Review: Andaz Singapore

Singapore as a hotel market has been very nicely improving lately, especially with my preferred brands, Hyatt and Starwood. Up until recently, Hyatt had a single hotel in Singapore — the Grand Hyatt. It’s a nice hotel, but very corporate. That’s why I was excited when late last year the new Andaz Singapore opened. I’m a fan of the Andaz brand, and wanted to see how this compared to some of their other Asian properties. The Andaz Shanghai and Andaz Tokyo are both excellent.

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For my one night stay, the Andaz Singapore had a paid rate of 320SGD  (~245USD), which I thought was pretty reasonable. Often rates here are much higher, and this is a Category 6 World of Hyatt property, meaning that a free night would cost 25,000 points. If Points + Cash is available, that would cost you 12,500 points plus 209SGD per night.

The Andaz is about a 20 minute drive from Changi Airport, and the building itself is part of a larger, ultra-modern development. With the exception of the hotel, I believe the rest of the development is just offices.

Andaz Singapore exterior

Andaz Singapore exterior

At the door I was greeted by a bellman and informed that the hotel’s lobby was on the 25th floor.

Andaz Singapore lower level lobby

There seem to be more and more hotels with lobbies on higher floors. On one hand it’s nice, since the lobby will have better views, and it makes it easier for the hotel to make the social spaces desirable. On the flip side, it also means you always have to take two sets of elevators between your room and outside.

Andaz Singapore elevators

The Andaz’s lobby isn’t huge, though it’s nicely appointed, with some plants in the center of it. In general I felt like the design of the hotel was nice, but it didn’t really wow me, especially for a brand new hotel that’s supposed to have a focus on design. That’s the case almost across the board, from the public spaces to the rooms.

Andaz Singapore lobby

Andaz Singapore lobby

Andaz doesn’t have traditional check-in desks, but rather they have “hosts” who check you in with tablets, to facilitate a more natural interaction. The host who checked me in was friendly. She explained that unfortunately there were no suite upgrades available as a Globalist. However, I’d receive complimentary breakfast, served between 7AM and 11AM. Furthermore, the hotel has a free wine hour from 5PM until 7PM daily for all guests, just off the lobby.

Within a few minutes I was in another elevator, headed up to the 32nd floor, where my room was located.

Andaz Singapore hallway

The hotel has an atrium that starts above the 25th floor — the hotel goes all the way to the 39th floor.

Andaz Singapore atrium

My room, 3222, was just a short walk from the elevator. There were aspects of the design that impressed me, like the room numbers looking like mailboxes.

Andaz Singapore room exterior

Andaz Singapore floorplan

My king room featured a long entryway with an exposed closet to the right, which is also where the safe was located.

Andaz Singapore king room entryway

Andaz Singapore king room entryway

The room itself wasn’t especially big. It featured a king size bed with two nightstands, and two bottles of complimentary water on each side.

Andaz Singapore king room

Across from that was the TV and sitting area. The sitting area had a coffee table with both a small couch and a seat. Personally I would have preferred for them to have a traditional desk, but working from the chair wasn’t too bad.

Andaz Singapore king room

Andaz Singapore king room

Along the interior of the room was the minibar. As is standard at all Andaz properties, all snacks and non-alcoholic drinks were complimentary. There was a Nespresso coffee machine (which is nice for an Andaz), tea, several types of soda and water, milk chocolate covered almonds, and a granola bar. Back when the first Andaz opened they’d have a significant number of snacks in the minibar, though over the years that has been reduced across the board.

Andaz Singapore in-room Nespresso machine

Andaz Singapore in-room complimentary minibar

Andaz Singapore in-room minibar

In addition to the minibar snacks there was a kueh lapis waiting on the table, described as “a local favourite cake that is steamed gradually as layers are subsequently added in.”

Andaz Singapore king room welcome gift

The hotel had good views of sprawling Singapore. There are some more iconic views to be had, but these were perfectly nice, thanks to the high floor I was on.

Andaz Singapore king room view

The views got even better at night.

Andaz Singapore king room view

The bathroom was along the interior of the room. The bathroom had a sink with a back-lit circular mirror, a toilet (I’m surprised they didn’t install those fancy toilets with all the buttons), and a walk-in shower.

Andaz Singapore king room bathroom

Andaz Singapore king room toilet

The shower only had a half glass partition separating it from the bathroom, so when I showered the rest of the bathroom got pretty wet.

Andaz Singapore king room shower

Toiletries were from Chistophe Laudamiel, which I don’t think I’ve used before, but found to be pretty good.

Andaz Singapore toiletries

I’d also note that in-room Wi-Fi is free for all guests, and I found it to be fast.

Overall I thought the room was nice, though it didn’t wow me. It had all the basics and a fairly nice design, though I feel like some of the other Andaz properties in Asia are more impressive. I also feel like there are some areas where they should have prioritized substance over style (like those annoying shower glass shields).

Most of the hotel’s dining venues are on the 25th floor. This includes the beautiful lobby bar.

Andaz Singapore lobby bar

Andaz Singapore lobby bar

In addition to that there’s the Sunroom, which is where the nightly happy hour is, from 5PM until 7PM. I didn’t visit at that time as I had just landed, but it seemed to be popular with people.

Andaz Singapore Sunroom

Andaz Singapore Sunroom

Andaz Singapore Sunroom

Andaz Singapore Sunroom

While I didn’t go to the happy hour, at 5AM I just sat there for a while having some coffee, as the Sunroom has complimentary soft drinks and coffee all day.

Andaz Singapore Sunroom complimentary drinks

Now let’s talk about the breakfast experience at this hotel. Okay folks, I don’t claim to be a genius (obviously), but I’d also like to think I’m not the dumbest person on earth. To this day I still don’t understand how breakfast at the Andaz Singapore works. It’s not any one thing, but rather a combination of so many factors that makes it confusing.

First of all, breakfast is spread across three restaurants (I think? I’m still confused). I understand the hotel is going for a hawker-style theme where you’re supposed to be able to easily move between restaurants, but a bit more of an explanation would have helped as to how things actually work.

If I’m understanding things correctly, one of the breakfast restaurants is Icehaus, which is supposed to have western options.

Andaz Singapore Icehaus Restaurant

Andaz Singapore Icehaus Restaurant

Andaz Singapore Icehaus Restaurant

Then there’s a separate restaurant located across the way. You can sit in either restaurant, and get food from either restaurant, which takes some getting used to, but fair enough.

Andaz Singapore Alley On 25 Restaurant

Below is some of the food from Icehaus, including fresh fruit, cheese, salad, croissants, pastries, bread, yogurt, muesli, waffles, salmon, and cold cuts.

Andaz Singapore breakfast buffet

Andaz Singapore breakfast buffet

Andaz Singapore breakfast buffet

Andaz Singapore breakfast buffet

Andaz Singapore breakfast buffet

Andaz Singapore breakfast buffet

Andaz Singapore breakfast buffet

Andaz Singapore breakfast buffet

Andaz Singapore breakfast buffet

The other restaurant only had what looked like omelet accompaniments, and not any Asian food.

Andaz Singapore breakfast buffet

As it turns out, the Asian food is in a third restaurant. So to have breakfast you potentially have to go between three restaurants.

Coffee and tea are self serve at breakfast. I don’t mind that as such, I just wish I had been told that when I sat down. I ordered a coffee when I sat down (as I usually would at any breakfast at a nice hotel). About 10 minutes later I reminded the server I was still waiting on my coffee, and was (politely) informed that it was self serve.

Andaz Singapore breakfast buffet

Andaz Singapore breakfast buffet

This is where things get more confusing. I was presented with the below menu, which stated that the full breakfast includes all buffet items, plus any a la carte dish from Western Delights and Local Favourites selection.

Prawn and chicken dumplings? Mee goreng? Mmmm!

So I tried to order one of those.

“Could I have the prawn and chicken dumplings please?”
“You can only order the eggs off the menu with the buffet.”
“But it says you can order anything off the menu in either of these sections?”
“No, only the eggs, I’m sorry.”
“To be clear, is this just because breakfast is included with my room? Because I’m happy to pay for it.”
“No, it can’t be ordered, there are different restaurants here.”
“Okay, so which restaurant do I have to sit in to be able to order this?”
“You can only order the eggs, but there are some Asian buffet items in the other restaurant.”
“If I go sit in the restaurant with Asian food, can I order this there?”
“No, for breakfast you can only order eggs.”

I. Don’t. Understand.

There was indeed a third restaurant, which had a small buffet consisting of Asian items.

Andaz Singapore restaurant

Andaz Singapore breakfast buffet

Andaz Singapore breakfast buffet

Andaz Singapore breakfast buffet

Frustrated, I eventually just settled on an omelet, which is the last thing I want to eat in a city with food as good as Singapore. I asked for a veggie and cheese omelet, but it just came with cheese.

Andaz Singapore breakfast omelet

In terms of the hotel’s other features, there’s a beautiful infinity pool on the 25th floor.

Andaz Singapore pool

The hotel’s gym is on the 38th floor, and wasn’t particularly big.

Andaz Singapore gym

Andaz Singapore gym

Andaz Singapore gym

While I wouldn’t have used it, I found it odd that the hotel doesn’t have a spa. It’s not just that the hotel is new and it’s not quite finished yet, but rather they just don’t plan on having one.

Bottom line

The Andaz Singapore is a nice new addition for the city, and especially for the Hyatt brand, given that they only have one other property there. This is a solid new property, with nice design and friendly service. Maybe my expectations were just too high, but I wasn’t wowed, though.

My only real complaint about the hotel is the breakfast. Not even the breakfast as such, but the fact that I can’t make sense of it. Why give me a menu that I can’t actually order off of, even if I’m willing to pay extra? Does anyone understand how breakfast is supposed to work?

So overall I walked away from this hotel with a pretty neutral impression. It’s nice enough, though I was hoping to be more impressed. I’d consider returning if the price is right.