Trump-Kim summit: at Singapore’s Capella Hotel, a calm before the media storm
At one of the Lion City’s finest resorts, preparations for one of the year’s most anticipated events are as low key and refined as the guests
There was an air of tranquillity at the Capella Hotel on Singapore’s Sentosa island on Wednesday, the sort of atmosphere guests might expect at one of the city state’s most luxurious – and expensive – hotels.
Some drilling and painting works were taking place near the lobby and some hotel staff were – ever so discreetly – stationed at the driveway to check people had valid reservations (including those heading to the hotel’s popular Cuban-inspired Bob’s Bar).
WATCH: The story of Sentosa
Only the gaggle of television journalists taking turns to film, under the watchful eye of hotel security guards, at the foot of the hotel’s long driveway gave a hint of the media circus to come.
The hotel is fully booked from June 10 to June 14, but on Wednesday there were few signs of occupants in its dense gardens, which house some 5,000 trees.
Designed by the acclaimed British architect Norman Foster, the hotel harks back to Singapore’s colonial past with the main building’s white paint, terracotta roof and colonnades.
Trump-Kim summit: Singapore confirms leaders will meet on resort island Sentosa
Two buildings within the resort are restored bungalows built in the 1800s to accommodate British naval officers.