Where to stay in Singapore?

Marina Bay Sands. Nothing quite like taking a dip in their infinity pool.

Orchard road

McKinsey wrote: ↑ Marina Bay Sands. Nothing quite like taking a dip in their infinity pool.

Except the location is not that good at all

McKinsey wrote: ↑ Marina Bay Sands. Nothing quite like taking a dip in their infinity pool.

I stayed there one night. I thought the hotel its self is overrated. The pool is cool, and you do need a room card to access the pool, so i guess, if the OP is willing to pay for that. Imo, not worth it. I did like the restaurant called C'est la vie in the Marina Bay Sands. Not a cheap restaurant, but food was great. Did i regret staying at the Marina Bay Sands? nope, but i was glad i only paid for one night. For me, it was an experience. I'd rather spend my money on a nice fancy high end restaurant.

laziguy wrote: ↑ Any recommendations on where to stay in Singapore. It will be my first time going there.

Looking forward to eat chicken rice and chilli crab.

Maybe state your budget, what amenities you might want/need. It might help others make a suggestion for you. I stayed here https://www.booking.com/hotel/sg/ruby.e ... type=total&

Not the greatest hotel, but relatively cheap. Less than $200 for 3 nights. The rooms are small, but very clean. The area surrounding it has lots of restaurants. There is a train station is a short walk away. Train stations are usually one of the key factors for me, when i book a place to stay while traveling.

phuviano wrote: ↑ I stayed there one night. I thought the hotel its self is overrated. The pool is cool, and you do need a room card to access the pool, so i guess, if the OP is willing to pay for that. Imo, not worth it. I did like the restaurant called C'est la vie in the Marina Bay Sands. Not a cheap restaurant, but food was great. Did i regret staying at the Marina Bay Sands? nope, but i was glad i only paid for one night. For me, it was an experience. I'd rather spend my money on a nice fancy high end restaurant.

Agreed that one night is sufficient. Some like to splurge on travel (business class vs economy), accommodations (suits vs hotels), others on fine dining (michelin-star vs street food)...while others splurge on materials (e.g. latest phones).

That being said, off-topic but I found Singapore itself "boring" relative to Southeast Asia.

McKinsey wrote: ↑ Agreed that one night is sufficient. Some like to splurge on travel (business class vs economy), accommodations (suits vs hotels), others on fine dining (michelin-star vs street food)...while others splurge on materials (e.g. latest phones).

That being said, off-topic but I found Singapore itself "boring" relative to Southeast Asia.

I'm planning to go back to Singapore later this year. I've always wanted to try out Sands, but I have a feeling it'll be S$400+/night? I'm thinking of just staying at the same hotel that I stayed at last year. IIRC, it was S$150/night. I thought that was expensive...

I stayed at the Oasia Hotel Novena. It's in the Novena area but is a better location than Marina South where Marina Bay Sands Singapore is. Really enjoyed the breakfast and pool here. They also offered at check in the option to upgrade to a club room with club lounge access.
I checked out the Swissotel The Stamford which is also good but higher priced.
Marina Bay Sands Sinagpore is $350-400 a night while their rooms are small and nothing special. Essentially you're paying a $100 per night premium compared to other hotels to use their pool. MBS is also a healthy walk to the MRT station. But if you can afford the MBS then I imagine you'll be taking taxis everywhere.

I'd recommend any hotel that's within a 10 minute walk to an MRT station. The Singapore heat and humidity will melt you. 35*C before 10 am isn't unusual.

This is off topic.

While you are there you can get one of those Starhub roaming prepaid sim card for local use. At the airport they ONLY have the $50 version available. If you go to any local 7-11 they will have the $15 prepaid card available and you can use that during your trip. Bring your passport with you you need that to sign up. Install your starhub app on the phone. Upon returning to Canada you can use the starhub roaming data plan which gives you 4gb data per month(used to be 5gb but promo changes from time to time i guess) for only $25.00. It will roam on Roger's network. You can use the sim on a phone, ipad or laptop etc. The sunday free(they didn't have that before and it's new) is only for use in Singapore. What's good about this sim is that the roaming data can also be used in the USA and various countries in the world. It will expire within a certain period of time since it is prepaid but it only cost around $1.10 or so to extend every 120 days & keep the remaining balance. Even if you don't use it locally in Canada you can just keep it for future travelling use.

http://www.starhub.com/personal/mobile/ ... d-sim.html

http://www.starhub.com/personal/mobile/ ... l#hr_plans

I stayed at a residence type hotel on Orchard road. The name escapes me, but we were 5 people staying for a week so we got a two bedroom + kitchen.

Don't worry about SIM cards. Once you are in town, all the local carriers have tourist packages. Usually you get 100Gb for 10 days or the like, so I did all my calls using Messagign apps.

https://www.singtel.com/personal/produc ... hi-tourist

https://www.singtel.com/personal/produc ... hi-tourist

Mulder and Scully wrote: ↑ I stayed at the Oasia Hotel Novena. It's in the Novena area but is a better location than Marina South where Marina Bay Sands Singapore is. Really enjoyed the breakfast and pool here. They also offered at check in the option to upgrade to a club room with club lounge access.
I checked out the Swissotel The Stamford which is also good but higher priced.
Marina Bay Sands Sinagpore is $350-400 a night while their rooms are small and nothing special. Essentially you're paying a $100 per night premium compared to other hotels to use their pool. MBS is also a healthy walk to the MRT station. But if you can afford the MBS then I imagine you'll be taking taxis everywhere.

I'd recommend any hotel that's within a 10 minute walk to an MRT station. The Singapore heat and humidity will melt you. 35*C before 10 am isn't unusual.

One of my goals is to find a nice budget hotel that's less than 5 min. walk from a MRT station. I have yet to find one. You got any suggestions on one?

As for the heat and humidity, I think I just got use to it. It's usually the worse on the first visit, but subsequent visits will be easier. Just make sure you're hydrated and you'll be fine.

Sgt_Strider wrote: ↑ One of my goals is to find a nice budget hotel that's less than 5 min. walk from a MRT station. I have yet to find one. You got any suggestions on one?

As for the heat and humidity, I think I just got use to it. It's usually the worse on the first visit, but subsequent visits will be easier. Just make sure you're hydrated and you'll be fine.

Ibis on Ben coolen? It's less than 5 min walk

StatsGuy wrote: ↑ Ibis on Ben coolen? It's less than 5 min walk

Google Maps said it's a 7 min. walk. I just did a search for some of the dates that I have in mind and it's about C$160/night. Not bad, but can I go cheaper?

The reason why I want a short walk to the MRT is because I want to make it nice and easy for me to quickly get to Changi with luggage. It's tough to haul heavy luggage in the heat and humidity.

Sgt_Strider wrote: ↑ Google Maps said it's a 7 min. walk. I just did a search for some of the dates that I have in mind and it's about C$160/night. Not bad, but can I go cheaper?

The reason why I want a short walk to the MRT is because I want to make it nice and easy for me to quickly get to Changi with luggage. It's tough to haul heavy luggage in the heat and humidity.

Which mrt station? Google maps says it's 250m or 3 mins walk to Ben coolen mrt

It's Singapore, so prices are no cheap especially if you want to be near mrt and somewhat close to the main areas like orchard road, hawker stands

StatsGuy wrote: ↑ Which mrt station? Google maps says it's 250m or 3 mins walk to Ben coolen mrt

It's Singapore, so prices are no cheap especially if you want to be near mrt and somewhat close to the main areas like orchard road, hawker stands

IIRC, it was from Bugis station.

I know, but I thought you're an expert on the matter so I asked if it can be even cheaper. It doesn't hurt to ask. Singapore isn't a third world country so I'm not expecting $20 rooms in central Singapore.

Sgt_Strider wrote: ↑ IIRC, it was from Bugis station.

I know, but I thought you're an expert on the matter so I asked if it can be even cheaper. It doesn't hurt to ask. Singapore isn't a third world country so I'm not expecting $20 rooms in central Singapore.

The Bugis to Little India area is probably your best bet for budget hotels with good transit links.

Maybe try looking at the Village Hotel Bugis, Mercure Singapore Bugis, Village Hotel Albert Court, Parkroyal on Kitchener, or One Farrer Hotel (this one is a little more expensive but is much nicer, a "budget 5*" option).

One thing to be a little wary of is make sure you double check and read reviews for hotels in that kind of area that aren't part of a recognizable chain. It's a less upmarket area (still very safe, and some might prefer it due it being more 'authentic'), but there are a lot of small one-man-show hotels that cater to extremely budget travelers (e.g. backpackers who just need a room for a few hours, without bedbugs ideally), or ... other businesses (e.g. locals who just need a room for a few hours, with plastic sheeting under the bed sheets, probably).

Manatus wrote: ↑ The Bugis to Little India area is probably your best bet for budget hotels with good transit links.

Maybe try looking at the Village Hotel Bugis, Mercure Singapore Bugis, Village Hotel Albert Court, Parkroyal on Kitchener, or One Farrer Hotel (this one is a little more expensive but is much nicer, a "budget 5*" option).

One thing to be a little wary of is make sure you double check and read reviews for hotels in that kind of area that aren't part of a recognizable chain. It's a less upmarket area (still very safe, and some might prefer it due it being more 'authentic'), but there are a lot of small one-man-show hotels that cater to extremely budget travelers (e.g. backpackers who just need a room for a few hours, without bedbugs ideally), or ... other businesses (e.g. locals who just need a room for a few hours, with plastic sheeting under the bed sheets, probably).

Is there even an "unsafe" area in Singapore? I've been to Singapore a few times in my life and not once did I felt unsafe. I even walked back to my hotel room from the Marina Bay area after I missed the last MRT. I walked by myself at night for over 45 min.

Sgt_Strider wrote: ↑ Is there even an "unsafe" area in Singapore? I've been to Singapore a few times in my life and not once did I felt unsafe. I even walked back to my hotel room from the Marina Bay area after I missed the last MRT. I walked by myself at night for over 45 min.

No, not really. And honestly it's easy to tell when things aren't squeaky clean - which is fine, and you may or may not enjoy that. Just don't do dumb things or be a jerk to people, and you'll be fine. Yeah, if you go to a local roadside "eating house" where there's groups of workmen downing beers at night and start giving them an attitude, you might get in some trouble... but anything short of that, it's pretty much entirely safe for tourists. It's a really low bar.

We stayed at Ibis on Bencoolen for 4 nights and liked it there. The price was reasonable. It's close to food court, market and shopping. It's also about 5 mins walk from Bugis MRT station and from there, everything was accessible. I was also looking at the Orchard Road area at the time.