Your Singapore Eat, Stay And Play Guide, According To Our Travel Editor

Singapore hits you all at once. The humid air, the hum of traffic, the scent of char kway teow drifting from a hawker stall tucked beneath a gleaming skyscraper.

It's a city that exists in constant, fascinating contradiction: centuries-old shophouses painted in faded pastels beside futuristic glass towers, bustling hawker centres a five-minute walk from some of the world's most polished hotel lobbies. Noisy and elegant. Frenetic and deeply, unexpectedly calm.

It was on a recent visit that I found a hotel that makes sense of all of it. COMO Metropolitan Singapore sits at the heart of Orchard Road and manages to capture the very essence of what makes this city so special. 

Here's how to eat, stay and play your way through one of Asia's most exciting cities. 

Stay

Walking into COMO Metropolitan Singapore, the first thing you’ll notice is the lobby. A large-scale digital artwork by Norwegian artist Thomas Hilland fills an entire LED wall with slowly shifting florals, petals dissolving and reforming, making you stop mid-stride. In a city moving at Singapore's pace, it's a rather disarming welcome.

What becomes clear quickly to me is that COMO Metropolitan Singapore operates as something more than just a place to sleep. A hotel that houses world-class wellness, dining and fashion under one roof sounds like a marketing line until you're actually inside it, and then it just feels like a very good idea indeed.

I stayed in an Emerald Room, 36 square metres of calm with floor-to-ceiling city views and considered detailing that makes a hotel room feel like somewhere you actually want to spend time; COMO Shambhala amenities in the bathroom, the brand's signature scent subtly woven throughout the room, a Nespresso machine and blackout blinds that actually work. 

And then there's SleepHub, which deserves its own mention. COMO Metropolitan Singapore is the first and only property in Asia to have SleepHub in every single room. Developed by Cambridge Sleep Sciences, it's a neuroscience-led sleep technology that uses gentle low-frequency sound waves, like waves, wind and rain, to guide your brain into deeper, more restorative sleep cycles. The science behind it is fascinating: by playing tones at an almost subliminal level, the technology guides the brain through natural sleep stages and guides you to wake up at an optimal time in your sleep cycle, supporting physical recovery and overall wellbeing. 

For anyone flying from Australia and landing jet-lagged into one of the world's most stimulating cities, it's not a gimmick. I woke up on my first morning feeling more rested than I had any right to after a long-haul flight, and I say that as someone deeply sceptical of anything marketed as a sleep solution.

Before heading out each morning, stop by for breakfast at the colourful COMO Cuisine, where you'll also meet Bruno: the hotel's in-house coffee robot, who pulls a surprisingly excellent espresso. COMO Cuisine serves dishes inspired by the group's hotels around the world alongside local Singaporean favourites, while guests can also order nutrient-focused meals from the COMO Shambhala Kitchen.

Eat

Cédric Grolet Singapore, located on level one, is the celebrated French pastry chef's first venue in Asia and only his fourth in the world after Paris and London. Flour is imported from France, eggs arrive daily from Australia and each pastry is crafted with the same meticulous attention to detail as the chef's famed European boutiques. The pastries are the reason to come: sculpted to look exactly like fruit, convincingly enough that you pause before cutting in. The pomegranate was my standout, and the selection changes seasonally so there's always a reason to return. If you're visiting in the afternoon, book the high tea. 

Come golden hour, head straight to Sky Bar on level 19. Sitting beside the hotel's 30-metre rooftop infinity pool, it's one of Orchard Road's best spots for sunset drinks, with sweeping skyline views. Order something cold, watch the city lights come alive and don't be in a rush to leave. 

COTE Singapore is best described as ‘Korean barbecue meets American steakhouse’, which sounds like a concept that might not work but absolutely does. The first international outpost of the Michelin-starred New York original, it serves premium USDA Prime and Wagyu beef over smokeless tabletop grills, paired with house-made banchan, excellent cocktails and an outstanding 200+ label wine list. Clever downward ventilation means you leave without your clothes smelling like dinner, while playful dishes like the oyster pancake pay homage to Singapore's hawker culture. There’s even vegetarian-friendly options like a vegetable bibimpap. Afterwards, keep the evening going at the adjoining karaoke room or at the tropical jungle-inspired Millim cocktail bar.

For a broader taste of Singapore's dining and creative scene, COMO Dempsey is worth dedicating at least half a day to and the complimentary shuttle from the hotel makes getting there easy. Set among leafy gardens, the lifestyle precinct brings together six restaurants, shopping and a kids’ space in one curated destination.

Candlenut is the world’s first Michelin-starred Peranakan restaurant since 2016 and remains one of Singapore's essential dining experiences. Chef-owner Malcolm Lee celebrates Peranakan cuisine through family recipes reimagined with contemporary techniques, such as Babi Pongteh; slow cooked Iberico pork jowl with fermented soybean paste and shiitake mushrooms. Save room for the Pulut Hitam dessert with black glutinous rice, young coconut shaved rice, taro and sweet potato, which arrived as the unexpected highlight of my meal. Be sure to swing past the high-tech Dover Street Market post-meal; it’s one of only seven Dover Street Markets in the world and is well worth a visit. 

If you're after one of Singapore's most unique reservations, book Pangium. Also led by Malcolm Lee, the intimate 22-seat tasting-menu-only restaurant sits within the UNESCO-listed Singapore Botanic Gardens and explores Peranakan cuisine through carefully paced courses inspired by Malcolm’s family traditions. 

Of course, no visit to Singapore is complete without a hawker centre. Maxwell Food Centre in Chinatown remains one of the city's most beloved, serving everything from Hainanese chicken rice to fresh sugar cane juice beneath humming ceiling fans. Afterwards, spend some time exploring nearby Keong Saik Road in Chinatown, where beautifully restored shophouses now house some of Singapore's most popular eating spots. 

Play

Singapore is a city that rewards slowing down. Sure, you could spend your days ticking off attractions, but some of my favourite moments came from carving out space to properly experience the city—and nowhere embodies that more than COMO Shambhala.

As the wellness pillar of the COMO brand, the 800+ square metre space brings together yoga, Pilates, physiotherapy, beauty treatments and recovery technologies under one roof, alongside Singapore's only dedicated GYROTONIC studio. There's also a fully equipped gym with a dedicated red light therapy room, contrast therapy facilities combining infrared heat and ice baths, and Hyperbaric Airpods designed to help combat fatigue and boost energy levels. Whether you're arriving jet lagged or simply looking to reset, it's one of the most comprehensive urban wellness spaces I've come across.

I booked in for a 60-minute Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy session and went in not entirely sure what to expect. The pod itself is comfortable and surprisingly peaceful. You can bring your phone inside, but the team gently encourages you not to, and I'm glad I listened. What followed was one of the few genuinely switched-off hours I'd had in a long time. No notifications and just a rare kind of quiet that we all know is difficult to find. I emerged feeling noticeably clearer headed; whether it was the oxygen or simply an hour of uninterrupted stillness, I left completely recharged. 

If you’re looking to get out and about (you should), the Emerald Hill Trail begins only a few minutes' walk from COMO Metropolitan Singapore and offers a fascinating glimpse into the city's Peranakan heritage. Colourful shophouses, intricate facades and quiet residential streets feel worlds away from the luxury boutiques lining Orchard Road. It's a reminder that Singapore constantly rewards anyone willing to wander just one street further.

If you want to experience more of the city, Marina Bay Sands is every bit as iconic as you'd expect. Head up to the observation deck for panoramic skyline views before wandering across to Gardens by the Bay for the towering Supertrees, Cloud Forest and Flower Dome. It’s especially worth visiting after dark, when the Supertrees come alive with spectacular light and sound shows that transform the gardens.

For something slower, spend a morning exploring the Singapore Botanic Gardens. The UNESCO World Heritage-listed gardens provide a lush escape from the city's pace, with rainforest walking trails, lakes and quiet corners that make it easy to lose a few hours. It's also where you'll find Pangium, giving you the perfect excuse to combine one of Singapore's most memorable dining experiences with one of its most beautiful green spaces.

If shopping is part of your itinerary—and let's be honest, this is Singapore—you're in exactly the right neighbourhood. Orchard Road is lined with luxury flagships and sprawling malls, but I found myself most drawn to Club21. Spanning two carefully considered floors, the boutique combines globally renowned fashion houses with an impressive edit of emerging Singaporean designers, acting as an incubator for local creative talent. Personal shoppers are available, and anything you buy can be delivered directly to your room, which is both very convenient and perhaps a little dangerous.

Beyond Orchard, I loved spending time at New Bahru, Singapore’s newest creative lifestyle destination housed within a reimagined former school building in River Valley. Part boutique hotel, part design precinct, part community hub, it brings together some of the city’s most exciting independent brands, cafes, restaurants and creative spaces under one roof. 

Singapore is prime for a particular kind of traveller: one who wants the hawker stall and the Michelin star, the heritage neighbourhood and the rooftop infinity pool, the full sensory experience of the city and the stillness to recover from it. COMO Metropolitan Singapore is built for exactly that person.

It would be easy for a hotel with this much under one roof to feel overwhelming, but instead it feels remarkably cohesive and the fashion, wellness and dining components feel strongly connected rather than simply collocated.

Perhaps that’s what’s stayed with me most. Singapore is a city built on contrasts; old and new, fast and slow, indulgent and intentional, and nowhere do those dualities feel more at home than at COMO. 

Main image credit: COMO Metropolitan Singapore | Supplied