Istana 
From Singapore Hotels & Singapore Lifestyle
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- Tel: (+65) 6737 5522
- Location: Istana Park
- Nearest MRT: Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station
Just beyond Plaza Singapura, the official workplace and residence of Singapore's president. The Istana was built in 1869 on the grounds of an old nutmeg plantation. A neoclassical monument to British rule, it served as Government House, the residence of the British governor until the island became self-governing in 1959. Public works were never a high priority in laissez-faire colonial Singapore, but the need to impress the visiting Duke of Edinburgh convinced the island's Legislative Council to approve the building's huge budget. The actual construction was done by Indian convicts transported from Bencoolen on Sumatra.
The Istana is set about 750m back from the road in beautifully maintained grounds including a nine-hole golf course and terraced garden. Watch the simple "changing of the guards" ceremony that takes place here every hour. Facing the Istana squarely is Istana Park, dominated by an imposing steel sculpture flanked by garden courtyards of heliconia and lotus-filled ponds, a pleasant place for open-air dining at the park's Bboss Brasserie in the evenings.
The palace and lavish garden are usually strictly off-limits to the public. Most of the time the closest you are likely to get to it are the well-guarded gates on Orchard Road, but the Istana is open to the public on selected public holidays, such as New Year's Day and National Day when the gates are thrown open to curious sightseers, most of them local - call or check the website for details. If you are lucky enough to be in Singapore on one of these occasions, take your passport and join the queues to get in.
