Shining bright: Hilton Singapore Orchard’s arrival lobby.
Hilton Singapore Orchard has been, for the past year, at the
forefront of creating meeting experiences in the heart of Singapore’s
shopping belt.
Since its opening, it has had several high-profile events starting
with the HSBC Women’s World Championship, All That Matters 2022, and
ISTAT Asia 2022. Most recently, it hosted a large 650-delegate event
which took up 680 rooms. Clients span different industries from finance,
tech, sports, luxury retail, to entertainment.
It has added 446 new rooms spanning across four new categories,
completing its 1,080-room inventory. The new room categories have room
sizes ranging from 34 sqm for the entry-level deluxe room to 67 sqm for a
deluxe suite. There are over 2,415 sqm of function and meeting space
across 16 places featuring natural daylight and two pillarless ballrooms
for up to 900 pax.
The hotel’s strategic location on Orchard Road supports bleisure
travellers, with proximity to lifestyle and business amenities, and
medical centres.
GM, Cedric Nubul, shared some of his observations regarding client preferences:
Sustainability for selection
He said: “Event organisers are increasingly inquiring about the
sustainability aspect of venues, which has become a crucial factor in
their selection process. Hilton Singapore Orchard is no exception here –
many organisers who have inquired with us have expressed their desire
to learn about our hotel’s sustainability initiatives, an area we are
highly confident in.
“What sets us apart is our strong commitment to ESG, making us a
standout choice. We have a comprehensive range of green practices that
we embrace throughout the hotel, including our meetings experience –
from eliminating single-use plastics across our rooms and meeting spaces
with wooden keycards instead of plastic ones, to technology that
enables us to maximise energy efficiency, and being the first hotel in
Singapore to introduce an in-house water filtration and glass bottling
system.”
Local is better
With a growing demand for locally and sustainably sourced food,
organisers want access to high quality cooking and nourishing meals, and
want to know that their meals are consciously sourced. “This is a need
our hotel’s culinary team is able to address as we have an ongoing
commitment to sourcing the best local produce and certified products
that can further our sustainability mission,” added Nubul.
Versatile and creative
The hotel has received requests to transform restaurants into private
lounge concepts or spaces for meaningful connections beyond business.
“The ability to personalise the use of space is one of our key strengths
– for instance, we are able to create intimate configurations at our
all-day dining restaurant, Estate, so large groups of delegates can be
segregated into smaller groups throughout the expansive restaurant. We
even have a semi-private dining area within Estate equipped with its own
live cooking station that can be activated for private gatherings. Our
chefs are also highly adaptable and skilled in customising menus,
offering flexibility in catering to specific preferences.”
Meeting tech demands
Smart Oasis events space on Level 5 offers meeting rooms that come with LED screens and wall panels.
Strong demand for hybrid events continues and its basic rooms are
also equipped with cutting-edge AV technology and a 85-inch LED TV.
Strong events team
The hotel’s events team offers bespoke programmes such as art
jamming, culinary demonstrations, yoga sessions, among other exercises
for breakout groups.
Customised menus such as energising "brain breaks" featuring
nutrient-rich superfoods and locally sourced produce are available.
Within the Smart Oasis, there is also a Butler's Pantry that is stocked
with refreshing homemade drinks and healthy snacks for attendees
throughout the day.
Such value-added enhancement to meetings is something many planners resonate with and are attracted to, added Nubul.
Meeting packages start from S$125 (US$93) per person for a half day
meeting to S$180 per person for a full day meeting with an international
buffet lunch at Estate, or at Osteria Mozza for a Californian-Italian
lunch curated by celebrity chef Nancy Silverton.