In January 2026, I checked into the Sunset One-Bedroom Pool Villa at Raffles Sentosa Singapore. Set within 100,000sqm of tropical greenery in the southern coast of Sentosa Island, Raffles Sentosa Singapore bears the unique distinction of being Singapore’s first all-villa property. The resort launched in March 2025, some 138 years after the iconic Raffles Hotel Singapore opened along Beach Road in 1887. Nearby attractions include Universal Studios Singapore, Tanjong Beach Club and Sentosa Golf Club, while Vivocity and Harbourfront MRT Station is less than 10 minutes away by car. Singapore Changi Airport is a 30-minute drive away.
Other notable properties on Sentosa Island include W Singapore, Capella Singapore, Sofitel Singapore Sentosa Resort & Spa and The Laurus, a Luxury Collection Resort, Singapore.
Other Accor hotels in Singapore include Sofitel Singapore City Centre, Mondrian Singapore Duxton, Fairmont Singapore, Swissotel The Stamford, Pullman Singapore Orchard, Pullman Singapore Hill Street and Mandai Rainforest Resort by Banyan Tree.
Best for: Travellers seeking an exclusive, Bali-esque tropical villa escape within Singapore and a refined resort experience centred around wellness, destination dining and unhurried island living.
Must Dos: Spend time in your luxury villa, enjoy breakfast at Empire Grill, have a drink at Chairman’s Room, go to Raffles Sentosa Spa for the wellness facilities, keep a lookout for hornbills and peacocks.
RAFFLES SENTOSA SINGAPORE
The resort’s warmly luxurious interiors come courtesy of Yabu Pushelberg, the design firm behind Rosewood Guangzhou, Aman Tokyo, Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo At Marunouchi and Park Hyatt Bangkok. The resort features 62 contemporary private pool villas surrounded by exuberant tropical gardens, from the entry 211sqm Garden One-Bedroom Pool Villa and 235sqm Signature One Bedroom Pool Villa to the 515sqm Royal Villa to the 650sqm Raffles Presidential Villa.
The arrival experience is suitably Raffles Hotel-esque. A chauffeur-driven limousine picked me up from my apartment, and shortly after entry into Sentosa Island, the limousine travels up a meandering driveway past a dramatic black horse sculpture in the middle of a grand fountain (said to represent leaps forward and new beginnings) before pulling into the resort’s porte-cochère, upon which one of the hotel’s fabled Raffles Doormen welcomes you into the property. Past the stately, tall front doors (a very Yabu Pushelberg staple), you are seated briefly in the Raffles Room, the lobby lounge overlooking a 100-year-old ficus tree which lends the space a certain gravitas, before a Raffles Buggy arrives and promptly whisks you to your villa to complete the check-in process and kickstart your stay. You are also welcomed with a refreshing cognac-based Sentosa Sling, the resort’s answer to Raffles Hotel Singapore’s iconic Singapore Sling created specially for the resort using up-cycled watermelon skins as well as house-grown lemon leaves.
While the resort offers a swimming pool next to signature restaurant Empire Grill, the resort’s key wellness facility is the Raffles Sentosa Spa, set within a heritage building which formerly served as SoSPA for Sofitel Sentosa Singapore Resort & Spa. The spa offers 12 treatment rooms (including a couples suite), a 22m lap pool, pools with waterfall features, a mud pool, outdoor whirlpool, indoor hot & cold pools, steam rooms as well as a fitness centre fitted with Technogym equipment. Guests who crave longer laps than their private pools can accord can make use of the hotel’s 30m outdoor pool which is flanked by sun beds and private cabanas.
In terms of spa treatments (and for your in-villa, butler-drawn bubble bath), guests can choose from a variety of massage oils such as Relaxing & Balancing (ylang ylang & incense oils), Glowing & Anti-Aging (rose & geranium) and Detox & Blood Circulation (ginger, basilic & lime oils). For my treatment, I opted for a 60-minute “fluid flow” massage (i.e. light, rhythmic, and sweeping strokes) and went for the spa-relaxing Energising & Mental Clarity option (eucalyptus & geranium oils). Within minutes, my therapist Feifei lulled me into a quiet calm on the heated massage bed with her expert strokes, and my restorative spa experience ended with hot tea in the spa reception accompanied by the view of peacocks and Oriental pied hornbills audibly and visibly chilling outside the premises.
SUNSET ONE-BEDROOM POOL VILLA
Offering sunset horizon views of the South China Sea from a private garden terrace, the 235sqm Sunset One-Bedroom Pool Villa is an all-inclusive sanctuary with its own 1.2m-deep plunge pool, cabana daybeds and outdoor furniture as well as separate pavilions for the living area and bedroom/bathroom.
Decked in botanical motifs, warm woods, plush textures and earthy colours, the beautifully-appointed living room is simultaneously luxurious and residential, with a ceiling fan for that extra island balminess. The minibar boasts Bacha and Nespresso coffee as well as TWG Tea-making facilities, a fully-stocked wine fridge, complimentary non-alcoholic beverages and snacks as well as a full selection of Raffles-branded spirits (think Rojak Gin and Hom Mali Rice Whiskey). Giant coffee table books and a jumbo chess set enable both dreamy literary musings or intellectual tabletop battles, while the swivel sofa is perfect for making a Bond villain-esque surprise reveal.
The bedroom has a supremely comfortable bed, double wardrobes (pro tip: the tropical green slippers with the “Raffles” soles are yours to take home) as well as smart technological flourishes such as bedside wireless charging, while the spacious marble bathroom features double vanities, a cavernous rainfall shower and a window-side bathtub overlooking the pool. Bathroom amenities are courtesy of Ortigia, an Italian brand from La Bottega. Interestingly, the bathroom only has sheer curtains, meaning under the correct lighting conditions, guests frolicking in the pool may catch an eyeful of what goes on within.
As with all Raffles properties, all guests enjoy 24-hour Raffles Butler service. During my stay, I was able to amend restaurant reservations, report and seek help for hardware issues, request for my bubble bath and summon a buggy via a WhatsApp chat with my butler, Jeff, although I understand the resort is rolling out a new means of butler communications soon.
For the full immersive Bali-style villa experience, we opted for an in-villa dinner that evening (we had Hainanese Chicken Rice, Mixed Grilled Satay, Butter Chicken and Homemade Tiramisu). Following a nightcap at Chairman’s Room (more on that later), I bopped in the surprisingly comfortable waters, sipping Delamotte champagne while taking in the expanse of moonlit, starry sky. It was magnificently un-Singapore.
DINING
Breakfast is an ala carte affair served at Empire Grill, the resort’s poolside signature Italian restaurant. The menu comprises dishes such as Bagel wth Scottish Smoked Salmon, Green Vegetable Fritter (buffalo ricotta, Spanish tuna in olive oil), Eggs Benedict, Congee, Crepes (banana, coconut crème) and Fresh Waffles (maple syrup, wild berries, caramel). The Singapore Laksa came like a glistening crimson wonder, chockful of tofu puffs, praws, quail eggs and fish cake slices, but what truly gave it absolute life was the accompanying sambal chilli, a taste of which made me immediately crave carrot cake. (Not gonna lie – I also applied the sambal very liberally to the dry-style Mee Goreng.) Another highlight was the Sweet Brioche, served with both kaya and thick luscious, peanut butter.
What elevated the experience was the table-side service – a beverage cart indulges you in your choice from Delamotte champagne, a Bloody Mary cocktail and a variety of fresh juices and juice boosters, while a nourish cart offers a selection of nuts, fruits, milks, granolas, mueslis and yoghurts.
Past breakfast hours, Empire Grill’s menu comprises sharing plates, pastas as well as grilled meats and seafood options. The Eggplant Fritto (mojo verde, semolina, smoked paprika) was airy, breezy fun; the Smoked Tuna (ceviche, red onion, basil) was chunkily meaty; and the Alaskan King Crab (anchovy butter, garlic, chilli) was, aside from a visual spectacle, a buttery and oceanically sweet indulgence.
The showstoppers both impressed, albeit on different fronts. While the Spaghettini (carabinero, dried tomato, olives) paired an excellent pasta, lobster and tomato bisque sweetness as well as carabinero prawns that tasted expensively exquisite, the Blackmore Full-Blood Wagyu MBS 9+ (200g chuck rib cut) was revelatory in tasting nothing at all like how you would imagine. What arrived was not the usual slab of bovine but instead what I can only describe as very wokhei beef horfun without the horfun. The wok smokiness was so joyous and infectious, even the taste profile of the accompanying Chianti started to evolve fairly rapidly.
The menu also offers an intriguing Negroni selection, including The Mystique which transports you to a custard apple orchard and The Seared which tasted like a juicy charred pineapple and played like a Singapore Sling-esque doppelganger in a Negroni suit
Royal China serves refined Cantonese cuisine in a sunlit setting. During my visit, I had the Weekend Dim Sum Set Lunch, a multi-course bonanza with highlights such as the surprising fusion-style Crispy Prawn Bean Curd Sheet Roll with Cereal; the Steamed Wild Mushroom Crystal Dumpling with its konnyaku-mochi skin and fresh veggie crunch; the Steamed Shrimp Dumpling with its very substantial filling; and the tongue-tinglingly comforting Braised White Pepper Crab Meat Soup and Fish Maw. My favourite dish from the restaurant remains the Oven-baked Mala Char Siew Puff, a marvellous creation which, in manner of Wonka chewing gum or similar, recreates the joys of Haidilao hotpot – with every single accompanying condiment – in your mouth.
Overlooking a 100-year-old ficus tree and possible sightings of flirtatious peacocks, Raffles Room is the destination for the famed Raffles Afternoon Tea, while the adjacent Chairman’s Room offers a refined selection of whiskies, cognacs and fine wines as well as a range of cocktails such as the Celestial Old Fashioned (chrysanthemum, whisky, black lemon, bird’s nest), Tropical Sutra (kaffir tequila, holy basil, calamansi, pineapple) and Tanglin Moon (jackfruit seed gin, green tea, orange) as well as excellent bespoke drinks such as the Midnight Geisha and Smokey Boulevardier.
Rounding up the F&B concepts are plant-based concept Le Jardin and Japanese omakase restaurant Iyasaka by Hashida.
CONCLUSION
In many ways, Raffles Sentosa Singapore represents both a faithful continuation as well as a bold departure. Unlike the colonial grand dame that is Raffles Hotel Singapore, what the modern resort offers in lieu of national nostalgia, architectural presence and historic gravitas are private sanctuaries hidden within an expanse of tropical foliage, plunge pools that shimmer at sunset, spa rituals steeped in eucalyptus calm and wagyu that tastes of wok hei. The Raffles brand signatures – the grand arrival, the butler service, the theatre of a signature cocktail – may be faithfully present, but the glossy new Raffles property in town adopts a decidedly more introspective and residential approach where it is less about being seen and more about being secluded.
Consider me very pleasantly surprised indeed.
Raffles Sentosa Singapore
4 Bukit Manis Road
Singapore 099947
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