Green space odyssey - Part 1

In typically super-efficient Singapore style, the moment we report the plumbing problem to Reception, the call gets logged with a plumber. We casually stroll to the Level 4 cafe by the swimming pool and indulge in the first of our holiday breakfasts. I'm so excited to see char siu bao and absolutely relish the pillowy softness of its steamed skin and savoury-sweet innards! In less than 45 minutes we are back in our room getting ready to head out when the plumber arrives. We leave him to his task and make our way to the MRT station. 

From the Promenade station it is only a short journey to Chinatown. There, as we try to orient ourselves with a map, a friendly station official rushes over to offer us help and give us directions. At street level, it should be a simple matter of just looking around for a plant-covered building...

Chinatown

Chinese New Year decorations

And then it reveals itself. The beautiful green-clad revelation that is the Parkroyal on Pickering. Foliage tumbles down its facade and wraps around several terraces. The hotel boasts organic shapes that mimic rock formations and it claims that every guest room has a garden view.

Exterior views of the Parkroyal on Pickering 

The lobby is no less impressive. Natural finishes are complemented by water and greenery. A row of comfortable seats replace the traditional sofas that are a fixture in most hotel lobbies. These face outwards over a water feature that wraps around the outside of the hotel. Together with a screen of plants, it conceals the busy road beyond. It is quite magical.  

Green wall inside the Parkroyal lobby

Lobby dreaming

Keen to explore the public areas a bit more, we steal into one of the elevators and go upstairs to the garden terrace. It doesn't disappoint. There is more tumble-down vegetation and a sense of airiness and freshness several storeys above street level. 

Looking up at the green terraces

Parkroyal exterior

It is quite a spectacular design as the muted grey colours and different textures - hard and soft - combine to create a very aesthetic and soothing environment.

Different colours and textures 

Grand columns and tall trees line the terrace adding to the sense of space

Just when you might feel a bit overwhelmed by the scale of things, the designers cleverly throw in an knee-high herb garden with some old friends like borage and ginger. So there's a neatness and familiarity in the garden beds that reside between the sun loungers.  

The herb garden

And my... what a swimming pool. The infinity edge drops off into the top of palm trees and glorious CBD skyline. Walkways and colourful seating pods are evenly spaced along the whole length of the terrace. The pods almost look like they are suspended over the edge of the building and are little secluded oases of calm.

The infinity edge pool with colourful seating pod

We are both suitably amazed and it's hard to take our leave of the cool and serene garden terrace. As we head back downstairs and retrace our steps to the MRT station, we are slightly stunned into an awed silence. We agree that it should definitely be added to our wishlist of places to stay in the future.

Happily Ross isn't too bored being dragged around green buildings as there is one more development that I want to see. Just like the Parkroyal, I first heard about it during my PhD and it has only recently been completed...