More than 50 years on, grand Singapore hotel goes green
But family ties are also important to the workings of the hotel itself.
For example, long-time employee Kakak Azizah Sulaiman met her husband at Grand Hyatt Singapore, and now works with her two sons in the Rooms Department. Other staff members working alongside relatives include sisters in Food & Beverage; as well as other siblings in Engineering and Human Resources.
As the landmark hotel celebrates the conclusion of a multi-year renovation – just in time for Singapore's own 60th birthday celebrations – it is also celebrating its own 'legacy of loyalty', which not only comprises these family connections but longevity of service as well. More than 35 per cent of the Grand Hyatt's staff has been with the hotel for more than a decade, some for multiple decades.
When it comes to guest experience, especially in Singapore's competitive hotel market which is forecast to face a workforce shortage in the next couple of years, that kind of stability counts for almost as much as beautiful spaces.
Fortunately for those staying at the Grand Hyatt Singapore, the hotel now has both.
The Grand Hyatt Singapore was South-East Asia's tallest hotel and one of Singapore's first five-stars when it opened as the 22-storey Hyatt Regency in 1971.
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Sydney Morning Herald
6 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
More than 50 years on, grand Singapore hotel goes green
Family is a big deal to Singaporeans. You only have to go to Sunday brunch at the Grand Hyatt in the Orchard Road district and see the multi-generational tables of locals enjoying it for evidence of how family is valued as a cultural pillar in the island nation. But family ties are also important to the workings of the hotel itself. For example, long-time employee Kakak Azizah Sulaiman met her husband at Grand Hyatt Singapore, and now works with her two sons in the Rooms Department. Other staff members working alongside relatives include sisters in Food & Beverage; as well as other siblings in Engineering and Human Resources. As the landmark hotel celebrates the conclusion of a multi-year renovation – just in time for Singapore's own 60th birthday celebrations – it is also celebrating its own 'legacy of loyalty', which not only comprises these family connections but longevity of service as well. More than 35 per cent of the Grand Hyatt's staff has been with the hotel for more than a decade, some for multiple decades. When it comes to guest experience, especially in Singapore's competitive hotel market which is forecast to face a workforce shortage in the next couple of years, that kind of stability counts for almost as much as beautiful spaces. Fortunately for those staying at the Grand Hyatt Singapore, the hotel now has both. The Grand Hyatt Singapore was South-East Asia's tallest hotel and one of Singapore's first five-stars when it opened as the 22-storey Hyatt Regency in 1971.
The Age
6 days ago
- The Age
More than 50 years on, grand Singapore hotel goes green
Family is a big deal to Singaporeans. You only have to go to Sunday brunch at the Grand Hyatt in the Orchard Road district and see the multi-generational tables of locals enjoying it for evidence of how family is valued as a cultural pillar in the island nation. But family ties are also important to the workings of the hotel itself. For example, long-time employee Kakak Azizah Sulaiman met her husband at Grand Hyatt Singapore, and now works with her two sons in the Rooms Department. Other staff members working alongside relatives include sisters in Food & Beverage; as well as other siblings in Engineering and Human Resources. As the landmark hotel celebrates the conclusion of a multi-year renovation – just in time for Singapore's own 60th birthday celebrations – it is also celebrating its own 'legacy of loyalty', which not only comprises these family connections but longevity of service as well. More than 35 per cent of the Grand Hyatt's staff has been with the hotel for more than a decade, some for multiple decades. When it comes to guest experience, especially in Singapore's competitive hotel market which is forecast to face a workforce shortage in the next couple of years, that kind of stability counts for almost as much as beautiful spaces. Fortunately for those staying at the Grand Hyatt Singapore, the hotel now has both. The Grand Hyatt Singapore was South-East Asia's tallest hotel and one of Singapore's first five-stars when it opened as the 22-storey Hyatt Regency in 1971.
Sydney Morning Herald
07-07-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
Stepping into the malls of Singapore is like entering the gates of hell
Getting to Raffles is bad enough. It should have taken 15 minutes if I had walked outside but it takes an hour going the subterranean route. I ask five people for directions, which roughly amounted every time to 'if you go straight in this direction, it's just there'. It never is. Eventually, I venture outside and find a girl organising tourist buses who gives clear instructions. A delightful afternoon tea at Raffles lures me into thinking I have the logistics down pat. I need to retrace my steps, right? Not so easy. Everything looks different from another direction. There are signs, but only for places I don't need to find. After two hours of going back and forward along long corridors with no distinct landmarks – there are at least five Ecco Shoes stores by my count – I start having a total meltdown. There are multiple food halls. Multiple pharmacies. All start to look the same. Two helpful women at the reception desks of two separate tower buildings look the hotel up on their computers - and still send me in the wrong direction. Or what I think is the wrong direction. But maybe it's the right one, I just need to walk further? Loading GPS is no use. On an upper level, I look out the window of whatever mall I am in now and can see my hotel in the distance, across the freeway. I need to find the bridge that gets me across the road. There is a French guy outside a cosmetics store who tries to give me a free sample of something the first time I go past his shop. I wave him away, but I will go past him four more times, by which time this becomes embarrassing. Finally, I admit I'm lost, and he points in one direction. He thinks it's that way. This time, I'm smarter. I can see out the window that my hotel is definitely north (or south, who knows?) but he is pointing south. I go in exactly the opposite direction to what he suggests, and end up taking escalators down to the street, where I see a traffic guy. He points to a tall escalator. Go up there. Do a little dogleg and I'll find a smaller escalator that will take me to a bridge (I can see it) which will take me across the road towards the hotels. Loading There's no small escalator that I can see, of course. Finally, I co-opt the help of a woman in an elevator. I know I look as exhausted and distressed as I feel, so she kindly shows me the way to the walkway. Five minutes later, I'm in Marina Square. I can see signs to Millenia Walk, which I think is also near my hotel. Success! I have been in those malls for three hours. Singaporeans love their old shopping centres, I hear. They remind them of a time when Singapore was slower – and lower. But I'm convinced none of them knows how to get around them.
