On storied Fort Canning, Douglas Blyde discovers a onetime British command post reborn as a serene, sociable enclave with its gaze turned toward more gentler pursuits…
By December, when I arrived, METT Singapore had found its gait. The marble had shed its showroom glare, uniforms had settled into their seams, and the espresso machines gave a low, feline thrum, as if pleased with their own handiwork. The hotel crowns Fort Canning Park, a rise of land which matters deeply to Singapore, not simply as greenery but as origin. This is where the island’s modern story first cohered: a strategic hill, a colonial nerve centre, now a place where the city pauses and looks back at itself.
Before METT, the structure served as British Far East Command Headquarters, its rooms once lit by officers plotting lines across maps and fielding calls at ungodly hours. Later came quieter civic roles, then its interlude as Fort Canning Centre, hosting rehearsals, modest exhibitions and administrative work. The proportions endured while the purpose wandered. METT, the newest chapter, guides the building towards leisure without sanding down its backbone.
Sunset Hospitality Group are the custodians of this turn. Their world arcs from Dubai through Europe and Asia. In London, they reclaimed Pantechnicon on Motcomb Street, installing SACHI, Amélie and LUUM beneath its generous roof. METT fits neatly into their constellation: sociable, appetite-led, shaped by spaces made for pleasure and pause.
The interiors rest on a thoughtful layering of rattan, teak, soft neutrals and filtered daylight. Only later does the name behind them surface: Jeffrey Allen Wilkes, a Canadian shaped by Fine Arts at York University and Interior Design at Ryerson, who moved east in the nineties and founded DESIGNWILKES in Kuala Lumpur. His work stretches from Sri Lankan shores to Indian grande dames, Thai resorts and Singapore’s Mandarin Oriental. Here, he has coaxed the former headquarters into a gentler register.
We stayed in a vast suite. Above the marque’s billowing flag, marble underfoot gives the first sensation. The king-size bed, replete with monogrammed pillows, is turned in 600-thread count cotton which feels cool at first touch, then warms slowly, paired with goose down which yields with a soft, contented give when you lie back.
There is a fresh, almost maritime sharpness to the room, the sort which signals meticulous care. By evening, the lamps draw everything into amber, smoothing edges without dulling them. From the bed, treetops sway over long-settled earthworks. Light moves across the suite in slow ripples, as if the park were signalling through the glass.
Breakfast set the day’s pace with natural grace: art-capped coffee, congee with century egg, impeccable green juice, and my child coaxing a mynah with crumbs beneath the terrace rail.
L’Amo anchors the hill socially as well as gastronomically. Singaporeans do not wait for evening to arrive. They come throughout the day, dressed well and with intent, to eat lobster, oysters and impeccably sourced seafood, and to draw from a wine list which moves across Italy with discernment, dipping into rare Etna expressions before travelling, confidently, as far as Niagara.
A thoroughly truffled pizza arrived unapologetic, its perfume doing most of the talking. A fresh display of treasures from the sea followed: turbot laid out with care, Irish oysters bristling with life, lobsters still twitching, as if affronted by the ice. Red prawn crudo came impeccably fresh, capped with caviar. Tiramisu was built tableside, folded together with a showman’s ease which knew precisely when to stop.
The room played its part. One waiter proved so entertaining the manager threatened to put him on the menu and charge him out by the hour. When one of our party accidentally shattered a Riedel Superleggero, he suggested a mug might suit the next pour better, and carried on as though this, too, was simply service.
Behind it sits Daniele Sperindio, director of culinary and F&B guest experiences, Genoese by birth, with plans unfolding. Soon, his Michelin-starred Art di Daniele Sperindio will relocate here from the National Gallery, bringing a more formal expression into a setting with room to breathe. Alongside it will come Hanu, a Korean grill pitched with glamour and energy. Canning Bar & Lounge already knits the day together with coffee, aperitivi and small plates.
Afterwards, a sidecar tour traced the slopes of the hill and the boulevards below. The driver pointed out gatehouses, vanished barracks, a shimmering statue of Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles surveying the city he helped to order, and one of Singapore’s last remaining street vendors of ice cream, still cutting neat blocks between wafers. It became a rolling annotation of the city’s shifts, from empire to independence, from street trade to skyline.
The grounds spread with unforced ease, anchored by two vast pools which speak to different temperaments. One is sculpted and landscaped, generous and social, edged for families and long afternoons, its curves answering the hill. The other is a long, disciplined stretch designed for lengths, set beside the private club taking shape nearby.
That club is Madison House, the first of its name anywhere, arriving in Singapore ahead of a planned Milan opening. It occupies its own building on the estate and is conceived as a modern members’ retreat, blending movement, recovery and sociability. Padel courts will gleam beside palms. Inside, a gym fitted with Technogym equipment will share space with wellness rooms, with The Longevity Suite bringing its European-led approach to recovery, cryotherapy and tailored programmes. Hotel guests are granted access during their stay; the fuller club life will follow.
One night, I stepped onto the terrace with, appropriately, a glass of Bellavista. Below, the hill lay dark and knotted; above, the skyline flickered like a restless switchboard.
METT offers Singapore a fresh inflection. Set within Fort Canning Park, where the island’s strategic, civic and cultural histories converge, the old headquarters once built to shoulder burdens now lends itself to something lighter. On this hill, the past settles without vanishing, and the present stretches out with unexpected ease thanks to a remarkably lovely team.
For more information about METT Singapore, and other properties in the METT portfolio, please visit www.metthotelsandresorts.com.
