Judith Elen checks out a hotel where guests can sleep tight

THE term full board used to be the mark of European countryside pensions or, in the English-speaking world, homely boarding houses.

It has never been a concept associated with the glitzy likes of Singapore. Until now. Boutique hotel Quincy, standing like a slender slab of shiny toffee in Singapore's Cairnhill district, opened in February with a flat tariff of $S288 ($249) covering a studio room for two, breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Full board in Quincy's book is not just bed and three meals a day, however. It also includes limousine transfer from the airport and just about anything you would reasonably need during a stay: cocktails, wine, spirits or beer (from 6.30pm to 8.30pm), mini-bar, WiFi internet access (including on the 20-minute limo ride from the airport), local phone calls, use of pool and gym and two laundry items daily.

When I speak to manager Franck Hardy, he tells me he has had 100 per cent occupancy for the past three nights. There are 108 rooms, all of them 26sqm studios with king-sized beds and ensuite rainshower bathrooms; 12 of these can squeeze in an extra bed or cot.

And those three meals? Breakfast is the full Asian and Western buffet that visitors to Singapore expect, with cooked-to-order egg station and all the trimmings. Lunch and dinner are set menus, changing daily on a four-day rotation, but each with a choice from 11 mains. Lunch is "international easy food", such as club sandwiches or spaghetti bolognaise. Dinner includes more substantial dishes, with fish and meat dishes changing daily (salmon is such a favourite it features on three menus out of four). Starters may be soup of the day and there are desserts plus fruit salads.

The guestrooms are similarly sleek and stylish, but the tall windows are shaped differently in various rooms. Inset window seats are a homey touch in a tiny pied-a-terre room and a cosy eyrie to look out over gardens and city streets. The surrounding buildings are mostly about two storeys (low-rise for Singapore) and Hardys assures that there are lots of trees.

Gazing up at the building, what looks like an illuminated lantern-like box occupying half of one of the upper levels is the LED-lit, glass-encased pool, with gym, sauna and steam room. It's on the 12th floor, open 24/7 and complimentary for guests. Shoppers should also be assured this is a retail neighbourhood. Minutes away are Orchard Road, Takashimaya and Paragon luxury shopping hubs, Lucky Plaza and Far East Plaza. Hardy says it's minutes to Orchard MRT (subway) station with buses to "everywhere".

In this glass-and-steel bolthole, the only extras you will have are drinks away from your mini-bar and outside cocktail hours, extra laundry and transoceanic telephone calls. Sleep tight.


THE NEXT BIG THINGS
Singapore has a swag of new lodgings, discovers Judith Elen

WITH a white colonial-style mansion at its centre, Capella Singapore, which opened this year on Sentosa Island, bills itself as a six-star resort. It features 111 guestrooms, suites, one and two-bedroom garden villas and "manors", all in ultra-modern style with plush carpets, natural wood and marble. Ranging from 66sqm (the smallest Deluxe room) to a 436sqm three-bedroom Colonial Manor, accommodation includes balconies, garden views and plunge pools. There is a spa centre and golfing, beaches, rainforest and the South China Sea to gaze at and dip into. Tariffs start at about $S600 ($512.50).
Ibis Singapore on Bencoolen, well situated in the central business district, describes itself as the island state's "first international economy hotel".
When it opened at the end of February, CNN ran it as a travel budget-revolution story. This largest Ibis outside Paris (it's a member of the French-owned Accor group) launched with a highly successful pay-what-you-want campaign, but with continuing near-100 per cent occupancy there's no plans to repeat the irresistible deal. The 538 rooms are cool and comfortable, with high ceilings and bay windows, queen-sized beds, flat-screen televisions and complimentary WiFi. The big coup is the Taste restaurant featuring a hawker-style menu designed by local celebrity chef K.F. Seetoh. Tariffs start at $S148.
Other recent arrivals are the 336-room, 10-storey Park Hotel Clarke Quay on the Singapore River and the 140-room Hotel Re at Pearl's Hill, opened in the middle of last year, featuring retro-inspired 1960s and 70s decor, all lime green and hot pink with Marilyn and Elvis cutouts.
www.capellasingapore.com www.ibishotels.com www.parkhotelgroup.com www.hotelre.com.sg

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