|Places| It’s a figure
|Places| It’s a figure that the Singapore Tourism Board bullishly hopes to double in the coming years, pushing a new year-round calendar of must-do events, from the glamorous Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix and the citywide Singapore Food Festival to the chi-chi Singapore Biennale, plus a roster of must-see concerts from musical superstars such as Beyoncé and Taylor Swift. All of these projected visitors are going to need somewhere to stay, which has resulted in a clutch of new luxury hotels blossoming across the city. First out of the gate was the Mondrian Singapore Duxton (ennismore. com), housing 302 rooms and suites in a sleek black and white block inspired by Singapore’s traditional shophouses, afforded with charming views across the surrounding red-roofed neighbourhood. What’s inside is just as intriguing: staff recruited from outside the hospitality industry – a synchronised swimmer, a tattoo artist, an ex-con – interiors bursting with colour and a genuinely interesting art collection (curated by The Artling), including Ian Davenport’s Deep Magenta, Mirrored, which puddles across the lobby floor, and a hypnotic time-lapse of melting ice, Waterfall IV, by Singaporean artist Dawn Ng. There’s also an LA-worthy swimming pool up top, an Italian restaurant featuring Above: Mandarin Oriental Singapore’s newly made-over lobby lounge, crowned by a series of orchid-inspired crystal displays; top: English Painter Ian Davenport’s Deep Magenta, Mirrored adorns Mondrian Singapore Duxton’s lobby PHOTOS FROM TOP: SHAUN TAY, © MANDARIN ORIENTAL SINGAPORE 26 CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM
