Around the World in a Week, Part Five: The Crowne Plaza Changi

Around The World In A Week

More from this series:

• Around the World in a Week, Part One: The Planning Process
• Around the World in a Week, Part Two: TPA-IAD on United in First Class, Lufthansa Senator Lounge IAD
• Around the World in a Week, Part Three: IAD-NRT on ANA in First Class
• Around the World in a Week, Part Four: ANA First Class Lounge NRT and NRT-SIN on Singapore Airlines in First Class
• Around the World in a Week, Part Five: The Crowne Plaza Changi
• Around the World in a Week, Part Six: The Grand Hyatt Singapore
• Around the World in a Week, Part Seven: Singapore
• Around the World in a Week, Part Nine: BKK-NRT on Thai in First Class, NRT-ICN on United in First Class
• Around the World in a Week, Part Ten: The Hyatt Regency Incheon Airport
• Around the World in a Week, Part Eleven: The Park Hyatt Seoul
• Around the World in a Week, Part Twelve: Seoul
• Around the World in a Week, Part Thirteen: Asiana First Class Lounge ICN, ICN-FRA on Asiana in First Class
• Around the World in a Week, Part Fourteen: The InterContinental Frankfurt
• Around the World in a Week, Part Fifteen: Lufthansa First Class Terminal and FRA-SEA on Lufthansa in First Class
• Around the World in a Week, Part Sixteen: Conclusion

As I mentioned in my previous installment, the Crowne Plaza Changi Airport is conveniently connected to Terminal 3. It was only a few minutes from immigration, so I got to the check-in counter by 1:30AM or so. Check-in was efficient, and within a minute or so I was given a room on the 7th floor. It’s worth noting that I used 25,000 Priority Club points for this reservation, which was a great deal compared to the revenue rate of $400SGD (which, admittedly, is outrageous).

Hotel exterior

This is certainly one of the most funky airport hotels. The lobby is hard to describe, so just have a look at the pictures.

Lobby

Lobby

Lobby

Hotel entrance from the airport

I took the elevator up to the 7th floor, where I was surprised to see that the halls leading to the rooms were actually outside. Usually that’s a bad thing, and you’d think in Singapore it’s a bad thing given the heat, but I actually kind of liked it.

Exterior hallway

Outdoor corridor

Courtyard

Courtyard

Everything is designed in such a funky way that I actually liked it. There were spiral staircases and plants growing everywhere. My room was right by the elevator, and was a decent size. I don’t think I got an upgrade, but that was fine. The room was well designed, with a large screen TV, comfortable king size bed, and good size desk. The desk even had US power converters.

Entrance

Bag storage

TV and desk

Bed

View from room

The bathroom was spacious with a separate shower and large tub.

Bathroom

Bathtub

Amenities

On the desk was a welcome gift, consisting of some small chocolate pancake type thing and some candy.

Platinum welcome gift

Nightstand and cookie

There was also a cookie on the nightstand. Not sure if everyone gets that or what, but it was delicious.

One gripe is the cost of internet, which is outrageous. This is rather frustrating since Changi airport has free Wi-Fi, so I ended up spending about an hour after the flight sitting on the floor at Changi airport to surf the web, since I wasn’t about to pay $20USD+ per day for internet.

I figured I’d be tired and fall right asleep, but unfortunately jetlag caught up with me, so I didn’t end up falling asleep till about 4AM. When I finally did I slept quite well.

The following morning I checked out the gym and pool, both of which were nice.

Gym

Overall this was probably the nicest airport hotel I’ve stayed at. It’s fresh, modern, and incredibly practical. I guess the real question is what’s the benefit of staying at a hotel near the airport, when cabs to downtown are quite cheap. It’s not like this hotel is cheap – it’s typically priced quite outrageously, actually. But given that I was using points and I really wanted to try out the hotel, I was happy I did.

It’s my understanding that this hotel usually upgrades Platinum members to suites, but I was informed that the hotel was 100% full, which would explain the lack of an upgrade. But I’d probably give them another shot, if the circumstances were right.