This Asian stopover now has some of the world’s best cocktail bars

When it comes to great cocktail cities in Asia, Hong Kong and Bangkok were long considered the places to be. In recent years, however, Singapore has joined the top tier. The city consistently places multiple venues on Asia’s 50 Best Bars list and often leads the region by number of entries.

The shift began in the early 2010s, when a wave of craft cocktail bars reshaped local drinking culture. For a city that had already given the world the Singapore Sling, it marked a renewed focus on technique and hospitality. Venues opened in every format imaginable, from discreet shophouses to glamorous hotel lounges.

Their common denominator was high standard, driven by close competition. In a compact central business district, bars operate within walking distance of one another. That proximity has sharpened skills and accelerated innovation.

It’s in this environment that the St Regis Singapore has just completed a multiphase transformation spanning redesigned guest rooms and suites, refreshed dining venues and updated event spaces, while retaining its heritage identity and long-standing rituals.

In line with that, the new St Regis Bar replaces the former Astor Bar, which for years functioned as a traditional hotel bar catering largely to diplomats, business travellers and long-time regulars. The St Regis Bar occupies the same footprint but presents a different mood. The intention is to broaden the bar’s appeal while maintaining its position as a luxury hotel venue.

The new main cocktail list, titled Time After Time, is structured around different decades and draws on both New York, where the St Regis brand originated, and Singapore.

Beyond Orchard Road, newer openings suggest Singapore’s bar scene is entering a more expressive phase. The multi-award-winning Jigger & Pony, founded in 2012 by Indra Kantono and Gan Guoyi, helped set early standards for the craft movement.

The team has since expanded with additional concepts. These include, in Tanjong Pagar, BOP (short for Bartenders of Pony), which draws on Korean drinking culture, and Pop City x Pony which references Japanese listening bars.

Elsewhere, The Champagnery has introduced a champagne-focused concept on Amoy Street, combining classic luxury cues with late-night energy. Confession Room, opened by Adonis Endozo Reyes, formerly of Shangri-La Singapore’s Origin Bar, adds another intimate venue to the historic Boon Tat Street precinct.

One reason Singapore’s scene has risen quickly is its density. Within a relatively small central footprint, serious bars sit close together, creating a concentrated ecosystem. The resulting competition has elevated baseline standards across the board.

Singapore’s bars also tend to prioritise polish and precision. Service is structured, menus are intentional and preparation systems disciplined. Even smaller independent venues often operate with the rigour associated with hotel bars.

Back at The St Regis Singapore, the new bar sits alongside updated dining at Sophia, an Italian restaurant, and The Tea Room, which reinterprets the brand’s afternoon tea tradition. The hotel’s 299 guestrooms and suites have been redesigned with botanical references to the nearby UNESCO-listed Singapore Botanic Gardens, and sustainability measures such as motion-activated LED lighting and in-room potable water taps have been incorporated.

Within a city that now expects excellence as a baseline, the St Regis Bar, like the hotel in which it sits, is not attempting to compete on novelty. Instead, both hotel and bar update a heritage format for a contemporary audience. In a hospitality scene defined by both competition and confidence, that approach looks just about right.

See st-regis.marriott.com