Wanderlust Hotel

Typewriter-shaped sofas sit beside glass-walled showers and vintage tubs, a design language that treats an old shophouse with some irreverence. The building itself dates to the 1920s, an Art Deco structure conserved rather than replaced, and it stands in Jalan Besar, on the edge of Little India. Twenty-nine rooms are fitted out with rainfall showers, free mini-bars, and Nespresso machines; each is compact, the largest studio loft running to 24 square metres. Jalan Besar MRT station is a minute's walk away. Rochor station is five minutes on foot. From here, the National Museum of Singapore, Haji Lane, and the Mustafa Centre all sit within easy range, and Changi Airport is a 21-minute drive. Cocotte, the ground-floor restaurant, serves French food in a plain, unfussy dining room, a contrast to the studied playfulness upstairs. Check-in runs from 3pm. The hotel has earned sustainable-operations certification, with carbon and water use both logged below the Singapore peer average. It is a small, design-led base rather than a resort, built for guests who want a workable kitchenette and a short walk to the metro as much as a striking room. The rooms vary in configuration, from a Deluxe Room at 13 square metres up to studio lofts with extra floor space, but all keep to the same material palette of glass, tile, and reclaimed character.