This architecturally swaggering hotel opened its doors in summer 2023 and is impossible to miss if you’re passing through Singapore’s busy, upscale Orchard Road district. The Pan Pacific Orchard appears from a distance like an ultra-modern experiment with Jenga or space-age Lego, with four huge open spaces designed into the body of the towering building, top to bottom, and three huge, plant-covered columns doing the job of holding the entire thing together. It’s a bold statement of the hotel’s attempt to fold nature into the fabric of the hotel, inviting the outside world in, rather than shutting it out. You can imagine a building like this popping up in a future instalment of the Avatar movies.
The Pan Pacific Orchard is no less enchanting up-close: its open-aired reception area embraces the city’s warm air rather than battling against it with incessant air conditioning. You step off the chilled ground-floor courtyard straight into the hotel’s bright and welcoming downstairs restaurant (where the daily breakfast is a feast of local and international options). It’s a bold theme that continues as you move upwards through the hotel: almost the entire fifth floor is dedicated to an outdoor pool area with its own aqua bar; the 11th floor has its own lawn primed for special events; and the 18th floor offers a final al fresco space with great views out over the city and beyond.
An oasis of calm and balance in the busy city
The public spaces are all show-stoppers, so it’s not too much of a surprise that the bedrooms are equally special. Balcony spaces are so large and self-contained that they’re essentially their own mini rooms, complete with sofas, and the bathroom areas are cleverly integrated to give the rooms a more open-plan feel. The design of the rooms is generally slick and upscale but with an emphasis on ease and comfort. These are lovely spaces to work, relax or sleep off jetlag – oases within a hotel that is itself an oasis of calm and balance in the busy city. Highly recommended for those on a good budget who want much more than just another business hotel.
Neighbourhood
The hotel is just one street back from Orchard Road, one of the city’s main shopping thoroughfares. It’s a 20-minute stroll, too, to the city’s lush Botanic Gardens. The sloping back streets of the area are peaceful to wander around, with various other hotels and embassies dotted around the area.
Nearby
The Singapore Botanic Gardens are a jewel in the crown of this garden city. They are large enough never to feel too busy and a great to place to experience the nature of the city’s tropical climate.
Orchard Road has various shopping malls to explore – take a few hours to wander between them and try not to break the bank en route.
The National Museum of Singapore is just a few minutes away by cab: it’s the best place to swot up on Singapore’s fascinating history.
Time Out Tip
Make sure you’re hungry for breakfast. It’s hard to choose between laksa, roti prata, pastries, toast, eggs, sausages, bacon, cereals, fruit and more, so a smart and greedy move would be to try them all. You can work it off in the poolside hotel gym, or put on your running shoes before it gets too hot and head to the nearby Botanic Gardens.