A Classic Singapore Hotel Gets a Thoughtful Update — but You Won’t Want to Miss the Elevators

Rarely at a hotel have I thought so much about the elevators. The Conrad Orchard Singapore has four of them, traveling up, down, and perhaps back in time.

Architect John Portman designed this iconic 12-story tower around a dramatic open atrium in 1982, when it debuted as an InterContinental, before becoming a Regent, then most recently landing under Hilton’s Conrad flag in 2023. Portman, whose other iconic hotels include the similarly modernist Hyatt Regency Atlanta and Marriott Renaissance Center Detroit, stacked the floors of rooms and restaurants like the ribcage of a giant, graphically rendered bird and linked them with a central spine upon which ascend and descend the whispering capsules of metal and glass. Skirting an outlandish arrangement of orchids, I stepped into the dome and called one.

Ninety-nine out of 100 elevators are boring at best and uncomfortable at worst. We stare at the numbers, never each other, counting up or down, waiting for a ding and the doors to slide open to release us from the dreadful steel embrace of modern convenience. Ninety-nine out of 100 elevators are utilitarian things entombed inside walls so no one has to see their ugly guts. Glass elevators, from Willy Wonka to the mall of your suburban childhood, are aesthetic candy, placed on the outside, frosted and iced for all to admire. Portman understood this.

I entered my lift when one appeared, facing outward to watch the ground floor shrink below. The checked marble floors, the glowing river-rock pond, the houseplants, and flotillas of club chairs disintegrated into pixels of rose and gray, aqua and green. My transparent chariot whooshed past grand spiral staircases joining the lobby with the second and third mezzanines, where I would feast on violet-skinned mangosteens and made-to-order sourdough dosas at Basilico, Conrad’s breakfast buffet by day and ristorante by night, and sample Negronis and Bamboo cocktails straight from the barrel at gloriously moody Manhattan’s dedicated rickhouse. The elevators soared upward too smoothly, like the gears were greased with ghee. A pause to pick up more travelers put me at eye-level with “Singapore Shower,” a kinetic mobile by Michio Ihara, shimmering like nine stories of sequins.

It feels like anything can happen in a glass elevator. A braces-locking first kiss. A spy chase on horseback à la “True Lies” — filmed at the Westin Bonaventure in L.A., another Portman atrium hotel. A journey back in time. When I disembarked at one of the upper floors and crossed the catwalk-like hall to my suite, it did not feel like 2024.

Vines cascaded down from the atrium railings, an inverted Hanging Gardens of Babylon, while the neo-futurist elevators returned to the earth. Peering down gave me the disorienting sensation of being at the apex of some hollowed ziggurat — part 800 B.C., part 1989. Conrad Orchard completed a multimillion-dollar renovation less than a year ago, updating all the rooms and innovating in food and beverage. Still, to its credit, they’ve kept Portman’s striking bones perfectly intact.

Here, read on for T+L’s review of a refreshed Singapore classic.

The Rooms

Conrad’s serene rooms and suites are studies in the grades of beige. The linens, flooring, woodwork, and furniture suggest sandy beaches, animal tusks, and nut milk, with the occasional pop of a clementine pillow or bronze accent.

Singapore is a hectic, thrilling city, and these spacious chambers (all renovated in 2024) help guests reset and recenter; you won’t find a rogue line or askew ottoman interrupting the clean symmetry. Some favorite features: the incredible beds (cool, back-supportive, jet leg-banishing), the Byredo Mojave Ghost bath products (dusky, amber, floral), and the filtered water tap at the minibar, perfect for refilling bottles before heading out into the jungle.

Food and Drink

Not that you would, given Singapore’s status as a global food capital, but there are so many high-quality dining outlets housed inside the Conrad — from the meticulous kaiseki at the 13-seat Shoukouwa Shinjidai to photogenic take-away pastries at Dolcetto — you could eat every meal here and not get bored.

There’s high tea in the lobby-level Tea Lounge, influenced by Singapore botanicals, and at Manhattan, world-class cocktails designed by talented head bartender Zana Möhlmann. But the one not to miss is the peaceful, elegant Summer Palace, which serves an exquisite, tableside-carved Peking duck feast I’m still thinking about.

Activities and Experiences

No judgment if the Singaporean heat sends you straight to Conrad’s pool. It’s Neptune-blue, ringed in cushioned loungers, and so perfectly circular it looks like someone took a giant hole-puncher to the hardscaped roof deck and filled it with cool spring water.

The hotel offers free snack-size sessions in the morning with wellness partners Trapeze Rec. Club. There’s also a full gym equipped with Technogym machines and on-call personal trainers.

Most of the concierge-booked experiences center on food from the hotel’s epic culinary line-up (cheese-infusing workshop or barrel tasting from Manhattan’s rickhouse, for instance), but the one not to miss is a picnic and guided foraging walk through the UNESO-designated Singapore Botanical Gardens with resident botanist and farmer Alexius Yeo, author of “101 Edible Plants: A Guide to Designing Foodscapes in Singapore.”

The Spa

There is no spa, but the first-floor Shun Sakurai Hair Salon has a handful of cranium-centric treatments, typically offered in conjunction with cuts and colors.

Family-friendly Offerings

Conrad Orchard Singapore has big business-hotel energy. Kids will enjoy the pool and the foraging walk, the property’s style and amenities seem better suited to adults in Singapore for work or pleasure.

Accessibility and Sustainability

There are wheelchair-accessible king and twin rooms. Rooftop solar panels, in-house composting, digital and reusable wood key cards, and full-size bath products (contributing to a reduction in single-use plastics), and the aforementioned Give It Forward program are a few of the sustainability initiatives here.

Location

Though its name claims Orchard Road, the Conrad sits just off Singapore’s glossy commercial drag, near its western terminus. The neighborhood doesn’t exactly inspire strolling — to be fair, neither does Singapore’s omnipresent humidity — but anywhere you’d need to be in the metropolis, including the airport, is only 15 to 30 minutes by taxi or Grab, Southeast Asia’s preferred ride-share app. One significant benefit to the Conrad’s location is the proximity to the incredible Singapore Botanical Gardens, less than a 10-minute walk away.

How to Get the Most Value Out of Your Stay

As part of American Express’s The Hotel Collection, Conrad Singapore Orchard offers benefits to members who book through the Amex portal, such as early check-in and late check-out (when available), room upgrade (when available), complimentary breakfast and parking, and a $100 property credit.