JW Marriott Hotel Singapore South Beach

Set across two high-rise towers on Beach Road, the hotel reads the coastline in glass and height rather than sand underfoot. Two infinity pools sit above the street, drawing the eye toward the strait beyond the city blocks. Marina Bay Sands stands two km away, and Chinatown's markets and shopfronts are close enough to walk. Rooms and suites look over the skyline rather than the water, each fitted with a free-standing bath, a minibar, a flat-screen TV, and kettle and tea things. Beds are dressed in high-thread-count linen. It is a compact stay by Singapore's high-rise standard, but a generous one. Upgraded rooms add a terrace, butler service, or access to the club lounge, where breakfast is included for every guest regardless of room category. A gym, a restaurant with a following of its own, and a handful of bars round out the ground floor. You can walk to the metro, to the malls, and to the harbour promenade in minutes, which makes the hotel a base for the city as much as a stay in itself. The towers themselves are the district's most visible new landmark, built tall enough to frame both the bay and the older shophouse streets behind it.