Singapore's such a common layover that finding a good hotel there is quite important--if you're recovering from a long haul flight, you need a comfortable bed and a decent breakfast to help you on your way. A while ago a reader gave us a tip about the Fullerton Hotel. Located in the historic 1928 Fullerton Building, the hotel has been operating since 2001 and was relatively quickly named the Best Hotel in Asia in the Condé Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Awards 2006.
The Fullerton Hotel used to be a post office, but now it's 400 rooms of luxury. The rooms and suites feature historical names like Post Master, Governor and Presidential, and have views over the city, the river or the sea. Guests report that the rooms are spacious and the pool is reasonably large--an important factor in Singapore's heat.
Going on holiday to have some kind of operation is still not our idea of a good time, but medical tourism seems to really be catching on: going wherever you can to get a "good quality operation" without a high cost or a long waiting list, and with a bit of bonus sightseeing time thrown in. Singapore's recently been promoting itself as a good place for an op and the Singapore Marriott Hotel has also jumped on the medical tourism bandwagon:
Singapore Marriott is literally located within five minutes walk from the renowned Mount Elizabeth Hospital, in the centre of the city, as well as to other major popular hospitals. The hotel offers a respite for those having surgery to recuperate from and also have their family members close by their side - with all the comforts of home on hand, together with gracious service and hospitality.
The location of the Marriott is very central to all key areas of Singapore, not just the hospitals, but recent reviews suggest that the plus points end there (unless its funky pagoda shape counts). For an expensive, luxury hotel, many guests complain that service is below average and the restaurant food is nothing special. Be warned also at the moment that there is building going on next door, so your resting up period after the hospital stint mightn't be as peaceful as Marriott would like you to think.
The pretty Sentosa Island, just a short cable car ride from Singapore, has been spoiled by a lot of construction work recently, but it's all starting to come good. This week the Amara Sanctuary Resort opened its doors for business amidst the tropical gardens of the island. The resort is opening in stages over the next few weeks, including verandah and courtyard suites in a restored barracks building, and deluxe rooms and villas in new buildings.
Singapore has quite a mixed heritage, and the style of the resort is intended to reflect this, according to the CEO of the Amara Group, who said:
Our aim with this property was to create a vernacular style that is quintessentially Singaporean, combining Singapore's architectural heritage, its tropical vegetation and its modern casual-chic style. This site, with its historic colonial architecture and its lush tropical gardens all within easy access of the city centre has given us a unique opportunity to create an authentic Singapore style resort.
When everything's opened there will be a number of restaurant options, including a 13-seat Japanese boutique restaurant called Si Bon, an all day restaurant named Shutters and a fine dining restaurant Thanying featuring Thai cuisine. Accommodation rates run from S$500 to S$2000 (US$330-$1300) but it might be worth waiting until everything's complete and opened before you spend this kind of cash.
Earlier this week, we let you know about the Mandarin Oriental sister properties located right next door to each other in Singapore. We found the Oriental Singapore (pictured above) to be a better hotel than the Marina Mandarin and a reader agreed. So we thought would share his perspective and his tips with you.
As for the Oriental in Singapore, it is definitely way better than the Marina Mandarin. I haven't seen the renovation, but the building (especially the towering atrium) is quite nice. The Oriental has the benefit of being one of the first buildings that went up in the Marina area, giving it waterfront location and as said, the great views over the city. Marina is a nice area to stay, and it's easy to get around Singapore with the public transportation.
The Marina Mandarin is nothing really to write home about (although I will say I have only been inside, not as a guest). A great suggestion close by is the Conrad Centennial - nice, modern building, also some great views to be had, nicely furnished, neutral colors, blond woods, etc. It has made Conde Nast's best business hotel list a few times. Something I would be eager to check out though is The Fullerton, a former post office, which is supposedly very very nice.
Just remember, you can always add your thoughts at the bottom of our stories by becoming a member and delivering fresh witty comments any time you want.
The Raffles that started it all turned 120-years-old yesterday.
The Raffles Singapore is hands-down the best luxury hotel in town. Sure the decor, according to some reviewers, may be a little dated but there's so much history incorporated into this sprawling hotel along with attentive service, spacious rooms, good views and a crazy amount of dining options.
The 103 suite, three storey hotel stands on the site of the original 10 bedroom bungalow that opened as a hotel in 1887, named after Sir Stamford Raffles, the British founder of Singapore. It was restored in 1989-1991, retaining its distinctive colonial flavour as one of Singapore's few remaining historic buildings. It has counted royalty, heads of state, authors and film stars among its guests....Many a tourist has cooled off in the Long Bar with a Singapore Sling, the cocktail invented there in 1915.
Another tourist trap at the hotel is the Bar & Billards room where Singapore's last tiger was shot and killed there in 1902. Which actually might be the hotel's only problem. Since there is so much history here, it's a must-see for tourists whether they stay here or not. So that might be a turn-off when booking. That and the $600 rack rate.
Skipping on over to Singapore, we found that the Mandarin Oriental hotel chain has two hotels next to each other so they decided to name one, Mandarin and the other Oriental.
Just kidding of course, but we were curious to see if one was better than the other. Over at the Oriental Singapore, the hotel seems to be doing nicely since it underwent a major top-to-bottom renovation two years ago, changing everything "except, of course the view."
The fan-shaped building features an 18-story atrium lobby, "subtley chic" decor which means simple dark woods and bright colors and the rooms sport high-tech amenities. There's also several dining options (although all expensive) such as Morton's Steakhouse.
And since we've never been to Singapore, we have to trust this reviewer's description of the hotel's location:
The location of the hotel is perfect. The Marina shopping centre it is attached to is one of the best we found in Singapore really. (MRT Station, great Restaurants, a bowling alley, cinemas and all the shops you could want.) The Merlion was an easy walk, river boat tours, fountain of wealth and Raffles Hotel.
Another good thing about this Mandarin is that unlike others in the states, this hotel is actually avoidable at around $250 a night. In the end, we think this Mandarin Oriental property is better than the one next door, the Marina Mandarin, which has less than stellar reviews on TripAdvisor and its new renovations don't seem to have the same effect as the Oriental. But feel free to tell us differently.
This week we decided to take a look at some of the newer hotels that have opened up in Malaysia and Singapore, which we know is bit of a random decision. But we're always trying to broaden our hotel coverage, so if you know of a can't-miss hotel in either country (or really, anywhere for that matter), hit us up on the tipline with your suggestions or questions.
First up is Tune Hotels chain, which is expected to open next month in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and with four other locations in the country expected to open by 2008.
The man behind Tune Hotels is Tony Fernandes who helped bring low-cost aviation to Malaysians through AirAsia. His vision for Tune hotels centers around the capsule hotels (popular in Japan) and the idea that everyone should be able to afford a clean, hip and comfortable hotel stay at low prices. Indeed these prices are low, ranging from US $3- $30.
Yet keep in mind that the hotel will operate on the "no-frills" level to keep those prices low.
Tune Hotels.Com operates a "no frills" concept, therefore there are no telephones, television, radio, safe, mini bar, tea and coffee making facilities in the rooms.
You may also be subjected to some advertisements from other companies displayed in the hotel (We have no doubt there will be some AirAsia cross promotion.) Something to look forward to? All rooms have their own bathrooms and housekeeping cleans on a daily basis. However, one thing to note is that Tune Hotels will not provide refunds for any bookings made.
So far, Tune Hotels look like they will have a lot of personality to make up for the amenities they lack inside. The company's colors are bright red and white which they have used for the hotel's exterior so you will always know where the building is. Their web site is engaging with each aspect of the hotels' information depicted in a different manner, such as the "Vision" page in the comic book style (minus the pows! and ka-booms!) We particularly like the tabloid theme for the "Mangament Bares All" aka the "About Us" page.
Our only question is, if these are capsule hotel rooms how come the web site keeps showing a father and a son in a pillow fight? Can there really be that much room?
For once, we found a hotel that claims to be centrally located that actually is centrally located.
Sitting pretty much equidistant from lots of places you'll want to get to in Singapore, the City Bayview Singapore Hotel is within reasonable walking distance from Orchard Road, the MRT (train) station, Chinatown and even the Indian quarter, and is surrounded by plenty of good bars and restaurants. For a three-star place, there's not much to complain about, with a definitely passable breakfast and a relaxing rooftop pool, and reasonable rates from S$120 to S$320 (US$75-200).
But there's always something to complain about, and for us recently it was the water dripping through our ceiling and plopping onto the carpet. Somewhat more disturbing than the drip-drip-drip, however, was the reaction from the front desk. They showed no surprise at all, and simply asked a couple of questions to narrow down exactly which leak we were experiencing from what seemed like a catalogue of previous reports.
To their credit, by some miracle we could sleep well the next night, but we have the feeling that they might have just redirected the leak to somebody else's room.
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by amandak
