Visitors now have fewer reasons to accuse Singapore of being home to only soulless shopping malls and chain hotels.

When German businesswoman Claudia Ionker was searching the Internet for a place here to stay for two nights recently, she chose Wangz Hotel, a boutique hotel in Outram Road which opened last month.

‘I used to stay at those big chain hotels and the experience was so cold and impersonal,’ says the 44-year-old. ‘At a boutique hotel, I’m treated as a first- class guest.’

Wangz is one of a handful of interesting new hotels sprouting across the island.

Mr Brian Patterson, 64, an Australian mining manager, has been staying at the four-month-old Nostalgia Hotel in Tiong Bahru since last month. He says of his experience there: ‘The staff are very friendly and co-operative. The service is wonderful – they offer you free apples, which is a nice touch.’

Apart from attentive personal service, boutique hotels offer unique decor.

Wangz is a 41-room boutique hotel housed in a six-storey, barrel-shaped building previously occupied by offices and a hostel.

Glastech, which is in the serviced office business and is also developing a serviced residence in Novena, bought the property in 2007 to convert it into its first hotel. It is named after the Wang family, which owns Glastech.

Local architecture firm CPG Consultants landed the job of transforming the cylindrical building into a hotel. It was not an easy task.

As an MRT track runs below the building, its original structure has to be retained. The architects also could not increase the load on the building.

Given its round shape, carving out space within the hotel was also more problematic than inside a rectangular building.

In one respect, however, the curves are a blessing in disguise. Hotel manager David Yap, 40, says: ‘The rounded walls make the rooms feel more comfortable as there is no claustrophobic feeling.’

Making the rooms and even the shower stalls in bathrooms feel more spacious are glass windows, some of which are full-length, giving guests great views of Tiong Bahru’s old-world charm.

The view from the hotel’s rooftop bar is even more spectacular – you sip your drink while gazing at the city skyline.

While the service and interiors of the rooms will get the thumbs-up from guests, Mr Yap says it is the hotel’s artworks that make it stand out. The inn commissioned seven local and foreign artists to create 35 pieces of artworks featuring flora and fauna for its interiors.

He says the artworks cost the hotel $400,000 and they are for sale. The hotel will commission the artist to create new works to replace the ones sold.

‘Some guests even pick their rooms because of the artworks,’ he says.

The hotel, whose makeover costs $8million, currently enjoys 20 per cent occupancy. Most of its clients are European business travellers.

Source: Straits Times, 16 Jan 2010