Shanescape

travel better, travel smarter

Tag: Staycations

  • REVIEW: Shangri-La Singapore, Valley Wing Deluxe Room

    REVIEW: Shangri-La Singapore, Valley Wing Deluxe Room

    Top-notch offering, luxurious experience (with some misses), but time for a refresh.

    The holy grail of staycations in the midst of pandemic, the Valley Wing of Shangri-La Singapore is probably the most hyped-about staycation experience after Covid-19 pretty much closed off cross border travels for Singaporeans.

    All day champagne, decadent breakfast spread, luxurious room and lobby, excellent service — this is effectively the all-business class version of a hotel. Of course, I had to go and see for myself what’s the allure behind this much talked-about luxurious experience.

    Before we jump right into this review, note that the stay was made in May 2021, right before Phase 2 (Heightened Alert), so the experience may differ slightly.

    In this post:
    • About the hotel
    • Booking
    • Location
    • Check-in
    • Car parking
    • Deluxe Room
    • Lobby Lounge – Afternoon tea, Evening cocktails
    • Summit Room – Breakfast
    • Facilities
    • Final thoughts

    The hotel

    Shangri-La Singapore marks the beginning of the Shangri-La Hotel Group. Founded by Malaysian businessman Robert Kuok, the hotel was set on Orange Grove Road, envisioned to be an oasis in the vicinity of Orchard Road, then set to be Singapore’s golden shopping district.

    The sprawling luxury property, covering some 15 acres, was built in stages: The Tower Wing was the first to be completed in 1971, followed by the Garden Wing in 1978. Consequently the Valley Wing was added in 1985, bringing the total room count to over 1,000.

    Shangri-La Singapore is on a different level of exclusiveness: it also has the reputation for hosting several high level government-to-government meetings, with countless foreign delegates and dignitaries staying at the hotel through the decades.

    The property has hosted countless foreign dignitaries, international conferences, and high society weddings. One iconic G2G meeting – the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s defence summit – also took its name from the hotel, signifying the importance of the hotel to international relations. 

    One hotel, three wings

    Built over more than a decade, Shangri-La Singapore comprises three key wings: Tower Wing, Garden Wing and Valley Wing.

    View of Tower and Garden Wings

    The Garden Wing is more often than not referred to as the entry-level wing, even though it was not the first to be built of the three. Completed in 1978, the wing added an open-air garden atrium and cascading waterfall, giving the property its resort feel. A much shorter building with only five stories, all rooms have balconies which overlook the abundant greenery or the swimming pool. 

    Tower Wing is the main high-rise block of the hotel, stretching some 24 storeys. The Tower Wing is the original building that opened with the hotel in 1971, but it’s also the most up-to-date, having completed a major renovation in 2017. It also hosts the hotel’s Horizon Club lounge, as well as the five themed family suites (pick from: castle, outer space, safari, treetop and underwater). The wing is currently closed to bookings, as it’s used for SHN accommodation.

    The Valley Wing was finished in 1985, and is practically a hotel within a hotel. It boasts a private driveway and entrance, a lounge that serves all-day champagne, and the most opulent breakfast in the house at the Summit Room. Guests receive special Valley Wing monogrammed bathrobes and amenities, and should you venture out to mix with the hoi polloi at the hotel’s shared facilities, you’ll even find special reserved seating at the pool. 

    Shangri-La Singapore Valley Wing

    Booking

    Citi Prestige came out with a unbeatable deal for cardholders earlier in the year. At S$250++ per night, this was significantly cheaper – at almost half price – of the best available deals in 2020.

    Given the good deal, of course the limited number of room nights were snapped up pretty quickly. I didn’t manage to get my hands on one of these deals, but the hotel was quickly to counter-offer with other deals they had available, including the 28-hour Weekday Indulgence package.

    Priced at $488++ for two people or $588++ for three people, essentially you get a Valley Wing Deluxe Room with a standard check-in time at 3pm, but with a super late check-out time the following day at 7pm. Effectively, you will get double dips at the afternoon tea and evening cocktails for this package.

    Here’s the low-down of the full inclusions:

    • 28-hour weekday staycation valid from Sunday to Thursday (check-in time from 3pm and check out time at 7pm)
    • Daily breakfast for 2 adults and 2 children below 12 years old at The Summit Room
    • Unlimited wine, champagne, juice, coffee and tea from 11am to 10.30pm, at the Valley Wing Lounge
    • Afternoon tea, from 2pm to 5pm, at the Valley Wing Lounge
    • Evening canapés and cocktails, from 5pm to 7pm, at the Champagne Bar
    • Playtime at buds by Shangri-La, one complimentary session per night
    • Playtime at Splash, one complimentary session per night
    • Extra bed for 1 child below 12 years old (subject to hotel availability)
    • One complimentary parking per stay with unlimited entries
    • High-speed, unrestricted Wi-Fi and broadband Internet access

    Location

    The remote nature of Shangri-La Singapore also means that it is definitely not the most conveniently located hotel. While it’s quite near Orchard Road, the hotel is a 20-minute hike from Orchard MRT, with a uphill terrain thrown in for good measure.

    The main lobby – where Garden Wing and Tower Wing guests will arrive at – is located along Orange Grove Road, which can be entered from either Orchard Road or Stevens Road. This is also where the main car park is located at, including the underground car park in front of the hotel.

    On the other hand, the exclusive Valley Wing gets its own driveway along Anderson Road. To access it, you will need to enter Anderson Road from Stevens Road, and keep a close lookout for the uphill driveway on the right side. If you miss that and arrive at Orange Grove Road, unfortunately you will need to make a large loop to go again.

    Don’t miss the entrance on the right (image: Google Maps)

    A note about parking

    Guests staying at the Valley Wing will be invited to park along at the private car park outside of the Valley Wing. Parking space is very limited, even with cars lined up along the driveway, so I would imagine you will be redirected to the main car park if the area is full.

    Note that your stay should come with unlimited in/out privileges. If you are parking at the main car park, be sure to ask for a complimentary parking coupon from the concierge before you exit.

    Check-in

    I arrived at about 2pm, an hour ahead of the stipulated check-in time of 3pm. With many other hotels in Singapore this usually isn’t a problem, and a room would normally have been available by 2pm.

    After being instructed to park my car along the driveway as all the lots have been taken up, I was ushered into the lobby, which definitely a grand first impression. 

    Shangri La Singapore, Valley Wing lobby

    Think high ceilings, old school charm: the Valley Wing lobby was cosy, yet grand in its welcome. The first thing that will definitely catch your eye is the 8.6-metre tall painting. Produced by renowned Hong Kong artist Lam Chung, the artwork is a visual depiction of what James Hilton wrote in his 1933 novel, of a fictional idyllic settlement high in the mountains of the Tibet which Hilton called ‘Shangri-La’.

    After you take your eyes off the painting, you will be escorted to one of the two check-in desks. Unfortunately, my room wasn’t available even at 2pm, so my party was instead directed to enjoy the afternoon tea at the lobby lounge.

    Valley Wing, Lobby Lounge

    In the mean time, the very friendly agent helped me with the check-in procedures and briefed me on my entitlements, before showing us a table at the lobby lounge.

    The room – Deluxe Room

    Valley Wing comprises 150 rooms and suites across 5 room types. The entry level room is the Deluxe Room where most guests will be staying, but once you move above that, you get a range of suites from the 1-bedroom suite to the sprawling Shangri-La Suite.

    RoomRoomsSize
    Deluxe10557m2
    1 Bedroom Suite1179m2
    Deluxe Suite12110m2
    Singapore Suite2238m2
    Shangri-La Suite1348m2

    The package comes with the entry level Deluxe Room. Running at 57 square metre, this is probably one of (if not) the largest hotel room in Singapore you may find for an entry-level room, even though there’s nothing entry-level about the Valley Wing.

    The Valley Wing was built in 1985, and it’s unclear if it was ever renovated after that. If you are an ardent fan of local staycations, you will quickly realise that the rooms are a throwback to rooms of yesteryears, with well worn wall sockets and an analog thermostat. One step in, you feel like you have taken a time warp back to the 1990s.

    Deluxe Room

    An elegant room with an oversized bed in the middle of the room, a sofa right in front of the window that overlooks Anderson Road, adorned with a coffee table big enough for high tea; yet another arm chair that looks like it belonged to the Buckingham Palace; an oak study table on the left of the TV console, and a dressing table on the right side… one could go on and on about the furnishing in the room. It was old-fashioned lux, and somewhat a mash up of British and oriental charm.

    Deluxe Room
    Deluxe Room

    The room comes with a full-sized couch just in front of the window ledge, which would have been perfect for those in-room afternoon teas and evening drinks even during Singapore’s famed Phase 2 Heightened Alert. We were pretty glad we didn’t have to resort to that, though.

    Deluxe Room

    There is also a work desk if you need it, with plenty of space for all your devices and wires. The chair belonged to the Elizabethan era, where the idea of back support was virtually non-existent.

    Work desk & TV

    Next to the desk was the TV console, and probably one of the smallest TV I’ve seen in a hotel room in a very long time. Not only is the screen pathetically small for a luxury hotel, it does not support any of the modern offerings, so you will have to bring along your own casting devices (Chromecast, Apple TV, anything) and cables if you need that.

    Bathroom

    The bathroom comes with a separate dressing area separated from the bedroom area by a partition, where the wardrobe is as well. Having said that, the bathroom is probably the best sign of its aristocratic factor: double vanity sinks, a bathtub large enough for two people to sit in, a separate shower cubicle with a marble seat, and a toilet with an old-fashion bidet.

    Toilet with bidet

    The Valley Wing rooms come with L’occitane Jasmin & Bergamote amenities, which are pretty much top of the range even within the L’occitane mainbrand. A quick tip: if you didn’t bring your bubble bath or bath bombs, simply empty an entire bottle of the amenity into the bathtub when you run the bath, and the bubbles will naturally come as you fill it with water.

    Jasmin & Bergamote L’occitane amenities

    If baths aren’t your thing (how terrible!), there’s a standing rainshower stall, feel free to step in and have your standing showers.

    There are also an assortment of disposable bathroom amenities at the washbasins, including a very thoughtful hair rubber band for ladies to use. The housekeeping staff religiously tops up whenever anything on this shelf is being used, but if you do need extra, just give housekeeping a ring and they will promptly bring them up for you.

    Bathroom amenities

    There is a small dressing area outside of the bathroom, with a wooden folding gate to separate it from the bedroom area. You will be able to find most of the wardrobe amenities there, including bathroom slippers, ironing and board, and more in that area. You could even change into a wedding gown there with no lack of space.

    Minibar

    In-room refreshments wise, the room comes with a mini-fridge (empty, of course), Nespresso machine with complimentary coffee pods, as well as their famed in-house assorted teabags.

    There is also a generous fruit platter atop a small drawer where you can find a small set of cutlery for your personal use.

    Shangri-La teabags

    Legend has it that the hotel used to stock its minibar which was complimentary for all Valley Wing guests, but this perk has since been removed. The hotel touts it as a safety measure in the face of Covid-19, but obviously past guests and reviewers called it a cost-cutting measure.

    Lobby Lounge

    The first thought of a ‘lobby lounge’ brings to mind a dedicated room located at the lobby, similar to club lounges in many other hotels. But here at Shangri La Valley Wing, the entire lobby is a lounge, which is probably a rather foreign concept for many.

    This is probably the space you will be spending plenty of time in throughout your stay, to justify the price tag at which the room comes at.

    Lobby Lounge

    The lobby lounge is also where you will find the Champagne Bar, which as the name suggests, serves all-day champagne, available from 11am to 10pm daily.

    Despite its nomenclature, the bar only serves Veuve Clicquot as its choice of bubblies. But of course, apart from champagnes, they will be happy to serve other wines and cocktails too.

    Champagne Bar

    The drinks menu is a pretty formidable one. Apart from Veuve Clicquot that Shangri-La Singapore serves as the housepour champagne, you may also opt for the Italian Berlucchi 61 Rose as the sparkling rose of choice.

    You can also find a carefully tailored selection of gins from around the world in a special gin trolley located at the Champagne Bar. Choose your own gin and tonic pairing, along with your preferred garnish, from a wide range of premium gin options including Singapore’s very own Brass Lion Gin. Spoilt for choice? leave it in the hands of the bartenders to recommend the perfect combination.

    Champagne

    On top of that, you have a selection of nine other wines to choose from, as well as 10 different cocktails including three champagne cocktails to indulge to your heart’s (and liver’s) delight.

    A copy of the full menu can be found here.

    If you are not too full from drinking the entire day, there’s also some food available during the afternoon tea (2pm to 5pm), and evening canapes (5pm to 7pm) daily. For those with extended check-out times, you are also able to double dip and enjoy another round of drinks and food until your check out time.

    The afternoon tea is certainly decent by any club lounge standards. Served on a two-tier stand, the meal comes with an assortment of sandwiches, as well as a plate of sweets including cakes and kuih-kuihs. There’s also a side of scones – both plain and raisins – served separately, with clotted cream and jam on the side.

    Afternoon tea

    Of course, you can order a complimentary coffee, tea or even something alcoholic to go with your afternoon delights.

    Evening cocktails

    If you are enjoying drinks through the day, you will kind of feel that the food from afternoon tea simply flows over to evening canapes. The evening canape spread is also served on a (pretty much the same) two-tier stand, but filled with different items.

    For the first day, we got a mish-mash of sushi, soba, puff pastries, more kuih-kuihs and some fried items. The second day’s items were a little better, with chicken wings and steamed siew-mais. While it’s heartening to see that the menu does rotate daily, it really isn’t anything to write home about, but simply an accompaniment to your evening drinks if you so choose to.

    The Summit Room

    One of the key selling point for Valley Wing guests is breakfast at the Summit Room. In the shape of a round room topped with an opulent chandelier, the room is also decked out with intricate artwork on the curved walls, gorgeous carpets and some of the most beautiful furnishing you can find.

    Summit Room

    Breakfast hours at the Valley Wing are 7am to 10.30am on Mondays to Saturdays, and ending slightly later at 11am on Sundays and Public Holidays.

    Note that Valley Wing guests are given a choice of breakfast at the Summit Room or The Line, but you will want to just settle your breakfast at the Summit Room. 

    Unlike many other hotels, Valley Wing guests do not have to make an advance booking for breakfast. As such, we (a party of three) made our way down at about 9.30am for breakfast.

    This is where the service – or lack thereof – became a sore point in my stay. Despite it being a mid-week stay, the Summit Room was unfortunately full save for one single round table right by the door. I asked if we could take that round table, but was politely declined as they had to keep the table in case a group of five people turned up for breakfast.

    We were instead offered an outdoor table at at the patio, which we reluctantly accepted. The only table left on the patio was not acceptable either; the dining table was of a proper height, but the chairs were lounge chairs, so when you are seated, the table was at your shoulder height. Not the most ideal seat for breakfast.

    Outdoor patio seating

    I immediately provided feedback on the table and asked if there’s any other table available. I then asked again if we could take the round table, but was once again declined. We were instead offered to head out to the lobby lounge for our breakfast.

    This time round, I pressed the front of house and asked why we couldn’t take that table, given that there’s no other parties waiting to be seated and it was close to the end of breakfast hour. The reply given to me once again was that they could only seat a party of five at that table, and we only had three people. For context, there are only two round tables that can fit a party of five, and the other table was occupied with four diners.

    Eventually, we settled for a table at the lobby lounge, which again wasn’t the most ideal as all the tables at the lobby are rather small and not meant for dining.

    I reasoned that it was almost close to the end of breakfast service, and that the other table was close to finishing up anyway, but was still denied the table. True enough, for the remainder of the breakfast service, the said round table was left empty (no other guests in fact came for breakfast after us), and the hotel could have three more happy guests if they had exercised better discretion and situational decision making in this instance.

    The level of inflexibility bewildered me, especially at a luxury property, in a premier wing no less. While I understand that some properties do not empower its staff to make decisions outside of protocol, a simple check with the manager on duty could have easily solved the issue (more on this later).

    The hotel could also benefit from doing a reservation system for its guests – not so much as to limit them to a particular time, but to better manage its table allocation especially for larger parties.

    The Real Breakfast Review

    Apart from the little brouhaha surrounding sitting, Shangri-La Singapore Valley Wing offers a pretty impressive breakfast spread.

    Each guest is entitled to two choices of main courses from a wide menu of over a dozen items, including local and western fare. Based on online reviews, guests used to be able to order unlimited portions but this has since been reduced to just a choice of two.

    Breakfast menu

    The menu has been pared down compared to past reviews, including this one by Milelion. For instance, the hotel no longer serves its famed Bikini Sandwich, nor offer a Japanese breakfast on its menu. The tale of cost reductions.

    On top of that, there is also a mini continental breakfast items spread available within the Summit Room, with bread, pastries, charcuterie, fruit, yoghurt, cereal and cheeses for one to pick and choose from. If hot food is not your thing, this would have been more than enough to fill you up

    Summit Room breakfast semi-buffet
    Summit Room breakfast semi-buffet

    Since there were three of us, we took advantage to order a variety of dishes to sample. Given that the steak and eggs were immensely popular, we decided to order one for each of us, and a different second course.

    As a form of service recovery for denying us a table in the Summit Room, the manager relented to make an exception to allow us to order one additional main, so we ended up with 7 mains for three of us.

    Breakfast – Steak & Eggs

    The steak and eggs is cooked to order; you are asked for the doneness you’ll like for your steak. The steak came pretty on point, even though the photo didn’t do justice to it. After all, who doesn’t like a good cut of tenderloin for breakfast? What I thought could have been better was if the steak could come with a simple sauce, or perhaps even some greens on the side, instead of just a single vine tomato.

    Breakfast – Nasi Lemak

    The nasi lemak was probably my next most favourite dish. While the portion is not big, the flavour is pretty authentic and packs a punch.

    Breakfast – French Toast

    The french toast was rather excellent as well. It came pretty crispy, while retaining the soft and moist nature when you slice it up.

    Breakfast – Valley Wing Half-Boiled Eggs with Caviar and Toast Soldiers

    The Valley Wing Half-Boiled eggs is supposedly another famed Shangri-La offering, and my guess is that this is because of the caviar. I’m personally not a fan of caviar, but I do get how this combo of bread, eggs and roe works.

    Breakfast – Roti Jala

    Roti jala is not so commonly found in Singapore, so this is a pleasant surprise. The winner of this dish is the curry, which warrants additional servings of the roti.

    Overall, Valley Wing breakfast is prided on quality instead of quantity. Individual dishes are excellent, but the portions are puny especially if you are big eaters (like us).

    Unfortunately, the limit of two mains per guest also means that you will hardly be filled even if you maxed out your quota (as we have found), and you will have to make do with the continental breakfast buffet to get a hearty breakfast.

    Facilities

    Shangri-La Singapore was built to be an oasis in a city centre, so obviously it was going to be self-contained as far as possible. That means, you get a galore of facilities fit for royalty without having to step out of the compounds at all.

    FacilityOperating Hours
    Swimming pool6am to 8pm
    Fitness centre6am to 10pm
    Tennis courtsBy reservation
    The Chi Spa10am to 7pm
    Kid’s club8am to 7.30pm
    Business centre24 hours

    Swimming pool

    Shangri-La has a large free-form swimming pool, located in the centre of the three wings, open for all guests’ use from 6am to 8pm daily. This is a massive pool – probably one of the biggest among hotels in Singapore – measuring in at 912 m3. The pool is also decently deep, ranging between 1.2 to 2.5 metres deep, but the deep end is cordoned off while we were there.

    Swimming pool

    Due to the pandemic, you will have to enter and exit the pool via a single point of entry near The Line, with the necessary check-ins (and outs) done via TraceTogether.

    There is also a separate kids-only Splash Zone, where only kids can use (adults can’t enter if you don’t have a under-12 with you).

    Fitness Centre / Gym

    The fitness centre, or Health Club as termed by the hotel, is open daily from 6am to 10pm. No reservations are required, but given the latest regulations you may wish to check with the hotel if you need to be vaccinated to use the gym.

    Fitness Centre (photo: Shangri-La Singapore)

    The gym is humongous even for a hotel of this size. The space also has plenty of natural light, with floor-to-ceiling windows throughout most of the gym to give guests a view of the lush gardens outside. 

    There is also a sauna, steam room and in-door whirlpool within the changing rooms, but unfortunately these facilities are closed during this period of time.

    Given the size of the fitness centre, the hotel also sells annual memberships at S$3,000 a year to use the gym, swimming pool and other health club facilities.

    Shangri-La also has three tennis courts available for guests to rent at S$10.40 per hour, which I understand to be very reasonable. I don’t have photos of the courts but Milelion does have some very reasonable ones.

    The Chi Spa

    We didn’t visit The Chi Spa, but for those who are interested, the spa is located in the Garden Wing (open daily, 10am to 7pm). Pricing is pretty standard hotel spa prices: S$85++ for a 30 minute foot massage, or S$165++ for a 60 minutes treatment. The full menu and price list can be found here.

    Buds by Shangri-La – Kid’s Club

    We also didn’t review this (given there weren’t any kids on this stay), so you will find a more meaningful review by GirlEatWorld here (scroll to near the bottom for the section on Buds) and one by Women’s Weekly here.

    Final thoughts

    Valley Wing

    Shangri-La Singapore definitely delivered on the luxe experience — only if you prefer the old-school luxury back in the 1990s. I enjoyed my stay there, only because it was a marked departure from the experience accorded by other properties with their modern conveniences, so this is kind of a novelty, time-warp style.

    The clear upside to the Valley Wing experience was definitely the bottomless, all-day champagne and seemingly endless food service. The rooms were on the other end of the spectrum: while its generally roomy and clean, the rooms are in a desperate need of an upgrade since about a decade ago.

    The service was also generally excellent. Room requests were promptly met, check-in was smooth and pleasant, and staff were generally helpful and attentive throughout our entire stay. While service was great for most of our stay, it was marred by the breakfast seating episode. Normally I wouldn’t fuss over an incident like this, but in a top-notch property such as Shangri-La, there is certainly no room for any unpleasant encounters.

    Having said all of the above, I can imagine how the Valley Wing is probably a great option for select groups of guests: those don’t intend to leave the hotel the entire time and enjoy day-long drinking sessions, or if you are a family with young kids and need plenty of space for them to run out their energy.

  • Best National Day Offers from Klook and Trip.com: Bonus dining credits, 1-for-1s, and more

    Best National Day Offers from Klook and Trip.com: Bonus dining credits, 1-for-1s, and more

    Klook and Trip.com have lined up their best offers for the National Day weekend sale. Here’s our top picks on what you should grab.

    Klook and Trip.com have both kicked off their National Day flash sales, both running from 5 to 9 Aug 2021. Together they have put up more than a dozen hotels on offer, so here’s some of the top picks.

    Klook sale

    Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay – $350, COLLECTION Club Room

    Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay is offering two club-level rooms for this sale: the COLLECTION Club room for S$350 nett, or the Urban Suite with COLLECTION Lounge entitlements at S$400.

    Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay – Urban Suite

    Book Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay here!

    For both room types, you get:

    • 1-night accommodation at PARKROYAL Collection Marina Bay
    • Daily buffet breakfast for 2 from 7am to 10.30am
    • Afternoon Tea for 2 from 2.30pm to 4pm
    • Evening Cocktails for 2 from 6pm to 8pm
    • 20% discount for hotel-operated restaurants (except for eve of PH and public holidays, blackout dates apply)
    • Pan Pacific Cares Pack
    • Complimentary parking

    Newly refurbished, the former Marina Mandarin property is now reopened as Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay since early this year.

    The COLLECTION Club lounge is newly opened since May at the level 4 patio, near the swimming pool area.

    Fullerton Bay Hotel – S$580, Deluxe Room + S$256 dining credits

    Book Fullerton Bay Hotel here!

    For S$580 nett, you get:

    • A 1-night stay in a Deluxe room
    • 6 p.m check-out (for Mon-Wed stays)
    • S$256 dining credit per stay
    • Complimentary parking at One Fullerton
    • Complimentary Fullerton Monument Tour, Maritime Journey Tour, Fullerton Farm Tour (Subject to Availability)

    Note that breakfast is not included in the offer, so you will need to pay for it out of the dining credits. Breakfast is at $45++ per person, so for two people that will offset your dining credit by $106, leaving you with $150 for other cravings.

    Shangri-La Hotel, S$528, Valley Wing Deluxe Room

    Deluxe Room

    Shangri La’s now-famous Valley Wing seems to be the flavour of the year, with promotions almost all year round so this probably won’t be the last.

    The going rate now is S$528, but if you are planning a Saturday night stay the price goes up to S$568, which is still a good value.

    For S$528 or S$568, you get:

    • 1-night stay in Valley Wing Deluxe room
    • Daily breakfast for 2 adults and 2 children in The Summit Room
    • Unlimited wine, champagne, juice, coffee and tea from 11am to 10.30pm
    • Afternoon tea from 2pm to 5pm
    • Evening canapés and cocktails from 5pm to 7pm
    • Playtime at Splash Zone featuring 6 unique water play areas for 2 children (One complimentary session per night)
    • Complimentary parking

    Book Shangri-La Singapore Valley Wing here!

    If you are in for the unlimited food and drinks at the Valley Wing and don’t mind a mid-week stay, consider booking direct with Shangri-La Singapore, with their 28-hour Valley Wing Weekday Indulgence at S$488++ (S$574 nett), where you get to check in at 3pm and check out at 7pm the following day, giving you two dips at the afternoon tea and evening cocktails.

    Trip.com best picks

    Trip.com runs a smaller offering, but still equally good. Here are some of the better picks.

    Dusit Thani Laguna Singapore, $295, Deluxe Laguna King

    Dusit Thani Laguna Singapore

    One of the newest hotels to open in recent years, this property off to the east of Singapore is located within the grounds of Laguna National Golf Resort Club, offering a different staycation experience than your usual city centre hotels.

    Book Dusit Thani Laguna Singapore here!

    The S$285 price tag comes with only the room and no breakfast, but you can also select the breakfast option for an additional S$86 (pro tip: don’t).

    Dusit Thani Laguna Singapore has a wide range of facilities available on site, including several restaurants, a fully-equipped gym, three swimming pools, three tennis courts, and Dusit’s signature Devarana Wellness spa.

    Goodwood Park Hotel, S$216, Deluxe Premier Room with breakfast

    Goodwood Park Hotel Deluxe Premier Room

    Perched right on the edge of the Orchard Road belt, this national monument hotel is kind of a long-forgotten gem.

    Book Goodwood Park Hotel here!

    For S$216 nett, you get a 1-night stay in the Deluxe Premier Room, with breakfast for two. There’s also a S$218 nett option that comes with S$99 dining credit, but note that breakfast is not included for this option, so the S$99 credit will practically cover the cost of breakfast for two if you choose so.

    A Deluxe Premier Room measures in at 39 sqm, and a room-only rate on the official websites starts from S$270++.

    Oasia Hotel Downtown, S$300, 2 nights in Superior Room

    At $150 per night, this deal is pretty much a steal for a 5-star hotel located downtown. It comes with a really pretty swimming pool and fully equipped gym, so this pretty much is a self-contained hotel with all you need.

    Book Oasia Hotel Downtown here!

    Note that this rate pretty much gives you only the room for two nights, with no breakfast, no early check-in or late check-out privileges, no parking, nothing, zilch. Also, the rate is strictly non-refundable.

    This Far East Hospitality property is located in the heart of Tanjong Pagar, so you won’t be in want as far as food is concerned.

    Singapore Rediscover Vouchers

    Both Klook’s and Trip.com’s packages are eligible for SingapoRediscovers Vouchers (SRV), so if you haven’t use them, this might be a good chance for you to.

    For Klook, those who spend at least S$50 of SRV will receive a S$50 Klook voucher for a future staycation, which can be redeemed with a minimum spend of S$200.

    Final Thoughts

    These are some very good deals if you are planning for another local stay before international travel is possible again. For those like us who have yet to use their SRV vouchers, you might want to consider using them before they expire at the end of the year.

    Some local deals – such as the Shangri La Valley Wing ones – may not be on sale ever again once Singapore opens up to international travellers, so grab those last few chances to snag a good deal to experience some of the better hospitality offerings Singapore has to give.

    Booking links below:

    Klook National Day sale

    Trip.com National Day sale

  • REVIEW: The Clan Hotel, Deluxe Room

    REVIEW: The Clan Hotel, Deluxe Room

    Impeccable service, compact and top-grade rooms and facilities, excellent location for foodies.

    One of the newest boys in town, The Clan Hotel first caught my eye as a mysterious building that seemed to suddenly towered out in the heart of the Telok Ayer district, with its bright shiny bronze facade.

    Originally slated to open in 2020, the opening was pushed back to 2021 due to Covid-19, without much fanfare and obviously with a lack of foreign guests as borders remained closed.

    The Clan Hotel

    In this post:
    • About the hotel
    • Location
    • Booking
    • Check-in
    • Car parking
    • Deluxe Room
    • Sky Gym & Sky Pool
    • Breakfast
    • Final thoughts

    The Hotel

    Managed by Far East Hospitality, the hotel is one of the newer concepts introduced into the fold. For the uninitiated, Far East Hospitality also manages some other hotel brands such as Oasia, Village and Rendezvous, which tend to run mid tier in terms of price and lux. The Clan Hotel is a new venture into the premium segment.

    To be sure, The Clan Hotel is a textbook example of how smaller hotels sell a story as part of the experience: it calls its staff ‘clansmen’; it talks about the heritage and history of clans within the vicinity and this leads to the hotel’s name; and it is decked out with rituals that you would otherwise not see in other hotels.

    For example, this is what it says on its website:

    ‘Sense of kinship’ is a very bold claim, I have to say.

    The 424-room property boasts of a very simple room range with only three room types: The entry-level Deluxe Room; Master Series Premium Room and the Master Series Grand Premium Room.

    A summary of what the three room types offer are below:

    Deluxe RoomMaster Series
    Premium Room    		Master Series
    Grand Premium Room
    Size24 sqm31 sqm36 sqm
    No. of Rooms2466018
    Room amenitiesFlat screen TV
    Writing desk
    Nespresso machine
    Complimentary coffee & tea
    Standing shower    		 Flat screen TV
    Writing desk
    Nespresso machine
    Complimentary coffee & tea
    Standing shower     		Flat screen TV
    Writing desk
    Nespresso machine
    Complimentary coffee & tea
    Standing shower
    Bathtub
    InclusionsIn-room refreshments (non-selectable)Customised in-room refreshments – choice of 5 itemsCustomised in-room refreshments – choice of 5 items
    –Handmade soap selectionHandmade soap selection
    Clan Keeper ServiceNoYesYes

    The floor plate where the hotel lies on is pretty small, so that also means that each floor holds only a small number of rooms.

    Deluxe Rooms are basically all the non-corner rooms on most floors, while Premier Rooms take up the corners and have large windows on two sides of the rooms with generous views of the district.

    Note that the Premier Rooms are only available in a king bed configuration, so those who want twin beds will need to pick a Deluxe Room instead.

    At the time of writing, the Grand Premier Rooms are not available for booking yet – so check back later.

    Location

    The Clan Hotel popped up in a very unlikely location for a brand-new hotel: Upper Cross Street. Right across from the Telok Ayer restaurant and bar district, the hotel cannot be more better placed for visitors who want to check out the culinary and bar offerings in the vicinity.

    With Telok Ayer MRT right at the doorstep, guests at the hotel are also not too far away from other tourist districts including Marina Bay Sands (2 stops), Suntec City (3 stops), Bugis (4 stops), Chinatown (1 stop), and more.

    Booking

    The Clan Hotel did an opening promo blitz offering an incredibly good deal to many corporate partners, which had to be booked through the hotel’s sales representative.

    The Clan Hotel – original corporate offer (ended 31 May)

    While the hotel offered three room types, only two were part of the deal: the Deluxe Room, and the Master Series Premier Room.

    I booked the offer via email and all was settled rather quickly. The confirmation came with a link to make the prepayment (the payment was refundable in case of a cancellation 24 hours before arrival), and the confirmation was in the mail soon after.

    Note that this promotion is no longer offered; the hotel has renewed the offer at the same price but with some reduced offerings, such as just one day’s breakfast (instead of two days).

    Clan Hotel watered down corporate offer

    Check-in

    I was greeted at the door of the hotel by an agent, who promptly took my name and then escorted me to the door. Right as the sliding door open to unveil the lift lobby, the agent sounded a gong as the hotel’s signature welcome.

    The Clan Hotel entrance driveway

    As the door closes behind you while you wait for the lift to bring you to the reception at level 2, one can feel the hustle and bustle of the streets quieten down in a moment. The dark lobby kind of gives you that moment of peace, it’s a pretty nice transition as you await your upcoming stay.

    The Clan Hotel reception
    The Clan Hotel reception

    Once I got up to the reception, the check-in agent already has my file ready, and simply requested for my ID to process the check-in. In a matter of minutes, I was promptly briefed on the offerings and was escorted back to the lift to head up to the room shortly.

    As my stay occurred in the Heightened Alert phase, the hotel’s signature welcome tea ceremony was suspended, but instead the hotel provided the welcome tea set in the room instead.

    The Clan Hotel reception
    The welcome tea ceremony area

    Car Park

    A note about car park: The hotel does not have its own car park, but guests enjoy complimentary parking at the adjacent China Square car park.

    Deluxe Room

    I booked my stay in the entry-level Deluxe Room. As mentioned earlier, the Deluxe Rooms form the bulk of the rooms available in the hotel, and typically takes up the non-corner rooms on lower floors.

    My room was at the end of the corridor, and while it’s not a corner room, the layout offered a slightly bigger footprint than the other Deluxe Rooms. Not being a corner room also means you don’t get the signature wrap-around view, but the room is still very well lit regardless.

    The Clan Hotel Deluxe Room
    Deluxe Room

    Upon walking in, you are greeted by the large king sized bed set in the middle of the room. The Deluxe Room took on a dark earthy tone, sleek-looking and yet decidedly modern.

    The Clan Hotel Deluxe Room
    Deluxe Room – Day couch

    The room also came with bay windows, with the couch affixed onto the ledge to provide extra seating. I have to say that the couch is incredibly uncomfortable to lounge on, as it’s a rather hard seat with a very stiff arm rest, making it a poor choice to lie on.

    The Clan Hotel Deluxe Room desk
    Work desk

    The work desk is a slim wooden ledge tucked in the corner of the room next to the window. With two sockets on the wall, it serves as a basic working desk for your in room working needs. However, the table comes with a backless stool, so clearly the desk is not meant to be a work desk for extended periods of time.

    The TV is fixed to the wall, and will become the centrepiece for your in-room requests (more on this later). One downside of the TV as I discovered, was that the TV was not moveable (at least in the Deluxe Rooms), and this means that you will not be able to plug in your own HDMI cables/devices to use with the TV.

    For Premier Rooms, it seems that the TV can be swiveled, so you can easier access the HDMI ports. So that means, if you intend to bring your personal entertainment devices such as PS4 or Nintendo Switch, you will have to book a Premier Room, at least.

    The Clan Hotel Deluxe Room
    Open wardrobe

    The room does not come with a wardrobe, but instead rely on open shelves and a luggage rack near the entrance of the room for your bag and clothes. There’s also two drawers which contained a safe and other items such as iron and hair-dryer.

    The Clan Hotel Deluxe Room safe and hairdryer
    Safe, hairdryer and shoe horn

    Now to the thing that matters: the bed. The Deluxe Rooms do come with either a choice of king or queen sized beds, so be sure to choose the right one at the time of booking. When I booked my stay, there wasn’t difference in price between the two, but it could be the case in future.

    The Clan Hotel Deluxe Room bed
    Queen bed

    The bed is largely comfortable, and tends towards the softer side which I personally don’t quite like.

    Both bedsides have a full range of lighting controls for the entire room, which I found rather difficult to use. There are also USB charging ports and universal power sockets, so you don’t have to worry about not having enough ports for charging.

    The hotel also offers a pillow menu with the following options:

    • Comfort-U Body Pillow: Full body support. Enables muscles & joints to truly relax. Multi-functional body pillow
    • Sidesleeper Pillow: Extra comfort for side sleepers. Reduces strain on neck & upper back
    • Latex Pillow: Made with 100% natural latex. Reduces head & neck pressure. Breathable interior cell structure provides shape retention
    • Micro-Gel Pillow: Hypoallergenic. An alternative to goose down feather, Micro-Gel fibre emulates the lightness and air-trapping abilities of natural down and is supremely comfortable

    I didn’t choose any as the available pillows are good enough, but feel free to call housekeeping to request for what you prefer.

    The Clan Hotel welcome tea
    Welcome tea set

    Next on to the refreshments. Given that the welcome tea ritual at the lobby is currently suspended, the hotel has provided the welcome tea set in the room. Unfortunately during my stay, the hotel forgot to place an actual teapot and cups to drink the tea with, so I had to call up concierge to request for one, which promptly came in the next 10 minutes.

    The Clan Hotel Deluxe Room welcome tea set
    Welcome tea set

    There was a bag of Nanyang Ritual tea, along with some Bak Kut Teh cookies in the box you see on the left. The next day, the housekeeper left another tea pack on the box, this time round the Oolong Ritual tea.

    On top of the welcome tea, the room also has complimentary minibar items for guests. Even though I only booked the Deluxe Room, there was still a nominal set of refreshments provided, including a pack of cookies, a small bag of Ruffles chips, as well as some soft drinks in the fridge.

    The Clan Hotel Deluxe Room minibar
    Minibar items
    The Clan Hotel Deluxe Room minibar
    Complimentary tea (but not the tea canisters)
    The Clan Hotel Deluxe Room minibar
    Complimentary drinks

    The minibar also came with a Nespresso machine with some complimentary capsules, as well as two canisters of Pryce tea. The canisters have been glued to the base so you won’t be able to bring them home, although you could still empty the contents.

    You might notice that the room doesn’t come with any bottled water — the hotel has done away with bottled water but rely on a drinking water tap available in the bathroom sink.

    The Clan Hotel drinking water tap
    Drinking water tap

    Next up, the bathroom. If you are looking for a bathtub, you will be sorely disappointed. Bathtubs are only reserved for the Grand Premier Rooms, so you will only have a standing rain shower to content with.

    The Clan Hotel Deluxe Room bathroom
    Bathroom
    The Clan Hotel Deluxe Room bathroom
    Standing shower (yes, there’s a rain shower head)

    There is a good range of amenities provided in the bathroom, including dental kits, sanitary bags, having kits and more.

    The Clan Hotel Deluxe Room bathroom amenities
    Amenities
    The Clan Hotel Deluxe Room amenities
    Vuudh bath amenities

    The hotel carries Vuudh as its choice of bath amenities, a Thai brand by the same makers as Harnn. The Lotus and Osmanthus series is available only as a hotel collection, so you won’t be able to find it off the shelves.

    In-room Services, In-room dining

    The Clan Hotel encourages guests to use the television request systems for all in-room requests, from housekeeping to in-room dining.

    To do so, simply navigate using the remote control and select the items you want, such as toiletries, extra towels, and even ice buckets and housekeeping services.

    The Clan Hotel services
    Order your required service items through the TV
    The Clan Hotel services
    Housekeeping items

    You can also order in-room minibar snacks, drinks and even in-room dining through the TV.

    In-room dining menus (click to enlarge)

    Sky Pool and Sky Gym

    The hotel houses both an in-house gym and infinity pool, with both recreational facilities nested at the top floor of the building.

    The Clan Hotel Sky Gym
    Sky Gym

    The Sky Gym is opened 24 hours a day, and is modestly decked out in the limited space it has but yet still adequately equipped for a workout. It has a good number of cardio machines, including treadmills and stationery bicycles, as well as a rack of dumbbells and a smith machine for some strength work.

    There are also a couple of pylo boxes, as well as TRX for any body weight exercises you might be keen to take up.

    The Clan Hotel Sky Gym
    Workout programmes on LCD screen

    What the hotel gym lacks in equipment and space, it made it up with the use of technology. What stood out was a giant LCD screen which served as an instructional facility for guided workouts. Beside the LCD wall was a smaller screen, where you could select from a wide range of workout from yoga, spin classes to HIIT workouts. This is undoubtedly a first I’ve seen in a hotel gym, and definitely the way to go in revolutionising hotel fitness solutions.

    The gym was rather quiet during the entire time I was there, but the hotel still required advance booking to use the gym. 1-hour slots are available for booking with a 15-minute window between slots to allow for cleaning and disinfection.

    The Sky Pool is located on the other side from the gym. Opened from 7am to 11pm daily, the 20-metre lap pool has an array of deck chairs with an amazing view overlooking Tanjong Pagar/Duxton.

    The Clan Hotel Sky Pool
    Sky Pool

    There is also an open-air jacuzzi tucked at the side of the pool, but unfortunately this was cordoned off and the jets switched off during my stay, due to Covid-19 restrictions.

    The Clan Hotel jacuzzi
    Jacuzzi

    Similar to the gym, pool slots can be booked at the front desk, with 1-hour slots available for up to six guests at a time.

    Booking both the gym and pool slots were pretty hassle-free, as the check-in agent offered to assist with the reservation at the time I checked in. Since I was staying for two nights, I asked if I could book a pool slot each day, and the agent was hesitant and advised that I could book a second slot for my stay if there was availability.

    The peeve I had was that the policy on booking was unclear, and it was almost certain the occupancy wasn’t anywhere near peak given that I made my stay in the middle of the week.

    Outside of the gym and the pool, there are also several shower suites that guests can use either after their workout, or for guests who arrive early or have to leave the hotel late when their rooms are not available.

    The Clan Hotel shower suites
    Shower suites

    There’s also a little lounge area when you could hang around, but honestly there won’t be much things to do and you will better off hanging around in any of the cafes in the neighbourhood.

    The Clan Hotel
    Level 30 lounge

    Breakfast – QIN Restaurant

    The Clan Hotel only has a single dine-in restaurant, the QIN Restaurant. Operated by Tung Lok, the restaurant is a brand new concept serving “re-imagined classics with a modern touch, tugging the heartstrings of one’s home”.

    Qin Restaurant

    Breakfast is served daily from 6.30am to 10.30am on Mondays to Fridays, and 6.30am to 11.30am on weekends and public holidays. 

    QIN restaurant occupies the 4th and 5th floors, and like me you would be confused by the elevator guide showing that the restaurant is on 5th floor when you actually need to go 4th floor for entry.

    Each guest may choose only one of the six items available on the menu, any additional orders will be charged. A free flow of coffee/tea and (bottled) juice is also served. 

    All breakfast sets come with a platter of bread with butter, as well as a small fruit bowl. The bread plate consisted of a sweet piece of cake along with a slice of toast with butter. Both of which are nothing to shout about.

    I decided on the Qin breakfast, while my companion went for the continental breakfast.

    The Qin breakfast is simply your typical American/British breakfast, filled with hashbrowns, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes and your choice of eggs.

    Qin breakfast

    The continental breakfast on the other hand looked pretty on a plate:

    Continental breakfast

    While the breakfast was prettyWe wanted to go for another round and that’s when we realised each guest was only limited to one portion. However, the ever friendly staff was nice enough to offer a smaller portion of the porridge (which was what we wanted to try anyway), and gave it to us for free.

    Breakfast – Porridge

    The porridge – century egg being the flavour of the day – turned out to be really quite delicious, which was a rarity for hotel breakfast. The accompaniments were on point as well, enhancing the flavourful porridge.

    Final thoughts

    The slick-looking Clan Hotel is definitely one of the most checked out hotels in 2021, with its generous one-for-one offer that the hotel has been happily pumping out to local residents.

    The rooms are functional, clean and offers a great view in all directions; the facilities – while minimal – are solid.

    The hotel does add on a few additional experiences, such as the welcome tea experience and the precinct tour for the Master Series room guests, to differentiate itself from its competitors within the area. Again, what it’s selling is a story, so if you are one for a good narrative to speak of your stay, then this is your hotel.

    The Clan Hotel boasts lovely design and a unique vibe, but unfortunately it’s not exactly a traditional ‘full’ hotel complete with spa, lounges and the likes – so if those are your go-to indulgences, this hotel is not for you.

    The food and beverage options are pretty limited and subjective in terms of quality, but given the hotel’s proximity to plenty of great bars and restaurants, this isn’t really a big problem.

    The Clan Hotel
  • REVIEW: Sofitel City Centre Singapore, Prestige Suite

    REVIEW: Sofitel City Centre Singapore, Prestige Suite

    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.

    In this post:
    • About the hotel
    • Booking & check-in
    • Car parking
    • Prestige Suite
    • Club Lounge – Club Millesime
    • Evening cocktails
    • Lobby Bar – 1864
    • Breakfast
    • The facilities
    • Final thoughts

    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 / TimeRate
    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 bedroom
    Prestige 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 bathroom
    Prestige 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 amenities
    Lanvin 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 SoFit (Gym) 
    • Reserve access to Swimming Pool 
    • 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.

    FacilityOperating hoursSlot length
    So Fit – fitness centre7am to 8pm daily45-minute slots, available on the hour
    Swimming pool7am to 8.30pm daily90-minute slot, available every odd hour
    (i.e. 7am, 9am, etc)
    So Fit – fitness centre
    Swimming pool

    Racines – Breakfast

    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.

    Racines
    Racines

    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.

  • REVIEW: One Farrer Hotel, Skyline Room

    REVIEW: One Farrer Hotel, Skyline Room

    Let’s face it: when you are a local resident, a staycation in the heart of Little India is never top of mind. Why nest in the heart of a heritage site when one has plenty of choice in the Marina district, waking up to a view of the iconic Singapore skyline?

    While Little India is home to many backpackers hostels and smaller, independently-run budget hotels, many newer, more upscale hotels have also found their roots in the area in the last decade or so, including One Farrer Hotel.

    In this post:
    • About the hotel
    • Booking & check-in
    • Car parking
    • The room
    • Skyline Lounge
    • Lunch
    • Afternoon tea
    • Evening cocktails
    • Breakfast
    • The facilities
    • Final thoughts

    Truth be told, while the hotel opened to much fanfare back in 2014 as a premium medical facility in a bid to boost medical tourism, it didn’t appeal as a choice for a staycation. Room rates were sky-high then for the location: imagine a $200++ rate for a base-level room? Madness.

    Six years on with Covid-19 in the air, the hotel was definitely deprived of guests and selling its premium offering of a room with club access for only S$240, all in. Of course, we are checking it out.

    The hotel

    Opened in 2014, the hotel originally opened as One Farrer Hotel & Spa, as part of a multi-purpose complex called Connexion that includes the adjacent Farrer Park Hospital. The entire complex is owned by The Farrer Park Company, a privately held company to build and manage both the hotel and the hospital.

    One Farrer Hotel (photo credit: WGS)

    Since then, the hotel has dropped the word “Spa” from its name, ahtough the hotel still offers a very decent spa. One Farrer Hotel (and ex-Spa) is markedly different from many other hotels in Singapore. As an independent property unaffiliated to the major hotel chains, the hotel is not really a natural and popular choice for many.

    The hotel boasts of a ‘hotel-within-a-hotel’ concept, running four different ‘hotels’ housed in the same building: the Urban Hotel, Loft Apartments, Skyline Hotel, and the grandest of them all, the Sky Villas.

    These are essentially different room types within a conventional hotel, but at One Farrer, these mini-‘hotels’ are housed on different floors in the building.

    The Urban Hotel is located on the 11 to 16th floors of the hotel, featuring ‘chic contemporary’ rooms. There are three room types in the Urban Hotel: The Urban Room, a slightly bigger Urban Den and the largest being the Urban Suite.

    Loft Apartments are also located on the 11th to 16th floors, and are essentially self-contained duplex serviced apartments, complete with a living area and a kitchenette on the mezzanine level in each apartment.

    On the higher floors, there are the Skyline Hotel and Sky Villas. Both are considered the ‘executive rooms’ of the hotel, located on 18th to 20th floor of the building.

    The Skyline Hotel is situated on 18th & 19th floor, while the Sky Villas take up the top floor. Skyline Hotel also comprises three room types: the Skyline Room, the Skyline Studio and the Skyline Suite.

    The Sky Villas are the largest rooms on property: six distinctive villas, each with its own name. One key feature of the villas is that each of them carry a good number of art pieces in the suite, sourced from all over the world by the hotel owners.

    The smallest suites are the Peony Villa and Lotus Villa, both suites at 65sqm and features a single bedroom with a separate living area. Lotus Villa also features a complete library, a collection of a wide-ranging selection of visual art books, originally comprised the research library of Sculpture Square Limited, when it was located at 155 Middle Road from 1999 to 2014.

    Next on the list is the Jasmine Villa, Blue Pea and Orchid Villa, all of which are two-bedroom suites. Ranging between 95 to 105sqm, each villa has its own distinct style around the flower that it’s named after, with a subtle hint of fragrance.

    Top of the league is the Calla Lily the Presidential Villa, a two-bedroom villa spread over 200 sqm of space at the topmost level of the hotel. The villa brings out the best the hotel has to offer, featuring a composition of artwork sourced from all over the world.

    The sterling silverware is the Audubon design from 1871. The flowing designs of branches and twigs with leaves, buds, flowers and exotic birds were entirely different from anything in Amercian silver at that time. Each piece of Audubon is decorated with intricate designs adapted from 19th century Japanese bird paintings, with eight species represented. The back of each piece has complementary designs derived from Japanese flowers.

    The Persian Nain carpets were the first items selected for the Presidential Villa; together with the expansive view of the cityscape from the window, they dominate the living and dining rooms. Even the coffee table is transparent as so not to obstruct the view of the carpet. The few accents placed on the edges of the salon are specially selected to reflect the interests of one who collects for the pure enjoyment and sharing of knowledge, created by the introduction of different cultures and art influences into a harmonious whole. Two 12th and 13th century Khmer jars in unobtrusive brown glaze introduce the viewer to an era in Southeast Asia that tells the history of Indochina.

    One Farrer Hotel
    Presidential Villa

    Booking and Check-in

    One Farrer Hotel is not my among my usual list of hotels I’ll check out, so the only reason why I’d make a stay this time round was because of the TTG travel offers available during the 10.10 sale. The hotel was selling its club rooms, styled as Skyline Room, for only S$240 nett, which was an incredible steal by local standards.

    Once the voucher was purchased, all I needed to do was to write in to the hotel to make a booking, stating that I was using the TTG voucher. The hotel promptly made the booking and sent me a confirmation. I also requested for a slightly earlier check-in time at noon, which was also given without much of a hassle.

    The standard check-in time for the hotel is at 3pm, but on the day of the visit I arrived at about noon. There was hardly a soul at the lobby, and I literally walked right up to the counter and had keys in my hands in less than five minutes.

    One Farrer Hotel lobby

    Car Parking

    For those who are driving, note that the hotel and the hospital shares the same car park, which can be accessed from either facility.

    Each room is entitled to two parking tickets a day, however there are no multiple entry privileges, so you may need to plan a little if you intend to drive in and out of the hotel often.

    The room

    The Skyline Room is by no means small. At the size of 35 square metres, the room was rather generous not only in floor space, but also in volume due to its high ceilings.

    Skyline Room

    The first thing that went into my mind upon stepping into the room was how much natural light the room had. Featuring a high ceiling, the room boasted of three large full length windows with bay seats, overlooking the housing estate nearby and beyond.

    The entrance to the room was a long and narrow walkway devoid of anything else but plain white walls. Once you have taken a few steps in, you will be greeted by a king sized bed flushed against a simple yet elegant headboard and side tables.

    Skyline Room

    The work desk is a clear glass top that faces the window, with a white Geneva speaker sitting at one corner. The international power sockets, along with all the television input points were nicely built by the side of the table, making plugging in pretty convenient.

    Skyline Room working desk
    Speaker and power bar

    The minibar is located to the right of the bed, with a kettle and an illy coffee machine perched atop. Unfortunately, the hotel doesn’t stock Nespresso machines, so for those guests who like to request for capsules to bring home, you may be disappointed. However, the hotel does stock TWG teabags, so that will have to suffice as souvenirs for now.

    Kettle and coffee machine
    Coffee pods and TWG tea bags

    As usual, the minibar is emptied out due to safe management measures as laid out by the authorities. If you really need a midnight perk-me-up, the menu is available on the TV controls.

    Empty mini bar

    The bathroom takes up the space right next to the main door of the room, but the entrance to the bathroom actually faces the bed. This may be a problem for some people who prefer not having to see the bathroom interiors from the sleeping area.

    Skyline Room

    You will see that the first doorway actually doesn’t have a door, but that is where the vanity and the wardrobe area are. The wardrobe is also where you will find the in-room yukata and bathrobe, which I’ve seen many guests use when they visit the spa or the swimming pool.

    Yukata and bathrobe

    The room comes with a single wash basin which is beautifully lit, so it’s pretty ideal when it comes to inspecting your face for blemishes and going through your skincare routine.

    Skyline Room – Bathroom, single vanity

    The second doorway is to the ‘wet area’ of the bathroom, including the toilet and the shower stall. Note that the room doesn’t come with a bathtub, so if you are looking for a good soak, this will not be your choice of hotel.

    The hotel uses amenities from FreshSkinLab for its shower bath gel and shampoo. I’m not familiar with the brand, and neither is there a lot of information on its website, so I suspect this might be an in-house brand by the hotel.

    Skyline Lounge

    The most unique proposition of the Skyline Lounge is probably its marketed “five meals in a day”. Located on the 18th floor, the lounge operates from 7am to 10pm daily, offering food and beverage for guests staying at the Skyline Hotel, Skyline Villa and guests staying in the Urban Suites.

    Skyline Lounge

    The lounge is a rather cosy space (read: small), with enough seating for around 20 guests at a time. Most of the seating available are dining tables and chairs, with just one or two sets of lounge chairs and coffee teas which aren’t that comfortable to sit on anyway.

    Skyline Lounge

    The lounge is also adjacent to the Skyline swimming pool, a smaller exclusive pool for guests at the Skyline hotel and villas. In the event that the lounge is full, guests may also be seated by the pool.

    Skyline Hotel swimming pool outside the lounge

    The lounge offers five distinct light meal services a day, namely:

    • Breakfast from 7am to 11am
    • Lunch from 12pm to 2pm
    • Afternoon tea from 3pm to 5pm
    • Evening cocktails from 5.30pm to 8pm
    • Sweet & savouries from 8.30pm to 10pm

    Outside of these hours, non-alcholic beverages, coffee and tea will always be available any time between 7am and 10pm. So as you can see, you will practically get food any time of the day and going hungry is quite impossible.

    Lunch

    As it’s my first stay with this property, I tried to check out all the meal services, even though I’m hardly a big eater.

    As I arrived early at about 1pm, I was able to check in early and head to the lounge for lunch. Upon arrival at the lounge, you will need to do your SafeEntry check-in, and the lounge has also installed a temperature taking machine right at the entrance.

    Temperature taking station and SafeEntry check-in

    There is a printed menu detailing the menu of the day. While it seemed like the items are cooked to order at first glance, the reality is that the food is already prepared and kept warm at the buffet area, which are now off-limits to guests as part of the Covid-19 measures.

    Skyline Lounge – Lunch menu
    Skyline Lounge – buffet area

    To give guests a further peace of mind, all the cutlery used are wrapped in a plastic wrap and sealed with a tamper-proof sticker.

    Tamper-proof seal for cutlery

    The food was acceptable in terms of taste, but definitely not mind-blowing. Far from it, actually. It looked like fare you could get out of a factory canteen, with its equally juvenile crockery.

    Skyline Lounge – Lunch

    Afternoon tea

    The afternoon tea comprised mainly sandwiches and other finger food, but again, the quality of the food wasn’t something I would write home about.

    Skyline Lounge

    Afternoon tea comprised three savoury snacks, including a quiche, a mini-pie and a ham and cheese sandwich. There is also a tart that comes with it, which was probably the star of the afternoon tea.

    While you have to wait till evening cocktails for your alcohol fix, you will still get to enjoy a range of non-alcoholic drinks, including machine-made coffee, tea, as well as select soft drinks and juices during the afternoon tea session.

    Evening cocktails

    Evening cocktails run from 5.30pm to 8pm at the Skyline Lounge, which is one of the longest sessions in the Covid-19 era. While pre-booking is still highly encouraged, the hotel does not split the evening sessions into shorter one-hour sessions to accommodate more guests, like many other popular hotels such as Hilton and Sofitel City Centre have done.

    The food offering at the lounge is somewhat out of the ordinary, but yet nothing exciting. Here’s how it looks like:

    Skyline Lounge – Evening Cocktails

    Yes you saw right: steamed jasmine rice, along with stir fried beef, vegetables and two fried wantons. While this is fairly substantial for an evening cocktail sessions, this selection of evening cocktail snacks has placed the lounge firmly in the ‘school canteen’ category in my opinion, at least.

    There is something homely about the food, although the amount of rice dished on my plate made me feel like it’s a ploy to fill me up so I won’t go for seconds.

    Skyline Lounge offers a select of alcoholic beverage, including spirits, bottled beer and wines. Of course, if alcohol is not your thing, there’s also non-alcoholic options for you to choose from. Unfortunately the lounge didn’t offer any sparkling wine (my personal favourite), so I had to go with red wine, which wasn’t really great either.

    Skyline Lounge – Evening cocktail beverage options

    A quick tip: the wines are really not that great and fairly inconsistent. For instance, during my session, the staff had to offer me a different red wine halfway through the session because they ran out of the first one I had. You will be better off sticking to gin and tonic, as the lounge pours Hendricks which is probably the most premium spirit across what they offer.

    Breakfast

    Skyline Hotel guests can take their breakfast either at the Skyline Lounge, or at the main hotel restaurant down at the ground level.

    Not really wanting to jostle with any potential crowd, I went for the breakfast session at the lounge.

    For a somewhat small lounge, the kitchen was able to offer quite a wide range of food, as you can see from the menuL

    Skyline Lounge breakfast menu

    I went for the classic American breakfast first, which sounded like a great way to start my day. I wasn’t really thinking much in the morning, so I went with my default choice of scrambled eggs to complete the plate.

    So this arrived:

    Skyline Lounge

    Again, the items were picked from a buffet line by the lounge staff. The plating leaves much to be desired, but one could forgive if they saw how busy the lounge was in the morning, with only three wait staff buzzing around.

    My companion had the ‘daily special’ of pan-fried roti prata with two fried eggs on the side. We also shared a set of pancakes, which came with some syrup, jam and pretty decent butter. Unfortunately, both of which are pretty mediocre.

    Skyline Lounge Breakfast – Roti prata
    Skyline Lounge Breakfast – Pancakes

    The facilities

    One Farrer Hotel is a full service luxury hotel, so that means it has all the right things: a full meeting conference facility, dining and bar options, and also a wide range of recreational facility.

    Meetings

    One Farrer Hotel – Grand Ballroom

    Pre Covid-19, One Farrer Hotel has conference and meeting facilities for up to 700 people at any point in time, including a Grand Ballroom, a Garden Pavilion and three smaller meeting rooms. When first opened, the hotel had a vision to serve a specialised crowd hosting medical-related conference and meetings, mainly due to its relation to the hospital next door. Plans included live-streaming procedures from the hospital, but this proved to be difficult so the hotel has since dropped that vision.

    Regardless, the hotel is one of the few newer hotels capable of hosting large format meetings, as most of its peers are smaller properties with correspondingly smaller meeting rooms.

    Recreational

    Remember how the hotel first opened as “One Farrer Hotel and Spa“? As you may have guessed – spa was a selling proposition during its early days.

    The hotel houses Adeva Spa Retreat, a local spa brand that also manages the HANN and the lesser known Civisan brands.

    The spa is located on the 6th floor and is set amidst an oasis of lush tropical gardens, with private treatment rooms. A wide range of treatments are available, although they do come at a premium (see menu here).

    The usual relaxation facilities including steam rooms and saunas are available in the hotel, and are available for use during my stay. Note that there are capacity limits in each of the facility, so cater more time and expect to wait to use them.

    Onsen pool at Adeva Spa

    One distinct feature of the spa is the gender separated onsen pools, which are accessible through the respective changing rooms. These are also accessible free of charge for in-house guests. Note that this is not a clothes-optional facility, you will be required to wear your swimwear in these pools. I have had staff of both genders walking into the pool area for cleaning and other purposes.

    If you are using any of the spa facility, note that the spa no longer offers locker use or towels, so you will have to bring your own from your room.

    There are also several snooze chairs in the changing rooms you could use, although I found them to be too public to get any decent rest. These armchairs should have been facing the other direction, in my opinion.

    Adeva Spa – snooze zone

    The hotel also a full-sized swimming pool, spanning 50m in length for those who need to clock their laps. The poolside bar and cabanas also make for a wonderful evening pool party setup, although I hardly saw anyone at the pool throughout the day.

    Swimming pool
    Sunset bar

    As mentioned earlier, there is also a much smaller, private pool on the 18th floor, exclusively for Skyline Hotel guests. This is really more of a splash pool, incredibly popular for parents who wish to lounge, while kids go out and play in the pool.

    Skyline Lounge swimming pool

    The hotel also houses a decently-sized fitness centre on 6th floor. Accessible round-the-clock, the fitness centre is adequately fitted out with both cardio and weight training equipment.

    Fitness Centre

    Final thoughts

    One Farrer Hotel started off positioning themselves as a luxury hotel and spa, but unfortunately didn’t quite manage to do so. Even with dropping off the spa label a few years later, the hotel didn’t quite cut it as a ‘luxury, five-star’ standard that it originally envisioned themselves doing so.

    This also demonstrates the challenge of the hospitality landscape in Singapore, where independently owned and managed hotels often find it incredibly difficult to command the premium, no thanks to established properties in traditional locations such as the Marina area and Orchard that are immensely popular with tourists.

    Having said that, the hotel also failed in delivering the five-star promise: While service is impeccable, the lounge offering was really in the league of a suburban hotel in the US. The food and beverage offering was at best mediocre; I have had better fare at some of the lower tier hotels.

    The room, while comfortable, also lacked the deckings of a luxury hotel: the bathroom for one, felt more like a serviced apartment-style bathroom, built more for efficiency than a luxurious experience.

    Having said that, for what I’ve paid, the overall experience is adequate and very good value for money. I can’t be sure if One Farrer Hotel will continue to maintain this price point, but I’ll be hard pressed to pay more than S$300 for a club room at this property with no additional inclusions.