“Sofitel So, please, the new hotel on Robinson Road,” I told the taxi driver.
“Ah, the secret hotel,” he replied.
That’s how the new Sofitel So in the financial heart of Singapore is being called by taxi drivers. Secret because the driveway is pretty hard to find if you’re driving to it – it’s not obvious as it’s tucked away behind the building and you can have long conversations with taxi drivers about it. Hint: Just get them to drop you off at the taxi stand along Robinson Road, and say close to the Lau Pa Sat market, every driver knows that because it’s got food.
I think being a “secret hotel” is a pretty good label in today’s world of everything-in-your-face. It implies exclusivity, inner circle and cult, someone whispering to someone else, “Hey, have you been there?”
Well, I’ve been a few times and last week, found myself having meetings there on three consecutive days. Seems it’s become a popular address for lunch with the financial district corporate crowd, it’s been a long, long time since someone opened a luxury hotel in that part of town.
It’s a heritage building built in 1927 and used to be the Ogilvy & Mather offices. The old wing’s been restored (So Heritage Wing) and they’ve added a new wing (So Hip Wing) and the hotel now has 134 rooms including nine suites.
A lobby of open spaces
The heritage exterior belies the modernity inside. It’s an open lobby with lots of things happening – fluidity is the new black in lobby design, it seems. A small standing bar, a small space containing design elements showcasing Karl Lagerfeld’s influence in the hotel, a lobby lounge that spills into the restaurant, a deejay console, couple of very cosy areas with couches and lounges just in case you get too comfortable and the hotel’s out of rooms.
I think they still have to learn how to balance out the noise level in the open lobby space. When you’re having a meeting in the lobby, you don’t want the same noise level as when you’re having martinis. And when you’re dining on smoked salmon and vodka caviar, you don’t want to feel you’re in a Zouk-like environment.
In the restaurant, Xperience, young executive chef Anne-Cecile Degenne lends her light, creative, touches to the menu. If you are into fusion, I recommend the the foie gras & truffle siew mai and Chipotle chilli crab taco. If you like your food straight up, the beetroot with blue cheese is upstanding.
Chipotle Chill crab taco
The hotel’s full of quirky modern design elements but with what I call traditional touches – I saw more fresh flowers here than in Tiong Bahru market, all of course artfully arranged.
Personally I prefer the rooms in the Heritage Wing – I always like the blend of old and new and this is what makes this new Sofitel So unique. New modernity amid old luxury.
Psychedlic Napoleon
Not quite sure about the colourful portraits of Napoleon Bonaparte in some rooms, saying, “All roads lead to Singapore” – with the word Paris crossed out. A tad too colonial for my tastes and not sure I want to go to sleep dreaming about him but the beds look like you could jump in and not want to get out for days.
The crown jewel is the rooftop bar – you get a 360-degree view of Singapore’s skyline from a different perspective, like you’re right in the middle of a movie set rather than looking down at it say from the top of Marina Bay Sands. 
That’s where, by the way, WIT will hold its Charity Auction night, sponsored by Circos Brand Karma, on October 29 in conjunction with the WIT Conference.
Proceeds will go towards Project Hammer which is supporting, among its organisations, Sok Sabay which is building a dormitory and school for young girls in Laos.
