To mark its 55th anniversary, Grand Hyatt Singapore is inviting guests to look beyond Orchard Road’s retail façade and discover the stories that shaped one of the city’s most iconic districts.
The hotel has launched Stories of Orchard, a heritage walking tour that traces the evolution of Orchard Road from plantation landscape to global urban destination — while spotlighting the property's own role in the precinct's transformation.
Grand Hyatt Singapore has been part of the neighbourhood since 1971, when it opened as the Singapore Hyatt Hotel. It was later renamed Hyatt Regency Singapore before adopting its current identity.
“Fifty-five years is a significant milestone, with Singapore having just commemorated SG60 last year. This walking tour is our invitation for guests and local community to appreciate Orchard Road the way we have come to understand it: as a district with genuine depth, whose character was shaped long before the first mall opened its doors,” said Edouard Demptos, GM, Grand Hyatt Singapore.
The walking tour was curated in partnership with urban heritage specialist Yong Min Ho, also known as The Urbanist Singapore. “Most people walk Orchard Road without realising they are treading on former nutmeg plantations, above a hidden canal that still shapes the city today,” he said.
For instance, stops include some of Grand Hyatt Singapore's lesser-known landmarks, such as a former bowling alley that hosted major competitions, and one of the earliest and largest exhibition spaces in the area being located where the car park now stands.
The experience then brings guests on a stroll along Orchard Road as a living record of the city-state’s transformation from colonial-era fruit farms to one of Asia’s most recognised urban corridors.
It continues along Singapore’s Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) network, exploring how urban planners have continuously reimagined the edges of Orchard Road – including the conservation enclave of Emerald Hill.
Included in the tour is a NETS flashPay card, valid for use across Singapore’s public transport network. The card is also a souvenir, featuring commissioned artwork of Grand Hyatt Singapore by Singapore-based art duo Ripple Root.