After seeing photos and reviews of this hotel’s base rooms, I was never particularly drawn to stay here because of the incredibly compact nature of its spaces. Their lead-in room category, the Premium Queen, is a mere 14sqm (a mighty tight squeeze if you ask me). Unexpectedly, the hotel announced a January sale, where prices were slashed quite a fair bit and the highest room category was slightly more within reach. On top of it being a free cancellation rate, complimentary breakfast was thrown in too (though past reviews indicate that breakfast is nothing to get excited over). Considering what was on offer, I decided to give it a shot and check this hotel off my maybe-can-try-but-gotta-think-twice list.
- Inclusions:
- 1-night stay in VIP King Suite View
- Breakfast
- Spent: SGD$313.55
Check-in
My husband and I walked through the doors on level 2 to a sci-fi-esque reception area with diffused beams of rectangular light and an almost clinical environment, which I guess is in line with the futuristic theme they’re going for. Our check-in experience was rather amusing because… technology. As we proceeded to scan our identity cards at one of the self-service kiosks, the camera had to match our photos with our faces. My husband’s photo was taken when he was still sporting a moustache, so the machine couldn’t compute the discrepancy since he’d shaven it off already. For some reason, my kiosk showed an error as well so the staff had to eventually override the system for us to be registered.
Payment was also made here and we got to scan blank cards to create our own keys for the room. It was an interesting experience given that it was our first time checking in without a human, so to speak (although there was much human intervention in the process).
Room
Our room was nested on the top floor of the hotel (level 30) and is actually able to accommodate four guests as the sofa can be transformed into a queen-size bed. In addition to having a separate living room and dining space, there is also a kitchenette, two balconies with city views and double vanities in the bathroom. The standing shower area is pretty roomy too, fitted with both a rainshower and a handheld shower.
Unfortunately, I found an unending stream of ants crawling on the bed, the headboard and the side tables, bringing back unpleasant memories from our stay at Capri Hotel. Although the linen and the rest of the room were immaculate, the idea of sharing the bed with insects was a major put-off for me.
One nifty feature of this hotel is its robot butlers that can navigate independently to deliver amenities, much like the ones we saw at JEN Orchardgateway Hotel. Since the water bottles provided in the room were quite small, I asked for 6 more to last us through the night. These were brought to our room by Yolanda! We first got a call saying that our friendly neighbourhood robot was at the door. After we took our items, Yolanda then sang a brief farewell song from one of my all-time favourite musicals, The Sound Of Music ❤
I also requested for my usual firm pillow but this was delivered by an actual human staff, albeit very promptly. Alas, the bed was too soft and a little uncomfortable for me. As our stay happened during the period with tightened covid restrictions, housekeeping took place only once every 4 days to reduce unnecessary contact between guests and staff. Currently, they are back to providing daily housekeeping services.
Facilities
You will find all the key facilities on level 10, such as the pool, gym and Komyuniti, the hotel’s restaurant and bar (it took me a while to realize it was simply an alternate spelling of “community”). The pool is long and narrow, with one shallow end presumably for the younger ones. The gym is equally uneventful and lean in its equipment offerings.
We ordered a midday snack from Komyuniti via Grab as we were feeling a little peckish, plus we could stack a 20% self pick-up discount on the app. Well, the pasta pomodoro ($9.42) was very underwhelming, we wouldn’t recommend it.
Our package came with complimentary breakfast that was served at Komyuniti. Breakfast service is typically until 10.30am on weekdays and 11am on weekends. No buffet spreads though because of the covid restrictions then, so guests were limited to one breakfast set each, which included a plate of sides (salad, fruit, pastries and yoghurt), one main, as well as one hot and one cold beverage. There were 5 mains to choose from: American breakfast, pancakes, nasi lemak, mee rubus or plain congee with condiments. We went with the American breakfast and nasi lemak options, both of which were rather average as mentioned in past reviews. I did find the nasi lemak chilli quite fragrant though so that was the highlight for me. From what I understand, they have currently resumed their full breakfast buffet offerings since the easing of covid regulations.
In terms of cleanliness, there were some concerns. We were initially served a plate of sides that had ants all over it, so a staff helped to change that out. Also, the whole time we were there, there was a dying cockroach next to where we were seated, a mildly perturbing sight indeed. Service was mostly unmemorable as well except for one staff, Matthew, who seemed to have a better flair for interacting with guests. He had a warm, genuine demeanour about him and was the one who helped us change out the ant-filled plate.
My overall rating of the experience: 3 out of 5 stars. The room on its own would’ve been fantastic as it was large and modern with a great view of the city. However, the extra dose of ants on the bed made the stay more uneasy than it should’ve been. At least the sheets, towels and bathroom were still hygienic. This insect problem was likewise present in Komyuniti restaurant, in addition to the unimpressive quality of the food served there. I noticed that the reception and housekeeping staff seem to be very young, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it did give off a very different service vibe. It felt more like a backpacking hostel where the staff are casual, friendly hosts but not particularly polished in their service delivery. Guess I won’t be returning anytime soon!
If this post helped you in some way and you’d like to buy me a coffee, I’d be incredibly grateful (:
Dania Experiences 