Goodwood Park Hotel

Goodwood Park Hotel 良木园酒店
General information
Location	22 Scotts Road, Singapore 228221
Opening	1900
Technical details
Floor count	3
Design and construction
Architect	Swan and Maclaren
Other information
Number of rooms	233
Number of restaurants	Coffee Lounge L'Espresso Gordon Grill Min Jiang Deli Highland Bar Min Jiang at One-North
Website
http://www.goodwoodparkhotel.com +65 6737 7411

The Goodwood Park Hotel (Chinese: 良木园酒店) is a heritage hotel in Singapore, situated in a 6-hectare landscaped garden on Scotts Road.

The hotel was the first in Singapore to have a swimming-pool on the premises, and an air-conditioned wine cellar.

Architecture

The Goodwood Park Hotel building was built in 1900 to the design of R.A.J. Bidwell, of Swan and Maclaren. Its architecture has a High Victorian flavour, with its turrets and decorated façade. The building was constructed for the sum of St$20,000.

History

The Teutonia Club — now the Goodwood Park Hotel — was an exclusive enclave for the expatriate German community in Singapore. Construction began in 1899. On 21 September 1900, the new clubhouse opened its doors with an extravagant ball attended by about 500 guests. Good times at the Teutonia Club lasted until World War I. The British government in Singapore classified all Germans as enemy forces and shipped most of them to Australia. The Teutonia Club was then seized by the Custodian of Enemy Property.

In 1918, the building was auctioned off to three wealthy Jewish brothers - Morris, Ezekiel and Ellis Manasseh, who also bought the surrounding houses from the Custodian of Enemy Property. The Manassehs managed the property and renamed it as Goodwood Hall, after the famous Goodwood Racecourse in England. It served as a reception hall until 1 February 1922, when it was registered as a Restaurant-Cafe-Entertainment Palace.

In April 1929, the Manassah brothers decided to turn the building into a hotel named Goodwood Park Hotel. It became one of the finest hotels in Asia, attracting many eminent guests.

During World War II the Goodwood Park Hotel became the headquarters of the Japanese Imperial Army. After the war, the Singapore War Crimes Court erected a tent on the grounds of Goodwood Park to conduct war crimes trials.

Ezekiel's stepson, Vivian Bath, took over proprietorship of the hotel in 1947. Over the next 20 years, he turned the hotel into one of the finest in Asia once again. About $2.5 million was spent in revamping the hotel. Renovations were completed in 1963. In that same year, Bath sold the hotel to the Malayan Banking Group. The Tower Wing was again extensively renovated in 1978. The hotel was extended in the same period to include more guest rooms and a hotel lobby. The interior was practically gutted and fully restored and 17 suites were added on the first floor, including the lavish Brunei Suite. A new pinnacle replaced the crumbling original roof.

The Tower Block of the Goodwood Park Hotel was gazetted as a national monument on 23 March 1989. Currently, Goodwood Park Hotel is a member of Worldhotels.

In late 2005, the hotel lobby was renovated to give it a modern look.

In June 2013, Goodwood Park Hotel is pleased to launch itsrevitalised Mayfair Wing and rooms, refurbished at an estimated cost of SGD$2million.

With balconies affording views overlooking either the Balinese-inspired Mayfair Pool or outside the hotel, these sought-after 77 rooms and suites over three floors have been tastefully transformed and made over by renowned interior designer Ernesto Bedmar of Bedmar & Shi; he was also the designer behind the hotel’s past renovation and upgrading projects since the nineties. The centerpiece of each room is a stunning floor-to-ceiling bed headboard featuring a black-and-white image of old shophouses in Singapore; a nod to nostalgia that also accentuates and anchors the refreshed classy design of the newly carpeted Mayfair rooms.

Besides plush linens complete with vibrantly coloured velvet bedrunners, rooms also feature new furnishings and amenities suited for the modern travellers’ needs, such as a customised writing desk with a locking sliding top, an ergonomic and adjustable Vitra MedaPal swivel chair, LED flatscreen TVs, as well as other nifty fittings including four international sockets, a multimedia connectivity panel, radio alarm clock, energy-saving LED lights and fuzzy logic control air conditioning which enables guests to personalise their room temperature settings.

Facilities

Goodwood Park Hotel has 233 rooms and suites which are divided into four wings - Lobby, Mayfair, Tower and Parklane. The hotel has two outdoor swimming pools (Main and Mayfair).

Food and Beverage outlets

Goodwood Park Hotel offers guests five distinctive restaurants.

References

• National Heritage Board (2002), Singapore's 100 Historic Places, Archipelago Press, ISBN 981-4068-23-3
• Preservation of Monuments Board, Know Our Monuments
• Norman Edwards, Peter Keys (1996), Singapore - A Guide to Buildings, Streets, Places, Times Books International, ISBN 9971-65-231-5

External links

• Goodwood Park Hotel Singapore
• Worldhotels
• Goodwood Park Hotel Wedding Banquet Packages 2015