The Scarlet

One of the pioneers of boutique hotels in Singapore, The Scarlet Hotel set a benchmark for many to follow. However, through two decades of alterations to keep up its competitiveness, it found its identity slowly fading out as similar to its physical state.

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With Hotels ranging from major chains to budget love hotels to luxury boutiques and the uprising of social media, we questioned what makes a (good) hotel and if Hotel Star Ratings are still relevant today to assess hotel standards.

Instead of the easy escape to find a new identity, we propose to evolve The Scarlet Hotel, enhancing its strengths such as its well-known rich heritage, history, and bespoke services.

We thoroughly studied the hotel’s existing operations, program, and room typologies and proposed to bring all current front of house (FOH) together to form ‘The Great Hall’.

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The Great Hall would be a public space where all guests and staff can get together as a community… and it just so happens that there are rooms for guests to rest if need be. Just like how early hotels such as Ryokans, Taverns, and Inns from all over the ancient world started out.

The strategic relocation of the check-in at the new Great Hall would greet guests with the city skyline of Singapore, within the comfort of a shophouse that utilizes passive environmental strategies that drove the design of the traditional shophouses our ancestors built. Comfort becomes the new luxury.