New partnership between Qantas and Accor lets you double-dip by earning points in both programmes for a single flight or stay
In a partnership between Qantas and Accor that goes live today, Qantas Frequent Flyers and some Accor ALL members can now earn points in both programmes when they stay and spend at Accor hotels, or by taking a Qantas flight, under a new partnership between the airline and hospitality group.
The partnership was first announced in November 2020, but the details are only made known today as the partnership takes off.
First and foremost, members must sign up for an account (if they don’t already have one) with both Qantas Frequent Flyer (QFF) and Accor ALL, and link them, before they can double-dip on the points.
All Qantas Frequent Flyer members can earn Qantas points on Accor hotel stays
All QFF members, regardless of status, will earn 3 Qantas points per Australian dollar spent at Accor properties across Asia Pacific, including properties in Singapore. This is on top of what you will earn as an Accor ALL member.
For instance, if you spend S$1,200 (about A$1,210) on a night’s stay at Raffles Hotel, that will rake in 3,630 Qantas points, on top of your usual Accor points based on your status.
Earn Qantas points for your stays in Accor properties across Asia Pacific
Eligible spend at the hotel includes all other expenses incurred during your stay, including restaurant meals, spa services, internet (where there’s a fee), room service and more.
Note that the rate of earning is regardless of your status with both QFF and Accor ALL, the earn rate remains the same at 3 Qantas points per A$1 spent, without any status bonus.
Select Accor ALL members and QFF members can also earn Accor points on Qantas flights
However, earning Accor points for flights is only limited to elite members of both programmes. Eligible members are:
Qantas Platinum and Platinum One members, or
Accor ALL Gold, Platinum and Diamond status members
For every A$10 eligible spend on a Qantas flight, all the above-mentioned members will earn 2 Accor points, with the exception of Accor ALL Gold members who will earn 1 Accor point. Again, this is on top of the usual Qantas points and status credits you will earn.
ALL Platinum (and above) members will earn 2 ALL points per A$10 spent on eligible flights
One very specific requirement in order to receive your Accor ALL points is that the flight must be marketed (carries a QF flight number) and operated by Qantas. So if you are flying Jetstar with a QF flight number, you are out of luck.
Qantas defines eligible spend as “the price paid for the seat including fare and carrier charges, but excluding government imposed taxes or optional fees such as seats, bags, upgrades”.
If you recall, Accor points are essentially a flat-rate rebate, every 2,000 points will net you 40 Euros that you can use to offset your hotel spend. As such, each Accor point is worth 2 Euro cent, or about 3 Singapore (or Australian) cents. This translate to an effective rebate of 0.3% for Accor Gold members or 0.6% for Qantas Platinum, Platinum One and Accor Platinum and Diamond members.
Fast-track to Accor ALL Silver
For QFF Gold or higher members who do not hold any status with Accor ALL, Accor is also offering a fast-track to its Silver tier for Qantas Frequent Flyers holding Gold status or above with just one stay.
Accor ALL Silver is the first elite tier in its programme, with only some nominal perks. The only noteworthy benefits are a ‘priority welcome’ at select hotels, as well as a welcome drink and late checkout where available.
Note that Accor ALL Silver is also given with the Accor Plus membership, so this fast track is not particularly attractive. Moreover, there are no additional fast-track for higher tiers, including Accor ALL Gold or Platinum.
Of course, you must be members of both programmes in order to link them, but if you don’t have a membership with either, there will be a link to sign up along the way.
Process flow to link accounts
Final thoughts
This partnership moves in the right direction for its members, by allowing an official double dipping in both programmes for either a stay or a flight. What this also does is to further encourage loyalty to both programmes, given that all other rival programmes now only allow you to credit points into a single programme at any point in time.
Accor Pacific CEO Simon McGrath said this was a major milestone for the travel industry, enabling greater benefits for loyalty members across more than 1,200 Accor hotels, apartments and resorts in the Asia Pacific region.
“We are joining forces to reward our customers, delivering exceptional travel benefits and unrivalled service for people who enjoy our two much-loved brands,” Mr McGrath said.
“Our partnership with Accor launches at an ideal time, with domestic and international borders reopening and frequent flyers starting to plan and book their next getaway,” said Qantas Loyalty CEO Olivia Wirth.
While Qantas points are not as highly valued as some other frequent flyer programmes, this added bonus of earning Accor ALL points may drive up the value by a little more, especially if one travels a lot within the region. The only downside is the definition of ‘eligible flights’ for the earning of Accor ALL points on Qantas flights – for Singapore-based travellers, it would be an added incentive if Jetstar flights are also included in the programme.
Sofitel City Centre is arguably one of the Singapore’s finest hotel. Modern furnishing, comfortable and elegant rooms, great food, this hotel still packs a punch for a staycation, even in the face of Covid-19.
Sofitel City Centre sits in one of the most remarkable buildings in Singapore, Guoco Tower. Formerly known as Tanjong Pagar Centre, the building has since been renamed to Guoco Tower, cementing its role as Guocoland’s flagship development in Singapore and its location where the head office resides.
Completed in 2016, Guoco Tower became the tallest building in Singapore with a standing height of 290m – a mere 10 metres taller than the famed Republic Plaza, OUB Centre and UOB Plaza. This record was made due to a lifting of height restrictions in downtown Singapore as it sits within a flight path towards Paya Lebar Airbase, which is due to be decommissioned by 2030.
Developed by Guocoland, the building was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Back then, it was rather hard pressed to find yet another plot of land in the heart of the Shenton Way/Tanjong Pagar business district to build yet another mixed development, but Guocoland secured this parcel of land back in November 2010 for a cool S$1.7 billion.
The building comprises a myriad of uses: retail, commercial, residential and a hotel. What’s particularly notable is Wallich Residences, a very exclusive 181-unit development which starts at 180m above the ground – equivalent to 50 stories, offering an amazing view over the city.
The hotel
Sofitel City Centre is Singapore’s second Sofitel property, after Sofitel Sentosa Spa & Resort. Opened in 2016, the 223-room property is styled as a luxury full-service hotel.
Consistent with other new hotels built in the same era, the hotel is nested as part of a larger development, with its main lobby on the fifth level of the building. Guest rooms start from level 7 to level 20, with premium rooms located on levels 15 to 17, while club rooms are 18 to 20.
Most of the hotel’s restaurants and facilities are contained on the fifth and sixth floors, which can be accessed without a key card.
The hotel has only one in-house restaurant, Racines, situated on level 5. On the same floor you will find the hotel’s lobby bar as well, 1864. The recreational facility, including the outdoor pool, So Fit gym and the hotel’s club lounge, Club Millesime, are all located on level 6.
Lobby lounge – 1864
The hotel offers only five types of rooms, three rooms and two suites. Rooms offered include Luxury Room, Luxury Premium Room and Club Luxury Room, while the two suite types available are Prestige Suite, and the largest Joaquim Suite.
All the entry level rooms are of equal sizes at 38 square metres, while the Prestige Suite takes up the footprint of two rooms. The Joaquim Suite is the largest suite on-site, spanning 114 square metres, featuring high ceilings and towering windows across the suite. The suite also comes a fully-equipped kitchen, a 10-seater dining table, a spacious living room and an exclusive lounging area.
For this stay, I booked a Prestige Suite, as well as a separate room for a group of us to spend New Year’s Eve at.
Booking & checking in
This was a new year’s eve stay, and given that international travel was nearly impossible, my friends and I decided to check out local hotels for a two-night staycation.
Most hotels were charging an arm and a leg for a New Year’s eve stay, but surprisingly Sofitel City Centre were holding prices steady. They didn’t offer any festive packages for the last day of the year, but in fact went a step further to include the date for the Accor Black Friday sale, and the suite went for about $600 per night.
One thing to note – you will not be able to add a third person to the room online. To do so, you will need to call up the hotel and get them to manually do so. The extra bed, along with breakfast and other entitlements you may have, will come at an additional $160++ per night.
A note about car park
Guoco Tower has two car parks, A & B, with only Car Park B providing direct access to the car park.
While the hotel sits in the Guoco Tower, the hotel doesn’t offer complimentary parking for guests. If you are doing a weekend stay – good for you, parking is at a very affordable S$2.50 per entry per day. However, the rates for weekdays are pretty exorbitant, so you are better off leaving your car at home.
Day / Time
Rate
Mondays to Fridays 7am to 4.59pm 5pm to 6.59am next day
$1.50 per 30 min $2.50 per entry
Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays 7am to 6.59am next day
$2.50 per entry
Guoco Tower Car Park B parking rates
The Prestige Suite
As the entry-level suite for the hotel, the Prestige Suite is a one-bedroom suite, with a separate living and bedroom area. Spanning the size of two regular Luxury rooms, the expansive suite is practically a mini-apartment: a living room complete with a dining area, and a luxurious bedroom with a bathroom large enough for a mahjong session.
The main door opens up to the living and dining area. The living area is located closer to the opposite end of the room from the door. Right by the full floor-to-ceiling window is a beautiful wooden work desk, with a leather seat for the work-in-room moments.
Sofitel City Centre – Prestige Suite living room
On the other wall was a sleek-looking four-seater sofa with an abundance of cushions, fronted by a beautiful oval-shaped glass-top coffee table. At the side was another single armless chair with an ottoman, long enough for stretching out one’s legs for those lazy afternoon naps.
Sofitel City Centre – Prestige Suite living room
Right across from the sofa was a wall-mounted 55-inch Smart TV. However, the viewing distance is a tad too far for a comfortable view.
As we had a third person in the suite, the extra bed was set up right in front of the television.
Sofitel City Centre Prestige Suite – extra bed
Closer to the main entrance was a dining table large enough for four people. At a corner was the minibar and pantry area, where you can find the usual Nespresso machine, coffee capsules, tea bags and glassware. The suite also had a teapot on top of the teacups, which was a nice touch.
Dining area
With most other hotels, the minibar has been emptied out. However, for guests in Prestige Suites, the hotel offers a complimentary fill of the minibar, which has to be requested through in-room dining.
The minibar items are not as fancy as what you’ll usually find in a paid minibar, but still pretty generous by any standards: a small portion of coconut water, two cans of soda, a can of local coffee/tea, a bottle of coconut water, as well as some packaged snacks to last through those late night drinks.
Complimentary minibar items, replenished daily
The bedroom contained a full king-sized bed, along with an ottoman at the foot of the bed. To add on to the comfort of the room, there was yet another lounge-worthy armchair next to the window, with a small coffee stand and standing lamp, looking so inviting for afternoon reads (or mobile gaming). The room also had another 55-inch wall mounted television if you prefer to lie in bed for your TV-binging.
Prestige Suite bedroomPrestige Suite bedroom
The bathroom was arguably my favourite spot in the room. Spacious enough for a bed, the bathroom comprised a double vanity, a humongous bathtub, as well as a separate shower and toilet stalls.
Prestige Suite bathroom
The bathtub comes with this handy tray that holds up your tablet or a book while you are taking your bath, and also comes with a slot for a plastic wine glass if you prefer a tipple in your soak. I tried using the stand for my iPad, but gave up after 10 minutes for fear that the holder will tip over and reverted to watching my show on my phone instead.
Prestige Suite bathroomPrestige Suite bathroom
For the Prestige Suites, Sofitel City Centre uses Hermes amenities, similar to what you may find in the higher grade villas at Sofitel Sentosa. The rooms on the other hand, stock Lanvin amenities.
Hermes amenitiesLanvin amenities – found in lower room types
Club Millesime
Sofitel hotels style their club lounges as Club Millesime. Wine aficionados will know that Millesime is the french word for vintage and typically used by french winemakers to indicate the year. In Sofitel City Centre, Club Millesime is located on the sixth floor of the hotel, tucked in a corner.
Club Millesime
The lounge is a fairly small one, although sufficient for the number of rooms the hotel has. Even with social distancing measures in place, the lounge can take up to about 15 parties of various sizes, including a couple of larger tables for bigger groups. The lounge include an al fresco area, with tables facing the swimming pool for those who prefer to be out in the open.
Club Millesime
Post Circuit Breaker, Sofitel City Centre currently offers one-hour evening cocktail slots for eligible guests, including guests in club rooms, suites and Accor ALL Diamond and Platinum members.
Club Millesime
By default, the lounge offers evening cocktails from 5pm to 6pm, but on busier days the lounge may offer sometimes offer a second seating from 6.15pm to 7.15pm. Due to capacity constraints, all guests will be required to make a reservation for their preferred slot via an online reservation system.
To do so, you will receive an email from the hotel a few days before your stay, with instructions on how to go about making the booking. If you run into any problems with the link like I did, you can also call up the hotel, they are more than happy to help with the arrangements.
Email from hotel
For those who are interested, you can also access the booking links below:
Reserve access to Club Millesime Apero Chic (For Club Guest only)
Evening cocktails
For the evening cocktail session, the lounge offers unlimited alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, as well as a selection of hors d’oeuvres. The selection is offered up as a tray of small portions dished separately in bowls, while drinks are served by the glass.
The key upside to the lounge is that they serve champagne as opposed to sparkling wine, although the choice of champagne may differ by the day, depending on what they have in stock. During my stay, I have been offered Delamotte as well as Duval-Leroy, both are pretty decent options.
In terms of food options, the lounge serves a mix of sweet and savoury snacks. The menu is displayed on the TV screens in the lounge, and the offering during my stay is as follow:
And this is how it is being served:
Evening cocktails, Club Millesime, Sofitel City Centre Singapore
For those looking to fill up, you can always request for unlimited refills of any of the items, but do bear in mind that the staff may be too busy to get to you quickly so please re-order early.
One other tip: if there are two sessions for evening cocktails during your stay, I’d recommend that you go for the later seating if you wish to linger in the lounge even after service stops at 7.15pm. Guests at the first service will usually be ushered out on the dot, and the last pour will be about 15 minutes before the end of the hour. So if you want to maximise your time in the lounge, go for the second seating.
1864 – Lobby Bar
As an Accor ALL Platinum member, I was also offered two welcome drink vouchers which can be redeemed at the lobby bar, 1864. Welcome drink vouchers are offered to all Accor ALL members with Silver or higher status. If you are an AccorPlus member, you will be gifted a complimentary Gold status so the welcome drink is definitely offered on each stay.
The welcome drinks list is fairly extensive, with a two-page spread of options for you to choose from.
Apart from the usual cocktails such as Cosmopolitan and espresso martini, they also offer two options of in-house barrel-aged cocktails, as well as wines, beers and spirits. Unfortunately champagne is out of the list so don’t expect any bubblies.
Facilities
The hotel also has an in-house fitness centre, as well as a swimming pool, both of which are at level 6 of the hotel.
Pre-Covid-19, the hotel used to offer access to the adjacent Virgin Active gym to guests staying in the Luxury Premium rooms or higher, but this has since been suspended as a result of capacity restrictions at the gym.
To use the facilities, a prior reservation is required. The swimming pool is opened from 7am to 8.30pm daily, with access offered in 90-minute blocks, while the gym is opened from 7am to 8pm daily and can only be used in 45-minute blocks, which is a tad short for a proper workout.
Facility
Operating hours
Slot length
So Fit – fitness centre
7am to 8pm daily
45-minute slots, available on the hour
Swimming pool
7am to 8.30pm daily
90-minute slot, available every odd hour (i.e. 7am, 9am, etc)
Racines is the flagship restaurant for Sofitel City Centre and have been serving up an excellent twist of Chinese-French duo cuisine since it opened years ago. An excellent choice for dinner, I have dined here several times during dinner and the experience has always been pleasant.
Since Covid-19 struck Singapore, the face and experience of dining has changed. Previously a self-service buffet spread, Racines now serve an a la carte breakfast that you order on your mobile phone using a customised QR code available on every table.
RacinesRacines
The menu is pretty extensive, but features pretty standard hotel breakfast fare:
Cold Cuts & Cheeses
Beef Salami
Troilspeck
Black Forest Ham
Smoked Salmon
Emmental cheese
Cereal & Yoghurt
All-Bran
Bircher Muesli
Greek Yogurt
Acai Bowl
Salad & Fruit
Quinoa Salad with Chickpeas
Mesclun Salad with Feta Cheese and Vinaigrette
Couscous Salad with Pepper
Fresh Fruits
Bread & Pastries
Mini croissant
Assorted Oven-baked viennoiserie
White toast
Homemade baked bread roll
Gluten free bread
Hot Selections
Eggs – according to your preference
French toast
Waffles
Buttermilk pancakes
Plain porridge
Shredded chicken noodle soup
Paratha with dhall
Egg fried rice
Hot sides
Streaky pork bacon
Grilled tomatoes
Chicken sausage
Crispy hashbrowns
Baked beans
Dimsum
There’s also a selection of hot beverages, including Nespresso coffee and TWG tea as well as assorted juices you can choose from.
If you have gone for repeated stays at the property like I did, you will realise that the menu remains the same and there are no ‘seasonal’ items that switches out every so often.
Racines breakfast
Final thoughts
Sofitel City Centre is indeed one fine hotel for a staycation in the midst of Covid-19, with an excellent location coupled with well maintained rooms and facilities.
This little oasis in the heart of town is a gem, it’s proximity to plenty of good food around the area makes it an excellent choice for a get-together venue, especially for those late night in-room drinks with family and friends.
The hotel offers a decent range of facilities good for a city hotel, even though it’s pretty basic. While the hotel does not offer any spa facilities, the pool is adequately scenic and perfect for that Instagram shot and the fitness centre is sufficient for a basic workout.
Some of the downsides to the hotel is obviously the limited offerings for evening cocktails, but this is pretty compensated with the fact that they serve champagne, a rarity among Singapore hotels. If you would, the hotel’s restaurant, Racines, also The breakfast is also adequate, although the queue situation can be a little out of the world.
If you still have your Singapore Rediscover Vouchers, you can also consider checking out the packages that Klook has to offer here.
Fairmont Singapore is easily one of Singapore’s most popular hotel, mostly owing to its prime location in the heart of the city, as well as being the adjacent property to Singapore’s tallest hotel, Swissotel the Stamford.
Despite being rather familiar with the property, I have not done a stay at this hotel in a long while, so I thought I’ll give it a bit of my money for a weekend stay.
Built as part of Singapore’s iconic Raffles City in the 1980s, the hotel opened as Westin Plaza. The hotel was rebranded as Raffles the Plaza in 2002 when Raffles International Group took over the management of the hotel. In 2007, the hotel underwent another name change to Fairmont Singapore.
As an upscale hotel, Fairmont Singapore boast of over 770 rooms in two towers – North and South Tower – starting from 45 square metres to two Presidential Suites spanning 190 square metres.
At the time of my stay, the hotel was partly used for Singapore government’s quarantine facility for Stay-Home Notices (SHNs), with the South Tower exclusively used for SHN.
As such, Fairmont Singapore is not offering any Fairmont Gold rooms at the moment, as the Fairmont Gold lounge is located on the South Tower. Unfortunately, all the newer suites are also all located in the South Tower, hence unavailable for reservations.
The North Tower comprises 373 rooms with only two room types: the Fairmont Rooms and the Signature King suite. One thing to note as well, the North Tower has not been renovated since 2014 while the South Tower was most recently refurbished in 2019. As such, guests who have previously stayed in the South Tower in recent months will most likely notice the difference in the rooms across both towers.
Fairmont has developed a set of service measures to ensure guests’ wellness and safety during their stay, including ensuring safe distancing and using contactless options where possible.
These are pretty basic measures, but we will talk more about other specific measures that the hotel has taken during our stay.
Pre-arrival check-in
The check-in process begins before you even step into the hotel – 48 hours before, to be exact.
About two days before my arrival, Fairmont sent a pre-arrival online check-in form. Apart from filling in personal particulars, I had to also submit images of IDs of all guests, as well as make an online deposit of the room charges via credit card, so make sure you have all of those ready before completing the form.
While completing the online check-in form, the hotel may also prompt you for paid upgrades, such as this one:
Some may be of good value, so be sure to check them out. For my stay, I was offered an upgrade to Signature King Suite at S$94.16 nett, which was of good value given that my original room booking was under S$150, bring the total to less than S$250 for a suite.
However, I wasn’t planning to spend too much time in a huge room by myself, so I passed on the upgrade.
Upon completing the check-in, you will receive a QR code via email, which you will use upon arrival at the hotel.
Email confirmation of pre-arrival registration
The actual check-in
For those who prefer to check-in the old school at the hotel, that is still possible so fret not if you do not wish to do a pre-arrival online check-in.
At the hotel, check-in was a breeze. I arrived at the hotel at about 11am, hoping that they would afford me an early check-in.
The hotel lobby was demarcated into two zones: The general lobby and free access to the North Tower, and a cordoned-off walkway from the driveway to the South Tower, which is current used as government quarantine facility for Stay-Home Notices.
Cordoned off walkway from entrance to the South Tower (on the right) for guests on Stay-Home Notices
After doing the necessary SafeEntry at the door, I found myself in an empty lobby, so I walked straight up to a counter where I was attended to immediately. What was a nice touch was also a hand sanitiser available at every counter, for a peace of mind.
ALL Priority Welcome counter, with a hand sanitiser pump
The front desk agent asked for my QR code, and I scanned it using my phone. She pulled out my registration details, went to retrieve a phyiscal folder with my keys and details of my stay, and promptly walked me through my stay.
As an ALL Gold member, I also had two welcome drinks, which I could use at Prego, Eight (the poolside bar) or for the first time, as part of in-room dining.
Because I have done the deposit and ID documentation online before arriving, I didn’t have to take out my wallet at all during the time I was at the front desk. In less than five minutes, I took my keys and was on my way to my room.
One key thing to note: the hotel will no longer provide room make-up service every day. So if you are staying for more than a night and require your room to be serviced, you need to call up the front desk and request for it.
The room
For my stay this time, I was booked into a Fairmont King room. Unfortunately there was no free upgrades into a suite, but I was given a room on the 24th floor in the North Tower, which offers a pretty good view towards the Marina Bay and the swimming pool.
Fairmont King roomRoom view of the swimming pool
The Fairmont King room is a 45 square metres room, which is the entry level room at Fairmont Singapore.
At 45 square metres, it’s larger than most other entry-level hotel rooms across Singapore, so that means that there’s ample space for everything in the room.
King bed
An oversized bed takes centrestage in the room, along with a full size couch by the side of the bed. At the foot of the bed was also a bench, good for hosting friends (remember you can only have a maximum of five people in the room) or simply storing your stuff.
The couch next to the bed was incredibly comfortable, and I spent a good amount of time lounging there with a coffee in hand while reading my book.
Window-side couch
Across the bed was a large stand, with a flat-screen TV. There is also a generous work desk, making it perfect for those who need to work within the room.
Flat screen TV and work desk
The room also comes with a balcony, a feature of all Fairmont rooms. This is good for guests who smoke, given that smoking is permitted only on the balconies.
As part of the welcome amenities, Fairmont has prepared a care kit, consisting of a pack of masks, hand sanitiser and antiseptic wet wipes.
Fairmont hotel care kit
To my surprise, Fairmont has also provided a fruit basket, a birthday cake and a handwritten card. It was my birthday month, and this was definitely a very pleasant surprise.
Birthday cake and card
The room also comes with a Nespresso machine, along with three coffee capsules, although you can always request for more. Fairmont also serves TWG teabags in the room for those who prefer tea to coffee.
Nespresso machine in every room
The bathroom is also fairly spacious and has been refreshed in recent years. There is no longer a bathtub in the bathroom, but instead replaced with a standing rain-shower, with a marble slab as a seat for those who prefer to bathe seated.
Bathroom
Fairmont Singapore is currently using Le Labo amenities, presented in small bottles within the bathroom. Le Labo is better known for their fragrances, given that they are a New York-based perfume house. I’m not a big fan of their amenities, and they don’t quite lather up as easily as other amenities I’ve used before. Plus, the rose scent wasn’t particularly attractive to me.
Le Labo amenities
With the pandemic still in the midst of us, Fairmont has also made several changes to the experience within the room.
First up, Fairmont has done away with all the in-room printed matter, including magazines and the information compendium, effectively converting all communication materials digital using the TV. While this is a necessity during this pandemic, this also means that the writing material has also been removed and has to be requested for.
Removal of all in-room literature
The only printed material in the room was a card-stand with a QR code for in-room dining menu. For those who prefer, you can also navigate the menu via the TV screen using the remote control.
The mini-bar is also emptied out, which is a plus point given that Fairmont uses an automatic charge system for its mini-bar, where any item taken from the mini-bar will be charged to the room bill immediately. An empty mini-bar will mean more chilling space for your own drinks.
Empty mini-bar
The hotel also offers complimentary premium wifi for all guests. When I tested the speed in the room, it was at a decent 20mbps for both up and downloads.
The facilities
As part of the government’s required safe distancing measures, Fairmont has also placed capacity limits on all it’s recreational facilities, including the fitness centre, swimming pool and the Willow Stream spa.
The gym can take up to a maximum of 15 guests, with reservation mandatory. Guests can book their slots before or during their stay using the booking link provided in the pre-arrival email, or simply call up the spa directly for bookings.
For both the fitness centre and swimming pool, each room is only entitled to make one booking per day, up to a maximum of two guests for the fitness centre and four for the pool. However, if you are doing only a one-night stay, you can actually make bookings for both days (the day you check in, and the day you leave).
The gym is opened from 7am to 9pm daily, with slots of 2.5 hours available for booking. The five time-slots are: 7am, 9.45am, 12.30pm, 3.15pm and 6.15pm. You do not have to start at the allotted start time, but you will definitely have to vacate the premises by the end of your booked slot.
To book the spa facilities, you will first have to make a booking for a gym slot and then call up the spa to let them know, so they can reserve a spot for you.
While the spa facilities are still operating, Willow Stream is severely limited the usage of the facilities. In the male changing room for instance, each spa pool can only hold one person, while only one person can use the steam room and the sauna at a time. With four pools and two rooms, that means that only a maximum of six people can use the facilities at any point in time.
Fairmont swimming pool
As for the swimming pool, there are 6 slots of two hours each, starting from 7am. For the pool you can book for up to four people per slot, but again every room is entitled to only one slot per day of their stay.
When I was there over the weekend, I was unable to get a slot for the pool at all during my stay on both days. Note that the pool facilities are originally shared between both Fairmont and Swissotel, so once Swissotel starts accepting guests for staycations, getting a slot will be even more challenging.
Welcome drink
As I mentioned earlier, Accor ALL silver members and above are given a welcome drink during their stay. At Fairmont, this benefit can be taken either at Anti:dote, or through the in-room service.
I opted to collect my welcome drink in my room and the ordering option was simple. You simply call up room service, inform them that you will like to use your welcome drink, and they will tell you the options you have.
We opted for a glass of cabernet sauvignon, as well as a mojito (yes, cocktails are available too!). The only downside was that the drinks took quite a bit of time to arrive.
Welcome drinks in the room
Dining options
Guests familiar with Fairmont and Swissotel the Stamford will know that both hotels boast a huge repertoire of food and beverage outlets. However, due to Covid-19, only some of these restaurants are bars are opened.
At the time of writing (September 2020), only the following restaurants are opened:
Swissotel the Stamford
JAAN by KirkWestaway
Open Tuesdays to Saturdays Lunch: 11.30am to 2.30pm (except Tues) Dinner: 6pm to 10.30pm (*Note: AccorPlus benefits don’t apply here)
SKAI
Open daily Lunch: 11.30pm to 2.30pm High tea: 3pm to 5pm Dinner: 5pm to 10.30pm
Clove
Open Fridays to Sundays, 12pm to 10.30pm
Kopi Tiam
Closed
TWG Tea Salon & Boutique
Opened daily, 10am to 10pm (*Note: AccorPlus benefits don’t apply here)
Bar Rogue
Closed
Stamford The Brasserie
Closed
Fairmont Singapore
Prego
Open daily for breakfast and all-day dining until 10.30pm
Mikuni
Open daily except Wednesdays & Sundays Lunch: 12pm to 2.30pm Dinner: 6pm to 10.30pm
Asian Market Cafe
Open daily Lunch: 12pm to 2.30pm (until 4pm on weekends) Dinner: 6pm to 10pm
Szechuan Court
Closed
Anti:dote
Open daily Lunch: 12pm to 2.30pm High tea: 3pm to 5pm Dinner: 5pm to 10.30pm
Brunch in the Skai
As I was staying over the weekend for a celebration, I went over to SKAI for their Brunch in the Skai, which is their signature champagne brunch available every Saturday from 12pm to 3pm.
SKAI
Priced at $158++, the post Circuit Breaker crowd came back with a vengeance: I had to make my reservation more than a month in advance to get a table. And even with the reservation, you could not choose a window table, seating was allocated by SKAI.
Brunch in the Skai champagne brunch, $158++ per pax
For three hours, you get free flow of Taittinger champagne, house wines, select cocktails and all you can eat from the menu below:
The charcuterie board, seafood on ice and cheeses used to be served buffet style, but with the safe management measurements imposed by the government, these items have now been converted to a table service.
While the selection of items doesn’t seem extensive, the quality of the items are excellent, and well worth the price tag even on its own. The desserts were also surprisingly good, I was almost tempted to ask for a second serving even though I was stuffed and buzzed by the end of the session.
Brunch in the Skai – selection of food items
Note that if you are an Accor Plus member, the price of the champagne brunch is broken down into two elements: S$88++ for the food component, S$70++ for the beverage component. This means that the appropriate discount for the food bill (50% for two people, 33% for three etc) will only be applied to the food component, while a flat 15% discount is given for the beverage component.
Pro-tip: One beauty of Swissotel the Stamford and Fairmont Singapore is the ability to cross-sign restaurant bills to your room from any restaurant within these two hotels, regardless of which hotel you were staying with. You can still present your Accor Plus card for the dining benefit, and then the dining bill will added to your room bill which will give you ALL points at the end of your stay.
By contrast, settling the dining bill at the restaurant itself will not give you any Accor ALL points.
Breakfast at Prego
My room didn’t come with complimentary breakfast, but I could still walk into Prego for breakfast if I wanted to.
Since June, hotels that have reopened for staycations have been offering a la carte breakfasts, as opposed to a buffet that was previously the norm.
Similarly, Prego also offers an a la carte menu, with AccorPlus benefits available if you are dining in a group (i.e. up to 50% off). Note that if you are dining alone, a standard 15% discount will apply.
Final thoughts
I got the room at a pretty good rate so I’m not complaining. While the rooms in the North Tower definitely pales in comparison to those in the South Tower which were just recently refurbished in 2019, it was still a very pleasant stay.
The room was comfortably sized, with enough space to lounge around even within the room. I personally loved that couch by the side of the balcony, which I spent a considerable amount of time on reading with a cup of tea.
The hotel was also highly flexible when it came to check-in and check-out timings. I got the room at 11am, while the front desk was kind enough to extend my check-out time till 2pm, giving me a solid 27 hours for my stay. This was unlike my stay at Mandarin Orchard, which offered a 12pm check-out as a ‘courtesy extension’. Having said that, your mileage may vary – it really depends on the occupancy for the next day.
I also personally liked the fact that only one tower was available for staycation guests while the rest of both Fairmont and Swissotel the Stamford were used for Stay-Home Notice guests. This means a significantly lower demand for both the fitness centre and the swimming pool, making bookings for a slot at these facilities much easier. When the hotels start opening up the rest of their rooms for staycation guests, the demand may shoot up and you may find yourself being unable to book any of these recreational facilities, so always call up the hotel to check in advance.
Despite the Fairmont Gold lounge being unavailable, the stay overall was very pleasant. Armed with a wide array of very good restaurants within walking distance, as well as a shopping mall at the feet of the hotel, you will probably be pretty well occupied during your stay.
1 point per S$1 spent via delivery; double the points if you buy directly from the restaurant and pick up yourself.
Accor is offering bonus points for all takeaway and delivery orders from its restaurants during Singapore’s ‘circuit breaker’ month between 7 Apr and 4 May.
The offer
Accor will award 1 point per S$1 spent via delivery service partners (i.e. Deliveroo, GrabFood & Food Panda), or 2 points per S$1 spent if you order directly from the restaurant and pick it up yourself.
Given that the normal earn rate is 1 point per EUR1 (which translates to 0.65 points per S$1), this translates to a roughly 50% or 200% bonus points respectively.
Note that there’s a minimum spend of S$10 per receipt, not that it matters because I’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone spending under that amount if you were to order from a hotel’s restaurant anyway.
How to register for the promotion
Unfortunately the promotion is a little backwards in terms of mechanism – first you collect all the receipts, then you slowly fill up this Google Doc by 5 May 2020.
All points will be credited by June 2020.
Which restaurants qualify?
The promotion page does provide a short list of restaurants that are open for delivery and takeaway, including:
Enjoy delicacies from Racines, Sofitel Singapore City Centre in the comfort of your home
Under the terms and conditions, all restaurants that earn points for dining normally would be considered a participating restaurant, but it seems like many restaurants are closed during this period of time.
First time to Italy, I thought I’ll try to check out some interesting hotels in the cities that I was going to visit.
When I was researching for a hotel in Venice, it turned out that most of the major chains’ properties are not on the islands itself, but situated on mainland. I eventually found MGallery Hotel Papadopoli, which was located in Venice itself, but close enough to the train station so that heavy suitcases will not be a problem.
The hotel has a pretty interesting history, based on one account I found online:
The history of the Hotel Papadopoli Venezia – MGallery by Sofitel is one cast in romance. When the entrepreneurial Count Spiridione Papadopoli purchased the building during the early 19th century, he transformed it into a beautiful palace for his young wife, Teresa Mosconi… The Count eventually sold the building to city officials during the early 20th century, including the stunning gardens adjacent to the building. The Venetian city government later demolished much of the historic garden to build the Rio Novo Canal in 1933, while the palace was converted into a school. At the same time, hoteliers constructed a hotel on what remained of the garden, continuing the legacy of Count Papadopoli and his wife. Several years later, the brilliant landscape architect, Pietro Porcinai, designed a new, marvelous garden within the hotel grounds. Prociani’s masterpiece became the hotel’s lovely Winter Garden.
Whether or not this was true, the hotel was as captivating as the vicinity it serves: Venice.
The hotel
Hotel Papadopoli Venezia is an Accor MGallery collection hotel, housed in a single six-storey building property, complete with a beautiful winter garden. With 96 rooms, the beautiful property is in every aspect a boutique hotel. There was no gym nor a swimming pool, but in Venice there’s really no need for either of that, as I soon found out.
Hotel Papadopoli
While unassuming from the outside, the hotel is decorated in a very classic Venetian style. Pompous chandeliers, grandiose mirror and bed frames are just some of the consistent styles you find across the hotel, from the lobby through to the rooms.
The hotel only has four room types and two suite types, namely: superior double, superior triple, deluxe double, deluxe triple, suite and executive suite.
What’s an MGallery hotel
MGallery is one of the (too) many brands owned by Accor, and this is one bespoke collection of rather eclectic of boutique hotels. Positioned as high-end options, the hotels are usually unique and styled according to the local culture and heritage.
According to Accor themselves:
MGallery is a Collection of high-end hotels all around the world. Each hotel of the Collection stages with talent a unique personality and story, experienced by guests through its architecture, interior design and services. Each hotel is inspired by one of the three typical atmospheres of the Collection. Some hotels present ”Heritage” origins, places filled with history; others reflect an aesthetic universe, a style, the “Signature” of a personality that contributed to their creation or decoration; still others promise a relaxing time, “Serenity” in a natural or urban retreat. All hotels of the Collection invite guests to experience “Memorable Moments”.
AccorHotels.com
Location
The hotel is located on the islands of Venice itself, and is very close to the Grand Canal and Constitution Bridge. The property is about a 10-minute walk to Piazzale Roma and the train station. In terms of walking distance to other attractions within Venice, you are looking at about 20 minutes walking time to Rialto Bridge, or a half hour walk to St Mark’s Square.
Sunset from Ponte Rialto (Rialto Bridge)
Note that public vehicles are not allowed within Venice, so this hotel is arguably one of the closest hotels by road to the main drop-off point at Piazzale Roma where all buses, trams and cars must stop at. Venice is about a 20-minute car ride away from Marco Polo Airport, so from the time I took my luggage, I was checking into the hotel in less than an hour.
Opt for a boat transfer right to the doorstep of the hotel
The hotel can arrange for transfer options for you, which include either a private car service from the airport to the public drop-off point at Piazzale Roma for 50 euros, or a 40-minute boat transfer right to the door-step of the hotel for 180 euros from the airport. If you are adventurous and want to try the public bus, it’s 8 euros per person and takes close to an hour.
Check-in
Check-in was very fuss free. When I arrived, there was no one at all waiting to check in, which is usually the case for small, boutique properties. My check-in formalities were completed fairly quickly, as I have prepaid my reservation. Note that Italy imposes a city tax per person per night, which needs to be collected on arrival.
Check in desk
Very quickly, a porter showed us to the room and arranged for our very heavy bags to be brought to the room.
Welcome drink
As an Accor Live Limitless (they have renamed their loyalty programme) Silver member, I was also given a welcome drink voucher, valid for all three of us in the room.
Welcome drinks can be redeemed either at the bar or the restaurant during the stay, for any drink of your choice except champagnes, vintage wines or spirits. While you can’t get a gin & tonic, you can still either indulge in a prosecco or a good glass of Italian wine.
The room
I had two friends with me, so I booked myself into a Superior Triple room, that had a pair of twin beds and a sofa bed.
Superior Triple RoomWardrobe amenities
The room size isn’t specified on its website, but I estimate it to be about 25 square metres. If you take a look at the floor plans, you may notice that the room sizes very possibility vary a little from room to room, given the unique layout of the property.
Regardless, some guests may find the room rather tiny, but we found sufficient space to open up three large suitcases with relative ease to move around. I would reckon that the room is fairly spacious if it only has to hold two people, with a spare couch on the side for you to lounge on.
Sofa laid out as an extra bed
The room had a window overlooking the courtyard and doesn’t have its own balcony, so smokers will need to trek down outside the lobby to take their puff.
View of the Winter Garden from the room
Despite the small room size, the bathroom was rather generous in space and amenities. For one, I was rather glad that the shower stall was larger than I expected it to be. Apart from a toilet, bidet and a large wash basin, there was still sufficient room for a cushioned stool in the bathroom, good enough for you to place clothes, towels and even a magazine that you want to read on the throne.
Bathroom
The hotel uses C.O. Bigelow amenities, a New York brand founded in 1838. C.O. Bigelow is one of America’s oldest pharmacies, and carries a line of very affordable products. The good thing about the products is that the scent isn’t very strong, so that’s good for people who may be sensitive to scented toiletries.
C.O. Bigelow amenities
While the room didn’t come with any fancy coffee machine, there was complimentary tea and coffee along with a kettle for in-room use. There were also three bottles of Aqua Panna water for us, which were replenished daily.
Complimentary water, replaced dailyBedside power sockets and USB charging port
As part of a welcome gift, the hotel also left a box of butter cookies for us. I hastily opened the box, ripped open the plastic packaging and took a bite of the cookie, which was very buttery albeit a little on the hard side, so people with weak teeth beware.
Dining & Drinking
Hotel Papadopoli Venezia has an on-site bar and a restaurant at the lobby.
The hotel restaurant, Giardino D’inverno, or Winter Garden, is a beautiful restaurant in the middle of the lobby, set with an elaborate gardenscape to look as though you are dining in the wild.
Giardino D’inverno (photo credit: Tripadvisor)
I didn’t have breakfast booked with my reservation (breakfast was 10 euros per pax per night if booked together with the room, and 26 euros per pax per day if you walk in), so I didn’t have the chance to review the fare.
I took a quick look saw that the restaurant offers all-day dining featuring Italian fare. The restaurant menu can be found here, and is priced on the higher side; expect to spend at least 50 euros on food alone.
The lounge bar, La Terrazza, sits on the other side of the lobby beside the restaurant. It’s a pretty cosy lounge with ample seating for at least 30 people, including the two large couches in the lobby.
Lobby loungeMore seating areas in the lobby lounge
Prices for drinks at the hotel bar are predictably more expensive than other restaurants (mostly trattorias) in the area, with coffee going at 5 euros, and a glass of wine starting from 9 euros. If you prefer to dine at the bar (but why?), the restaurant will be happy to serve you there as well.
Final thoughts
I really liked the hotel. Despite the relatively high price point, the hotel worked for me in a few ways. First, the location is perfect; people often underestimate the toil of a heavy suitcase, and given the unique restrictions of Venice, having a hotel on the islands and steps away from the main vehicular drop-off point is the most ideal best of both worlds.
Corridors of the room floors
Second, the comfort of the hotel. Everything in the hotel works: the layout of the room, the bathroom and the gorgeous decor. You don’t need a large room to be comfortable, you just need everything to work the way it should be and this hotel is just that way. You might argue that this is pretty much a no-frills hotel, but in a city like Venice, why would you be cooped up in the hotel rather than out there exploring the islands?
