Singapore packs a lot of shopping, sight-seeing and good eating into a little island. [Photo provided to Shanghai Star]

On an island where welcoming visitors is a main economic focus and where many international hotel chains made their first footprints in Asia, Singapore reflects the region's growing prosperity and sophistication in tourism and travel.Pauline D. Loh looks at a cross-section of hospitality choices.

Today's travelers want it all. They need their creature comforts, and they want color and culture. They also want value for their hard-earned money and they expect to get it all when they travel, especially when they travel.

A good travel destination on the other hand should offer visitors choices on how to spend their money. Singapore has very little natural resources apart from what's deposited between the ears of its leaders. In less than 50 years, they have created an island paradise that offers shopping, recreation and good food in a tiny country that's smaller in land area than one of Beijing's sprawling districts.

As tourism, commercial and financial hub in the heart of Asia, this island republic has attracted almost every major hospitality brand in the world. In recent years, a mushrooming crop of boutique hotels with local color has also sprung p in the heritage districts of Little India and Chinatown.

Choosing a hotel when you visit Singapore can be a proper study these days, given the bewildering choices. Here is a quick guide to a few with outstanding characteristics.