Jo Kessel checks into the new 347-room Pan Pacific Orchard hotel in Singapore to film a structure that resembles a giant game of Jenga. This unique 23-storey hotel has four open-air terraces stacked on top of one another, each designed to integrate with nature. One’s home to a forest, another has a beach, the third is a garden and the fourth (and highest) is all about clouds. Jo has the inside scoop on them all.
Award-winning architect firm WOHA has a reputation for integrating the environment into its designs. And when it set about building Pan Pacific’s newest hotel in Singapore, its aim was to create the latest prototype in sustainable hospitality.
This has been done by introducing greenery to pretty much every nook and cranny.
Knowing this in theory is one thing – seeing it in reality is another. Guests enter via the hotel’s forest – a real ‘wow’ moment – and this is where I begin the film.
The lush entrance is thick with foliage and there are nearly 100 different species of plants across the property covering 130,000 square feet (12,000 sq m).
Jo Kessel checks into the dramatic hotel Pan Pacific Orchard in Singapore. Pictured: Manicured lawns on the Garden Terrace
The sliding door in Jo’s Beach Club Loft (above) opens onto a private patio with direct access to a pool
The hotel is by award-winning architect firm WOHA, which has a reputation for integrating the environment into its designs. Above is a Terrace Suite bathroom
And because this is a green hotel, the forest pond – which is home to a floating bar – is so much more than just water. It’s an eco-pond alive with algae, as is the adjacent giant waterfall.
One terrace up on the 5th floor is my Beach Club Loft. This exclusive duplex accommodation comes with perks including patio doors that open onto… the beach.
An orange wristband (which guests wear as a watch) can be used to open doors in lieu of a key. As for the vista beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, it’s a showstopper.
The dramatic 390ft (120m) columns that tower through the terraces thrive with flora and fauna and attract birds
Bar Florette (which overlooks the lawn) has botanic-themed cocktails. Jo samples the strawberry-themed ‘Garden’ drink
The hotel has 360 photovoltaic (solar) panels that generate clean energy
Foliage covers 130,000 square feet (12,000 square metres), or more than 300 per cent of the hotel
It’s the world’s first hotel to have built a forest, waterfall, gardens and beach into the high-rise itself. Pictured above is the Pacific Breeze bar
Jo Kessel introduces viewers to the hotel
Each Beach Club Loft has its own walkway and floating sofa, with direct access to the sea. Of course this isn’t a conventional beach, but the pebble wash finish does a very good job of mimicking sand.
And the pool has a standout city skyline view.
The hotel’s green credentials are impressive. The dramatic 390ft (120m) columns, which tower through the terraces, thrive with flora and fauna and attract birds.
And the plants – which cover more than 300 per cent of the hotel’s land area – are irrigated by natural, collected rain water.
None of the terraces are air-conditioned, but instead the flora helps cool down the environment and guest rooms have thick, insulated glass windows designed to keep the heat out and the cool in.
Jo enjoys dinner in the hotel’s signature Mosella restaurant above, in the Forest Terrace, which also serves afternoon tea
The glamorous entrance to the Pan Pacific Club Lounge, which is located on the 11th floor
There is greenery in practically every nook and cranny, including The Cloud Terrace above. The pink lights encourage growth
Jo’s room comes with its very own floating sofa
Better still, the roof has solar panels that generate enough energy to power the public areas.
As for the hotel’s top terrace, it’s on the 18th floor and named after its surrounds: Clouds. It’s dizzyingly high and a reminder that too soon I’ll be soaring above the clouds and flying back home.
Much as I enjoyed my Singapore Airlines flight here (its service and Champagne was faultless) – I’m not yet ready to leave.
The menu at Bar Florette (which overlooks the lawn) has botanic-themed cocktails. I order one called ‘Garden’ which, as well as being laced with alcohol, is full of strawberry slices – it packs a deliciously refreshing punch.
Dinner is in the hotel’s signature Mosella restaurant on level two – the Forest Terrace, where the burrata and tomatoes followed by black cod in salsa verde are outstanding; ditto next day’s afternoon tea served on Wedgwood china.
The hotel overlooks upmarket Orchard Road (Singapore’s answer to London’s upmarket shopping precinct, Regent Street).
The Pan Pacific Orchard has become a trailblazer for how all hotels might look in the future, writes Jo
There are many things worth exploring that are near to the hotel. First up are the Botanic Gardens.
It’s a Unesco World Heritage Site, free to visit and has the biggest collection of orchids in the world. Here’s where I capture a pair of monitor lizards mating.
Also worth visiting is the 218ft-long (66.5-metre) Observation Deck of the iconic Marina Bay Sands Hotel.
It’s 56 floors high and not only is the skyline view spectacular, but you can even see across to Indonesia and Malaysia.
Singapore is a botanical paradise. Everywhere you look (even at the airport) there’s foliage. But the green stuff is no longer confined to parks.
By landscaping a forest, beach and garden into one vertical building, the Pan Pacific Orchard hasn’t just designed the latest prototype in tropical high-rise hospitality, it’s become a trailblazer for how all hotels might look in the future.
For more videos from Jo, visit her YouTube channel Go With Jo.
