Mandai Rainforest Resort by Banyan Tree

Banyan Group's 100th hotel worldwide opened not in a city tower but inside Singapore's Mandai Wildlife Reserve, on the shores of Upper Seletar Reservoir — the brand's first property in the city where it was founded. Twenty-four elevated treehouse villas, built around the site's mature trees, sit alongside 338 rooms in a resort that is also Singapore's first Green Mark Platinum Super Low Energy property. It opened quietly on April 2, 2025, then held a formal grand opening on November 26.

The place

The resort sits on 4.6 hectares inside the Mandai Wildlife Reserve in Singapore's north, on the shores of Upper Seletar Reservoir, a short drive from the downtown core. Its position gives guests direct access to the reserve's five parks — Singapore Zoo, Night Safari, River Wonders, Bird Paradise and Rainforest Wild.

The concept

The main wing is a five-story structure raised on stilts, its bark-imprinted concrete facade and planted green roof designed to mirror the rainforest layers around it; construction preserved the mature trees on site rather than clearing them. Twenty-four treehouse villas — seed-pod-shaped units with curved private terraces — are elevated above the forest floor, each with a bathtub and a patio facing garden or reservoir views; treehouse guests get exclusive use of two pools, including a canopy-level pool modeled on a weaver bird's nest. The opening is Banyan Group's 100th resort worldwide and its first in Singapore, the city where the group was founded in 1994. The sustainability positioning is backed by certification: the resort is Singapore's first Green Mark Platinum Super Low Energy property, with naturally ventilated rooms, in-room displays showing live power consumption, rainwater collection for toilet flushing, and a structure elevated to preserve wildlife movement corridors underneath it.

Dining & wellness

Dining runs on two venues: Planter's Shed, an all-day restaurant offering buffet breakfast and dinner alongside an à la carte lunch, and Forage, which overlooks Upper Seletar Reservoir and runs a produce-driven menu sourced from the resort's rooftop garden and on-site mushroom cultivation, served exclusively for treehouse guests. The Banyan Tree Spa has six treatment rooms, including three pods shaped after Sunda pangolin scales. An infinity rooftop pool overlooks the reservoir, in addition to the treehouse wing's separate wellness pool.