Luxury hotel The Singapore Edition just officially launched – and looks poised to rise above competitors along Orchard Road: we attended the buzzy opening party with Donnie Yen and Cissy Wang
Donnie Yen and Cissy Wang attended The Singapore Edition’s official launch party, where Singaporean singer Nathan Hartono performed. Photos: Handout
For one of the smallest countries in the world, Singapore packs a perhaps outsized ratio of luxury hotels within its approximately 700-square-kilometre radius, many of them located along famed upscale shopping thoroughfare, Orchard Road. With this amount of competition, it’s undoubtedly challenging to find a way to stand out from the crowd – yet the Lion City’s latest addition, The Singapore Edition, does just that by epitomising the charming duality of the city state that residents and visitors alike hold so dear, being at once a global cosmopolitan hub and a cosy, homey community with a Southeast Asian vibe.
The Singapore Edition’s greenery-filled Lobby Bar; it features over 300 Southeast Asian plants and over 160 suspended fern preserved spheres, according to its official Instagram. Photo: @singaporeedition/Instagram
After a deliberately relaxed roll-out and soft launch starting last November, the hotel officially introduced its entire property to the world this past weekend with the opening of its brand-new nightlife space, the Wonder Room, graced by Hong Kong power couple Donnie Yen and Cissy Wang as well as a bevy of influential tastemakers, entrepreneurs and media from all over. Staff say the timing was key to ensuring the hotel generated just the right amount of buzz locally leading up to the launch, while also making room for a massive party with the global scale expected of an Edition hotel.
Actor Donnie Yen and his wife Cissy Wang were just two stars who flocked to Singapore for The Singapore Edition’s official launch last weekend. Photo: @donnieyenofficial/Instagram
Last Saturday’s official launch saw the full integration of all The Singapore Edition’s lifestyle spaces, from premium cocktails being served in outdoors-like serenity at the Lobby Bar upstairs, down to the international talent spinning tunes in the Wonder Room, including Singaporean singer-songwriter Nathan Hartono and Japanese DJ Mademoiselle Yulia. It was easy to feel like you didn’t have to leave the hotel to experience the best of Singapore in one evening.
Nathan Hartono performing at The Singapore Edition’s Wonder Room. Photo: Handout
Fans of the esteemed Edition brand know that these hotels are more than just hip, aesthetically pleasing party spaces though, bringing new meaning to the phrase “home away from home”. Arriving at The Singapore Edition does, in fact, feel like coming home – if home were a luxury retreat with interiors courtesy of Hong Kong’s very own Cap Atelier, customised Le Labo bath and shower products, and international fine dining courtesy of Australian culinary prodigy Josh Niland.
The Lobby Bar’s libation offerings, lit up in pink. Photo: @singaporeedition/Instagram
It’s the way in which all these elements come together to form something new that makes the property distinctly Singaporean, with lush greenery emblematic of its garden city vision and local delicacies reinvented for international audiences. It’s also what led Niland to set up shop here at Fysh, his self-proclaimed experimental “fish steakhouse” and his first-ever restaurant outside his native Australia.
Restaurant Fysh at Edition is helmed by celebrated chef Josh Niland. Photo: @singaporeedition/Instagram
For Niland, the introduction to Singapore’s culinary diversity was eye-opening, giving him all the more assurance that the Lion City was the perfect place to launch his experimental dining concept. “There’s so much quality in Singapore, from street [food] to three [Michelin] stars,” Niland says of the city’s vibrant food scene, joking that Singaporeans are oft spoiled for choice when it comes to choosing what and where to eat. He adds that well-established chefs in the city like Dave Pynt of Burnt Ends, Ivan Brehm of Nouri and Julien Royer of Odette gave him the guidance to spread his gastronomic wings.
Chef Josh Niland at The Singapore Edition. Photo: @singaporeedition/Instagram
Current highlights include a Malaysian tiger prawn cutlet and a delightful bowl of Java brown clams and Shark Bay scampi served with handmade fish bone noodles – but Niland suggests that the menu might change soon since the Fysh team is constantly innovating.
Java brown clams and Shark Bay scampi in crab soup with handmade fish bone noodles at Fysh. Photo: @fyshsingapore/Instagram
Niland acknowledges that not all Fysh creations will eventually become a hit, but that the continuous challenge of trying something new remains the restaurant’s unique selling point. “The challenge is that you’re an Australian coming into a Singaporean market,” he says. “You’re not doing something localised. You’re not doing French or Italian, [something] more known. You’re doing something relatively original that’s open to creative interpretation.”
Signature punch at The Singapore Edition’s The Punch Room. Photo: @singaporeedition/Instagram
After a high-octane weekend of events, many of us guests were definitely in need of some R&R. From invigorating poolside Pilates classes to a criminally relaxing facial and spa treatment that put me to sleep, these satisfying finishing touches on the schedule reminded me of the other quality Singapore exudes so well: a sense of laid-back, luxurious leisure that invites you to take a breather and revel in a slower pace of life.
Consider resting and rejuvenating by The Singapore Edition’s pool. Photo: @singaporeedition/Instagram
All things considered, this hotel is where the world truly does feel like it’s at your fingertips with a variety of world-class experiences all under one roof. While the diverse, well-traveled staff and community of guests who landed in the Lion City this past weekend hailed from all across the globe, their warmth and hospitality invited an instant sense of belonging and connection – a feeling that you could only find over 72 hours at The Singapore Edition.
After soft opening last November, The Singapore Edition set the Lion City alight this weekend with a party at its new nightlife venue Wonder Room, with Nathan Hartono and Mademoiselle Yulia performing
Restaurant Fysh at Edition is helmed by Australian chef Josh Niland, who was inspired by Michelin-starred chefs Dave Pynt of Burnt Ends, Ivan Brehm of Nouri and Julien Royer of Odette
