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Best Hotels in Singapore: Marina Bay Sands, Gardens by the Bay & Hawker Culture (2026)
Marina Bay Sands' suites above the famous infinity pool, Raffles Hotel Singapore's rooms in the 1887 colonial landmark, and The Capitol Kempinski's suites in the restored Capitol Building — the best hotels in Singapore, Asia's Garden City, for 2026.
Singapore: Marina Bay Sands, Gardens by the Bay, and the Garden City
Marina Bay Sands anchors Singapore’s skyline with its SkyPark, a 150-meter rooftop infinity pool that remains one of the largest of its kind in the world. Nearby, Gardens by the Bay’s Supertree Grove — 18 steel “trees” up to 16 stories tall — has become the visual shorthand for the city’s blend of nature and futurism. Singapore’s hawker centres, inscribed on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2020, are where its national dishes live: Hainanese chicken rice, best known through stalls like Tian Tian at Maxwell Food Centre, and chilli crab, invented in Singapore in 1956 and now considered the city’s signature seafood dish. The half-lion, half-fish Merlion has been the nation’s official symbol since 1972, while the reforms Lee Kuan Yew set in motion from self-governance in 1959 through independence in 1965 shaped the city-state Singapore is today.
The Singapore Hotels
Raffles Hotel Singapore — 1887 Colonial Landmark Luxury Suite
Price: €600–3,500/night | Location: 1 Beach Road, Singapore 189673, Singapore
Raffles Hotel opened in 1887 under the Sarkies Brothers and remains Singapore’s defining colonial-era address. Its Long Bar is where bartender Ngiam Tong Boon is credited with inventing the Singapore Sling in 1915, and the hotel carries a literary heritage that includes Somerset Maugham, who once called it a symbol of “all the fables of the exotic East.”
Marina Bay Sands Singapore — Infinity Pool Skypark Luxury Suite
Price: €500–3,000/night | Location: 10 Bayfront Avenue, Singapore 018956, Singapore
Designed by architect Moshe Safdie, Marina Bay Sands is instantly recognizable for its three towers topped by a single boat-shaped platform. The SkyPark on top holds one of the world’s largest rooftop pools, stretching 150 meters across the towers, and the resort’s dining lineup includes Spago, Wolfgang Puck’s Singapore outpost.
FAQ
When is the best time to visit Singapore? February–April brings Singapore’s driest stretch, though the city’s equatorial climate keeps temperatures and humidity fairly consistent year-round regardless of season. Chinese New Year, usually falling in January or February, lights up Chinatown with lanterns and street celebrations, while the Great Singapore Sale runs from June through August and turns Orchard Road into the city’s shopping showcase.
What makes Singapore’s hawker culture UNESCO-inscribed? Singapore’s hawker centres trace back to street vendors of the 1950s, who were gradually relocated into purpose-built centres under a government development programme in the 1970s. The result is a food culture where a full meal can still cost around S$3, and where quality hasn’t suffered for the low prices — Chan Hon Meng’s soya sauce chicken rice stall, Hawker Chan, earned a Michelin star while charging as little as S$2 a plate, a distinction UNESCO recognized when it added hawker culture to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2020.