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REVIEW: Intercontinental Hotel Singapore, Club Heritage Room

Published by Shane

Tl;dr:

One of the best club lounges I ever had in Singapore, with the best afternoon tea (scones are superb)

Full hotel facilities, including an outdoor swimming pool, fully equipped gym and sauna

Great location on the fringe of city

Rooms spacious but tired

Club InterContinental, InterContinental Hotel Singapore

I’m not a IHG Rewards member, so in all honesty a stay at a IHG property usually ranks low on my list. Seeing that the Intercontinental Hotel Singapore has got a very good corporate rate this weekend, I snapped up the opportunity to try out – for the first time – this gem of a hotel in the heart of town.

When I first walk up to the glorious lobby, I was escorted to the club lounge for my check-in. Being my first time at the property, I was immediately taken in by the design of the lounge: spacious, well adorned, boasting a good blend of peranakan ornaments with very tasteful furnishing.

Check-in was a breeze, with most of the work done by the lounge staff while I tuck into a cup of freshly brewed coffee.

A little bit of history first. The hotel is built in 1995, jointly integrated with the adjacent shopping mall Bugis Junction which featured a series of preserved shophouses. When it first opened some people were dismayed that the taller block stuck out like a sore thumb, and decidedly a bad location given it was on the fringe of the CBD.

Fast forward 20 years later the hotel is definitely well placed in an area mixed with shopping, business and culture, so the development definitely paid off.

Most recently, the hotel was last refreshed in 2016, the 403-room property still look as classy as ever, very much living up to the name of an InterContinental property.

The Heritage Room

Club Heritage Room

I stayed put in the Heritage Room, which tucked away from the main 16-storey block, along one row of the preserved shophouses. While it was quite a stroll to the room, the rooms are charmingly housed in two rows. The only hint of it being built into what used to be shophouses is the crooked corridor that veers off one way – the only reason being the old handbuilt nature of these shophouses that did not rely on heavy machinery and precision measurements that enables today’s grand architectural feats.

The room is spacious, in a sense that’s similar to properties built in that era. Spanning 38 square metres the room can comfortably house a small family, or perhaps a little cosy gathering with friends (but please do check on the guest policies first). I love the fact that there’s a bathtub that I can soak in, which is becoming a rarity as newer hotels begin to do away with them.

Heritage Room bathroom

Agraia bath amenities

The room is a little dated; you can see that the furniture is starting to look kind of tired, such as the visible scratches off the furnishing. Last refurbished in 2011, it’s a few years shy of a decade old, which is decidedly dated given the heavy use of the rooms. The bathroom gives off another sign of age, especially around the edges. Having said that, the room is still incredibly clean and well maintained.

The Heritage Rooms doesn’t come with a Nespresso machine (which I hear is available in higher class rooms) but instead comes with instant freeze-dried coffee and TWG teabags.

Fruit platter and atas still water

In the evening the hotel also provides a turn down service, and I was pleasantly surprised to find a fruit bowl and a complimentary bottle of still water being placed on the table as well despite the fact that I wasn’t a high tier loyalty member. A very nice gesture, even though I typically am too lazy to have the fruits.

Club InterContinental Lounge

This has got to be one of the most amazing hotel lounges I have been in Singapore. Having been to a couple in Singapore, including an incredibly underwhelming one at JW Marriott, the Club InterContinental Lounge has really impressed me.

Spacious club lounge, adorned with Peranakan infused decor

First let’s talk about the decor. The entire hotel is decked out in Peranakan (Straits Chinese) feels. This is the same in the club, where instead of the usual grandeur you get out of a teak and marble combination, you get wood-carved screens, oversized chairs and couches with rattan insets. Chinese porcelain decorations are littered everywhere, including an oversized bowl that serves as a basin in the washroom.

For the uninitiated, the lounge serves up breakfast daily, as well as an afternoon tea from 2.30pm to 5pm as well as evening cocktails from 6 to 8pm.

I have read good things about the high tea and it was true to what you search online: A three-tier afternoon tea set consisting of scones, savoury sandwiches and sweets, including peranakan cakes. Of course, there’s endless coffees and TWG teas that you can have.

Three-tier afternoon tea, pickings from east and west

Now, I’m a big fan of scones and have been a great advocate of the scones offered by Conrad Centennial Singapore’s lounge, but this is equally good. The only downside? The cream comes in these small little tubs that I have to keep asking for refills for.

I didn’t linger too much for the evening cocktails, given that I had dinner plans but I managed to have a drink and their hot canapes. While they have a small spread of cold food items such as sushi, etc.

As with most other hotels with club benefits, you can either have breakfast at the Club Lounge or at Ash & Elm, the hotel’s signature restaurant (which serves up an awesome brunch on Sundays). While I have not tried Ash & Elm personally before, I have heard about how bad the weekend breakfast crowd can get so I decided to have a quiet breakfast at the lounge.

Club InterContinental breakfast a la carte menu

At 9am the lounge was about half full, and quickly filled up shortly after I was seated. While it was a huge lounge, they were incredibly generous with space – there weren’t many tables available.

Breakfast was a combination of a continental buffet breakfast as well as a ala carte selection of hot plates. As with Pan Pacific Orchard, there was a selection of western and Asian dishes that you can choose from, although I do appreciate the smaller servings so that I can request for more when I want to. The hot plates weren’t as delightful as the ones I had at Pan Pacific Orchard, but still very much decent.

Nasi lemak

I had the nasi lemak, and being overly obsessed with this dish I found the rice too moist (I prefer them to be a little dry and chewy) but the sambal more than made up for it. I also had the oriental breakfast selection, consisting of the congee and the assorted dim sum. The congee was good but I can’t say the same for the dim sum.

The facilities

Being somewhat a cross between a business hotel and a leisure one, the hotel is fully equipped with a range of facilities, including recreational and conference venues.

The hotel is a popular one for conferences and meetings given its central location, as well as banquets. During my stay there, I saw at least two weddings (one in the afternoon and one in the evening) and that certainly added quite a buzz to the common areas at the hotel.

InterContinental Singapore gym

On the recreation end, the outdoor pool is located at level 4, and is somewhat small. The one and only time I checked it out, there were at least two dozen people on deck chairs around it and I can imagine it will feel a little daunting to swim in it.

The gym on the other hand was fairly well equipped and adequately spacious. You could lay out plenty of mats and do a few cartwheels without hitting any machines, which was great. While there wasn’t a squat rack for hardcore hummers (well why would you be doing squats at a hotel gym) but there was at least a smith machine and a good range of dumbbells for a holiday workout.

A bonus – there was a sauna in the changing room, another rarity in newer hotels.

Club Heritage Room – high ceilings but dated furniture

Overall this is a great property. Being so close to shopping venues and right atop a subway station, this is definitely a premium location but yet provides a respite from the buzz of city life if you need some time and space to relax. The incredibly well adorned club lounge with its amazing food and beverage provisions is one to die for, and is definitely value for money. What needs a little more help is definitely a refresh of the rooms. The finer details of the rooms are starting to show signs of age (especially in the heritage wings), so a refurbishment will definitely provide a boost to the already great hotel.

REVIEW: Andaz Singapore, Luxury Room

Published by Shane

I first encountered the Andaz brand on a work trip to Shanghai several years back. Not knowing it was a Hyatt brand until I checked in then, I was instantly taken in by the swag that the brand displayed.

One of the quirky thing that caught my attention (along with many other things) was the key cards that Andaz Shanghai offered – a series of bright solid coloured, text-only card that looked like an element from the periodic table.

Rooms level

Now to the main point of this review – Andaz Singapore. The hotel’s landing in Singapore was first announced in January 2015 by Hyatt, and its opening was very much looked forward to by Hyatt fans. Andaz Singapore is the very first Andaz property to open in Southeast Asia, adding to a worldwide portfolio of less than 20 Andaz-branded hotels.

The hotel, as with many new downtown developments in Singapore, is housed in DUO, a mixed use development by the fringe of the city. The hotel provides direct connection to Bugis MRT, and you are minutes away from most shopping areas. Bugis, Arab Street are also within walking distance.

View from the Andaz Singapore Bar Square

The hotel is housed on the 25 to 38 levels of the west block. Andaz Singapore houses 342 guestrooms including 26 suites, with floor-to-ceiling windows and good views all round.

You will feel the difference the moment the lift doors open and you step out into the ‘lobby’ on the 25th floor. Moving away from the conventional check-in desk, Andaz opts for two islands with simply a laptop where the receptionist can assist you with check-in formalities.

Once I’m done, I’m off to my room.

Luxury Room

The first section of the room was the wardrobe area. The bedroom was separated by a small bi-panel door, which was also adorned by a L-shaped sofa. The bathroom sat adjacent to the bathroom, but away from the wardrobe, which was rather strange for me.

As an entry level room and with most new hotels, the room did not come with a bathtub, but instead had a standing shower with a stool. Being by the window also means that the bathroom had plenty of natural light.

Luxury Room – Bathroom

As with all Andaz properties, the in-room minibar’s drinks (except for the beers) were complimentary and will be replenished daily, a nice touch to overpriced minibar prices most other hotel charges. The room also comes with TWG tea and Nespresso coffee machine and pods for all the caffeine addicts.

Complimentary in-room Coffee and Tea

I glanced at the in-room dining menu, and was pleasantly surprised to find that prices were not incredibly expensive. $5 for a 1L bottle of San Pellagrino, $6 for a coffee, and $22 for a three-egg omelette breakfast platter was a very reasonable price for a luxury hotel room service menu.

In-room dining menu

Andaz Singapore really pack a great deal into its lobby floor on the 25th floor. Apart from the check-in desks, 25th floor also houses the swimming pool (more on that later), a multi-dining concept called Alley on 25 peppered all around the level, Bar Square as well as the guest lounge, Sunroom.

Alley on 25, is a series of five restaurants and a bar on the 25th floor (same floor as the lobby) all around, positioned to ‘recreate the concept of Singapore alleyway dining’, according to the marketing spiel. I feel this is just a spin to justify having porous restaurant areas and spilling tables all across the common areas. Alley on 25 serves up a variety of cuisine, such as Auntie’s Wok and Steam (Chinese), Smoke & Pepper (Asian grill) and Green Oven (international).

Auntie’s Wok & Steam

Up on level 38 is another restaurant 665°F, the hotel’s premium halal-certified grillhouse, serving up premium cuts and sustainable seafood. Price point wise, you are looking at $100 for a sole.

If you are looking for a good drink, Bar Square, the hotel’s lobby lounge, overlooks the Bugis district and serves up a wonderful range of cocktails. Happy hour is from 5-8pm daily, incredible deals of $12++ for wines, champagne and all cocktails.

Bar Square

I tried the “Best G&T in the World” (or so they claimed), and while it wasn’t complex like Conrad Centennial’s version, it was still yummy and worth its price. Regular hours aren’t terribly expensive too, with cocktails at $16++, champagne at $88++ per bottle (Delamotte Brut NV), and most bottles of wines going for under $60++.

Drinks menu – prices are the same across all restaurants

In-house guests also enjoy complimentary Lounge Hour at the Sunroom from 5-7pm (4-6pm from 1 January 2018), with complimentary wines during these hours.

The swimming pool was on the same floor as the Alley on 25. To access the pool, you either walk through the various restaurants on the 25th floor to get outside, or walk down from the changing rooms on the 26th floor.

Swimming pool

However, it could be a one-off but the front desk service was not fantastic. Despite knowing it’s my first stay, the staff who checked me in did not offer an introduction of the property and some of the perks (complimentary beverages from the mini bar, lounge hour at the Sunroom, for example), and I had to either enquire or read up myself.

I’m also not a big fan of hotels that take out a few floors of a mixed use development given that the hotel part will usually occupy a limited amount of space resulting in very poor or compact space use. In Andaz’s case, while the rooms were pleasantly sizeable, the lobby was tiny (there were hardly any seats for waiting guests) and the Sunroom and the bar didn’t look like it could contain more than 10% of all in-house guests at full occupancy. The swimming pool was also on the same floor as the lobby, that means that guests will have to walk through the restaurants before they get to the pool.

Nevertheless the stay was still a wonderful one for me, given that Andaz did house several special perks such as complimentary cocktail hours for all guests, free mini-bar as well as one of the best views in town. I will definitely head back for another stay or two!

Singapore Airlines increases miles required to redeem flights on Star Alliance partners from 7 December 2017

Published by Shane

If you are one of the few people who uses your KrisFlyer miles to redeem flights on Star Alliance partners instead of Singapore Airlines (horror of horrors!), you will need more miles to book your flights with these partners from 7 December 2017 onwards.

This follows a devaluation SQ made on their own award redemption requirements in March this year. While that increased the number of miles required for bookings with SQ and removed the 15% online redemption discount, the change also removed the surcharges (which typically cost a couple of hundred bucks), so it was considered a nominal inflation.

So what has changed this time?

Across the board there is an increase in the new of miles required for redemption, particularly in Business and First. For those who have been using KrisFlyer miles to redeem on EVA Air to Taipei, it’s now a lot more expensive (and a poorer use of your miles).

Here’s a look at the old and new charts:

Old Chart (For bookings made up to 6 December 17)

New Chart (For bookings made from 7 December 17)

In Economy, travel between most regions don’t see any increase unless you are departing from Southwest Pacific, North America or Africa.

Just some examples of revision in levels for flights from Southeast Asia:

From Southeast Asia to	Economy*		Business*		First*
From Southeast Asia to	Old	New	Old	New	Old	New
Taipei, Hong Kong	15	15	27.5	37.5	37.5	47.5
Japan, Korea, China	25	25	40	43	60	65
Europe	45	45	80	85	107.5	129
USA, Canada	55	55	97.5	97.5	112.5	135

*No. of miles required one-way, in thousands of miles

So how do the changes stack up against redeeming on SQ’s own metal?

From Singapore to	Economy*		Business*		First*
From Singapore to	SQ	Partner	SQ	Partner	SQ	Partner
Taipei, Hong Kong	15	15	27.5	37.5	37.5	47.5
Japan, Korea	25	25	43	43	65	65
Europe	38	45	85	85	115	129
USA	38-40	55	88-92	97.5	118-120	135

*No. of miles required one-way, in thousands of miles. SQ redemption are at Saver levels.

When you stack the revised Star Alliance redemption chart against SQ’s own chart, you will realise that the Star Alliance redemption were for a period of time cheaper than SQ’s own redemption. I would imagine that there will be many redemptions on Star Alliance partner flights, given that they required less miles and also theoretically provided a larger network.

For an airline, it also doesn’t make sense to have its members redeem on partners’ network – I would assume that there is a cost SQ will have to pay its partners for these redemptions.

This revision will inevitably piss off members outside of Asia given that they are the ones who will more likely redeem partner flights. Having said that, the revision also now brings the redemption levels on par, if not a little more expensive, than SQ’s own redemption charts.

So what does this mean for Singapore (or Asia) based members?

If you do redeem exclusively on Singapore Airlines, pretty much nothing has changed. This change is likely to affect non-Singapore based members, such as US or Europe based members who tend to travel more with Star Alliance members with a heavier presence there (e.g. Lufthansa, United).

What’s good for you, however, is that SQ is finally moving its partner flights redemption online. In the past you will have to fill up a form (manually, no less) and send it back to their reservations to redeem a flight on Star Alliance partners, or call up their reservation centre to help you with your redemption at a fee.

Black Friday Airfare Deals from Singapore

Published by Shane

November and December are really some of the hottest sale periods traditionally for retail, but in recent years airlines and hotel partners have also jumped on the bandwagon to offer their own irresistable (some not so) sale to customers too.

This year for Black Friday, here’s a round up of some of the deals available:

Cathay Pacific two-to-go fares

Booking period: 24 November 2017 only

Travel period: 5 January 2018 to 30 April 2018 (except departures from Singapore on 9-18 February; 10-16 & 28-30 March)

Return fare to	Economy
Hong Kong	S$208
Taipei	S$388
Beijing	S$408

British Airways

Booking period: Now to 28 November 2017

Travel period: Now to 31 March 2018

Return fare to	Economy	Premium Economy	Business
Sydney	S$684	S$1484	S$3682
London	S$1210	S$2390	S$5579
Barcelona	S$1118	S$2354	S$5355
Amsterdam	S$1123	S$2459	S$5373
Dublin	S$1135	S$2721	S$6462

Singapore Airlines two-to-go fares (technically not a Black Friday sale, but still on sale)

Booking period:
Economy class: Now to 15 December 2017 (except to Hong Kong, which ends 30 November 2017)
Premium Economy and Business class: Now to 3 December 2017

Travel period (blackout periods apply):
Economy class: 1 January to 31 March 2018
Premium Economy and Business class: 20 November 2017 to 31 March 2018

Special conditions:
Economy: booking must be made with OCBC cards
Premium Economy and Business: booking must be made with Mastercard

Return fare to	Economy	Premium Economy	Business
Bangkok	S$208	–	S$898
Bali	S$248	–	S$938
Hong Kong	S$188	S$808	S$1538
Beijing/Shanghai	S$398	S$1358	S$2458
Seoul	S$588	S$1418	S$2268
Tokyo	S$628	–	S$3368
Melbourne	S$628	S$1488	S$3638
Sydney	S$658	S$1498	S$3648
London	S$1028	S$2688	–
Los Angeles	S$1178	S$2638	S$5738
San Francisco	S$1318	S$2978	S$6078

REVIEW: W Taipei, Wonderful Room

Published by Shane

tl;dr:

If you need to try a W Hotel in the city for the first time, this is a good choice

Small but very comfortable rooms by W’s standard

Great proximity to shopping areas at City Hall and Zhongxiao Road

Full spa facilities, including jacuzzis, steam rooms, sauna and even a cold plunge pool

Small pool surrounded by Kitchen Table and Woobar, not a fantastic location

On-property signature restaurant serving up Chinese cuisine

W Taipei, Wonderful Room

Over the weekend that I was in Taipei, I took advantage of W Taipei’s Super Sunday special offer to bag another stay, in order to requalify for my SPG Gold next year.

A little more about the promotion: This is not listed on Starwood’s website, but instead have to found on W Taipei’s offer page itself. When I reserved, the going rate was about NT$5,800 for a night’s stay with breakfast, which is arguably one of the cheapest rate you can get a W hotel stay at. Definitely worth the splurge even if you are usually a budget traveller.

W Taipei is located at the City Hall station along the Taipei metro, in the same building as the Hankyu President departmental store.

The entrance of the hotel is a little hard to find though. If you are arriving from the metro station (a la budget traveller), you will have to get out of the mall and walk around it to get to the main entrance. Otherwise, there is a little side entrance from the mall to the hotel ground floor lobby, but this is only accessible during the mall hours.

Check-in desk

W Taipei technically does not have its own building – it occupies a significant number of floors, including the top floor that houses the signature Yen restaurant and bar. The check-in desks, as well as Woobar, Dining Table and the WET pool are all located on the 8th floor.

The moment you arrive by foot or by car, the friendly front of house guests will offer to take your bags for you and send it straight to your room, while you head up to the lobby to handle your check-in.

As I was an SPG Gold member, I was upgraded to a room with a premium view – the Taipei 101. Note that the room is still a Wonderful Room, just that the Taipei 101 view comes at a higher price than those on the other side of the floor. The front desk also noted that my birthday was around the corner, and offered me a cake to be sent to my room at my preferred time. How thoughtful!

Plenty of water in the room

Upon entering the room, I realise this must be one of the smallest W rooms I’ve ever stayed in. The separation between the bed and the desk against the wall was nominal, and with a couch beside the window there was hardly any space to move around.

The décor remains consistent with the W theme, with its wacky designs and vibrant colours. The bathroom is an open concept one, with hints of Chinese elements such as the wooden stool and the bamboo ladder that serves as a towel rack.

Bath amenities

One good thing I love about the room: there were plenty of bottled water around the room. I feel this is a small but often overlooked detail, so that drinking water is always within reach anywhere in the room. While some people argue that this leads to a higher wastage, but I feel that is the responsibility of the guest rather than the hotel to ensure minimal wastage.

Party room amenities

There were its usual plethora of in-room merchandise and F&B creative packages (which I thought was clever marketing but incredibly annoying), but also several nice touches such as the white noise machine that aids with falling asleep. The bath came with the standard W amenities, including my all-time favourite lemon scented body wash.

Complimentary coffee and TWG tea

After spending some time in the room, I went to check out the gym and the spa, both of which were incredibly delightful. The gym was spacious and well-equipped, and also has a separate room for classes. There were plenty of treadmills (although Taipei city is a great city to run in), as well as barbells and even a smith machine.

Spacious gym, well equipped

If you are living in Taiwan and have a lot of money to spare, the FIT gym is also opened for public membership at NT$150,000 (that’s right, 150 grand) a year. The membership comes with a free night’s stay at W Taipei, 5000 starpoints, a range of discounts, complimentary parking and other perks. There are also group and multi-year discounts as well, check them out here.

Over at the AWAY Spa, there was a full suite of spa facilities in the changing room, including two jacuzzi pools, a cool dip pool, a sauna and a steam room, which was a far cry from what W Bangkok offered.

Jacuzzi

Beyond that, what’s amazing is that there were even lounge chairs for guests to lie on, each complete with its own TV screen if they need a little entertainment.

The WET Pool is located on the 8th floor as well, right next to Woobar and adjacent to the WET bar. The pool is rather large by a city hotel standard, although it can look rather intimidating with deck chairs all around the pool, as well as the Kitchen Table and Woobar overlooking it as well.

During my stay, it was the WET Pool’s monthly pool party (happens every

WET pool

As an SPG Gold member, the hotel also serves up complimentary cocktail hours at both Woobar and the Yen Bar on the top floor, from 5pm to 7pm daily. What’s available on the menu (which are the same at both venues) include prosecco, wines, housepour spirits and soft drinks.

YEN Bar

Along with the drinks, Woobar also serves up free snacks for you to nibble on. However, I personally recommend heading up to the Yen Bar – I can’t describe the view enough, you just have to enjoy a drink while watching the sun goes down, a very pretty sight.

Evening drinks for elite members, 5-7pm

Next morning’s breakfast was at the Kitchen Table, serving up a good mix of local fare and the usual western breakfast offerings. One thing I always love about hotel breakfasts in Asia is the availability of Chinese staples, such as soup noodles or rice and soup.

The Kitchen Table

Today, I had a bowl of cooked-to-order soup noodles with braised meat and shrimps, a good start to a cold morning. Other asian offerings such as dumplings and scallion pancakes were also on the table, which happen to be some of my favourite Taiwanese fares. What was disappointing though was that I could not find luroufan, or braised pork rice. I swear I saw someone in the restaurant having it, but I just couldn’t find it anywhere on the buffet line.

Cook-to-order soup noodles

What was also interesting was the availability of ice cream for breakfast, which I gamely took. (Well, if you can have champagne for breakfast, I don’t see why you can’t have ice cream for breakfast too.) The ice cream proved to be disappointing on scooping, as it was half melted, so I took a bite and threw the rest away.

Udon noodles

Overall, the breakfast was decent but I wouldn’t pay the door rate for the breakfast, as affordable options around the area can be found very easily since this is Taipei.

Even without the promotion, W Taipei turned out to be rather outstanding, packing a lot of punch into the floors that it occupies. The unobstructed view of Taipei 101 also makes it a premier choice for Taipei’s well-known year end countdown parties, given its first class view of the fireworks from the iconic building at the stroke of midnight. All in all, the great Taiwanese service, W design philosophy infused with local flair and premium location adds up to a memorable premium stay on your holiday in Taipei.