Joakim Persson

voco Orchard Singapore review: It was with great excitement and anticipation of a cool new hotel brand that Happy Hour Asia came to check in at a well-known Singapore address; at the very beginning of Orchard road, across from the Thai embassy.

Many regular travellers to Singapore will have checked in to this hotel in its former existence, and its ornamental facade – an Orchard landmark – is still intact. This building also houses some of the most well-known luxury brand stores, including time pieces. Interior-wise the hotel has of course changed dramatically though, but without doing any major changes to the building structure and its room configurations.

Welcome to voco Singapore – the first hotel for this brand in Southeast Asia (that opened in January 2022)! And the curiosity about this hotel does not get any less exciting by knowing that voco is a new brand by InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG).

First launched in 2018 voco is one of fastest-growing brands from IHG, aiming at having 200 properties at urband and leisure locations by 2028. Its first voco in the Middle East opened in Dubai in April 2019.

voco combines the “reassurance of a big brand with the informality and charm of an individual hotel, providing guests with a dependably premium experience”. The Singapore property has 423 guest rooms but does not feel large at all!

voco Orchard Singapore review: exceptional arrival encounter

The first encounter with the hotel can set the tone for a great experience (or less great). It happens here, through a very conversational, informal as well as playful way! The cosy lobby not only looks inviting, it also feels so. How the front desk team member processes the arrival is pleasant, laidback and welcoming.

The guest is invited to spin a digital wheel on a table with the chance to win something: ‘Spin & Win’. One can for instance earn IHG One Rewards points. That’s a nice gesture and smart branding initiative! A homemade spiced cookie is also offered each guest (we’ll get to the spice topic…) as a welcome treat.

This arrival – we find out – represents the start of the voco experience from the moment guests walk through its doors: the brand’s “signature ‘Come on in’ warm welcome of a swift and simple check-in, and a locally inspired welcome treat to mark the start of what’s bound to be a memorable stay”. The name, voco, means ‘to invite’ and ‘call together’ originating from Latin, representing this brand’s thoughtful, unstuffy and charming nature. It is focused on combining memorable moments and high-quality touches, from indulgent amenities to big, comfy beds. Being able to connect and socialise are also key needs voco hotels must satisfy.

A perfect example of that happens on the very day of this visit when a ‘Vibe Out Session’ is taking place in the afternoon, poolside on the rooftop, where Wellness Ambassador (for athletic apparel brand Lululemon) Brandon Chong leads the hotel’s one-hour yoga sessions (on Saturdays), open for hotel guests and other attendants from outside. Activities like this…

While we are at the topic of facilities, the hotel offers a 12-metre rooftop swimming pool, with panoramic views of the Orchard Road city skyline. Don’t miss a work out in the hotel’s fully-equipped 24-hour fitness centre, stocked with a full selection of gym-grade equipment.

The spirit of voco Orchard Singapore is defined by its people, the hotel informs. This includes familiar faces of long-serving staff – some of whom have been working at the hotel (previously Hilton Singapore) for over 40 years!

Hotel partner, Hotel Properties Limited (HPL), has commented that voco was the ideal choice for this location as it’s extremely popular with leisure and business travellers and it will fit perfectly in such a prime shopping and entertainment area. One couldn’t agree more, with the incredible selection of attractions along Orchard road these days! And in the hotel’s vicinity there are now subway lines in practically all directions, including directly to the Central Business District and multiple interchange stations.

voco Orchard Singapore review: in hues of brand new yellow and blue

The colour scheme is very pleasing with the branding dominated on blue and yellow hues. One first encounters this outside the lobby by the drive-up entrance, with a yellow logo on a blue wall, flanked by some large vases, including yellow ones, holding bonzai trees. The yellow logo again is clearly place on the blue wall (made with wood planks) behind the check-in. The check-in marble desk is also furnished with porcelain lamps in the same orange colour as the desk’s front wall.

The voco colour scheme continues with the abstract dotted wall carpets in corridor, while a black and yellow more web-like carpet is used inside the guest rooms, in addition to a stylish blue design armchair and a padded bedhead. Decor pillow is in the same mustard yellow, and the blackout curtain comes in a golden yellow.

Room categories: Deluxe High floor (King or Twin), Deluxe King walk-in shower, Deluxe Club Access (King or Twin), Premium Club Balcony, 1 Bedroom Suite Lounge Access, King Suite Sofa Bed, and a Presidential Suite.

Visiting a bit over a year after the hotel’s opening the feeling is one of entering a brand new room – which can be such a great experience. And how stylished designed and designed it is, with a marble-clad bathroom (with tub) combined with a bright and modern room (creamy white walls and grey, woven wallpaper), with masculine touches. This will have great appeal to business travellers, also because of its glass-and-steel work desk and and ergonomic workchair with back support!

Built-in furniture consists in sandy wood, with a creamy marble counter. Wardrobes are both open and in a cabinet.

Bathroom amenities consist in eco-friendly large size bottles from Apotheke, a plant-based organic skincare company introduced in Singapore for the first time.

Unsurprisingly the bed’s very thick mattress turns out to offer an excellent sleeping experience, where most guests will not notice that its high-quality bedding is made from 100% recycled materials. Well done for a circular economy!

Now, after packing up the luggage the welcome cookie comes in handy to enjoy together with some in-room quality TWG tea, poured into a yellow cup with sprinkled small black dots. Or enjoy in-room brew made with an illy coffee machine! The custom-made cookie comprises ingredients inspired by Orchard Road’s heritage as fruit and spice orchard. Orchard Road was previously home to pepper farms, nutmeg plantations, and the namesake fruit orchards.

In celebration of this voco Orchard Singapore uses scents, sights and flavours originating from this past into and through the guest journey – from the intoxicating citrus grapefruit and pink peppercorn fragrance of the hotel lobby as guests ‘come on in’, to the homemade spiced cookies.

To explore this topic more Singapore Botanical Gardens is also situated at short distance from the hotel, a beautiful natural oasis perfect also for walking and exercising.

voco Orchard Singapore review: club lounge experience

But for the in-hotel experience it’s a one night’s visit for this coverage so all-day-dining and spa are not included, but the focus pays attention to the essentials: the Club Lounge experience, along with a fabulous dinner experience – at Il Cielo restaurant.

Booking a room with Club Lounge access, situated on level 22, is highly recommended here – for its splendid service and food and drinks offerings that well meets your high expectations.

The club lounge entrance desk has a wide, enlarged black-and-white picture on the wall from yesteryear of an old bridge and a canal boat depicting the Singapore river.

Totally redesigned, the club lounge is low slung; with brown wall panels and pillars; and furnished with white tables or white-grey marble round tables, orange-brown leather padded sofas black and beige designer armchairs and chairs.

Afternoon Refreshment is served here 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm and includes the ubiquitos scones (a big tradition in this former British colony) but also handmade sandwiches and an irresistible bread and butter pudding with vanilla sauce! Who can resist that but a visit to the 24-hour gym can also compensate for the intake of calories… Throughout the day coffee, tea and juices such as cranberry, and Chef’s dessert of the day can also be enjoyed.

Come evening it is time for cocktails 5.30 – 7.30 pm, which is perfect pre-dinner warm-up, with a sumptuous finger food selection (Waldorf salad, Japanese seaweed tofu and more). There are cheese, olives and biscuits as well, and Prosecco (Ruggeri Argeo – a fruity bubble with floral sensations), red and white wine (Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc) to pair with the food.

Cocktails include three Voco Specials: ‘Owl’ – a wine spritser with red or white wine and sprite;
‘Finch’ Bay breeze with vodka, cranberry and apple juice; or ‘Flamingo’, an Aperol spritz, with Aperol liquor, lime juice and sprite, garnished with mixed fruits. Or opt for a Ginger punch Botanical or a sparkling Mimosa! Alternatively, there are also mocktails to order.

At the exclusive club lounge breakfast it is not crowded on a weekend, where the select items included: Fresh high quality bakery; smoked turkey and chicken ham; brie and other cheese;
salmon gravlax; cloudy apple juice; bircher muesli in jar; mixed greens with condiments; sautéed mushroom and cherry tomatoes; sausages and other expected items.

voco Orchard Singapore review: Italian magic at il Cielo

For dining, il Cielo is the hotel’s vibrant rooftop restaurant serving up ”contemporary Italian food and good times”. It consists in hearty Italian comfort food and a variety of wines, with a good mix of classic, contemporary and organic wines, open for lunch from noon, and for dinner 5:00 pm – 10:00 pm, Tuesday – Saturday.

il Cielo – through floor-to-ceiling glass walls – overlooks the pool area and the Singapore city night skyline, as well as in the indoor dining room also has a ceiling looking like a blue sky with white clouds. And glass wall leads to a private dining rooms and has blue blinds. And hanging from this ceiling are lamps in lampshades resembling sea shells – or perhaps jellyfish (it’s up to everyone’s own imagination…)! A large movie theatre-like, and lit up, hotel name sign stands by the neon-lit pool in the evenings (open for swiming until 9 pm).

And what hearty Italian food they have on the menu here! It is beyond one’s normal restaurant envounter when basically every single item feels like a dish one would want to try! And the buratta cheese they have in this place, if one particular buratta would come from heaven it would be the one here at il Cielo! So it feels appropriate with that sky ceiling…

The melt-in-the-mouth buratta in the Genovese pasta is out of this world, with home made spinach angel hair pasta, classic basil pesto Genovese, Sundried cherry tomatoes – and then the cold mashed buratta cheese meeting the warm green pasta, resulting in a taste sensation. voco Wow!

Before that, as Antipasti the ‘Fritto Misto’ comes served on a plate that seems like a thinly cut stone slab. The dish is traditional Amalfi fried seafood of calamari, prawn, soft shell crab and whitebait with vegetables and lemon aioli – where broccolini is buried inside a pile of deep fried seafood. With the flavour of the aioli it’s a great starter!

Then from the Mains – Secondi – these are some of the other temptations: Manzo (Red wine-braised angus beef rib, “Agliata Monferrina”, red treviso lettuce, pickled baby pear), Pollo al tartufo (Foie gras & chicken roulade, oyster mushrooms, garlic puree, truffle jus, fresh truffle), or Trota salmonata (Ocean trout fillet, stir-fry broccolini, buttermilk emulsion, salmon roe, grain mustard, basil oil).

A few other starters are: Fresh Burrata with Prosciutto di Parma (thin sliced 24-months aged parma ham, Italian arugula, 150 gram of Apulian burrata cheese), and Pomodoro & rucola (150 gm of Apulian burrata cheese, cherry tomato on vine, Italian arugula, balsamic dressing). Given that burrata, also those dishes should be sumptuous.

Without trying any of the Gourmet pizzas they do sound awesome all of them!
– Burrata e tartufo
Fior di latte mozzarella (sautéed mixed mushrooms, black truffle cream, fresh burrata cheese)
– Tartare
(Tomato base, fresh burrata cheese, Angus tenderloin tartare chopped with artichokes and Ligurian olives, grain mustard)
– Capesante
(White base, fior di latte mozzarella, thin sliced Hokkaido scallops, freshly grated black truffle)

For dessert went for a beautiful Tiramisu (Kahlua-soaked ladyfingers, tempered by mascarpone cream and cocoa dust) – a work of art in its presentation and with such magnificent taste, and perfect to enjoy an espresso with!

voco Orchard Singapore review: more F&B to discover

Great music also by the way! As a hotel focused on bringing the best of dining and entertainment experiences, a live DJ entertains the guests once per month at another weekly F&B experience – the Sunday brunch.

Not covered by Happy Hour Asia during this review visit the brunch takes place at steakhouse Opus Bar & Grill (also serves breakfast), which serves freshly grilled sustainable seafood and meticulously selected steaks – dry-aged in-house within custom Himalayan salt-tiled cabinets.

The three-hour Opus Sunday brunch starts at noon and offers an array of monthly thematic delights, and an enhanced buffet spread featuring signature dishes also from, il Cielo, and D9 Cakery. And mixologists showcase their artistry right at your table with captivating cocktail showmanship, adding an extra dose of excitement to the leisurely Sunday afternoon dining session. Guest can also top up with a champagne package.

Then there is The Backdrop, which has set its sights on “elevating the international drinking scene”, and invites guests to immerse themselves in an extraordinary blend of history, artistry, and mixology. The Backdrop is something for discerning cocktail enthusiasts, presenting a manu that is a testament to the art of mixology, divided into Acts and sections that highlight the various cocktail-making techniques discovered and refined from the 1800’s until the present day with imaginative takes. Open Wednesdays to Sundays from 6.30 pm guests can come and expect a curated selection that appeals to both traditionalists and adventurous imbibers.

Also, there is the 32-seat restaurant (established already in 2004) Iggy’s with a track record of being at the forefront of Singapore’s fine dining gastronomic culture since its inception. Restaurateur and sommelier Ignatius Chan seeks to continuously push culinary boundaries to provide delicious food and wines through his namesake restaurant, Iggy’s 1* Michelin Guide Singapore, since 2017. As a hallmark Iggy’s has an extensive 25,000-bottle list of Burgundy wines that have been carefully selected and stored over the years. Open for lunch and dinner Tuesday – Saturday.

Happy Hour Asia is typically also out to uncover all the happy hours that are not always easily discovered. Yes, voco Singapore has it on offer, and mentions it on the website! How nice; Opus Bar generously offers a happy hour promotion on drinks from 5pm to 8pm every day!

On its menu Opus include cocktails inspired by the hotel’s heritage and rich history of Orchard Road: Spicy Finch, Owl Kiss, and Pinkarita.

voco Singapore also offers F&B events and promotions and a continuous basis, such as: ‘Family Escapade’, ‘A Taste of Home: Local Afternoon Tea’, and ‘Shopaholic Staycation’.

All things combined, it makes one want to come back for more, to enjoy those discerning offers and more from that fabulous Italian il Cielo menu. Cheers to Southeast Asia’s first voco hotel, with a modern vibe and top-notch service and F&B as one expects from InterContinental Hotel Group!