Back in 2017 when this hotel had just wrapped up its latest refurbishment, my husband’s colleague then was looking for feedback on the new rooms. As a result, we got a complimentary stay to try it out! It was a memorable experience so this hotel easily made it onto my visit-again list.
Since I had accumulated a substantial amount of Trip coins (Trip.com currency that works like cashback to offset purchases on the platform), I had in mind the notion to splurge a little to check out a room with club lounge access this time! If you’re new to Trip.com, you can sign up with my referral code here and receive up to $20 worth of new user promo codes (:
- Inclusions:
- 1-night stay in Swiss Executive Harbour View Room (upgraded from Swiss Executive Room)
- Level 65 Lounge access
- Breakfast and happy hour (as part of club lounge access)
- Spent: SGD$27.23 + $461.23 in Trip coins
Check-in
There was a dedicated check-in area for Accor members, the hotel’s free-to-join loyalty programme, on top of the general reception counters and self check-in kiosks. We were assisted by Roman, who gave us a really warm welcome (: He shared that for guests with executive lounge access, there is another option of heading straight to the lounge on level 65 to check in.
Room
Our assigned Swiss Executive Room was located on level 58 (out of 66 guest room floors). It had a spacious and modern interior, with my favourite spot being the rocking chair by the balcony. The unobstructed bathroom layout made it feel pretty open. What a gorgeous view of the city too!
I was hoping to use a bathtub but our initial room only came with a shower. After checking with Romulus, one of the lounge concierge staff, he shared that it was possible to shift us to another room that has a bathtub. I only found out much later that this room, which was just two doors down from our original one, was actually an upgrade as it had slightly more space and a more direct view of the Marina Bay area (super appreciated!) ❤
Although this bathroom felt a tad tighter, the tub was surprisingly more well-maintained compared to the shower in our initial room, which had quite a bit of grout discolouration along the floor and wall tiles.
A feature that I remember from our last stay was the very cool motion sensor night lights. These turn on automatically when you swing your feet down to get out of bed, making it perfect for those late night toilet trips. Together with the firm pillow and awesomely firm bed, I almost had a good night’s sleep except for one unfortunate factor: the poor soundproofing. We could clearly hear the blasting of sports car engines, as well as people singing and cheering from below (they were singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone” over and over so I presumed there was a soccer match going on). This went on into the night until about 3am, yikes.
Facilities
Facilities like the pool, gym and Willow Stream Spa are shared with Fairmont Hotel so you can check these links out for more details if you’d like! Guests staying at either hotel have complimentary access to the wet spa facilities and the on-site tennis courts by appointment. There is a smaller, more exclusive gym on level 65 specifically for guests with executive lounge access.
A large part of this stay was spent chilling out at Level 65 lounge perched on the 65th floor as its name suggests. Similar to the club lounges at Pan Pacific Hotel and Mandarin Orchard Hotel, it also boasts near-360-degree views of the surrounding cityscapes but with a design that is much more contemporary and stylish. The astounding variety of inviting sofas and chairs strongly compelled me to try sitting on every single one at least once. You can actually step out onto the individual balconies lining the lounge perimeter to soak in the views too.
At the end of the lounge is a cosy, more private area called Crest Lounge (probably reserved for guests staying in the suites). There’s even space for a table tennis recreational area.
Happy hour was between 5.30pm to 7.30pm where they served a limited but nicely varied selection of food. If you only serve a few items, the expectation is that they’re all done well, and the team here definitely delivered! No fancy cocktails or mimosas though, just wine and some simple mixes. I ended up just sipping on TWG’s Jasmine Queen tea all evening while my husband enjoyed his warm mug of hot chocolate.
The next morning, we had our breakfast in the lounge as well, which was available from 7am to 10.30am. They had the usual free-flow breakfast spread with a live station for eggs. However, the food wasn’t as memorable as what we had during happy hour. With that said, service was great as usual and staff were prompt in clearing our finished plates.
We had the option to either have our breakfast at the lounge or at the main restaurants (Asian Market Cafe at Swissotel or Prego at Fairmont Hotel). As such, I wanted to scout out the offerings at Asian Market Cafe. The spread was a lot bigger with many more local-inspired dishes to choose from! It was quite cute how there were also famous local street names alongside the food displays.
Just before checking out, I went up to the lounge one last time to wind down and partake of some refreshments. There were soft drinks, coffee, tea and hot chocolate, as well as two types of cookies. These were on display for self-service but Ronald very kindly prepared my order and brought it to my table (:
One of the perks of being an Accor member is having welcome drinks at the hotel. We were presented with two cards during check-in to be exchanged for welcome drinks at either Anti:dote at Fairmont Hotel or The Stamford Brasserie at Swissotel. I opted for the latter as the drink options were more interesting than the common coffee and tea options at the former.
After we were ushered to our seats at the bar, we ordered the mint lemonade and strawberry mocktails to share. Both were refreshing but a tad sweet the way most mocktails are.
My overall rating of the experience: 4 out of 5 stars. The rooms were comfortable and modern with panoramic city views – we were perpetually staring out our window 😛 The bright and breezy club lounge was amazing too! What I’d give to while my afternoons and evenings away in tranquility up there again. Not only were the staff approachable and helpful, they also took the initiative to anticipate and attend to our needs, which made us feel like we were in good hands throughout the stay. In terms of food, that was more of a mixed bag. The fare served during happy hour tasted so much better than the breakfast items. Nevertheless, it was a fantastic stay that had the perfect idyllic pace needed for a solid rest and recharge!
If this post helped you in some way and you’d like to buy me a coffee, I’d be incredibly grateful (:
Dania Experiences 