Home to some of the world&rsquo;s most dazzling dining, shopping and entertainment experiences, Marina Bay Sands has cemented itself as both an architectural feat and the undisputed crown jewel of Singapore&rsquo;s skyline.

Once dubbed a &ldquo;surfboard on stilts&rdquo; by the internet, Marina Bay Sands has long since shrugged off the memes to become <a href="https://www.lofficielmalaysia.com/issues/cover-story-ameera-khan-and-jefri-nichol-are-not-playing-games-feat-boss-swarovski">a modern icon</a>. It helps when you&rsquo;ve got Crazy Rich Asians and Coldplay&rsquo;s Man in The Moon music video using your silhouette as shorthand for opulence and celebrations. Sitting pretty above the Singapore skyline, the triple-towered marvel isn&rsquo;t just a place to stay &mdash; it&rsquo;s a destination designed to keep you there. Attached to a glimmering mall that could double as a <a href="https://www.lofficielmalaysia.com/fashion/louis-vuitton-expands-personalization-options-with-mon-monogram">designer fever dream</a>, the complex includes restaurants for every mood (and Instagram story), a casino if you&rsquo;re feeling lucky, a museum for your cultured side, and a theatre for when you want to pretend you&rsquo;re in The Great Gatsby. Also: a gym. Because balance. But let&rsquo;s not kid ourselves &mdash; the showstopper is the infinity pool. Suspended 56 floors above the city, it&rsquo;s less a pool and more a rite of passage. That said, the rooms with skyline or bay views? Not far behind in the bragging rights department.

Marina Bay Sands counts around 1,850 rooms and 775 suites, ranging from sleek and sensible to &ldquo;Is this a penthouse or a private island?&rdquo; territory. Those craving a little more pageantry can opt for the Sands Collection, where local craftsmanship and international flair collide in curated perfection. Or, for the full Bond-villain-on-holiday experience, there&rsquo;s the <a href="https://www.hommesmalaysia.com/arts-culture-and-lifestyle/celebrate-the-holiday-season-at-the-grandeur-of-marina-bay-sands">Paiza Collection</a>: their top-tier suite line, complete with a private butler and access to a club lounge. The Paiza Family Suite, in particular, has all the trappings of a place where you arrive with luggage and leave with stories. At a sprawling 175 sqm on average, the Paiza Family Suite doesn&rsquo;t whisper luxury &mdash; it belts it out with a full vocal range. Floor-to-ceiling windows frame the Singapore skyline like a private postcard, while inside, things get unapologetically grand. A state-of-the-art social kitchen. A dining room that actually fits more than two people. A living room that is expansive enough for a waltz, if that&rsquo;s your thing. Add in a karaoke room, a walk-in wardrobe, marble-clad bathrooms with a jacuzzi and a massage shower, and you&rsquo;ve basically got a penthouse built for pleasure and practicality. Oh, and yes &mdash; you get your own private entrance. Naturally.

Guests of the Paiza Collection also enjoy an exclusive lounge for check-in and checkout, as well as 24/7 butler service that somehow knows what you need before you even say it. From breakfast with a view to late-night bites high above the city, this is the kind of sky-high sanctuary that makes it very easy to forget there&rsquo;s a world below. With nearly 50 food and drink spots scattered across Marina Bay Sands &mdash; and 11 tucked right inside the hotel itself &mdash; there&rsquo;s little chance anyone&rsquo;s going hungry here. Whether you&rsquo;re craving a stacked burger from Black Tap or sashimi served under dramatic lighting at KOMA, the options are as varied as they are visually impressive. Even the <a href="https://www.lofficielmalaysia.com/dining/3-michelin-restaurants-in-taiwan-bucket-list-guide-taichung-kaohsiung">pickiest eaters</a> will find themselves spoiled for choice.

The newest name to join this gastronomic playground is Estiatorio Milos, the world-renowned Greek restaurant making its long-awaited Asian debut. It&rsquo;s a temple to purity and precision where the menu champions Mediterranean seafood and globally sourced ingredients, all prepared with reverence to Greek culinary tradition. The dishes are restrained in the best way possible: unpretentious, elegant and flavour-forward. And while the whole menu reads like a love letter to Greece, it&rsquo;s the Milos Special that lingers in the memory &mdash; a golden tower of lightly fried zucchini and eggplant, balanced atop creamy tzatziki and flanked by melting pieces of Saganaki Kefalograviera cheese. It&rsquo;s indulgent. It&rsquo;s delicate. It&rsquo;s addictive.

And then there&rsquo;s Maison Boulud, helmed by none other than Daniel Boulud. Yes, the food is excellent. Yes, the wine list is sharp. But it&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.lofficielmalaysia.com/art/once-lost-now-found-a-dual-exhibition-by-mondrian-hong-kong">the setting</a> that elevates the experience into something unforgettable. Designed by the award-winning Joyce Wang Studio, the space marries rustic charm with coastal elegance. Think weathered wood, soft lighting, and curved architectural lines that make you want to linger just a little longer. Every detail is camera-ready &mdash; from the warm, layered textures down to the sculptural staircase. Come for the cuisine, stay for the ambience (and maybe the second bottle of wine).

At Marina Bay Sands, there&rsquo;s always more to do than there is time to do it. It&rsquo;s the kind of place that keeps your itinerary full and your camera roll fuller. But if there&rsquo;s one cultural pit stop you shouldn&rsquo;t skip, it&rsquo;s the ArtScience Museum &mdash; an architectural stunner and a powerhouse of innovation. Currently stealing the spotlight is Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses, running until August 10, 2025. Originally conceived by the Mus&eacute;e des Arts D&eacute;coratifs in Paris, this exhibition is more than just a retrospective &mdash; it&rsquo;s a collision of art, science and surrealism. Expect to see 140 of the Dutch designer&rsquo;s most iconic works (accessories included), displayed alongside corals, fossils, skeletons and contemporary pieces that blur the lines between nature and couture. There&rsquo;s even a collaboration with Singapore&rsquo;s Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum woven into the mix. It&rsquo;s immersive, otherworldly, and &mdash; yes &mdash; you&rsquo;ll get to stand face-to-face with the very pieces worn by Beyonc&eacute;, Lady Gaga, Bj&ouml;rk and other avant-garde legends.

Theatre lovers, meanwhile, can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Wicked has landed at The Sands Theatre &mdash; and it&rsquo;s just as magical as you remember. Since its 2003 debut, the Broadway juggernaut has enchanted more than 70 million people around the world. But trust us, no screen or page-turner comes close to the thrill of seeing it live: the goosebump-inducing vocals, the jaw-dropping set design and costumes that deserve standing ovations of their own. If theatre is your love language, this is your must-see.

Of course, when the night calls for something louder, darker, and wilder &mdash; there&rsquo;s Marquee. It&rsquo;s not just Singapore&rsquo;s largest nightclub; it&rsquo;s a cultural mainstay. Six years strong and still the heavyweight champ of Asia&rsquo;s nightlife circuit, Marquee has played host to the biggest names in electronic music (hello, Dimitri Vegas and Steve Aoki) and even bigger names from pop culture &mdash; Jackson Wang, Lee Hi and others you probably follow too closely. Rumour has it Lady Gaga herself is set to take over the decks on May 18, 2025, as part of her &ldquo;Mayhem in Singapore&rdquo; after-party. If that turns out to be true, you&rsquo;ll want to be in the crowd &mdash; not reading about it the next day.

Marina Bay Sands is (and will always be) Singapore's ultimate flex

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