Hotel Clover North Bridge Road, Singapore

Top Boutique Hotel of Singapore

CONSERVATION SHOPHOUSE BOUTIQUE HOTEL, HOTEL CLOVER 769 NORTH BRIDGE ROAD, ADDS DAZZLE TO THE KAMPONG GLAM QUARTER

Vintage historical gem of a boutique hotel, Hotel Clover 769 North Bridge Road, adds much dazzle to the Kampong Glam area that’s now known as ethnic quarter meets hipster central. Housed in a quartet of 2-storey conserved shophouses constructed between 1840 and 1960, formerly a tailor and a jewellery parlour, wildly celebrated for its cultural and architectural heritage, the 27-room Hotel Clover 769 North Bridge Road is a vintage historical gem.

In the yesteryears of Singapore, early settlers built small, narrow terraced houses for businesses and living. Hotel Clover 769 North Bridge Road is housed in one of the very few remaining clusters that reside on North Bridge Road. The shophouse’s façade features the Early Shophouse Style, its clean cut exterior exhibiting a harmonious mix of Greco-Roman columns and Chinese walkways.

Inside, a soothing palette of white, beige and brown and modern clean lines form the canvas for the design team, which has enlisted the generous use of handcrafted wood furniture. The lobby is underscored by a large communal table for guests to mingle over breakfast and coffee in the midst of handpicked vintage decorative pieces like a restored hair salon high-backed chair, a gramophone, a rotary dial telephone, a fan, a typewriter and cheekily juxtaposed by a rather modern Mac desktop.

The calm, serene but resolutely arty lobby is complemented by a quiet corner where a gorgeous leather sofa adorned with metal studs, coupled with a quartet of yesteryear steel-lined leather armchairs and a sewing machine, echoing the historical connection with the shophouse’s past life, combine to ooze vintage chic. Here, every corner has a story to tell.

One of the most important features of the shophouse is the use of a variety of open-to-sky spaces to admit natural daylight as well as natural air. These open-to-sky spaces may be backyards, small airwells and most commonly, internal courtyards.

The property’s airwell has been converted into a beautiful courtyard allowing guests to unwind. The courtyard adorned with vertical gardens of flowing leaves and flowers is the perfect place to indulge in quiet reflection.

The beautiful, classy, contemporary style and colour palette continues in the rooms which are perfect sanctuaries for travellers and even those on a staycation. A mix of modern furniture, curated decorative pieces and vintage lamps complete the experience. In the Lavish Suite, the most luxe of 4 categories, an outdoor jacuzzi takes the luxe quotient to the next level.

Kampong Glam, the name of the neighbourhood in which Hotel Clover 769 North Bridge Road is found, is formed by the word ‘Kampong’, Malay for village, and ‘Glam’, taking after the glam tree that grows in the area; it was a prime settlement and trading hub where migrant Malays as well as the Bugis, the Javanese and Arabs who descended from various parts of Indonesia settled down. It was also the home of Sultan Hussein (Singapore’s first sultan), his family and his followers. Today, it is known for one of the most important and beautiful mosques in Singapore, Sultan Mosque, as well as a slew of fabric stores, shisha parlours, biryani eateries, ethnic Arab and Middle Eastern restaurants.

Hipsters have also descended on the neighbourhood. Ever since Comme des garcons opened its guerrilla store (also what we commonly call the ‘pop-up store’ today) on Haji Lane in 2005, the seeds of hipsterdom were sown. Today, Kampong Glam has a veritable retail, dining and bar scene marked by cocktail bars like Bar Stories, multi-concept Maison Ikkoku (known for its multibrand store, café and cocktail bar), Tokyo Bikes (luxe bikes for trustfund babies and hipsters with a day job at the bank) and the like. The lovely neighbourhood combining the old and the new makes for a great place to experience Hotel Clover 769 North Bridge Road and Singapore.