At W Singapore – Sentosa Cove, you can detox on one side of the lobby and retox on the other. Given a fresh look for its 14th anniversary, the resort takes both seriously – even if Chef Zhi’s mom might need a little convincing.
When Chef Zhi was growing up, his mom often cooked cabbage. He really liked the burnt bits – the sweet, smoky edges that caught on the wok. “The flavors were a lot better,” he remembers. These days, the Chef de Cuisine at SKIRT inside W Singapore – Sentosa Cove makes his own version.
He cooks the cabbage in kombu butter for added umami, then chars it directly over the fire. It’s served on a soubise, a silky onion purée, with pecorino and croutons scattered on top. “I brought her here to try it,” Chef Zhi says, and after a long, rueful pause, adds, “and she hated it.”
Eclectic Artworks And Bloody Mary Breakfasts
You might imagine his mom wouldn’t like W Singapore – Sentosa Cove either: the yachts lined up in the marina beside it, an ostentatious show of wealth; the dizzyingly eclectic artworks (there’s a massive gold bonbon in the middle of the lawn, and Rodin’s ‘L’Éternel Printemps’ beside a big bronze dog by Mauro Corda); the way every touch point sounds like a Fatboy Slim song – ‘Detox, retox, repeat’; and the Bloody Marys for breakfast (with two brands of tequila and one mezcal instead of Belvedere or Tito’s); and the party at WOOBAR tonight.
The Wholesome Side
But there’s a wholesome side to W Sentosa too. The sprawling pool is an unthreatening meter deep. The water slide at one end plops its passengers (of all ages) off with a gentle splash. And beside it, the jacuzzi bubbles barely break the surface.
Across the lawn, a line of runners pads along the treadmills in the gym, staring out at the gold bonbon. Beside the gym, a guest drifts down in a bathrobe looking for AWAY Spa, with its vitality pools, herbal pools, infrared cabins, steam rooms, ice bath and cold mist showers.
The New Era Continues
W Singapore – Sentosa Cove opened in 2012. It was the brand’s 43rd hotel worldwide and its seventh in Asia Pacific. London architects WATG designed the hotel, which its owners promised would herald “a new era of hospitality” for the country.
The resort has 240 rooms and suites. It opened alongside its own residences, next to Quayside Isle, the Cove’s waterfront strip of shops and restaurants. Sentosa Cove is the only gated luxury community in Singapore. Much of it is reclaimed land, built partly with sand imported from Indonesia.
A Breath Of Fresh Air At W Singapore – Sentosa Cove
The Lion City has been engulfed in haze for the last few weeks, like it’s been shoved into a ball of cotton. The smoke is drifting in from Indonesia (a less welcome import than the sand). That makes AiRe Wellness, the resort’s new recovery and biohacking space inside AWAY Spa, more inviting – especially its hyperbaric oxygen chamber.
You climb into a pressurized capsule, “kind of like being on an airplane,” and breathe concentrated oxygen while the city outside coughs through another day. Sessions last 30, 60 or 90 minutes, at up to the pressure you’d feel 10 meters underwater – without getting wet.
A warm blanket over your knees, an episode of ‘Friends’ finished on Netflix – there’s a TV in the chamber, already logged in – the session ends before Ross and Rachel have sorted anything out.
The pressure drops and your ears pop like a plane touching down. The hatch unseals. And outside, Singapore is still wrapped in cotton.
Refresh, Renew Or Adventure
This year, for its 14th anniversary, the resort finished a full overhaul of its rooms, restaurants, spa and public spaces. Back in the room, freshly oxygenated, you can see it. Design studio HACHEM went for marina blues and warm wood, with coral-orange sofas meant to match a Sentosa sunset. We’ll take their word for it. There hasn’t been a sunset all week. From the balcony, the marina is a smudge.
On the way back down, you pass under floating paper sculptures by Peter Gentenaar in the lobby. The butterfly chandeliers in WOOBAR came from old guest rooms.
There, the signature menu is called Ban Zu (after an ancient port settlement in Singapore, which itself took its name from a spring in the area). Only, the spring here flows mostly with gin. There are 10 drinks, sorted into three moods – Refresh, Adventurous and Renewal. If you can’t decide, there’s a wheel on the back of the menu. Spin it and it chooses for you.
It points to the ‘Blue Spring Martini’ from the Refresh section (there’s also a savory ‘Spring of Shrooms’, a sprightly ‘Whispering Shell’ and an alcohol-free ‘Solero Highball’). The martini is a contemporary cocktail, pre-batched, clean and well made. Bar manager Gautama pours it into the glass from a flask set in ice. But the spirulina turns it deep blue. And there are two plump lychees on a pick – cocktail craft that’s ready to party.
The SKIRT Steak Trolley
SKIRT is behind an imposing entrance to the right of the hotel’s front doors. Inside, leather chandeliers hang from a high ceiling, and the grill glows at the back of the open kitchen. Before you order, a trolley of raw steaks is wheeled to the table. It carries Blackmore skirt, a full-blood Wagyu from Australia that only two restaurants in Singapore stock, plus a Livingstone ribeye and a dry-aged A5 Omi Wagyu sirloin. The selection changes daily.
First, Chef Zhi sends out something that isn’t on the menu – a torchon of foie gras trimmings with fig, pickled ginger flower and “some very expensive sea salt, which is called caviar in some other places.” “There’s always trimmings,” he says. “That kind of represents the culinary philosophy here.”
The Ibérico pluma borrows its citrus marinade from the movie ‘Chef’. The steaks are the Blackmore skirt and a free-range, grass-fed tenderloin, which comes with a confession. “If I go to a steakhouse, I will not order tenderloin,” the server admits. “It’s too lean.”
The cabbage arrives alongside it, with its beautiful burn. Chef Zhi shrugs off his mom’s verdict. “It’s just a Chinese thing, so it’s okay.” Outside, the city can’t get escape the smoke. In here, at least, it’s on purpose.
The Radiance
On the way out, you find the healthy side has crept into the lobby too. Beside WOOBAR, a pop-up bar serves ‘Shake. Sip. Glow.’, a collaboration between W and L’évive Labs, a Singapore supplements brand. It’s a lychee martini with no alcohol, made with lychee juice and ‘The Radiance’, L’évive’s marine collagen. It comes out pink, and it’s meant to be good for your skin. You can glow on one side of the lobby and retox on the other.
On the other side, retox is winning. It’s W’s Local Sessions night, with FKA Mash from South Africa on the decks and Kunda in support. WOOBAR is lit red and jumping, and it stays that way until 2am.
Having A Great Time At W Singapore – Sentosa Cove
The next morning, it’s time to repeat. Breakfast comes with a Bloody Mary. And down at the pool, a woman is doing laps. She has a shock of white hair and wears a gray sports top, turquoise shorts and waterproof headphones that wrap around the back of her head.
She strides from one end to the other, swinging her arms, marching to a song only she can hear. At the far end she turns and marches back, smiling, clearly having a great time. On second thought, Chef Zhi’s mom would probably like W Sentosa after all.
