48 Hours in Singapore - International Traveller Magazine

Sterile, controlled and over-policed – that’s the Singapore rep. But it doesn’t have to be. One of the most accessible cities in Asia, it’s been built to please tourists and business travellers alike. So whether you like to indulge in amazing shopping and other western pursuits or look a little harder for the authentic Lion City, we’ve got your stopover sorted.

Eat

Budget

Chinatown
Smith Street is a bustling place with hawkers selling a large range of home-grown delights.
Make sure to try the spicy lobster (around $10) – a local favourite.

Shanghai Renji Blk
(151, Ang Mo Kio Ave 5)
With its freshly made local dishes and five-table dining area, this quaint little restaurant is the perfect place to come and eat like a local.
Make sure to try the homemade noodles and smoked duck. Mains for $10.

Ananda Bhavan Restaurant
(221 Selegie Rd, Little India, anandabhavan.com)
This mix of South-Indian and Indian-Chinese is the best vegetarian cuisine at budget prices.
Indulge your senses in traditional curries and roasted naan. Mains from $5.

East Coast Seafood
(Centre East Coast Service Rd)
A local institution and a culinary experience, the ultimate Singaporean meals here are chilli or pepper crab, drunken prawns, baby kai lan and cuttlefish.

Top end

Iggy’s The Hilton Hotel
(581 Orchard Rd Level 3, iggys.com.sg)
No. 27 on the world’s 50 best restaurants list, it’s just as you’d expect: exceptional food made from the very best seasonable ingredients. Set menu $125.

Bars

Timbre @ The Substation
(45 Armenian St, timbregroup.asia)
If you think a nightclub is hell, then Timbre is your watering hole. An outdoor venue with alfresco dining, quiet surrounds and live music by local bands.
Perfect for chilling.

Ku Dé Ta Club Lounge
(SkyPark at Marina Bay Sands, North Tower 1, Bayfront Ave, kudeta.com.sg)
Singapore’s chic, A-lister lounge.
Atop the iconic Sands SkyPark at the Marina Bay Sand’s Hotel, Ku Dé Ta is well worth the exy drinks just for the 360-degree views.

Orgo
(8 Raffles Ave, Esplanade-Theatres on the Bay, Roof Terrace, orgo.sg)
A serious cocktail venue with fab lounges on the rooftop of the Esplanade – great for a mixologist-led jetlag recovery.

Things To do

Typical Tourist

Sentosa Island
Yes, it’s a tourist trap, but it’s a great place for kids. Beaches, Universal Studios and an Underwater World will wear them out.
Use Harbour Front MRT station. sentosa.com.sg

Something A Little Different

Botanical Gardens
With the world’s most amazing collection of Orchids ($5 entry) and stunning greenery, it makes a nice break from the hum of the city.
Bus via Holland Rd or Bukit Timah Rd. nparks.gov.sg/sbg

Night Safari Tour
Designed for tourists but actually great fun. See (well, hear is usually more like it) the lions, tigers et al in the 40ha jungle.
$50 adults, $30 kids. nightsafari.com.sg

Cookery Magic
(117 Fedelio St)
An amazing and authentic experience, learn to make favourites like stir fired Mee (noodles) and Hainan Chicken Rice in just three hours.
$75 pp. cookerymagic.com

Shopping

Haji Lane
Groovy fashionista laneway tucked into the middle of the Muslim quarter.
See where the next-gen Singaporean style masters are shopping.

Chinatown
The heart of Chinatown is a humming bargain hunter’s paradise.
Think souvenir trinkets, ancient medicine, vibrant textiles, steamy dim-sims – and the Tooth Relic Temple.

Orchard Road
The iconic retail strip of Orchard Road is a bustling boulevard of malls and boutiques.
Be warned: Orchard Road is a parallel universe – days just disappear in a flurry of credit card transactions.

Weekly travel news, experiences
insider tips, offers, and more.

Stay

The Scarlet
(33 Erskine Rd, +65 6511 3333, thescarlethotel.com)
A quirky and original boutique hotel in the centre of the creative heart of Chinatown, The Scarlet is one of the edgier places to stay.
Despite a list price of $250, expect to pay about $150.

Marina Bay Sands Hotel
(10 Bayfront Ave, +65 6688 8868, marinabaysands.com)
A city in its own right, the Marina Bay Sands is a casino complex development with more than 2500 hotel rooms.
Oh, and a slew of celebrity chef restaurants – and don’t forget the infinity pool on the SkyPark.
From $300 a night.

Wellbeing means different things to different travellers. Here’s how to pick a hotel that gets it right for you.

The best wellness holidays aren’t necessarily spent wrapped in a spa robe. Sometimes they’re found around a dinner table in Cambodia, on a hiking trail in New Zealand or after finally beating jet lag on the other side of the world. The hotel you choose is what makes them happen.

1. Easy access to good food

meals from Novotel Bangkok Sukhumvit 20 — Taste delicious meals at Novotel Bangkok Sukhumvit 20.

One of the quickest ways to derail healthy habits on holiday is to spend half of it working out where to eat instead of digging into the culture around you. Thankfully, Novotel has done much of the hard work already, with chefs building menus that lean into the flavours, ingredients and traditions of each destination.

In Sihanoukville, Cambodia, Korkor soup – often dubbed ‘Cambodian ratatouille’ – sits alongside raw blue crab dressed with lime and chilli, best enjoyed with views across the Gulf of Thailand.

In the lovingly chaotic city of Bangkok, the presence of food cranks up the sociability. At Novotel Bangkok Sukhumvit 20, you can settle in with mango sticky rice and stranger-turned-friends beside the pool at Sky on 20 rooftop bar, or bring them along to tackle river prawns and stir-fried crab with holy basil at the buzzing Crab Paradise Dinner Buffet.

Then Novotel Dubai Al Barsha welcomes you with a laidback twist on the level of indulgence the Middle Eastern city is best known for up on Deck Se7en. Looking towards Burj Al Arab, the rooftop lounge has everything from Mediterranean-style dishes like seabass ceviche to Italian prosecco sundowners.

At the other end of the scale, in the hills that surround the Novotel Bali Ubud Resort, calm comes from nature. At Siralada restaurant, Balinese traditions shape the menu while thunder rumbles over the surrounding jungle – proving the setting is as nourishing as the food itself.

While at Novotel Nha Trang, chef Kieu Thi My Hanh and her team showcase Vietnam’s knack for balancing freshness, texture and fragrant herbs. Pho remains a favourite, while seafood salad with pomelo and mango brings those flavours together in one bright dish.

It’s all an approach backed by partnerships with expert food creators such as Alfie Steiner, whose plant-forward recipes prove healthy food should never taste plain.

2. Better sleep options

Novotel Bali Ubud Resort room — Sleep deeply with Novotel.

There are few travel experiences more disappointing than arriving in a new country, determined to seize the day, only to fall asleep fully clothed by 3pm.

For Australian travellers, jet lag is often an unavoidable part of the journey. That’s one reason Novotel runs sleep-focused initiatives that help guests adjust quickly without compromising on health. We’re talking partnerships with Sydney-based sleep specialist Olivia Arezzolo, known for her advice on everything from better sleep habits to beating jet lag, alongside features like pillow menus, in-room yoga content and tailored sleep guidance.

The sooner you’re operating on local time, the sooner you can get back to more pressing matters – like deciding which spa treatment to book.

3. More ways to move

woman hiking around queenstown new zealand — Stay at Novotel Queenstown Lakeside and explore local hiking trails. (Credit: GettyI mages/ naruedom)

Every place in the world has its own way of getting you moving: whether that’s hiking up ice-bitten mountains before a sauna or gentle stretching by the pool before a facial. From fitness centres to spas, Novotel recognises that wellbeing rarely looks the same.

At Novotel Queenstown Lakeside, activity is inescapable. Here, hiking trails, ski fields, bungee jumps, and white-water rafting have made the region famous. The hotel’s location on the shores of Lake Wakatipu means less time spent organising yourself and more time out there experiencing them. To top it all off, you can book a private hot tub for the evening before heading back into the wilderness tomorrow.

Bali, of course, takes a softer approach. At Novotel Bali Ubud Resort or Novotel Bali Nusa Dua, movement is less about conquering a mountain and more about a dance class between the tropical gardens and lagoon pools. Afterwards, the spa takes over, with traditional treatments like a Lulur body scrub: a combination of rice, turmeric, sandalwood, ginger and jasmine that’ll soothe muscles already relaxed by the Balinese heat.

4. Better connections

Kids will love a stay at Novotel Sharm El Sheikh.

One of the best things about travel is that it gives your family stories you’ll be telling for years. Novotel helps create them with activities that bring everyone together, whether that’s trying something new, learning a local skill, or simply spending more time together.

Go for a distinctly Thai twist at Novotel Phuket Vintage Park, where many of the family activities draw on local culture. Kids can try everything from beginner Thai boxing and language lessons to umbrella painting and – a pastime beloved by children the world over – pool foam parties. Everyone is welcome to join in, whether that’s getting splashed, covered in paint, or simply watching their children discover a new side of Thailand during the dedicated Family & Kids Day.

A different adventure awaits at Novotel Sharm El Sheikh. Kids could be perfectly content with discos, drawing classes and new holiday friends, but the Red Sea has other ideas. Sitting on the edge of Naama Bay, days here might involve snorkelling colourful reefs, taking a boat trip to Ras Mohammed National Park or heading into the desert by quad bike or camel for a Bedouin-style dinner beneath the stars.

5. Location is everything

Surin Beach, Choeng Thale, Thalang District, Phuket, Thaiföld — Explore Phuket’s gorgeous beaches. (Credit: Bence Biczo)

Everyone’s idea of wellness looks a little different. With more than 600 hotels across 65 countries, Novotel gives guests the freedom to choose the destination that suits them best. Whether that’s a beachside escape in Phuket, an alpine expedition in Queenstown or a city break in Bangkok, there’s a good chance a Novotel isn’t far away.

All that’s left? Choosing your version of wellbeing.

Discover stays to inspire your everyday at novotel.accor.com.

48 Hours in Singapore – The Guide

Eat

Bars

Things To do

Stay

The best 9 hotels in Singapore

Raffles Singapore is a contemporary hideaway in the Garden City

Swissôtel: A Swiss touch in the tropics

Conrad Centennial Singapore: An icon reimagined

5 things every hotel needs for a more restorative stay