Hotel Fort Canning

This 1926 heritage icon has lived many lives.

Once the former administration building of the British Far East Command Headquarters, it was used by the Japanese as a base during World War II and also operated as a country club from 1995 to 2007, before undergoing a S$70 million restoration and re-opening in 2010 as an 86-room boutique hotel.

The hotel has restored many of the building's orignal structures, including a multi-columned façade, grand staircase, column bases, handrails and window grilles. 

The lobby's glassed-in pits displaying Chinese and British porcelain, antique floor tiles -- artifacts unearthed by Dr. John Miksic, resident archaeologist and associate professor at National University of Singapore -- and personal touches such as room service delivered in three-tier bamboo tiffins; all  reflect the hotel's rich colonial legacy.

Rooms come with iPod docking stations, free-standing bathtubs and Poltrona Frau furniture.

Outside, guests can stroll round the historic Fort Canning Park -- where Sir Stamford Raffles built his first residence -- and tour The Battle Box, one of Singapore's most important World War II sites.

It was recently awarded the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) Architectural Heritage Award (AHA).