Singapore staycation spotlight: Hotel G, a Bras Basah hideout with vintage-meets-surrealist style

Even by boutique hotel standards, Hotel G Singapore is a bit of an eccentric. Tucked away in Bras Basah, this hotel’s special brand of whimsy might best be described as vintage -meets-surrealism, topped off with a sprinkling of dreamcatchers.

In other words, it’s about the furthest thing from cookie-cutter sleek you can imagine – while staying pocket-friendly too. We had a chance to experience their National Day package Slay, Stay, & Play Local, valid exclusively through this August – and here’s how it went down.

Location & space

Set plumb along Middle Road, Hotel G has entertainment options in all directions – you can eat and play your way through Dhoby Ghaut, Bugis, and Little India with a short stroll.

Wake up to a lazy brunch with the likes of Curious Palette on your doorstep; for dinner, there’s everything from Middle Eastern spot Artichoke to Wildfire Chicken & Burgers one street down.

Hotel G’s blocky grey façade hardly stands out in the ‘hood, but its interior is a wildly different story. Oozing Victorian vintage with a surrealist bent, stepping into the second-floor reception feels like a tumble down the rabbit hole.

We spot clear Magritte influences in the prints of floating bowler hats and cloud-filled skies – there’s even a bright red bowler hat perched on a swing.

What with retro mesh cabinets and ornate coat racks, there’s more than enough to keep us amused during check-in – which is swift and painless on a weekday.

Rooms

The whimsical experience continues across the hotel’s 16 floors, each a maze of corridors branching off at odd angles.

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Each of its 308 compact rooms come decked in grey-washed walls, exposed lightbulbs, and a dreamcatcher twirling over the bed – the overall effect is more industrial-chic bedroom than hotel room.

You’ll also spot a couple of abstract prints dotting the walls, courtesy of a collab with art photography studio YellowKorner – guests are free to purchase any that catch their eye.

As part of the Slay, Stay, & Play Local package ($156++ per night), we had the Great Room. It takes some finessing to fit a king bed, work desk, bathroom and rain shower into 15 square metres, but Hotel G manages it by trimming away some frills.

Bedside tables, for one. Set on a raised platform, the bed has walls on three sides – as the one sleeping on the inner side, that meant I could only leave my phone and glasses on the (rather dusty) platform.

There’s no closet either, but the short hanger rack by the door suffices for a night’s stay. The small but clean bathroom comes equipped with METIS toiletries, with the sink wedged into the wall just outside.

Despite their compactness, the rooms are impressively soundproof – unlike many other hotels, we didn’t hear a peep from other rooms.

As part of the National Day package, our check-in kit features an array of treats from local brands.

We wash down our dinner with cuppas from specialty roasters Jewel Coffee – made with single-origin Sumatra and Brazil beans, our box of Bold As Love capsules yields a smooth, woody blend.

It keeps our wits sharp for our card game showdown with Play Nation’s locally themed cards. Hawker Wars has us racing to cook up iconic Singaporean dishes, while Kopi King is a fast, fun test of our drink-making smarts.

Before we turn in, we get a spot of pampering with an overnight mask from clean beauty brand Sigi Skin – dubbed Dream Capsule, it comes packed with skin-soothing antioxidants like bakuchiol.

Facilities & services

Facilities here are limited to one third-floor gym – though it’s a pretty striking one.  Designed along the lines of a retro American boxing gym, it’s decked in exposed blue brick, old-timey photos of champions, and even a vintage armchair.

You can work up a sweat with their full array of Technogym treadmills, climbers, ellipticals, and weights; for now, however, the gym is temporarily closed.

Food & beverage

Set on the ground floor are Hotel G’s two in-house restaurants. French bistro and wine bar Ginett is known for its dry-aged meats and stellar cheeses, and to pair, pocket-friendly wines by the glass.

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Meanwhile, 25 Degrees is a burger and liquor bar from Los Angeles, dishing up thick stacks and bacon gravy-loaded fries.

Our National Day package comes with a locally inspired meal for two from 25 Degrees. While Satay Burgers might sound gimmicky, we have no trouble wolfing down our stacks of marinated chicken chunks – slicked with peanut sauce and tangy pineapple chutney.

To wash it down, there’re Chendol Milkshakes – a not-too-sweet coconut milk concoction heaped with traditional fixings like red beans and pandan jelly worms.

The best part? We don’t even need to pop downstairs to collect our meal – during this Phase 2 (Heightened Alert), takeaways are delivered directly to each room.