Singapore’s boutique hotel The Scarlet boasts that it is “vivacious and uninhibited”—which may seem a bit of hyperbole, but turns out to be surprisingly accurate.

Located in the city’s historic Chinatown, the hotel occupies a row of preserved shop houses dating to 1868, and an original 1924 Art Deco building, all joined together and converted into a delightfully over-the-top boutique.

Interiors are heavy on black and gold, with generous helpings of (what else?) scarlet red, and the style is equal parts Art Deco and a sort of Victoria’s Secret boudoir fantasy. In fact, the overriding atmosphere is one of seduction, perhaps surprising in prim and proper Singapore, and not in a subtle way either—the restaurant, for example, is called Desire, and the dishes are given double (or even single) -entendre names like Skinny Dipping, G-String, and the disturbing Cuckold.

Overall the feeling is not unlike some of London’s boutique hotels, with more emphasis on decadent creature comforts than immediate visual shocks. It’s a new venture, and the prices are still rather low, so it’s quite a value if you can tolerate the occasional rough edge. We’re sure the rates won’t stay this low forever.