Singapore’s Newest Reason to Check Into Sentosa: The Laurus

Singapore’s Sentosa has never suffered from a shortage of hotels. What it has lacked, perhaps, is a property with enough restraint and personality to persuade a traveller to cross the Causeway and spend a weekend doing very little at all. For a hotel sitting at the heart of one of Asia’s busiest integrated resorts, it manages something remarkable. 

Spread across five storeys and 183 suites, the site of the former Hard Rock Hotel in RWS now feels less like a conventional resort than the imagined residence of a well-travelled aesthete. Colonial references, tropical greenery, contemporary art and the recurring image of the Buffy Fish Owl create an atmosphere that is polished without becoming precious. The suites are comfortable: generous, quietly luxurious and sufficiently residential to make the standard Singapore hotel room feel claustrophobic by comparison.

The Suite: Space to Breathe

Singapore hotel rooms can sometimes be too compact. The Laurus doesn’t play that game. Its entry-level Deluxe Suite starts at 775 square feet, and the moment I stepped into the living area, a sense of release lifts from the tired back. The separation between bedroom and living space is a design that makes a world of difference—your mind knows when to be social and when to retreat.

What impressed most was the in-suite filtered water tap, which was a great move that made me feel like luxury does not have to come at the planet’s expense. A recurring theme, I’d soon discover.

The best luxury hotels understand that service is less about choreography than anticipation, and The Laurus is clearly aiming for that standard. During my two-night stay, interactions were warm and personable, and the hotel’s small gestures—particularly turndown—felt considered. That impression is broadly reflected in guest reviews, many of which single out the staff for genuine warmth.

A Taste of the Amalfi Coast

Fans of Netflix’s Culinary Class Wars will find Chef Fabrizio Ferrari familiar. Having earned his Michelin status in 2005, Ferrari consults on a menu built around the Amalfi, using seafood from a sustainable fish farm off Singapore’s own waters. Ferrari splits his time with Seoul—ask if he’s in-house that night, if it matters to you.

Breakfast, served residential-style, features house-baked breads, heritage condiments, and herbs plucked from the hotel’s own garden. The bespoke calamansi curd and passionfruit yoghurt from a local artisan dairy were a standout. 

In the evenings, the open kitchen gives dinner an appealing sense of theatre, and we thoroughly enjoyed the Scialatielli ai Frutti di Mare al cartoccio, which demonstrates Ferrari’s preference for precision and simplicity. The result is elegant Mediterranean dining.

A Better Kind of Spa Day

BODHI Spa holds some nice surprises. The Australian wellness brand’s first international outpost has created a serene, contemporary space that combines conventional treatments with more unusual recovery technologies. Pre-treatment, I opted for the Zerobody Dry Float for stress reduction whilst the ladyship opted for the Recovery Red Light Pod to stimulate cellular regeneration. Its private bathhouse—with sauna, jacuzzi and cold pail shower—is particularly appealing for couples.

The treatment itself is where BODHI delivers. Therapists take time to understand where the body is holding tension before getting to work, making the experience feel personalised. 

For Malaysians accustomed to hopping into Singapore for dinner and shopping, this is a reason to stay overnight: book the bathhouse, take the massage and resist the temptation to check your phone.

One for the Road

Refreshed and restored, we made our way just off the lobby to The Collector’s Bar. Designed like the private study of a well-travelled connoisseur, light pours through a conservatory roof onto a peacock-and-floral mosaic, linocut prints, and a small library that rewards browsing.

The mood shifts to a private members’ club—intimate, handsome and deliberately residential. So residential, in fact, that I briefly considered moving in permanently. My ladyship vetoed this. The cocktail list leans into heritage storytelling, each drink tied to an object or an era, and mostly earns the conceit rather than narrating it. It was too good an opportunity for us to pass up hosting a group of friends to a bottle of wine nurtured in Mount Etna’s mineral-rich volcanic terroir from the hotel’s extensive wine list. 

Verdict

For Malaysian travellers looking for a short-haul escape that feels meaningfully different from another city hotel, the proposition is compelling: spacious suites, good food, a serious spa and enough greenery to make Sentosa feel surprisingly removed from Singapore. Come for the weekend, and stay for the feeling that you have temporarily acquired a very stylish Singaporean address.

The Laurus Singapore