Capella Singapore

Capella Singapore has long been considered one of the country’s best hotels and the accolades continue to pile up. Opened in 2009, the homegrown luxury hospitality brand has since developed a fiercely loyal following around the world, with celebrated properties in Bangkok, Shanghai, Hanoi, Ubud and Sydney.

But more than 15 years after the resort first opened on Sentosa, newer arrivals have brought newer villas, shinier technology and private pools built for more than an elegant wallow. So how well does the grande dame of Sentosa hold up?

We stayed for a weekend and were surprised by the answer. Capella Singapore does not feel particularly new but we don’t think it is trying to. What it offers instead is much harder to manufacture: a complete sense of escape.

First impressions of Capella Singapore

The experience begins before you reach Sentosa. A hotel car picks you up with bottles of Acqua Panna or S.Pellegrino and mints already waiting, making even the short drive from mainland Singapore feel frictionless. By the time the car winds through Capella’s lush grounds, you feel much farther from home than you actually are.

The resort occupies 30 acres and incorporates two restored Tanah Merah colonial bungalows dating from the 1880s. Foster + Partners designed the contemporary structures that curve around them, bringing together Singapore’s history, modern architecture and tropical landscaping. Free-roaming peacocks make an appropriately extravagant welcome committee.

Check-in happens at one of four sofa banquettes in the lobby. The arrangement is informal, but it isn’t quite the discreet experience we expected at this price point, with other guests easily within sight and earshot. On the upside, Capella is pet-friendly, so we spent part of the wait admiring the pooches checking in for the weekend. Any hotel arrival involving the opportunity to pat a dog is difficult to dislike.

Villa guests are then shuttled by buggy through the sprawling grounds. By the time we reached our private corner of the estate, it was easy to forget that anyone else was staying here.

What are the villas at Capella Singapore like?

Capella Singapore has 113 rooms, suites, villas and manors, including 38 villas with private plunge pools. I stayed in Villa 10, a one-bedroom hideaway tucked into a secluded part of the resort. Once the door closes, there is little reason to see another human being until hunger, checkout or curiosity forces you outside. Even then, the extensive in-room dining menu means you don’t really have to leave.

A huge living area anchored by a substantial sofa connects directly to the bedroom. Beyond it are the bathroom, walk-in wardrobe and outdoor bathing area, while floor-to-ceiling glass doors open onto a private terrace and plunge pool.

Dark timber, stone and restrained earth tones create the sort of quiet luxury that was quiet long before the phrase became inescapable. Although the villa has been around for some time, it remains handsome and timeless. It's also still kept with the times with modern upgrades – charging connections sit where they are actually needed, while a touchscreen controls the lights and curtains.

The king-sized bed is plush and dressed in Frette sheets, making getting up feel especially difficult, especially on one particularly stormy morning. Even the bathrobes and slippers feel considered, both embroidered with Capella’s double-star emblem. Together, these details create the sense that someone has thought about how every surface touching your body should feel.

Now for the less dreamy bits. Plug in the electronic mosquito repellent immediately: you are effectively sleeping in the jungles of Sentosa, and the mosquitoes know it. Ask your butler for two and place one on each side of the bed.

The villa also ran warm. We asked an engineer to check the air-conditioning, but the temperature never dropped below 20C. I was also disappointed that there wasn’t an indoor bathtub. The only tub sits beside the outdoor shower and, after rain, had collected enough leaves and debris to look uninviting.

The plunge pool offers an alternative, although it is relatively small compared with those at newer competitors such as Raffles Sentosa Singapore. Think cooling dip rather than glamorous laps. The outdoor layout could be more intuitive too: a barrier prevents guests from moving directly between the pool and outdoor shower.

What are the facilities at Capella Singapore like?

Fortunately, there are better places around the resort for a soak. Capella has three cascading outdoor pools surrounded by greenery, along with Auriga Spa, its cocoon-like wellness retreat. The spa is a destination in itself, with a steam room, vitality pool and two experience showers. It's best to head down about an hour before your treatment to make full use of the facilities. I enjoyed the Full Moon full body and scalp massage that's said to rebalance the chakra and ground the head, heart and hara.

The compact main gym sits near the spa and carries enough Technogym equipment for a decent session. It looks onto the hotel’s kitchen garden, where we spotted a chef gathering herbs before lunch service.

For more space, a buggy can take you to The Club Residences, which has a larger gym as well as padel and tennis courts. Use of the tennis court is complimentary, and the hotel supplies rackets, a generous basket of balls and – a particularly welcome touch in Singapore’s heat – iced water and towels.

The experience becomes a choose-your-own-adventure holiday. Fill the day with spa treatments, tennis and expeditions around Sentosa, or stay in your villa wearing a robe and pretending the outside world has ceased to exist. All are valid choices.

What are the restaurants at Capella Singapore like?

You can spend an entire weekend here without leaving the property, and the dining options are varied enough that doing so does not feel like a sacrifice.

We began at Bob’s Bar, where there's a weekly Friday evening barbecue set ($98), which includes a seafood tower and grilled meats prepared to order that you can enjoy while the sun sets.

Fiamma, the hotel’s Italian restaurant conceived by chef Mauro Colagreco, offers all-day dining. Breakfast proved so substantial that we skipped lunch on most days, with the expected international offerings alongside an excellent pastry selection. Sunday brunch comes with live music, while antipasti, pasta, pizza, grilled meats and seafood are brought to the table.

But if we had to choose one dining destination you shouldn't miss out on during your stay, it would be Cassia. The Chinese restaurant is beautiful, with curved booth seating creating an intimate dining room, but the food and attentive service give it substance beyond the good looks.

The Shunde-style grouper fish soup was exceptional: thick, gelatinous and so deeply flavourful that I would have happily eaten it with rice and called it a night. The stir-fried beef was another standout. We also watched Peking ducks arrive at neighbouring tables, settling what we will order next time. Cassia is somewhere we would journey to Sentosa for even without a room waiting for us after dinner.

The Pineapple Room doubles as a base for Capella’s Culturists. Afternoon tea is served from 3pm to 5pm, and at night it offers competently made cocktails for those looking for a quiet nightcap.

What is the service like at Capella Singapore?

The Culturists are where Capella distinguishes itself. Part concierge, part local curator, they can organise activities ranging from treasure hunts around the property for children to visits to one of Singapore’s oldest soy sauce factories. Many experiences are included in the stay or available for a nominal fee.

Staff members are consistently warm and attentive, but special mention must go to the buggy drivers. They slowed down or stopped whenever they noticed us trying to photograph a peacock, cheerfully filling the pause with peacock facts.

What is the area around Capella Singapore like?

Capella occupies one of Sentosa’s quieter pockets, but the rest of the island remains within easy reach. A complimentary shuttle runs to Resorts World Sentosa, making the hotel a practical base for families visiting Universal Studios Singapore. A back gate also provides access towards Palawan Beach.

The location’s greatest advantage is psychological rather than geographical. Singapore’s business districts are only a short drive away, yet Capella feels completely detached from them. International visitors get a resort holiday without losing access to the city; locals get the sensation of having gone overseas without enduring airport security.

Is Capella Singapore worth booking?

Our stay at Capella Singapore was not flawless but the hotel succeeded where it mattered most. The villas feel like a genuine escape from reality, the grounds are beautiful, the service is instinctive and Cassia alone provides a compelling reason to return. Its age has also given the resort something its shinier competitors cannot reproduce overnight: mature landscaping, a strong sense of place and the confidence to let guests experience true luxury – having absolutely nowhere else you need to be.

Address: 1 The Knolls, Sentosa Island, Singapore 098297
Closest transport: HarbourFront MRT, followed by the Sentosa Express, taxi or hotel transfer
Best for: Romantic escapes, luxury staycations, private getaways and families exploring Sentosa
Price: Rooms from approximately $1,400 per night, including taxes and fees; rates vary by date and room category
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