Local co-living operator The Assembly Place (TAP)’s first boutique hotel under its new hospitality brand, Social, officially opens in mid-June.
The three-star hotel, Social on Outram, is located at 261 Outram Road near Tiong Bahru. It features 26 keys across a four-storey pre-war shophouse situated on a land area of 2,277 sq ft, with a gross floor area (GFA) of 7,104 sq ft.
“Social is a new hotel brand under TAP,” says Eugene Lim, the company’s founder and CEO. “We’re pulling out all the stops to anchor the brand to a great customer experience with a community-driven concept like our other co-living spaces; guests can also participate in our bi-weekly community events.”
Lim: We’re pulling out all the stops to anchor the brand to a great customer experience with a community-driven concept like our other co-living spaces (Credit: Samuel Isaac Chua / EdgeProp Singapore)
Affordable, fuss-free
The hotel offers four room types, from standard rooms of 130 sq ft with a single bed to a premier room of about 193 sq ft with a queen-sized bed. The guest rooms are located on the first three storeys, while the reception and guest amenities, including a lounge, gym, coin-operated laundry facility, and a shared pantry, are on the fourth level.
Promotional rates at Social on Outram range from $160 to $180 per night. Following the official launch, Lim expects room rates to rise to about $220 to $270 a night.
The property features 26 guest rooms across its first three storeys (Credit: Albert Chua / EdgeProp Singapore)
When the hotel soft-launched in early May, it hosted members of the foreign press covering Singapore’s 2025 General Election. According to Lim, reviews have been very positive. The property resonated with guests for its “value for money”.
Each room sports a functional layout with additional storage space under the bed designed to accommodate a variety of luggage sizes. Each room also features a desk, mini-fridge, wardrobe, and mounted television. “We know that we are not a four- or five-star hotel operator, so we needed to ask ourselves how we could best meet the needs of young travellers while keeping our room rates affordable,” explains Lim.
Social on Outram offers four room types from standard rooms with a single bed to a premier room with a queen bed (Credit: Albert Chua / EdgeProp Singapore)
Each room accommodates a desk, minifridge, wardrobe and mounted television (Credit: Albert Chua / EdgeProp Singapore)
Social on Outram also incorporates elements of TAP’s co-living ethos. The guests’ common area on the fourth floor has been set up as a social and co-working space to accommodate the growing trend of digital nomads.
In order to streamline costs, TAP has adopted a manpower-light approach to the hotel’s operations. A self-check-in kiosk on the first floor allows guests to check into their rooms via a unique PIN. This helps to cut manpower requirements, allowing TAP to staff the property during daylight hours only.
The hotel also does not serve meals. Instead, guests at the hotel can take advantage of TAP’s partnership programme that offers discounts at local cafes and restaurants in the area.
Amenities include a lounge, gym, coin-operated laundry facility, and a shared pantry (Credit: Albert Chua / EdgeProp Singapore)
Expanding the brand’s footprint
While Social at Outram is TAP’s first property under its Social brand, the company has had prior experience as a boutique hotel operator. In September 2022, TAP launched The Assembly Place at Mayo, a 23-key boutique “co-living hotel” located at the corner of Mayo Street and Jalan Besar.
The property had previously operated as The Mayo Inn for 14 years before its original owners approached Lim to take over as operator on a five-year lease.
Lim has since acquired the property in a joint venture with Apricot Capital and is currently overseeing renovations to convert it into a 36-key property. Once works are completed sometime in 3Q2025, the hotel will relaunch as Social on Mayo, TAP’s second hotel under the brand.
TAP has also announced Social on Bangsar located in Kuala Lumpur, its third hotel property to launch under the new hospitality brand. It will also be the company’s first venture based outside of Singapore. Slated for a 3Q2025 completion, Social on Bangsar will be a newly built, seven-storey hotel housing 66 guest rooms.
“The boutique hotel business is something we would like to double down on,” says Lim. “After managing TAP at Mayo for two years, we realised that the net operating income for boutique hotels is much higher compared to traditional hotels.”
Moving forward, Lim plans for TAP to take a small ownership stake in each hotel asset that the company manages in joint ventures with other investors. With three hotel properties expected to be operational by the end of the year, Lim aims to expand the brand’s footprint to 10 properties under management by 2027.
