It only costs a dollar to ride a Singapore bus — but 398 Singapore dollars to sleep in one.
The Bus Collective is Southeast Asia’s first resort hotel to repurpose decommissioned public buses into luxury hotel rooms.
The project renovated 20 buses that were once owned by SBS Transit, Singapore’s public transport operator, giving them a renewed purpose within the hospitality sector.
The resort hotel officially opens on Dec. 1 and bookings are now available on its website.
A look into the resort
The Bus Collective is located in Changi Village, Singapore — occupying 8,600 square meters of land.
The property sits near local attractions like the Changi Village Hawker Centre, Changi East Boardwalk, and Changi Chapel & Museum.
The resort hotel has seven distinct room categories, each with different in-room amenities. Nightly room rates start at SG$398 ($296) and some rooms even come with a bathtub and king-sized bed.
Among the different room types, the Pioneer North room has handrails in the toilet and shower area, built to meet the needs of senior guests, a representative from the resort hotel told CNBC.
Alternatively, the Hamilton Place room is designed to be wheelchair accessible, equipped with an external accessible restroom and a ramp leading up to the room’s entrance, she added.
Each room covers 45 square meters and can accommodate three to four guests, the resort’s website showed. Although these retired buses have been entirely refurbished, some features such as the steering wheel, driver seat and windows have been preserved.
Recreational activities are not available on the property, but The Bus Collective will be organizing guided tours which guests can book at the resort hotel’s experience center, the representative said.
One of the tours offered is a biking trip around Pulau Ubin — an island off the coast of Singapore. This tour is priced at SG$99 per person and includes a two-way ferry transfer to and from the island. Other experiences include a guided food tour and sailing at Changi Sailing Club.
The inspiration behind the project
The Bus Collective was founded by WTS Travel & Tours, a Singaporean travel agency, along with its partners LHN Group, a real estate management services group, and Sky Win Holding, an investment holding group headquartered in Singapore.
WTS Travel and partners wanted to showcase how tourism, nature and environmentalism can come together and be a “catalyst for creating unique and exciting new experiences,” Micker Sia, managing director of WTS Travel told CNBC.
He added that the project aims to “establish a precedent for eco-conscious practices in construction and hospitality … setting a new standard for sustainable luxury.”
Although The Bus Collective only operates in Singapore currently, Sia told CNBC it could expand in the future. “We are definitely open to exploring opportunities for growth and innovation in the future … and we believe it has the potential to resonate with audiences in other locations within the Asia Pacific region,” Sia said.