Planning for occasions from birthdays to anniversaries – and everything else in-between – can be a real hassle. A dinner date is too simple, a visit to an exhibition alone feels incomplete, and a staycation is nice but what do you do after you’ve checked in?
Combining the best of those worlds and more, is Canvas of Views, a new room package meant for two by The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore that offers plenty of indulgences coupled with cultural activities you can do at leisure, so you can fill up your schedule nicely as you deem fit.
First up, the package includes accommodation in either a Club Deluxe Marina Room or Club Premier Suite, meaning club benefits are included. And oh, you’ll definitely want club access as Ritz-Carlton offers five club lounge sessions a day (which is basically all-day) to enjoy the various spreads, which always includes free-flowing glasses of Barons de Rothschild Ritz Reserve Champagne. There’s even a nighttime dessert and cordial session that goes on till 10.30pm, in case you need a nightcap paired with light treats.
Cornucopia
But the real highlight here is the quaint Hotel Art Tour they conduct at 5pm daily. On this little jaunt around the hotel (you can pick up a brochure and choose to be self-guided too), you’ll be shown a sample of the over 4,200 pieces of museum-quality artworks and sculptures that decorate and enliven the whole property. The first you’ll likely see is the massive Cornucopia by artist Frank Stella hanging over the main lobby entrance of the hotel. Arch your neck back and gaze in amazement at how they’ve managed to keep this three-ton piece aloft.
Most of the artworks here are commissioned pieces, and there’s a site-specific one dedicated to the lift lobby (yes, we’re not joking) by sculptor John Rose. The Double Screw, carved from Balsa wood, is meant to reflect both the complexity of the human form and the twisting motorised mechanisms of the nearby lift shafts. Apt.
Double Screw
A crowd-pleaser has got to be Curiosity by Ernest Zacharevic, who is the same artist known for transforming Penang’s Georgetown into the street art mecca it is known as today. You’ll find no children on a bicycle here, but computers below the painting, that guests can actually use to look up the internet to satiate their curiosities. There are plenty more storied and arresting works strewn all around the hotel, such as the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Birds of Paradise by Dale Chihuly, another imposing work by Stella called Moby Dick flanking the entrance to the pool, and a couple of pieces by Andy Warhol that you’re unlikely to find without plenty of guidance (and luck).
If you’re still hungry for more art, the Canvas of Views package actually comes inclusive of a pair of tickets to the nearby ArtScience Museum’s permanent Future World exhibition that is constantly updated with new interactive exhibits. Walk over to the museum, or get a free lift there thanks to your club privileges, all on your own time.
Once you’re ready to wind down for the evening, the room package also includes a butler-drawn Provence bath. They’ll fill your tub with lavender salts and flowers, whose scent is perfect for calming the mind after a long day engrossed in artworks. Then soak till your heart’s content while looking through Ritz-Carlton’s iconic octagonal windows for a million-dollar view of Singapore’s Marina Bay.
Canvas of Views at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore starts from $900 a night.
