Singapore-born Idil Reuben is Chief Concierge at the Goodwood Park Hotel Singapore, a member of the WorldHotels Collection. Goodwood Park Hotel is a heritage hotel, situated in a six-hectare landscaped garden on Scotts Road. It was first built as the club house for the Teutonia Club, serving the expatriate German community in Singapore, and later converted into a hotel. The hotel was the first in Singapore to have a swimming pool on the premises, and an air-conditioned wine cellar. Idil has worked at Goodwood Park Hotel for 23 years, and enjoys the challenge of trying to meet guests’ requests, especially the unexpected ones. Let’s meet Idil… 

Where he takes his own guests when they visit 

I usually take them to experience local cuisines in hawker centres in the suburbs such as Bedok Corner Food Centre, East Coast Lagoon Food Village, Haig Road Food Centre and Changi Village Hawker Centre.

It’s a rainy day but we want to explore, what we should do

Singapore is home to fascinating museums with a wide variety of collection from history, arts, science, fashion and many more. You can choose to visit these museums depending on your interest.

What he recommends as night-time entertainment

I would recommend the 1-Altitude Gallery and Bar at 1 Raffles Place. It is the highest open-air rooftop bar where visitors get to chill over their favourite drinks or food and admire the stunning 360-view of the city.

Which key phrase or phrases visitors should learn

Saying thank you in Mandarin (Xie xie) and Malay (Terima Kasih) will be really heartwarming.

Where the best shopping is and which souvenirs we should buy

IMM in Jurong East is the largest outlet mall in Singapore. The mall offers almost everything under one roof ranging from food and daily necessities to branded goods sold at the factory outlets.

A child-friendly thing to do or place to visit 

Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden at Singapore Botanic Gardens. This is the first garden in Asia that is dedicated to children. The Garden offers children a space for exploration, adventure and play, with a farm, an orchard, and a forest with its own stream and ponds.

His best kept secret or favourite hidden treasure

This may sound morbid but the burial grounds in Chua Chu Kang Cemetery is an interesting site to visit. You can see the cemeteries of the Chinese, Muslim, Christians, Jewish, Parsee, Baha’I, etc. all within metres of one another. It is a beautiful, peaceful and serene place to visit and you get to learn about the different cultural and religious practices of our plural society

The best way to get to the airport

Taxi is the fastest and most comfortable transport means to get to the airport. All the taxis run on meter so you don’t need to use your haggling skill while riding a taxi in Singapore.

The best time of the year to visit

There is an array of festivals celebrated by the multi-ethnic culture in Singapore all through the year, so you can immerse yourself in the local traditions no matter when you visit.

Anything else we should know when visiting

It will help to know some of the rules such as smoking at designated areas, chewing gum ban and the new alcohol restrictions law.

 

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