METT Singapore review: This 5-star hotel is built on the birthplace of Kings, we went to test if it lives up to the legend

We had been curious about METT Singapore long before we ever set foot inside it. Word travels fast in this industry, and ever since Sunset Hospitality Group opened the property's doors to guests in October 2025, marking its flagship debut in Asia Pacific, we had been waiting for the right moment to see for ourselves whether the hype matched the reality.

How does it feel to immerse ourselves in a world that is at once sacred and ultra-modern? That was the question sitting with us as we made our way up the slopes of Fort Canning Hill toward METT Singapore, a property that seems built almost entirely to answer it. This is not a hotel that simply occupies prime real estate in the city; it occupies sacred ground, and it knows exactly what to do with that inheritance.

Location: A Seat Among Kings

Getting to METT Singapore is refreshingly effortless for a property so steeped in gravitas. Dhoby Ghaut and Fort Canning MRT stations are both a mere 10-minute walk away, placing Orchard Road and Clarke Quay within easy reach, while Singapore Changi Airport is a comfortable 25-minute drive door to door.

This is where Malay King Sang Nila Utama is believed to have made his home upon founding Singapura, and where, according to legend, he was later laid to rest, and where Sir Stamford Raffles later built his residence, surveying the young settlement below.

We would go so far as to say Fort Canning is Singapore's answer to the Acropolis of Athens, a hill that quietly holds the weight of an entire civilisation's origin story, not unlike how Bukit Seguntang in Palembang is revered as the birthplace of Malay kings. For a publication that spends its pages chasing lineage and legacy, staying atop a hill this consequential felt less like a hotel booking and more like a spiritual pilgrimage.

Design: Colonial Bones, Contemporary Soul

The building itself dates back to 1926, and its transformation under designer Jeffrey Wilkes honours every inch of that heritage. Whitewashed colonial facades, terracotta roofing and deep verandahs sit in conversation with a lobby that feels unmistakably of the present: warm timber tones, considered lighting and an editing eye that knows when to let a space breathe. Nothing here shouts for attention. Everything simply belongs, an elegance expressed through architecture.

What makes the design genuinely compelling, though, is the ethos underpinning it. This is a heritage-listed property, once the site of Singapore's earliest fortifications and colonial administration, and rather than erase that lineage in favour of something more predictably contemporary, Wilkes chose to let heritage and high energy coexist in the same room. It is a philosophy the brand itself describes as blending colonial charm with contemporary soul, and walking through the property, that intention is legible in every corner. Original architectural bones, from the pitched terracotta roofline to the deep colonnaded verandahs, have been preserved and restored rather than reimagined beyond recognition, while the interiors introduce a distinctly modern sensibility of clean lines, tactile materials and a considered restraint that never competes with the building's history. The result reads less like a renovation and more like a continuation, as though the hotel is simply the next chapter Fort Canning's storied ground was always going to write.

The Suite

We stayed in the Junior Suite, a 48 sqm retreat overlooking Fort Canning Park, and it offered the kind of scale that luxury travellers quietly crave and rarely receive in a city as land-scarce as Singapore. The layout is designed for flexibility: a dedicated living area with a sofa bed and TV lounge sits apart from the king-size bedroom, dressed in premium goose down bedding and finished with soft, considered lighting. A thoughtful vanity area adds an extra layer of ease to the morning routine, while the marble bathroom, complete with a rainfall shower, rounds out a space that feels generous without tipping into excess.

One small but genuinely delightful surprise: two large televisions, one facing the living area and one facing the bed, meant neither of us had to negotiate over what to watch, or where to watch it from. It is the sort of detail easy to overlook on a spec sheet, yet the kind that quietly elevates a stay once you are living inside the room. Between the high ceilings, the framed views of the park canopy, and the little rituals, from turndown service to the in-room Technogym set, everything spoke to a property that has thought through the guest's day from sunrise to nightcap.

Dining: A Table Worth Travelling For

Mornings at METT Singapore begin at Canning Bar & Lounge, where breakfast arrives with an exquisite taste and a beautiful presentation that feels genuinely elevated rather than merely photogenic. It is the kind of breakfast that sets the tone for the entire day, framed by the greenery of Fort Canning just beyond the window.

Dinner, however, belongs to L'Amo Bistrò del Mare, the Dubai import that has made its international debut here under Michelin-starred Chef Daniele Sperindio. A celebration of the soul of Italian coastal cuisine, the menu channels the Mediterranean with a precision that never sacrifices warmth. Our table moved through a procession of standouts:

• Tagliata di Wagyu alla Griglia – char-grilled wagyu sliced tableside, rich and confident

• Tagliolini Lime & Caviale – luminous pasta in a lime butter emulsion, finished with delicate pearls of caviar

• Spaghetti Vongole, Calamaretti & Bottarga – a coastal classic given depth through bottarga's savoury lift

• Vitello Tonnato – silken veal paired with a tuna dressing that balances richness and brightness in equal measure

• Polpo al Josper – octopus slow-grilled over embers, smoky and tender atop a warm carrot and cardamom purée

• Ti… Amo… Su – a tableside tiramisù finale, theatrical and thoroughly deserving of its name

The interiors, with their nautical accents and sun-dappled corners, complete the illusion of dining along the Amalfi coast, even as Fort Canning's ancient trees frame the view outside.

Facilities: Play, Then Recover, Atop Sacred Ground

Between meals, METT Singapore's facilities offer a full day's worth of movement and leisure, and there is something quietly remarkable about doing all of it on a hill this consequential. Two outdoor swimming pools anchor the property's social heart, framed by swaying palms and the tree canopy of the park beyond. A sunrise lap here carries a different weight than in most city hotels, the water still, long before the ancient royals who once called this ground home would have stirred. By golden hour, the same pools shift character entirely, becoming the kind of lounge scene where cocktails, conversation and the last light filtering through Fort Canning's foliage make for one of Singapore's more charming sundowner settings.

The padel courts add a different, more energetic register. Among the first of their kind attached to a Singapore hotel, they have quickly become a highlight for guests combining sport with the property's convivial social calendar, and there is genuine novelty in volleying on a modern court within sight of a hill once reserved for kings and colonial governors. It captures something essential about METT Singapore's charm: history is never treated as a museum piece here, but as the backdrop against which an entirely contemporary social life plays out.

The Longevity Suite: The Star of the Show

If there is one experience that defines a stay at METT Singapore, it is The Longevity Suite, Europe's most advanced biohacking and anti-age concept making its Southeast Asian debut here ahead of its full launch at Madison House. We booked ourselves in for the Longevity Suite Experience, opting for the CryoSuite Total Body treatment paired with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.

We will admit it looked a little daunting at first glance. The CryoSuite, with its clinical chill and full-body immersion, is not an experience one eases into gently. But what followed was nothing short of mind-blowing. The cold gives way almost immediately to a rush of clarity, and by the time we transitioned into the Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy pod, that initial apprehension had fully given way to calm. The combined effect left us feeling recalibrated in a way few spa treatments manage, less an indulgence than a genuine reset of body and mind. As the Longevity Suite's first foray into Southeast Asia, it sets an exceptionally high bar for what wellness tourism in this region can look like.

The Library: An Unexpected Win

Among the property's quieter pleasures, the library deserves special mention, and honestly, it was a big win for us. We spent a genuinely fun afternoon here, sinking into deep armchairs with hubby, immersed in our respective reads while Fort Canning's greenery filtered in through the windows. Hubby had picked up a copy of The Measure of a Lady, and watching him disappear into it for a full unhurried hour was its own kind of luxury. In a city where quiet, book-lined corners are increasingly rare, METT Singapore's library is a considered and welcome addition.

Service

Throughout our stay, service carried the same quiet confidence as the property's design: attentive without hovering, warm without performance. Staff across the property were consistently attentive, friendly and pleasant, anticipating what a guest needed before it became a request.

On our first morning, à la carte breakfast arrived at a gentler pace, likely a natural consequence of a full house that day, though the team's warmth never wavered. By our second day, service had settled into the impeccable rhythm we had heard so much about, plates arriving with the same polish and promptness as the setting itself. From the team at Canning Bar & Lounge to the specialists at The Longevity Suite, every interaction felt personal.

The Verdict

METT Singapore succeeds at something genuinely difficult: honouring nearly a century of history while building an entirely new standard for lifestyle hospitality in Singapore. It lets Sang Nila Utama and Sir Stamford Raffles's ground speak for itself, then layers onto it a culinary programme worth crossing the island for, a wellness offering unlike anything else currently in the region, and quiet, considered touches like its library.

For the modern gentleman who measures a stay by whether a property has a story worth telling, METT Singapore delivers, historic gravitas paired with genuinely innovative high-society favourites, from padel to the trailblazing Longevity Suite. METT Singapore feels both foundational and forward-facing at once, from the very top of Fort Canning Hill.

METT Singapore

Address: 11 Canning Walk, Singapore 178881

Phone: +65 6799 8800

Instagram: mettsingapore

Website: https://www.metthotelsandresorts.com/singapore/