A Suite at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

The Marina Bay Sands was the host hotel of the YPO Global Leadership Conference this year. This is the first time the GLC has been held in Asia, and I think Singapore was the perfect choice. The Marina Bay Conference center right next door, is a ginormous location with impressive facilities. The ballroom can easily hold 2000 or more participants.

Looking up at MBS from the promenade deck

I was too busy attending workshops that I didn't take any interesting pictures of the convention center, but when we first arrived, I photographed the 3rd largest suite of Marina Bay Sands. This was used as the "YPO hospitality suite" at the start of the week, meaning, if you arrived at the hotel and your room wasn't ready yet, you could come here to freshen up and have a snack.

You could then go next door and register for the conference, socialize, attend a few things, and then go come back to the suite later in the day, freshen up and snack again and hope the management doesn't figure out that you're just trying to hang out in the suite even if your room is ready. Seriously, it's a very useful arrangement for the delegates who flew in from far away.

This is the first time I was happy that our room wasn't ready--because it gave me a chance to feel rich and famous if only for a brief moment.  More than the interior design, which was very nice but not exceptionally spectacular, the suite was very impressive because of its size.

 The view from the living/dining room is fabulous.

 Second bedroom

Bathroom of the second bedroom

 Master bedroom

Above is the master bathroom.  The left side had a complete toilet/shower/sink, and so did the right side. So it was actually two full bathrooms separated by a bathtub in the middle. It was a big room, with smaller, private compartments. I think I like this better than one huge bathroom.

 Another angle of the living room.

Aside from the two big bedrooms, this suite had a separate TV room/den (more like a karaoke room), a kitchen, massage room, a small gym and even a salon chair with a shampoo bowl.

A few years ago, we got special access to the "high rollers' suites" at the Venetian in Las Vegas through a YPO "meeting-within-meeting" event (All YPOers attending the Hotel Design show in Las Vegas gathered together for a smaller meeting.) Some of the main speakers of the trade show even spoke to the small group, and as a bonus, one of the guys arranged a private tour of the Venetian's high-roller's floor which included the suites and a private gambling room. 

 Touring the high-rollers' floor at the Venetian in Las Vegas a few years ago

The Venetian suites were quite impressive, but it was also the very first time I saw suites of this kind. We were told that they don't have a nightly rate for the suite; it's reserved and used, complimentary, by the casino's high rollers.  These types of guests fly in from all over the world. A few anecdotes were shared on their guests' idiosyncrasies, but because of their code of confidentiality, no names were disclosed. Being "no-rollers" at all, we would've never been invited near any of these suites, so I was glad for the opportunity to take a peek into this world.

I learned from this Venetian tour that many high-rollers are from the Asia Pacific region. The Marina Bay Sands must have affected the business of the Venetian. 

Finally our regular room was ready...

It was a comfortable room with a great view.  I always take lots of pictures of the room, and specially the bathrooms, to see what design elements I can copy for the renovations I do.

The bathroom felt bigger than it really was because of the glass partitions, but I never felt comfortable in here because it felt too open, and cold air from the bedroom made the bathroom cold too. I think the master bathroom in the huge suite was a better idea.

The bathroom sliding door idea is a good one though. It's worth copying.

 picture taken from inside the shower stall, looking at the bathroom entrance

 sliding door from outside the bathroom

Singapore is always wonderful, no surprises about this neat, clean, and efficient city. 

And the GLC was amazing.  I'll probably write a post on that.