As I’ve written about in the past, I find Singapore to be one of the most frustrating hotel markets for the points obsessed. Why? Because not only is Singapore overrun by truly mediocre hotels, but they’re outrageously priced, both in terms of revenue and award rates.
When I first booked this trip the plan was to just spend one night in Singapore. However, due to a change in schedule, we ended up staying in Singapore for two nights. I made the change last minute, and go figure at that point the St. Regis was booked out for the second night, so I booked the new Westin for that night.
I booked a paid rate at the St. Regis for our one night stay, which cost about $400. I booked through a Virtuoso agent, so received the following additional perks:
- Upgrade on arrival, subject to availability
- Daily Buffet breakfast, for up to two in room guests
- $100 USD Food & Beverage credit, to be utilized during stay
- (excludes Sunday at St. Regis, Sunday Brunch at Brasserie Les Saveurs, Dim Sum Brunch or Sunday Brunch at Yan Ting)
- Early check-in/late check-out
- subject to availability
This is a Category 6 SPG property, meaning a free night redemption would have cost me 20,000 Starpoints. While I don’t like spending $400 out of pocket for a hotel room, I considered that a better value than redeeming points (I value Starpoints at ~2.2 cents each), and I did want this stay to be special for my dad. The Virtuoso benefits further helped me mentally justify that decision.
Furthermore, I applied a Platinum Suite Night Award to the reservation, and was able to confirm a suite upgrade five days before arrival.
For what it’s worth, I actually stayed at the St. Regis Singapore for one night just under two years ago, and wrote a pretty extensive review back then. Since this stay was fairly similar, I’ll keep this review kind of brief.
We made it to the St. Regis at around 4PM. The hotel is about a 20-30 minute drive from Changi Airport, as it’s located on Orchard Road. Orchard Road is sort of Singapore’s equivalent of 5th Avenue, which I realize is desirable to most. To me, there are other places in Singapore I’d rather stay.
As we pulled up to the hotel, a bellman immediately offered to help us with our bags, and directed us towards check-in.
The entrance to the hotel is circular with high ceilings and plenty of natural light, and leads into the more traditional lobby.
St. Regis Singapore entrance
St. Regis Singapore entrance
Once in the lobby, the hotel’s reception is located to the left. As is the case at many St. Regis properties, you can sit down while your check-in is being processed, as each associate has their own desk.
St. Regis Singapore reception
We had an extremely friendly associate at check-in, who confirmed all of our Platinum and Virtuoso benefits.
I explained we would need a rollaway bed. The Suite Night Award confirmed us into a St. Regis Suite, though the associate explained that the living room in it was quite small, so since we needed a rollaway he upgraded us further to a Caroline Astor Suite. That was a nice touch, though we were charged 100SGD for the rollaway.
St. Regis Singapore lobby
The associate walked us to the elevator, which we took up to the 15th floor, where our suite was located.
St. Regis Singapore hallway
We were assigned room 1501, which was located at the very end of the hallway. There was another room behind the first big door, presumably so that it could be turned into a two bedroom suite if needed.
St. Regis Singapore room entrance
St. Regis Singapore floorplan
The Caroline Astor Suite really feels very St. Regis. The hotel is quite new, though still has more traditional furnishings. My personal preference is for more contemporary furnishings, though in fairness this room still felt “fresh.”
To the right of the entrance was the living room, which was quite large. It featured a couch, two chairs, and then a desk with a flat screen TV on the opposite end of the room.
St. Regis Singapore Caroline Astor Suite living room
St. Regis Singapore Caroline Astor Suite living room
St. Regis Singapore Caroline Astor Suite living room
St. Regis Singapore Caroline Astor Suite living room
Then near the entrance was the tea and coffee setup. That being said, one of the perks of staying in a suite at a St. Regis are 24/7 complimentary tea and coffee, so it’s one of the few hotel chains where I don’t brew my own coffee, caffeine addicted as I may be.
St. Regis Singapore Caroline Astor Suite coffee/TV
Given our travel day, I immediately ordered a pot of coffee so we could hit the ground running and go sightseeing.
St. Regis Singapore complimentary coffee
Singapore doesn’t exactly have the most vibrant skyline, though the view from the living room was quite nice.
St. Regis Singapore Caroline Astor Suite view
The bedroom was separated from the living room by a door, and featured a plush king size bed.
St. Regis Singapore Caroline Astor Suite bedroom
On the other side of the room was a vanity mirror.
St. Regis Singapore Caroline Astor Suite bedroom
St. Regis Singapore Caroline Astor Suite bedroom
The views from the bedroom were similar to the views from the living room.
St. Regis Singapore Caroline Astor Suite view
The bathroom featured two distinct rooms. Closer to the entrance/living room was the toilet and sink.
St. Regis Singapore Caroline Astor Suite bathroom
Then in the main bathroom area were double sinks, a walk-in shower, and a soaking tub.
St. Regis Singapore Caroline Astor Suite bathroom
St. Regis Singapore Caroline Astor Suite tub
Overall it was a gorgeous room, and I was appreciative of the further upgrade.
Elite recognition at this hotel is quite good, given that they offer a daily Platinum happy hour. Every night from 5PM until 7PM, Platinum members can receive complimentary cocktails and snacks at LaBrezza, the hotel’s Italian restaurant, which is located next to the pool.
St. Regis Singapore LaBrezza Restaurant
St. Regis Singapore LaBrezza Restaurant
St. Regis Singapore pool
There’s a special drink menu and buffet set up for Platinum members.
St. Regis Singapore Platinum happy hour
At check-in the associate informed me that they had upgraded the buffet since the last time I visited, though I found the opposite to to be the case. To me it sure looked like they downgraded it. Still, it’s a nice gesture on the part of the hotel since they’re in no way obligated to do it, so I really do appreciate it.
St. Regis Singapore Platinum happy hour
St. Regis Singapore Platinum happy hour
St. Regis Singapore Platinum happy hour
St. Regis Singapore Platinum happy hour
The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel’s main restaurant, located just off the lobby.
St. Regis Singapore Brasserie Les Saveurs
The breakfast spread at the restaurant is great. It’s not as extensive as you’ll get at many places in the Middle East or Southeast Asia, but the quality of everything was top notch.
St. Regis Singapore breakfast buffet
St. Regis Singapore breakfast buffet
St. Regis Singapore breakfast buffet
St. Regis Singapore breakfast buffet
St. Regis Singapore breakfast buffet
St. Regis Singapore breakfast buffet
St. Regis Singapore breakfast buffet
St. Regis Singapore breakfast buffet
St. Regis Singapore breakfast buffet
St. Regis Singapore breakfast buffet
St. Regis Singapore breakfast buffet
St. Regis Singapore breakfast buffet
St. Regis Singapore breakfast buffet
St. Regis Singapore breakfast buffet
My one complaint was the lack of coffee refills. I basically had to beg to get a second cup of coffee.
We spent most of the first evening and second day touring Singapore, as it was my dad’s first time. The next day before checking out we had lunch at LaBrezza, the same restaurant where the Platinum happy hour is. That’s because we had a 100USD food & beverage credit to spend, and they have a “business set lunch menu,” which is quite a good value.
The menu read as follows:
We were offered bread to start.
St. Regis Singapore LaBrezza bread
For the starter I had a lovely mozzarella salad.
St. Regis Singapore LaBrezza mozzarella cheese salad
My dad had the minestrone soup.
St. Regis Singapore LaBrezza vegetable minestrone
Then for the main course I had the salmon.
St. Regis Singapore LaBrezza grilled king salmon
While my dad had the linguine with clams.
St. Regis Singapore LaBrezza linguine with clams
It was a great meal, and our $100 credit more than covered the cost of it.
We checked out at 4PM and headed over to the Westin Singapore, which I was keen to visit.
St. Regis Singapore bottom line
As I said at the beginning of the post, I struggle with Singapore as a hotel market. There aren’t really many great options, and they’re all rather expensive. Furthermore, they’re not quite expensive enough for it to make sense to redeem points. So it’s one of the few markets where I end up spending a ton of cash on hotels, unfortunately.
Anyway, the St. Regis Singapore is probably my favorite option in the city. The hotel isn’t totally my preferred style, but there’s no denying that it’s beautiful, fresh, and that elite recognition is great.
I’d rather be over near Clarke Quay than off Orchard Road, though I realize I’m probably in the minority in feeling that way.
What’s your preferred hotel in Singapore?
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