|
|
 |
|
| Executive Travel: Singapore |
Best Hotels
Marilen Cawad
09/01/2005
|
Hans-Dietrich Robert Winter has been traveling to Singapore for  business since
1973. Many of his
colleagues stay at a hotel in the central business district
for
convenience. But for the last 32 years, Winter’s hotel of choice has been
the Shangri-La on Orange Grove Road—a 15-minute ride
from the financial
center.
He has his reasons: Winter, a retired
consultant who now travels to Singapore
for leisure, regularly books
the Valley Wing, the most exclusive and luxurious
area of the hotel,
with a private driveway, lobby and a lavish champagne bar.
Each guest
is provided a private facsimile number, personalized stationery,
in-residence business cards and individualized service from a team of
butlers.
“Everyone there knows me by name, and the head chef prepares
my meals exactly
the way I like them,” Winter says.
Traveling
executives find that most
Singapore business hotels are well-equipped
to meet their basic professional and
comfort needs. But given the
country’s focus on attracting business from abroad,
foreign executives
can also find some truly unique offerings.
For business
travelers who are blasé about the usual five-star accoutrements,
several hotels
provide an unusual experience through their rich
heritage. Raffles Hotel, named
after British colonial
administrator Sir Stamford Raffles, who established
modern Singapore in
1819, features a museum of antique travel memorabilia and an
attentive
staff that take guests back to the era when Singapore was known as the
Crossroads of the East. Past guests include authors Joseph Conrad,
Rudyard
Kipling, Somerset Maugham and Pablo Neruda. If you seek
privacy, however, be
aware that Raffles was declared a national
monument in 1987 and is a regular
stop for tourists who cannot
otherwise afford to stay here.
Companions of
business travelers
who are food enthusiasts can take cooking lessons at Raffles’
Culinary
Academy, which offers specialty courses in such delicacies as oysters
and foie gras. The academy also holds lifestyle classes on a variety of
topics,
such as how to plan a party, home dining, wines and
etiquette.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
