About: Pan Pacific Hotels Group is a global hospitality company which owns and manages more than 50 hotels, resorts and serviced suites across three brands – Pan Pacific, PARKROYAL COLLECTION, and PARKROYAL. The Group is present in more than 30 cities in Asia Pacific, North America and Europe.
PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay, Singapore opened in 2020 after a refurb of a building originally designed in 1987 by architect John Portman. On opening the hotel received the BCA Green Mark Gold certification, a local Singapore green building rating system which has been around since 2005 and is designed to evaluate a building’s environmental impact and performance.
Architect Portman was known for his grand interior atria and the hotel has a vast triangular central atrium soaring 21 floors into the Singapore sky – the tallest skylight atrium in Southeast Asia. Known as a “garden in a hotel” the property has also embraced biophilic design and has 15,000sqft of plants.
This year the Group is celebrating SG60 (60 years of Singapore’s National Day) and will be spotlighting heritage-rich neighbourhoods, modern icons, and authentic local encounters during the celebrations. During my stay there were spectacular fireworks and flyovers as the city practices for the main event on August 9th.
“In every moment, we hope to spark a sense of belonging, nostalgia, and love for this city,” said Cinn Tan, chief commercial and marketing officer, Pan Pacific Hotels Group.
Arrival: It takes around 20 minutes in a taxi from Singapore Changi to reach Raffles Boulevard on Marina Bay – the hotel can arrange airport transfers and there are EV options. Singapore is known as the Garden City. Even as you travel along the freeway, the planting and flowers softens the sides of the road and the central reservation. Quite the contrast to most European motorways. As I stepped into the cool retreat of the hotel lobby I was met with a concierge desk set in front of a 13m vertical landscape wall adorned with lush living greenery – just a hint of what was to come.
From here I took the lift to the fourth floor and crossed a bridge to the main check-in area at the base of the Atrium, which has more than 2,400 plants, trees, shrubs across 15,000sqft. To the left is Peppermint, the breakfast and dining room, and to the right a small bar, Portman’s Bar and seating areas in suspended ‘bird nest’ designs among the plants (see the main photo).
How many rooms? 583 rooms across levels 6-21 including suites and family room options. All rooms have balconies overlooking the bay or the city, with far reaching views.
The room: Rooms are modern and neutral in decor with stylish slatted wooden cupboards, and picture windows. My room overlooked the Bay, the Helix Bridge, Marina Bay Sands, the ArtScience Museum and the Gardens By the Bay, so the evening light show was a delight to see. There is a large TV, Nespresso machine and a kettle for tea. There is a small table and comfy chair by the window, and a large bathroom with a separate shower and bath. There are low-flow shower heads which reduce water flow from 27 litres to nine litres a minute and the water pumps are run at lower pressure, which helps to reduce water flow and water consumption. Refillable pump toiletries are in the showers instead of small plastic bottles.
The room had a hamper of goodies, including popcorn, wasabi peas, nuts and chocolate – and if you really like the hamper you can buy it for $150 Singapore dollars. On the Superking bed I found a small wooden cube, a new edition to help communicate the hotel’s plans for more sustainable guest options. If you want to avoid your sheets being cleaned daily then make sure you remove the cube from the bed. On each side of the cube are facts for guests; e.g how the motion sensors register when someone enters and leaves the room – turning down the lights and the air conditioning. Or more about the recycling bins in the room and the filtered water system, which means the hotel doesn’t use plastic water bottles. The hotel has estimated this has eliminated the production, storage and waste processing of up to 360,000 plastic bottles each year.
COLLECTION Club Lounge: I had a COLLECTION Club room, which offers guests access to the COLLECTION Club Lounge on the fifth floor of the hotel next to the outdoor pool and overlooking the Bay. The lounge offers breakfast and afternoon tea and evening cocktails served at 6-8pm. There are tea and coffee and soft drinks available all day. It’s a peaceful triple aspect room surrounded by plants. When I was working in there I had a pot of tea and perfect mini cake. Freshly squeezed orange juice and canapes were a delight. The leftover orange peels are used by the chefs to create marmalade for breakfast.
Restaurants: I could have taken breakfast in the COLLECTION Club Lounge but chose to eat at the bustling Peppermint, which is next to the main check-in on the fourth floor. Breakfast here is quite the event with food stations offering pastries, cereals, salads, sushi, dim sum, pancakes, eggs several ways, English breakfast, and continental options. Drink orders are taken by staff on arrival unless you arrive early in which case you can serve yourself. I enjoyed the wide range of food options and seeing how the fresh green salads harvested daily from the hotel’s Urban Farm are used in different dishes, as well as the large bottles of herb oils for the salads. Peppermint’s evening menu also offers meat-free and plant based dishes.
Peach Blossoms is another dining option – a modern Chinese restaurant by the award-winning executive Chinese chef Edward Chong. For drinks, Portman’s Bar offers afternoon tea, signature cocktails and more than 90 varieties of whiskies, while the Skyline Bar at the poolside serves drinks and light bites. In the evening the poolside is a great place to gather with the fibre optic pool lights creating a dazzling star-like effect.
Working: I worked happily in my room on the comfy chair and small table by the window, but also took time out in the COLLECTION Lounge in the afternoon. It was a pleasant place to work out of the heat and with a quiet hum of conversations and low level music. The lounge is for adults only and there is a dress code (smart casual – no swim wear). I had tea and cake as I worked. In the evening cocktails and canapes are on offer from 6pm-8pm.
Events: There is more than 20,000sqft of meeting and event spaces across the hotel including the pillar-free Garden Ballroom for up to 650 people, and the Atrium Ballroom for up to 300 people. It’s an impressive space to meet or celebrate and I saw a couple of brides enjoying their photoshoots on the Atrium bridge among the soft backdrop of the plants. Those visiting the hotel for meetings can also arrange Sustainable Hotel Building Tours.
Sustainable practices: There are 210 solar panels on the roof of the hotel, which provides the hotel with around 350 Kilowatt hours daily of renewable energy (the average house in the US uses 30 Kilowatt hours daily). The energy generated is used to power the hotel’s operations, reducing the overall electrical consumption by around 1.4 per cent. The hotel said it was looking into other renewable energy sources to help reduce energy consumption further. The hotel recycles its food waste, such as vegetables, poultry, bones, egg shells and fruit peel using food waste digesters with active enzymes breaking down the waste into a liquid. Nearly one tonne of food waste can be processed over 24 hours.
The hotel is home to one of the CBD’s largest Urban Farms. Spanning 150 square metres, the Urban Farm grows more than 60 varieties of fruits, vegetables, herbs and edible flowers including lemon mint, guava, spinach, tomatoes, chillis, sweet potato, and cape goosberry. Produce is used regularly in the restaurants, bars and spa.
Certifications: Both Singapore and Sentosa have achieved GSTC-Certified status as sustainable destinations from a GSTC-Accredited Certification Body. The GSTC Criteria is a global standard for sustainable travel and tourism. You can read more about the GSTC here. The hotel is also GSTC-certified and the building’s Environmental Management System complies with ISO14001:2015, an internationally recognised standard where environmental impact is being measured and improved. PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay, Singapore is Green Globe certified and has the Singapore green building certification – the Building and Construction Authority certification (BCA). For more detail on the hotel’s sustainability efforts click here.
Gym? There is a small gymnasium which has running machines, resistance equipment and free weights. There is a separate spin bike and exercise studio (with virtual workouts). There is a St. Gregory Spa offering signature therapies.
The 25-metre outdoor swimming pool on level 5 has 1,380 fibre optic lights installed so at night the effect is a twinkling galaxy of stars.
Catching the zzzs? The superking bed was a winner with beautiful plump pillows and crisp white sheets. I slept well with the aircon and blackout curtains. Waking up to views over the Bay is a delight.
Felicity Cousins stayed at the PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay, Singapore in late July 2025.