The Warehouse Hotel

Built in 1895 by shipping magnate Lim Ho Puah, the warehouse that gives this hotel its name once stored cargo moving through the Straits of Malacca trade. The street around it, once distilling arrack and toddy in its back lanes, had a rougher reputation than the polished riverside it keeps now. That structure, with its peaked roofs and shuttered windows, has been converted into a 37-room hotel that opened in January 2017 as part of the Design Hotels group. Original brickwork and timber framing remain visible against new steel and glass additions. Rooms run from the 27 sqm Warehouse Sanctuary, windowless but lit with warm ambient light, up to the 57 sqm River View Suite on the top floor, the largest in the house, with an open living area facing the water. Several upper rooms keep the building's original high ceilings, one with a mezzanine reading nook tucked beneath the roofline. Downstairs, the restaurant Po serves Singaporean dishes rooted in the country's mixed culinary heritage, while the Lobby Bar runs cocktails into the small hours most nights. A rooftop pool sits above it all. Robertson Quay lies just outside the door, with Clarke Quay and Fort Canning Park within an easy walk. The hotel keeps one function room, The Den, for private events.