Prevue July/August 2013 - (Page 65)

Previous: The Fullerton Hotel & Cavenagh Bridge Left: Gardens by the Bay & Marina Bay Sands Below: The Fullerton Bay Hotel’s rooftop pool largest cantilevered platform extending 200 feet past the end of the north tower. Groups up to 600 pax can meet here on the Observation Deck, undoubtedly the world’s best view for that many people. Since opening in 2010, Marina Bay Sands has never dipped below 95% occupancy, according to Elzena Ibrahim, communications officer and our guide for the day. “Marina Bay Sands Singapore is a MICE-led integrated resort; it’s really a complete destination,” she says. Located at the edge of Marina Bay, the bottom floors of the hotel house one of Asia’s largest high-end shopping malls, a 165,000-sf casino and The Sands Expo & Convention Center. With a capacity for 45,000 delegates, the Center includes Southeast Asia’s largest ballroom seating 6,000 banquet-style, and 250 meeting rooms. On the Grand Terrace next to the fabulous floating Louis Vuitton store, planners can create events for 10,000 pax. Of the 44 onsite restaurants, we tried classic Parisian fare at Daniel Boulud’s db Bistro Moderne and traditional Asian cuisine at Sky on 57 up at SkyPark. No matter where groups stay in Singapore, everyone will want to visit SkyPark. There is nothing like this anywhere on the planet, where you’re sipping champagne beside a 500-foot infinity pool dropping off into thin air 775 feet over the city. MEET THE FULLERTONS The Fullerton Hotel Singapore is one of the world’s great grand dame hotels, located on the opposite shore of the bay from Marina Bay Sands. It sits at the entryway into downtown, dwarfed by the surrounding glass skyscrapers, where it was originally built in 1928 as the city’s post office. A masterpiece of Palladian architecture with massive Dorian columns, the hotel offers 400 rooms and suites overlooking either the bay or the river. If I return, this is where I would want to stay. Inside the grand atrium lobby, The Fullerton Heritage Gallery hosts revolving exhibits such as “Yesterday Once More” during this trip. Dozens of postcards dating back to 1893 depicted stories of business travelers building a modern city, enthralled by the beauty of the Malay peninsula. The famous barrel ceiling Billiard Room, once home of the prestigious Singapore Club, is now a meeting space. Renamed the Straits Room, it seats 120 for banquets. There’s also a 7,500-sf ballroom and eight breakouts. The Post Bar is exactly how you imagine it when men like Somerset Maugham, Graham Greene and Joseph Conrad visited to write their famous novels. (There’s a statue of Conrad at the port cochere.) The original wall motifs and high coffered ceiling remain, accentuated by new underlit honey onyx tables and standing artichoke cardboard lamps. “The Fullerton Hotel is a perfect blend of the old wired with the new,” says Denice Lim, marketing communications manager. “That’s the essence of Singapore, mixing history and the contemporary. You get a truer sense of the destination at The Fullerton; you’re not just anywhere in the world.” Behind the hotel, the historic Cavenagh Bridge can be closed for one-of-a-kind group events. Across the street, The Fullerton Bay Hotel opened in 2010. The sleek 100-room glass hotel is the only property directly on the water in Marina Bay. You enter through Singapore’s original Customs House on Clifford Pier, which Lim calls the “Ellis Island of Singapore.” At the end of the pier, One on the Bund is a Shanghai-themed restaurant with perhaps the best waterfront seating in the city. Design wunderkind Andre Fu mixed contemporary art with a British Concession ambience throughout the hotel, especially inside the 80-seat, brasserie-style Clifford restaurant. It has two private dining salons with modern chandeliers and old Venetian mirrors. And I liked The Landing Point restaurant so much due its waterside setting, breezy elegance and secret setting, I returned twice for breakfast. When The Fullerton Bay first opened, there were three docks for yachts, but last year the hotel installed three 2-story “floating event pods.” Very cool. The top floor is open for events; the bottom floor is designed for presentations. “We’re always surrounded by four walls so we came up with these,” says Lim. “People love them because everyone is always looking for unique spaces for their events.” Our group loved the speakeasy-style, open-air Lantern restaurant and lounge located by the rooftop pool. Bulgari, Sotheby’s, Johnnie Walker and Louis Vuitton have all hosted events here. Capacity is 300 pax. prevueonline.net | 65 62-67_Singapore.indd 65 7/3/13 2:00 PM http://www.prevueonline.net

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Prevue July/August 2013

Planner's Pick: New Zealand
Fresh Meets: Autograph Collection
Bureau Buzz: Monterey County
Good Business: South Africa
sea Shores: Small Ship cruising
The Local Kitchen
Special Section: Caribbean
Dominican Republic
On Location: Hilton/LXR, Puerto Rico
On Location: The Broadmoor
The South, Florida & Las Vegas
Singapore
On Location: Starwood Resorts, San Diego
On Location: Travaasa Austin
On Location: Moon Palace Cancun
On Location: IRF Cancun
Check Out: Hard Rock Hotel Punta Cana

Prevue July/August 2013