Review: Crowne Plaza Changi Airport

Was it not possible to stay in the first room? More sleep, less check-out!

Thanks for the review of the hotel.. this is most probably a hotel I will definitely avoid and just get a cab ride to the nearest hotel to the airport since I've considered before staying at this property during a long layover (both daytime and overnight).
Looks like the hotel is taking advantage of it's position as an airport hotel to charge but not deliver. On the other hand, I've found the service sector in Singapore to have gone down pretty fast even at 4* or 5* hotels. Am not sure if it is because most of the workers as I understand are labour workers and just there to earn a living. On the other hand, due to the rising standard of living in Singapore, service and prices in Singapore is just becoming out of hand - these days the only reason I fly into Singapore is due to cheaper fares and will fly out directly to one of the better Asian countries around the area.
As for the massage, that sounds like a big rip off. I would have requested for a manager email and drop them a message after your stay (since it already seems that complaining at the front desk would be useless) and leave a bad review at TA or the IHG site itself.
Agree with you about the IHG Platinum status, rather useless. However since the IHG Premium card is not too expensive, having some status is better than having none - that's the only reason I still keep the card for the once in a while staying at an IHG property.

I stayed there in July for a quick overnight stay and there was mold in the bathroom. I sent photos to the hotel twice using the email that is on their webpage ([email protected]) and never heard back. Based on our combined experiences, IHG might want to bring in a new GM who will focus on execution.

The massage part - just can't believe it's happened in Singapore? I mean, Singapore? I agree with Mike I'd definitely drop a mail for the complaint.

Stayed here a bunch of times. Pretty normal front desk experience. They are clueless and forget about any upgrade. Overpriced but it's simple for a layover.

Lucky, your spa experience sounds very similar to mine when I was there back in October!! (I actually managed to persuade them to let me use the spa even though I wasn’t a guest on that occasion - and I had just been staying at another IHG property in Singapore). I was coerced into a more expensive treatment than the one I asked for and I had them being extremely insistent on trying to sell me their products while I was lying face down on the massage table. I just kept pushing back saying “my husband won’t let me” and eventually they gave up. It was very offputting though. They did use a basic oil, and no gloves thankfully. It was an ok massage, extremely firm/borderline injury-inducing! But I didn’t appreciate the pushy suggestive selling or chaotic vibe of the place.

I have previously stayed there in a runway view room and it was great for plane spotting but at night after midnight there were welding works going on right below my room which was annoying. I didn’t like the open air corridors either. I also think the view from a runway-facing room in the airside transit hotel has just as good if not better views.

I’ve stayed at the IHG Hotel Indigo in Katong which is only 10 mins by taxi from the airport and is MUCH better. Katong is also a fabulous, authentic part of town with great architecture, lots of local café’s, bars, restaurants and shops. Worth it for the short cab ride. The hotel has cool decor, a great restaurant and rooftop pool. Also cost just SG$9 to get to/from the centre of town, and the same price to the airport, using Grab.

I've had my share of stays in this hotel.
I never stayed in the new wing. I think it's called Jewel.
But the last time I was there ( May 18) the attendant tried to upsell me to a better room and lounge use, which I declined. I ended up in a room with a view of the tarmac.
The thing is that the hotel is starting to show its age. So the room had quite a worn feeling. And to make things worse, the shower was broken so when I turned it on, water went everywhere in the bathroom. It was not a pleasant experience.

IHG Platinum is actually pretty solid for Kimpton stays - they're still run pretty separately in my experience and are miles apart. In downtown San Diego on a pretty solidly booked night, they upgraded me to a corner suite (two class upgrade, I was told), one for my status and one for the "secret password." I hope the superior service continues.

I know it's your 3rd or 4th choice of chain, Lucky, but would love some Kimpton reviews, especially for domestic travel. They have a lot of great city center options.

If this were any other airport, a hotel could probably get away with service like that. But at Changi? Ridiculous!

@ poster Ben that stayed in Downtown San Diego
What’s the best way to get the Kimpton password?

@Dwondermeant - Lucky usually has a post about it each summer. It's pretty widely available when they run it - just Google Kimpton Secret Password.

@ poster Ben
Appreciate the heads up 🙂

I too stayed at the Crowne Plaza Changi and also felt a negative vibe
Had an exterior room where you walk outdoors to get to your room
Though the room was adequate it was in fact dated and a bit worn
Walking through the outdoor corridors the blast of hot humid weather, and the wet slippery floors from rain left me wanting to leave the hotel as soon as possible
As usual Platinum status got me no breakfast but did get me a slightly better room I’ll assume as the size of the room quite good otherwise
Mind you this was all before Spire so I imagine things have gotten only worse
I would only return if there was no other choice with a flight departure time wise
If the hotel wasn’t in a gotcha location I think it would go out of business
with all the great properties in Singapore
Their public areas did look very nice nicer than their rooms

Have stayed at Crowne Plaza Changi at times when it could not be avoided and that is my opinion of this hotel: to be avoided, when and, if at all possible.

In agreement with many others: high prices, lackluster service and worse after the upsell refusal.

A few points come to mind:

1) 30 minute wait at Changi for immigration is outrageous. Although, maybe I never noticed lines as when I was living in Singapore, I was able to use the automated gates.

2) The Crowne Plaza hard product looks very, very good, especially for a 4-star brand. The large bathroom with separate shower/tub, the pool, the overall design of the hotel stands out. It's a real reminder of the design standard you can get in Singapore even at the 3.5-4 star level (In addition to Andaz, Park Regis, Sofitel, Westin etc., even the new Courtyard by Marriott, Oasia, Indigo have skypools and great looking architecture.)

3) Shame about the hotel soft product - ie. the service. I've heard that because of the incredible growth in Singapore over the past 15 years that hotels have really struggled to recruit and retain high quality staff. So, especially for the newer hotels, the service levels are not great.

One more point:

4) As others have mentioned, it can be tough to justify using the airport hotel at Changi when the city centre is just 20 minutes away by car (although sometimes the taxi lines at Changi can be nuts). Katong is fairly nearby (about 15 minutes on the East Coast Parkway) and they've seen a boom in hotels including a new Indigo and Holiday Inn Express and some other longer standing cheaper hotels (ie. grand mercure). Great food around there too and a cool little neighbourhood to walk around a bit.

Thanks for your review. This hotel has been rated as the top or best airport hotel, so I am surprised at your review. I stayed at the hotel during a night layover 3 years ago and I had a decent experience (you can check out the review here: https://0504traveller.blogspot.com/2018/02/stay-report-crowne-plaza-changi-airport.html) but I was only there for 8 hours, most of which I slept. I did like the garden in the middle of hotel, as it created the inside/outside feeling nicely.

I had the exact same experience as you, including the horrible upsell experience at the spa! I felt so duped and ripped off. I did enjoy the pool while there, and it seems I had marginally better service, but that was really about it. I agree with your assessment - I would not return to this hotel.

See my review of the hotel here: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g294265-d1086295-r582707910-Crowne_Plaza_Changi_Airport-Singapore.html

And the spa: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g294265-d13402099-r582489408-Essence_Vale_Spa-Singapore.html

This is exactly the same experience I had last year. Staff very unfriendly and don't seem to want to be there, as a Spire I wasn't given an upgrade on PAID stay. I'd avoid next time.
Shame as four years ago they upgraded me to club room with club access for free as Platinum. Maybe change of ownership?

Hmmmmm. I had planned to stay here. I understood that the place was generally very well regarded. The massage fiasco was just that - I certainly wouldn't have bought the foot cream! I think however if it's clear that the spa is run by a third party then you can't really complain about the hotel on that basis. If I do stay there however I certainly won't use the spa now, so I'm grateful for that heads up! It might have been useful if you had told us how much the full room rate was for the day you were there. I don't really understand why you were quite so against the hotel ultimately -I think it looks great.

180SGD for a day-room, and probably 320 SGD for a night, that's about 3 times as much as equivalent hotels up the road.

Have stayed a couple of times in the past year and found the service very good, but got the feeling when you're the "worlds's best airport hotel" you can charge as much as you like and forget about any loyalty-program.

I've stayed here a few times and always had good experiences. Most recent was end of June this year and arrived around 7am at the hotel after flight from Zurich and was able to have a room by 11am and the next day with an evening departure I was given a late checkout to 2pm. I've got no status with IHG just a standard base level membership. I've always found the staff super helpful both front desk and luggage storage.

I'm still shocked at your use of your last IHG uncapped cert on a 150USD property.

@Lucky Thank you for the review. I always avoided this property as thought it overpriced compared to the alternatives. You have confirmed my impression.

I stayed here for 36 hours in 2016, before the new wing, when platinum was the top IHG status. No breakfast. No lounge access. No upgrade. No turndown service. Nothing.

I stayed there recently and didn't mind it at all but then again I didn't use any of the facilities that you mentioned. Like you, check in and check out took way too long. My room was great as was the bathroom. Ambassador Spire Elite got me absolutely nowhere which appears to be the case everywhere in IHG and Crown Plaza. I like the location enormously and underneath the hotel there is a huge array of local services, restaurants and stores at half the CP prices which I imagine most guests never venture to explore. I do like @Justin's suggestion of Katong and would investigate that next time I need a transit hotel in Singapore.

you (plural) need to understand what customer service is like in Singapore. All of these interactions make perfect sense in the right context.

@George - no, the Jewel is something completely different. It'll be open in 2019

@Michael - the new wing of the hotel is also called the “Jewel Wing” - you can even see it in one of the photos in the post.

Thanks for the review. The room itself looks fine. Next time use one of the free massage chairs at the airport to kill some time then check in for a full day. I never have a problem killing a few hours at Changi with the theaters, butterfly and sunflower gardens and free massage chairs.

Curiously I noticed a huge immigration queue the other day at Changi, I was so surprised I took a picture ! So I wonder if there are some added checks or something currently as it is most unusual

Stayed there for one night last June. There were small bugs in the room near the faucet and the hotel billed it as a non-qualifying rate despite booking it on their website. Only recently got it corrected but it caused me to miss out on some bonus points from the Accelerate promotion at the time. I would recommend choosing a different airport hotel.

Stayed here twice, both times disappointed. Long check in queues, 30 mins at 1 am with 2 kids under 10 was no fun, they were so inefficient and took 10-15 mins per customer! Arrived at the room, both times, the aircon was off and it took 45 mins to cool enough to sleep. Rooms were nice enough. Would avoid if u can

Yeah, second the option of staying in Katong (or Joo Chiat Road) where the food is excellent (also up in Geylang Serai / Haig Rd), much better than the food near the big hotels in the city / Orchard Rd.

Interesting both times I stayed here last year as a spire ambassador was upgraded to a full suite.

Stayed here once and never again. I did not care for the rooms at all. The fixtures and carpet felt cheap, rooms were humid and I personally did not care for the flower decorations on the bathroom glass. Service stinks the big one. A rip off for sure. A cheap 12 minute taxi ride puts you in Katong where there is some great food and the much nicer IHG property, hotel Indigo.

I've stayed in Crowne Plaza Changi twice with kids and plan to stay there again next time. The hotel's location is very convenient, especially if you have flight leaving from terminal 3. Check-in counters for SQ in terminal 3 is only a short walk from the hotel.
You can also drag your luggage carts to the room if you don't want to pay any tip.
Breakfast at the hotel is also good, but cheaper option is food court in B-2 level (basement) in T3 which has a bunch of restaurants. Note that those restaurants in food court are not listed in Changi's website or in airport guide's booklet, so many people don't know about them.

Shouldn't they have upgraded you since your Platinum ? I had booked the standard room and if i remember right, made a bid for their room upgrade and it came thru. So was upgraded to the next category rooms with the runway view. Fully worth it, if your an Aviation geek.

But check in was sketchy for me as well.

There are plenty of InterContinental and Kimpton hotels where Platinum status gets you upgrades. I've upgraded onto Club floors at least 3 dozen times in the past 2 years when staying at IC's, and into suites the past year when staying at Kimpton properties. Very unfair of you to offer a snide comment of the benefit when you were clearly stating at an outlier.
"Stvr" is right though. What a waste of a free night certificate.

I have never had a massage and I’d be really put out to start that way. Just don’t really want strangers touching me AT ALL. I have aspire elite status though I have no idea why. I have the card. I have rare paid stays and put those at SPG now Marriott.

Thanks for the review, Lucky. For those complaining about the cost: it's an airport hotel (in the truest sense) at the world's best airport, in one of Asia's richest economies. Triple whammy! So of course you'll be paying a hefty premium when booking there instead of say.....Katong. I don't get why some people act so surprised at this!? I've stayed there several times for the sheer convenience and enjoyed good service and nice rooms, including upgrades. My only complaint would be the open corridors letting in the humidity, as noted by Lucky. Safe travels, everyone!

For the visually impaired arriving late this is an absolute crappy and dangerous place
I’ve slipped over whilst they were mopping the floors as I couldn’t see the attendant!
This was on the way to checking into my room .. most inconvenient.. caveat emptor .. buyer beware ! .. Aerotel for me I think !

I was there in May and unknowingly wished we could stay there the night prior to our US return flight. It's impressive exterior is enticing but I'm glad to read your review and those of other commenters. We stayed at the Mandarin Oriental instead which was a nice pre-departure treat with its lovely pool and numerous restaurants. I did notice that service in general around Singapore was lacking especially compared to other Asian cities.

Your issues could have just be settled by asking for a manager 🙂

For those who complain about cost Singapore is expensive and for those who are cheap and expect freebies .. the hotel is a business .. they are not here to do charity and upgrades are always subjected to availability. Compared to many IHG properties, get upgraded pretty often. Head to Europe or Australia .. try getting a freebie and you get told off. However in Asia freebies are expected and somehow free things are equated with good service 😀

Just arrived December 2025. Just experienced something I’ve never seen in my life, even when I was in my 20s in 2-star hotels….the mini-bar is completely empty! Nothing in it apart from 10ml milk. Was thirsty when I arrived so had to order mineral water thru room service. Don’t ming paying but it’s a hassle and a wait