My Fine Dining Experience at the Top of a Skyscraper Hotel in Singapore

A close-up view of Singapore’s world famous Marina Bay Sands Hotel, where I had a late night dinner at a popular high-end restaurant on the top floor. (June 20, 2024)

When I was in Singapore for the first time in June 2024 to attend a physics conference, I knew that I had an incredible opportunity to experience fine dining on a level I hadn’t encountered before. By this, I mean the prospect of eating at one of the signature restaurants found atop the iconic Marina Bay Sands Hotel that defines Singapore’s ultra-modern skyline. How is this possible?

Briefly, this came about when the conference organizers mentioned the fact that one of the Marina Sands restaurants called Cé La Vi, located at Tower 3 on the 57th floor (1 Bayfront Avenue Marina Bay Sands, Hotel, Tower 3, Singapore 018971) allows visitors the opportunity to view the Singapore skyline and the Marina Sands’ famous rooftop infinity pool for free in exchange for making a reservation to dine at the restaurant. Since I was definitely eager to do both things as a first-time visitor, I made sure to set aside some time one evening for exactly that. Cé La Vi is open daily from 5:30 pm until 10:30 pm for its last reservation and 10:45 pm for the last order to be taken.

Upon my arrival to the hotel and eventually making my way to Tower 3, I took the elevator to the top floor and presented myself to the staff at Cé La Vi’s main entrance. Since I arrived early, the maitre-d encouraged me to step outside onto its observation deck to view the skyline and city below. When the time came for my reservation to be fulfilled, I returned inside and was escorted towards the interior of the hotel where the restaurant is located.

The rooftop infinity pool and Singapore skyline at night after I finished my dinner at Ce La Vi. (June 20, 2024)

Everything was fine until I found myself alone waiting for someone on staff to seat me at my table, which didn’t happen. Part of the issue was that I was dropped off in an awkward location near the seating area where it wasn’t clear that a staff member would naturally take over to find my table and have me seated. This seemed like a breach of basic performance standards for this type of restaurant and not a good sign for things to come.