The hotly anticipated refurbishment of the old warehouse on Robertson Quay, by the Lo & Behold Group, opened at the beginning of 2017. It’s the first hospitality foray for the beloved lifestyle group, behind ever-bustling restaurants such as The Black Swan and the Michelin-starred Odette.
The gorgeous, 37-room boutique hotel, designed by award-winning agency Asylum, pays thorough tribute to the building’s storied past: since its construction in 1895, it has been a godown for spices (and some less innocent cargo), an illegal spirits distillery and most recently a disco pre-dating even Zouk. All these eras are well-covered in the nine-cocktail lobby bar (don’t worry, there’s plenty of wine, sake and other spirits, too), which devotes three concoctions to each of the periods, all to be enjoyed under the soaring, peaked ceilings of the beautiful leather-brick-and-concrete lobby.
As for the rooms, they are the stuff of staycation dreams. Starting at $295, no two are exactly the same, thanks to the building’s structure. Amenities-wise, there’s Bang & Olufsen bluetooth speakers, bed linens from Singaporean fabric designers Matter Prints, toiletries by boutique New Zealand company Ashley & Co. and, our favorite, an exciting mini-bar stocked with stuff by regional makers: Marou chocolates from Vietnam, gin from Paper Lantern, cup noodles from Korea and more. There are even some sexytimes accessories available for purchase, as a tribute to the building’s secret sex trade days.
There is also a small but prettily salmon pink-tiled infinity pool, and the in-house restaurant, Po, where the menu was done by Singaporean celebrity chef Willin Low, is a nod to undersund Singaporean dish, the popiah.
