Of the numerous five-star hotels lining the marina frontage, the Ritz-Carlton is the most thoroughly impressive. The dramatic tone is set as soon as you enter the light-filled atrium foyer, capped by a massive, swirling-yet-geometric Frank Stella mobile, and continues with smiling, attentive service through to the tight but unobtrusive security staffers scattered through the public spaces — necessary for safeguarding the hotel's extraordinary 4,200-piece museum-quality art collection (which includes works by Dale Chihuly, Henry Moore, and David Hockney). The 608 high-ceilinged rooms feel like spacious aeries, with cloudlike feather beds and feather pillows, 37-inch flat screens, and spacious marbled bathrooms that peek out over Singapore's Manhattan-like skyline.

Insider Tip: Have Sunday brunch at the on-site Greenhouse restaurant, where the spectacular seafood bar is matched by free-flowing Moët et Chandon.

Room to Book: The 2,347-square-foot Ritz-Carlton Suite has dizzy wraparound views and a 12-seat dining room, while the huge bathroom, framed by a massive octagonal window, is stocked with Bulgari White Tea toiletries.

• 1. The Ritz-Carlton Singapore
  7 Raffles Avenue, Singapore 039799; 65-6337-8888 1.289771103.859502 ritzcarlton.com