-topped eggs benny. The lounge also opens for afternoon tea, as well as cocktails and canapes come sundown.
After breakfast, Mosella switches to an excellent Mediterranean-Peruvian restaurant; later you can shoot up 11 floors to Florette bar where the tasty signature cocktails are named for the hotel’s four nature-inspired sections.
Room service is available if even the short journey to the in-house restaurant is a step too far, and rooms also come with a very small fridge and a Nespresso coffee maker with a selection of pods.
Facilities: Unlimited, fast Wi-Fi is included, as is on-site parking, and the health-conscious can choose between a large, fully-equipped indoor gym, or mini outdoor one.
The large lagoon-style pool includes a single lane for fitness swimmers, and a swim-up bar to deliciously reverse all those gains.
Down the hall at St Gregory Spa, you’ll find a full menu of massage, body scrub and beauty treatments, for a fee. My Bali massage was so relaxing I fell asleep!
In the neighbourhood: The retail strip of Orchard Rd is two minutes on foot, with numerous malls and both open-air and indoor eateries and bars. It’s busy at all hours and feels safe even late at night.
Customary Singaporean Hawker-style eateries are also within walking distance at ION Orchard Mall, or you can make the short journey a few kilometres up to former British Army barracks Dempsey Hill, which has a global mix of eateries befitting an international city.
Walk off those calories with a stroll through the nearby Singapore Botanic Gardens, you can use the excuse of admiring the world’s largest orchid display to give yourself a break.
Family friendly: The pool is Pan Pacific Orchard’s ace in the hole for those with kids, offering a gentle slope into the water that doesn’t go above adult waist height. Plus, the hotel’s unique design means you can leave the sunblock behind. Cots, cribs and baby baths are available, but you’ll have to look after the kids yourself - there’s no sitter service.
Accessibility: Accessible rooms are available and accessways in the lobby, lifts, and other come-and-go areas are clear and wide. The hotel also has a driveway ramp.
The pool’s beach lagoon design means step-free entry. However, there’s no hoist available for disabled guests.
Sustainability: Green-friendly is kinda Pan Pacific Orchard’s thing, starting with the rainwater irrigation system for all that foliage.
Plastic waste is minimised with an in-room filtered water tap and glass bottled water available, and the on-site restaurant and bar use biodegradable cups and straws. Refill soap, shampoo and conditioner are provided in each room, avoiding the need for single-use plastic bottles.
Contact: panpacific.com/en/hotels-and-resorts/pp-orchard-sg.html
Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.
Viking’s cruise brings Europe to your balcony..