Why stay?

In a busy city like Singapore where hotels are a dime a dozen and new brands open every other day, it takes a special property to stand apart from the pack. With just 142 rooms, the Artyzen is an unalloyed delight for its remarkable silhouette by local architecture studio Ong & Ong, fantastical interiors by Sydney-based designer Nic Graham, and eager-beaver staff.

The neighborhood

The Artyzen’s address—the tranquil residential strip of Cuscaden Road—hangs off the quieter west end of fabled Orchard Road, which means it has all the convenience of being within a few minutes’ walk from glitzy, marbled emporia and gastro-heaven, while being set back from the traffic and crowds. The sprawling splendor of the Botanic Gardens is an easy 10–15 minute jog away, and the gourmet and retail hive of Dempsey is a fleeting five-minute taxi ride in the same direction. If that feels like too much effort, the hotel offers a complimentary car service for destinations within a 1.5-kilometer radius.

Inside a barrel-vaulted bedroom of a Terrace suite at Artyzen Singapore.

The feel

In a world where so many new hotels have the cookie-cutter look and vibe of a bland luxury show flat, the Artyzen scores points for its modern riff on Asia via textiles, motifs, and colors. The elevators are emblazoned with stunning backlit screens of fin de siècle terrace houses; barrel-vaulted ceilings recall the facades of Moorish architecture; while headboards in guest rooms feature charming sepia prints of rickshaws and the interiors of Peranakan mansions. It’s Instagram heaven.

Guest quarters

The fact that every room opens onto a balcony means that guests are pulled outward to views of either the skyscrapers of Orchard Road, or the low-slung verdant hills of northern Singapore. The mood board is a soothing mix of mod cons, ergonomic work desks, ginger zest toiletries by Heeley, and low-key Asia-lite furnishings by way of woven rattan lamp shades, decorative Peranakan plates, pebbled wallpaper, and ceiling fans. The best rooms in the house are the seven Terrace suites, each of which features a sprawling shaded lanai festooned with tropical greenery.

Food and drink

Meal offerings are superb, not least because the Brunei-born, Australian chef Victor Liong (of Melbourne’s Lee Ho Fook fame) blends pan-Asian flavors and ingredients into Western presentations with such skill and delicacy. To wit, dry-aged cod seared with wing beans and fish bean broth; spiced pain perdu and sambal balado; charred Spanish mackerel smeared with seaweed tapenade; and chorizo XO paired with lentil dhal. All these are served at fourth-floor dinners-only restaurant Quenino. The chef also runs Café Quenino just off the lobby—at breakfast, don’t miss the French toast, made in the style of Hong Kong’s cha chaan tengs, but with gooey interiors of kaya jam instead of peanut butter.

A spread of inventive pan-Asian dishes at Quenino by Victor Liong.

Wellness factor

Offerings at the spa range from a high-tech Myosculpt facial to the Gemstone Odyssey ritual, a massage that lets you choose from one of four signature aromatherapy blends. It’s difficult not to while away an entire afternoon on the rooftop, anchored as it is by a 25-meter lap pool with lush views of the Botanic Gardens and Malaysia in the distance. Acrophobes should steer clear of the end of the pool, which hangs over the edge of the building with a clear glass bottom that looks straight down 21 stories.

Family matters

Artyzen Singapore doesn’t advertise itself as being child-friendly—there are no babysitting services, or kids club, for instance—but that doesn’t mean children won’t have a wonderful time wandering around the gardens or splashing in the pool.

Sustainability cred

The vast swaths of external gardens throughout the hotel mean that the ambient temperature is noticeably cooler. As a result, it’s entirely possible for the air-con to be turned off, and doors flung open with just the ceiling fans twirling lazily above. Meanwhile, there isn’t a single plastic water bottle in sight, as the room fridges are stocked with reusable glass bottles of Nordaq filtered water.

What else?

On the wellness floor, the Orchid Gallery nods to avid botanist and orchid aficionado Tan Hoon Siang, a rubber magnate who once owned and lived in the 1940s mansion that formerly stood on the site. Artyzen Singapore is part of the I Prefer Rewards Program.

Reviewed by Daven Wu

artyzen.com
+65 6363 6000
9 Cuscaden Rd., Singapore

Artyzen Singapore: Modern Asian Tranquility

Singapore Hotels

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