Housing for ESSEC Asia-Pacific Students in Singapore

ESSEC's Asia-Pacific campus sits on Nepal Hill in the one-north business and research district, and the school does not provide student housing itself. It gives incoming students guidance on the local market instead, so you're choosing between an HDB room, a condo, or a furnished co-living room on your own. For most exchange students, MSc students, and short-course participants, a furnished room near a Circle Line stop that connects straight to one-north is the simplest way to sort housing before term starts.

That's the short version. Here's what the campus setup actually looks like, how long different ESSEC programs run for, and which areas make sense depending on how long you're in Singapore.

Where is the ESSEC Asia-Pacific campus?

ESSEC set up its Asia-Pacific campus in Singapore in 2005, its first campus outside France. It sits on Nepal Hill, inside the one-north business park in the Buona Vista area, a district built specifically to cluster education, research, and tech companies together. The current five-story building on the site was formally opened in 2015.

One-north is served by its own MRT station on the Circle Line, and Buona Vista MRT, an interchange between the Circle Line and the East-West Line, is one stop away. That puts the campus within easy reach of most of the west and central parts of the island, provided you're on or near the Circle Line.

What programs bring students to Singapore?

ESSEC Asia-Pacific runs a mix of program types, and the length of your stay depends heavily on which one you're on.

• Exchange students, in Singapore for one semester as part of a partner university's international exchange track, roughly four to five months.
• MSc and Master in Management students, including tracks like the MSc in Marketing Management and Digital, who spend part of a longer program based in Singapore, often a semester or two rather than the full degree.
• Global MBA participants, whose program is based mainly in France but includes modules and time on the Asia-Pacific campus.
• Executive education and short-course participants, through ESSEC's Leadership & Financial Programmes arm, in Singapore for anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.
• PhD candidates and researchers, whose stays run much longer and look more like a full relocation than a study trip.

If you're not sure which bucket you're in, your program length is the single biggest thing that should drive your housing decision, more than budget or even location.

Does ESSEC arrange student housing?

No. ESSEC Asia-Pacific doesn't operate dorms or halls on the Nepal Hill campus. What it offers instead is guidance: pointers on the local rental market, rough price ranges, and a list of resources to search from. The actual booking is on you.

That's a fairly normal setup for a business school campus embedded in a business park rather than a residential university town, but it does mean you're navigating Singapore's private rental market from day one, often from overseas and often on a tight timeline before term starts.

Best areas near the Nepal Hill campus

One-north itself is almost entirely commercial and research space, so most students end up living a short ride away rather than immediately on top of the campus. The areas worth knowing:

• Buona Vista and Holland Village. The closest residential pockets to campus, with cafes, restaurants, and a genuine social scene. Convenient, and priced accordingly.
• Dover and Clementi. A stop or two further out on the same corridor, more residential, generally better value than Buona Vista itself.
• Queenstown and Commonwealth. Established HDB estates a short ride from one-north, with a wider spread of unit types and prices.
• Serangoon. Further from campus on the map, but sitting directly on the same Circle Line that runs through one-north, which matters more for your actual commute than straight-line distance does.

Rent close to one-north tends to run higher than average for Singapore, since the district's daytime population of tech and biotech workers keeps demand for nearby housing steady year round.

Rent close to one-north runs higher than the Singapore average, because the district's daytime population of tech and biotech workers keeps demand steady year round.

Why co-living suits a lot of ESSEC students

A private condo or HDB lease usually assumes a long stay: a 12-month tenancy is the norm, often with a landlord who wants a tenant who'll stay well past a single semester. That's a mismatch for exchange students, most MSc students, and anyone on a shorter track, and it means either overpaying for a lease you'll break early or scrambling to find a landlord willing to do something shorter.

Singapore's rule for private residential rentals sets a legal floor on how short a tenancy can be, and it lines up closely with a standard exchange semester. A furnished, all-in co-living room is built around exactly that kind of stay: no furniture to source, no separate utility and wifi accounts to set up and cancel, and no negotiating a landlord down to a shorter term. You view a room, sign, and move in with a suitcase.

That matters even more if you're arranging housing from another country before you've set foot in Singapore. A managed room with a published price and a fixed process is a much easier thing to book sight unseen than an HDB flat you'd normally want to walk through in person first.

Where Lazybee fits for ESSEC students

Lazybee runs three co-living houses across Singapore, and the transport link to one-north is the main thing worth weighing between them if you're commuting to Nepal Hill regularly.

Chiltern Park, in Serangoon, sits on the same Circle Line that runs through one-north and Buona Vista, so it's a single line the whole way without changing trains. It's also close to Lorong Chuan MRT and the NEX shopping centre for everyday errands, in a more established, quieter residential estate than the business park itself.

Ivory Heights, in Jurong East, connects to one-north via the East-West Line to Buona Vista, then a short Circle Line hop. It trades a slightly longer commute for the best shopping and transport density of the three houses, useful if you want a bigger town centre around you outside of class.

Thomson Grove, near Lentor, is the furthest from campus on paper and involves more of a transfer to get to one-north. It suits students who care more about a quiet, residential feel than about shaving minutes off the commute, or who are based elsewhere in Singapore for reasons beyond the ESSEC campus.

All three come as private, lockable rooms with shared common space, rent that's typically all-in on utilities and wifi, and no long-term lease requirement beyond the legal minimum. Room mix and availability shift month to month, so check lazybee.sg for what's actually open right now rather than relying on anything written here. If you'd rather see a room in person or over video before committing, you can book a viewing directly through the site.

FAQ

How far is Lazybee from the ESSEC Asia-Pacific campus? None of the three houses sit inside one-north itself, since the district is mostly commercial space. Chiltern Park in Serangoon has the most direct link, sitting on the same Circle Line that runs through one-north and Buona Vista with no line change needed.

Can I rent for just one semester near ESSEC? Yes. Singapore's private rental law sets a minimum stay for residential leases, and a standard co-living room is built around that minimum rather than a 12-month norm, which lines up well with a typical exchange semester.

Does ESSEC Asia-Pacific arrange housing for exchange students? No. The school provides guidance on the local market, price ranges, and resources, but booking accommodation is left to the student.

What areas do ESSEC students usually live in? Buona Vista, Holland Village, Dover, Clementi, and Queenstown are the closest residential areas to the Nepal Hill campus. Areas further out on the same Circle Line, like Serangoon, are also worth considering for the direct transport link.

Sources: URA, Short-Term Accommodation guidelines; URA, Renting Property guidelines; HDB, Renting out a flat: regulations; HDB, Renting out bedrooms: regulations.