While Raffles basks in the glory of its colonial past, offering 19th Century drinks at 21st Century prices, it sits in the shadow of the taller, hipper and altogether more fashionable Hotel Naumi just across the street, a venue offering contemporary cool to the forward-looking children of the future.

Text by Thomas Jones

Singapore’s Hotel Naumi is big on personal service (pronounced ‘know me’, get it?) and it is the extra add-ons and attention to the individual that they provide that sets it apart from the big boys. It was retrofitted and reopened in 2007 from the former Metropole Hotel with the aim of creating a more experiential stay for guests who were seeking something a little different, but still with the elegance and creature comforts of five-star living.

During the renovations lots of thought was given to enhancing the size and feel of the internal space. Room numbers were reduced and sizes increased to give guests more room to live, while the common spaces were enhanced through the use wood paneling, mirrors and steel lattice-work dividers to bring texture and an extra dimension to the public arena. The ground floor reception and lounge is atmospheric and moody, with modernist Poltrona Frau plastic armchairs and soft leather Isola sofas that surround an origami-inspired steel bar counter enhanced by ever-changing rainbows of light.

To appeal to a forward-thinking generation, the hotel was built and designed to be eco-conscious, and one of its most noticeable ‘green’ features is the plant life growing all over the steel origami trellis façade. Its real function is to insulate the west-facing hotel against Singapore’s hot sun, but in reality its flowering creepers simply beautify the building and make for a clean change in the heart of this urban jungle.

A patio suite with private access to the great outdoors.

Step out the front door and without getting wet you can wander along and under the eaves of the original neighbouring shop houses and find a variety of shops, old and new, including a Chinese herbalist, two bars, and three restaurants, one of which is selling the island’s renown chicken rice. A little bit further and you are on the waterfront with the MRT and much of Singapore’s shopping and entertainment only a short walk or subway ride away.

“The flowering creepers simply beautify the building and make for a clean change in the heart of this urban jungle.”

As for the necessary technical details, Naumi has 40 rooms and suites and so many facilities you could very well live here. There are the standard iPod docks, Nespresso machines, flat-screen TVs, ironing boards, DVD players, satellite channels, ironing boards, WiFi, etc, but also a few unexpected extras like a yoga mat, fresh cookies, a large kitchenette loaded with appliances, a big fridge for groceries – enhancing the ‘could live here’ concept – and an Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii on request. SIM cards, mobile phone and laptops are available for rent as well, so what more could you ask for? Well, there is always more. In the nightstand next to the bed, are two little packets. One containing earplugs and one containing condoms. So, even if you don’t get lucky after a night out in the big city, you can always pop in the ear plugs in case the occupant through the wall in the next room did.

The personal service still doesn’t stop there. No, Naumi keeps on giving. Being a shopping mecca and thriving business hub, Singapore sees many female corporate and leisure travellers and so they have a ‘Women Only’ floor. Naumi aims to provide them with a sense of security, comfort and privacy; along with a whole slew of special feminine treats as well.

The only negative thing about the place, apart from my only having one night to enjoy it, was the bed. Mine was simply too comfortable to get up from and I seriously played with the idea of missing my flight over it. A bit of Internet research told me that what was under me was a Royal Comfort Jubilee Pocketed Spring bed; a science fiction creation with specially encased springs, extra latex padding, five different support zones and a Vaso-something which adapted to my body temperature through the night and changed the support accordingly. I thought it was just a bed.

The hotel promotes several packages for one or two night deals aimed at different groups including the ‘Mother & Daughter’ which is self-explanatory and revolves around food, nail polish and shopping. They also seem to be doing their bit to encourage the city state’s failing birth rate with ‘Breakfast for 2’ for couples looking for romance and, judging by the name of the last two programmes – ‘Couple Bondage’ and ‘Time To Get Naughty’ – a little lust! And why not, we say. It is all about personal service after all.

Naumi Hotel
41 Seah Street
Singapore
Tel: +65 6333 0050
www.naumihotel.com

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