Major update needed
Written: Jan 29 '08 (Updated Jan 29 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Location
Cons: Feels terribly old
The Bottom Line: no, look somewhere else that is the same product but cheaper.
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| pungpui's Full Review: Carlton Hotel Singapore |
We stayed at this hotel as a Category C accommodation with Singapore Airlines Stopover package (highest category is E, lowest is A), so we expected a mid-range hotel. We had previously stayed at Furama RiverFront Singapore 3 years ago, which is Category A – so why it is that we had paid double the price this time for Category C and we got an experience comparable to a Category A? This hotel is in major need of an update. The rooms look and feel tired, especially the furnishings and finishings in the room and the bathroom.
The location is relatively good, right across the road from the Raffles Hotel, Raffles City and is 2 blocks away from Suntec City. In the other direction 5 minutes walk takes you to the Le Meridien side of Orchard Road. Then 15 minutes in another direction takes you to Funan Digitalife Mall for all your IT needs. It sits on a busy road, so taxis are never a long wait. Right next door at the Raffles is also the Singapore Airlines Hop-on bus, provided for free to Singapore Airlines passengers taking the Stopover package. This stop caters for both the City loop and the Sentosa Island loop. I’m not too sure about the distance to the nearest MRT station, although I’m sure it’s no more than 5 minutes away.
We were provided free transfers from Changi airport to the hotel in a mini-bus, and every hotel that we stopped at the bus could go into the hotel bay drop-off area. At Carlton the exit requires the vehicle to pass the carpark so the clearance for vehicles is very low. Thus we were dropped off on the street (a bus multi-lane road) with no porter facilities. First impressions were not good. The lobby itself is quite dark, and never enough lounge spaces for waiting. Though it seems there were a lots of Australians there, and the hotel always felt busy with people coming and going. There is an abundance of staff in the lobby, with always someone at least standing there waiting – be it bell staff, concierge staff, etc. On the right there is also a small souvenir store (don’t buy there, it’s expensive).
Rooms feature a nice bay window area and very tall ceilings to facilitate better air conditioning (hot air rises). These are pretty much the only things positive about the room. It’s not that it was dirty, its just that the rooms need a major facelift. There is grout in the tiled bathroom. The toilet is difficult to flush, light switches feel dated, colour scheme is very bland, single beds were comparatively small, the cupboard smelt damp, the list really does go on. Also, outside the window, the view of the pool was clear: grout in the tiling down there. At least the bed sheets were clean and sleeping was relatively comfortable.
What also annoyed me was a sign saying that if you require a refill of the complimentary tea bags, it will cost you $SG4. It’s just not something that you put in the hotel room - seems really stingy. Also, internet access will cost you $SG27 per 24 hours. That is also unreasonably high, especially when I’ve just stayed in a 3 star hotel in Tokyo who has provided it for free. In the bar downstairs, $SG8 for a cup of coffee or tea. $SG8???? Even the Raffles doesn’t even charge that much! I know for a fact (since I went there) Ah Dengs at Raffles costs $SG7.90 for Danish, tea/coffee and juice in the breakfast menu.
A good thing about the Singapore Airlines stopover package is you get 50% off at Cafe Vic – the hotel’s 24 hour restaurant featuring buffet’s at most meal times. During our stay, buffet breakfast was $SG35++ and buffet dinner was $SG40++ – so we paid half of that per person. This made it an absolute bargain since dinner included crab soup, fresh seafood (prawns, oysters, Balmain bug, raw fish and sushi Japanese style), cooked foods (including mud crab, fish, pork spare ribs), salads and desserts (including Durian pudding, ice cream and a chocolate fountain). A chef can also freshly cooked you a prawn or bowl of noodles, and in the mornings you can get fresh eggs cooked to your liking, as well as Roti Prata, pancakes and waffles (though the chef didn’t know how to use the waffle machine and ended up breaking it). Service was relatively flat, where no-one smiles at you and what happened to letting the guest walk first? Numerous occasions where I had to stop with a plate of food in my hands while staff just walked passed. I’m also not impressed with the taxes and service charges hidden from the advertised price – makes it very deceptive!
Would I recommend this hotel? If you are concerned about location, this hotel is excellent. But i could get the same hotel product elsewhere for much cheaper. Would I stay here again? Not really, for the point above. Singapore has very cheap taxis comparatively, it will cost you less than $SG10 from one end to another, so for me location is not that important. The product itself is much more important, and I did notice that the hotel is building a Premier Wing right next door to be completed in a few years time. Maybe after that is complete they will look at updating the hotel but until then, no thanks. If looking at the SIA Stopover package, look at the Traders Hotel, in the same category so same price and in a better, more prestigious location.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
pungpui
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Location: Sydney, Australia
Reviews written: 23
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
I'm male, 19, a business undergrad student at University of Technology Sydney
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