Hotel Indigo Singapore Katong (SG Clean), an IHG Hotel

A Police Station Turned Peranakan Hotel

Hotel Indigo Singapore Katong occupies a modern tower grafted onto the former Joo Chiat Police Station, a heritage building dating to 1928 that the brand kept rather than cleared. The join between old and new is the point: Hotel Indigo's model asks every property to read as a portrait of its own neighbourhood, and in Katong that means a reception wall patterned after Peranakan ceramics, pop-art water jars standing in for family heirlooms, and murals in each of the 131 rooms that sketch the area's unhurried communal life rather than a generic skyline. It's a small hotel with a clear point of view, in a corner of Singapore that rarely gets one, roughly fifteen minutes by car from both the airport and the financial district.

Why It Works

We chose this address because it does the harder thing: instead of importing a template room and bolting on a few local accents, it built its identity directly from Katong and Joo Chiat's Peranakan heritage, down to a pop-up “mama stall” in the pavilion that showcases local artisans. A rooftop infinity pool and a restaurant that never really closes round out a property that reads as considered rather than convenient, at a scale — 131 rooms — that still allows staff to know a returning guest by name. It suits travellers who want a neighbourhood hotel that actually behaves like one.

Why This Location

East Coast Road sits in the middle of Katong and Joo Chiat, the pocket of eastern Singapore best known for its rows of pastel-coloured Peranakan shophouses, family-run laksa stalls and antique shops that have resisted the mall-and-tower redevelopment seen elsewhere in the city. East Coast Park's beach and cycling paths are a short ride away, and Changi Airport and the Central Business District are each about fifteen minutes by car. It's a base for travellers who'd rather explore a living neighbourhood on foot than shuttle between landmarks, and a useful counterpoint to a stay spent mostly around Orchard Road or Marina Bay.

Fast Facts

• Price: €€€

• Vibe: Boutique, heritage-led, neighbourhood-rooted design

• Rooms: 131, each with murals depicting Katong life

• Best For: Design-minded travellers, first-timers who want a real neighbourhood base, food lovers

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: The reception's Peranakan ceramic-pattern wall, backed by a pop-up “mama stall” of local crafts

• Dining: Baba Chews Bar & Eatery, open around the clock

• Amenities: Rooftop infinity pool, heritage building (former Joo Chiat Police Station, 1928)

• Attractions: Katong and Joo Chiat's Peranakan shophouses and laksa stalls (walking distance), East Coast Park (short ride), Changi Airport (about 15 minutes)

Ceramics, Murals and a Pop-Up Mama Stall

The design brief leans on specifics rather than mood-board shorthand: a feature wall patterned after Peranakan ceramics greets arrivals at reception, pop-art water jars stand in for the ancestral jars Peranakan families once displayed, and a pavilion hosts a rotating “mama stall” selling work by local artisans, the kind of detail a hotel either commits to or skips entirely. Room murals carry the theme further, each one sketching a scene of Katong's communal street life rather than a decorative abstraction that could belong anywhere, so the design reads as specific to this street rather than licensed from a brand playbook.

A Rooftop Pool Above the Shophouses

The rooftop infinity pool is the hotel's quiet reward after a day spent walking Koon Seng Road's shophouse rows or working through a plate of laksa two streets over: low-rise views across Katong's rooftops, with none of the tower-block backdrop that rooftop pools in the Marina Bay district can't avoid. Baba Chews Bar & Eatery, the hotel's restaurant, keeps hours loose enough to cover breakfast, a late lunch or a last drink without guests needing to plan around a kitchen schedule, which matters on a trip built around wandering rather than a fixed itinerary.