It's official: Singapore is the world's most expensive city. The Economist Intelligence Unit's Worldwide Cost of Living study ranks the city at number one, up from number five in the 2013 study. Singapore is also one of the world's busiest travel hubs, with every luxury hotel chain imaginable represented. But beyond the bling are a number of original boutique-style hotels offering rooms at around £100 a night, making a stopover in this foodie capital worth it for travellers on a budget too. Be prepared for small, compact rooms, as most of these hotels are renovated heritage buildings, and when checking prices, many hotels quote rates without the compulsory "plus plus", which adds on 10% government tax and 7% service charge. Rates quoted below are inclusive of tax and service charge, with free Wi-Fi everywhere.

Naumi Liora Hotel

The beautiful pastel facade of the 1920s Naumi Liora seems to take up half of the street – not surprising as it was originally 10 Chinatown shophouses. Opened less than a year ago, this sleek and rather eccentric hotel has 79 rooms, plus a gym and a popular restaurant called The Study serving Brit comfort food, created by English chef Jason Atherton. At the private bar, The Library, you need a password at the door to get in (it changes weekly and is posted on Facebook). All that is missing in this faux-English public school world is the Tuck Shop, so it is not surprising that free ice-cream and help-yourself jars of crisps, smarties and chocolate creams are available in the lobby. The entry-rate rooms are all on the top floor, and although they are roomier than much of the competition, be prepared for attic spaces with no windows: the owners were not allowed to add skylights because of the heritage-protected status of the building.
• 55 Keong Saik Road, naumiliora.com, +65 6403 6000, doubles from S$216 (£102), breakfast extra

Wanderlust Hotel

This historic building at the edge of colourful Little India started life in the 1920s as a school, became the headquarters of a Chinese Clan Association, and then was abandoned for many years before Loh Lik Ping, a leading name in Singapore's hotel and restaurant industry, transformed it into the hip Wanderlust Hotel. Each of the three guestroom floors was given over to a different design agency, with carte blanche to create eye-catching decor. So choose between the bright colours of the Pantone floor, the minimalist Mono or the quirky Whimsical. Pantone provides the lowest-price rooms: they're compact spaces with lots of extras, including a free soft-drink minibar, local calls, espresso machine and smart TV. On the second floor is a tropical patio with small plunge pool, while the groundfloor is given over to Cocotte restaurant, offering no-frills French cuisine and a fashionable coffee bar, immensely popular with locals.
• Dickson Road, wanderlusthotel.com, doubles with breakfast from £94

The Pod

The Pod, opened in August 2013, was created specifically for the new generation of flashpacker travellers. Taking up three floors of an apartment block in the lively Kampong Glam quarter, it is sleek, smart and a very good deal. That said, you have to be locked into the capsule-mentality if you want to stay here, as although it's in a different league from grimy backpacker hostels, there's only a certain amount of privacy. The dorms are either mixed or female-only, while six pods are doubles, catering for couples. The pods are comfortable, with a fold-down writing table, wooden dividing walls, and a locker underneath. At night, you can draw down a discrete blind, and each dorm has a curtained-off corner for changing. The communal lounge, kitchen and breakfast room is matt-black with stylish furniture, and there are even three business suites with computer terminals. Other perks include free local calls, towels (usually charged for in hostels) and dry cleaning.
• 289 Beach Road, +65 98774504, www.thepod.sg. Single pod from £28, double pod from £52, including breakfast

Klapsons

Located in the heart of the CDB (the Central Business District), which can be described as the downtown city within Singapore, Klapsons is a stunning, privately owned designer hotel of just 17 rooms. A futuristic metallic bubble reception sits in the middle of a vast lobby, with comfy chill-out corners furnished with avant-garde Italian furniture. There is a casual Italian deli, while the Sleeping Rhino restaurant serves Mediterranean cuisine, and there are even free late-night bowls of noodles. Not only is each room designed individually, each also has a different style of bathroom, from see-through glass walls to electric Ferrari red. On the top floor, Fabrika, an alfresco sky bar, is packed with locals for the early evening happy hour.
• 15 Hoe Chiang Road, klapsons.com/singapore, doubles from £110, breakfast not included

Moon

In between the temples and markets of Little India and the shopping malls of Bugis Street, Moon hotel has just come under new ownership, who have renovated the property. First impressions as you walk into the big lobby are certainly funky, with a swirling purple mural and 1970s furniture, plus three TV screens set in a glass wall showing a mix of sport, international news and local entertainment. The lobby is where breakfast is served, and it also transforms into a bar every evening from 5pm to 7pm, when guests are offered a complimentary cocktail, which could include a Singapore Sling. The standard rooms are bright and modern, not large but comfortable, and well-priced for a short stay.
• 23 Dickson Road, +65 6827 6666, moon.com.sg, doubles with breakfast from £83

Wangz

The family behind this offbeat address had the idea four years ago: wrapping a mundane 20-year-old office block in a surreal steel mesh, transforming it into a hipster hotel. Since then, the surrounding neighbourhood, Tiong Bahru, has become the fashionable corner of Singapore. Rooms are spacious, bright and with great views, while the bathrooms have rain showers and Molton Brown products, plus a limited free minibar. Room rates are a little above the norm, but worth the expense. The lobby has its own restaurant, but the big attraction here is the elegant Halo Rooftop Lounge, perfect for sunset cocktails looking out over Singapore's skyline. Weekends feature DJ sets and live bands, tapas and a barbecue.
• 231 Outram Road, +65 65951388, wangzhotel.com, doubles from £126, including breakfast

Hotel 1929

This 1929 row of five traditional Chinese shophouses was transformed into a 32-room boutique hotel in 2002 and completely refurbished in 2012. As you enter, on the right is a chill-out lounge complete with an ancient barber's chair and purple Chesterfield, with old-fashioned tins filled with free jelly babies and biscuits. On the right is the elegant Amber restaurant, where breakfast is also served, though remember that a table for dinner at Amber tends to have a couple of weeks' waiting list. There is also a tropical open-air patio on the second floor, where free ice-cream is served. Each room is individually decorated, a mix of modern hi-tech, colourful mosaics and vintage furniture, and for around £26 extra, it is worth thinking of splashing out on one of the roomy corner suites, which have a terrace and an outdoor claw-foot bath tub.
• 50 Keong Saik Road, + 65 6347 1929, hotel1929.com, doubles with breakfast from £93

Hotel Clover the Arts

The locally run Clover group runs businesses and vintage-themed properties in Singapore, and in mid-March 2014, Hotel Clover the Arts will open its doors. Well-placed between Chinatown and the nightlife district of Clarke Quay, the property has 44 rooms, each with a unique decor – 19 have been painted by local art students who won selection through a national competition. Styles vary from urban graffiti to pop art, retro kitsch to Zen Japanese. While the frontage, on busy South Bridge Street, is unassuming, the lobby is decorated with cool one-off designer furniture, and out the back the building is covered by an exotic jungle mural, painted by well-known Singaporean artist, Ceno2. There is a cafe and rooftop garden, and while rooms are small, they are modern and comfortable.
• 58 South Bridge Road, +65 6439 7088, hotelcloverthearts.com, hotelclover.com, doubles from £108

The Club

As its name indicates, The Club is the place to check in for partygoers. The Ann Siang quarter of Chinatown is seething with bars, bistros and clubs, so don't expect a quiet night's sleep. Another former Chinese Clan headquarters, the Art Deco Club is a maze-like building. The ground floor is occupied by Le Chocolat Cafe, where you can order a flat white or ice mocha with chocolate cake or lychee cheesecake, while at night the B28 is a laid-back speciality whisky bar with live jazz at the weekends. There are 22 bedrooms on the next two floors, while on the roof is an outdoor lounge bar, restaurant and covered space for dancing, with a resident DJ at the weekend playing until 3am. In principle, they don't rent the room (number 309) beneath the dance floor on Friday and Saturday, but be sure to check first. Standard rooms are spacious, and decorated in stark black and white.
• 28 Ann Siang Road, theclub.com.sg, doubles from £99, breakfast not included

Dorsett Singapore

Affordable hotels in Singapore do not always have to be small, fashionable boutique properties, as there are plenty of big, modern four-star properties that have surprisingly reasonable rates, like Park Regis and Innotel. The newly opened Dorsett falls perfectly in the middle. Ideally located in the heart of Chinatown, it looks, from the outside, like just another faceless glass-and-steel construction, and it is certainly big, with 285 rooms. But the rooms here are much larger than in boutique hotels, and not only is there a gym, but guests can spend the afternoon swimming and sunbathing by a 30m outdoor pool. There is also all-day dining at the casual Pappasan restaurant, where the menu runs from local dishes, such as chicken rice, to Spanish tapas.
• 333 New Bridge Road, +65 6678 8333, dorsetthotels.com/singapore, doubles with breakfast from £97

• John Brunton blogs at thewinetattoo.com