Staycation at Mercure Singapore Bugis
Sep 3, 2016, 10:09 pm
Mercure Singapore Bugis
122 Middle Rd Singapore, SG
Staycation at Mercure Singapore Bugis (20 Photos)
Mercure Singapore Bugis
Booked the hotel during the almost weekly Member Weekend Rush which offers hotel rates 30% off which makes it quite reasonable. For this rate, you are only able to book it on the week itself meaning you book on Tuesday and stay period is the coming Friday to Sunday. Thus, since my birthday was during the weekend, I decided to do a staycation at the brand new Mercure Sinagpore Bugis.
I booked a Standard room (15 m²) and got a confirmed upgrade 1 day prior to my check in to a Loft room (22 m²) as per Platinum benefit. I also got Early check in at 10am and late check out at 5pm.
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Check In
Arrived at the hotel around 10am and check in was swift. Our request for a high floor was also met as our room was located on the 2nd highest floor. We were also given a rundown of the facilities of the hotel and the benefits we get as Platinum guest.
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Room
Our room (1314) was a Loft room. The lower floor houses the bathroom, living area (Sofabed) and a work desk. The upper floor is the bed room with another TV. With is loft concept, the room does feel abit narrow but airy due to the high ceiling. Artwork by the side wall gives the room a better feel and colours give the room a refreshing feel.
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One thing I do like about this hotel is that the hotel offers a smartphone in every room which offers free calls to selcted international country (10 countries if I am correct). Additioanlly, it allows the guest to have free unlimited mobile data throughout the stay. This would be very useful to international travellers as in this day and age, everything can be "googled" to get the infomation you one. One might also turn on the mobile hotspot so that the their own personal phone will get wifi through the phone.
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As you can see from the photos below, the entrance to the room leads to the bathroom first with the open concept closet to you left followed by the basin and to your right the shower and toilet. Quite a poor design as there is no privacy and also, the open concept closet only has 4-5 hangars which is very limited in space too. Additionally, the shower area was quite tight and moving around the shower was quite diffculty.
To add on, I understand that while I was staying there, the owners of the hotels were staying there to test out the rooms. I also heard that all the feedback from the guest was pass on directly to the owners to see how they can improve the room design. Hopefully something can be done to impove the bathroom design.
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Privilege Lounge
As Platinum guest, we got access to the lounge which offered breakfast and evening drinks. Service at the lounge was tip top excellent and the staff were all so friendly and from time to time would stike a conversation with you.
Breakfast at the lounge was vastly limited however due to the lounge being located opposite the restaurant, most guest would dine in the lounge to enjoy the privacy while heading out to the buffet to bring food in since the buffet offered a wider variety.
In the evening (6pm-8pm) would be the highlight of the lounge. Although the offering was limited, much cannot be expect from a Mercure. There were 4 dishes/canapes to choose from and Soft drinks, 2 types of juices, Coffee, Tea, Tiger, Heineken, Red/White wine to sip on throught the 2 hours.
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Pool
Having stayed at both the Novotel Singapore Clarke Quay and Grand Mercure Roxy, the pool here at Mercure Singapore Bugis definitely blows the other 2 hotels away. Located on the 7th floor is the Infinity pool, kids pool, jacuzzi and gym.
Overall
Overall, for the price I paid, the stay was definitely worth it. The service was excellent, the rooms was unique in the sense that it was the first time I stayed in a loft, the lounge was wonderful and the facilities excellent.
I would definitely come back for a stay soon.
Sep 4, 2016, 2:48 am
I like the design of the rooms with the exception of the bathroom right at the entrance. This is weird.
The pool looks wonderful.
Sep 4, 2016, 4:55 am
With regard to the pictures the FT system should recognise orientation but not always does. What I have done is to open the picture in finder on your computer (if using a Mac) and then just click save and upload. No changes required, somehow then the FT system recognises the orientation
Sep 4, 2016, 5:24 am
With regard to the pictures the FT system should recognise orientation but not always does. What I have done is to open the picture in finder on your computer (if using a Mac) and then just click save and upload. No changes required, somehow then the FT system recognises the orientation
Sep 4, 2016, 6:07 am
Sep 4, 2016, 7:22 am
Sep 4, 2016, 9:00 am
Sep 4, 2016, 4:00 pm
Also, a word of caution, if you do stay here, do book the Loft rooms an above. The standard rooms are quite tight. Novotel definitely wins in room sizes but Mercure wins in new hotel, service, facilities and newly design loft rooms.
Sep 4, 2016, 9:37 pm
The pool is on 7 floor and kind of "hanging" up there. Definitely an interesting design of the overall buildings.
The draw back is standard room is rather small, 15 sqm. I think there is 2 types of loft room. I stayed at the same room as cocoleolol. I peeked on the room next to me when the housekeeping cleaned the room. It is bigger, perhaps it is corner loft.
Sep 5, 2016, 5:20 am
I was also lucky enough to get a loft upgrade and the room was designed by someone who does not spend much time in a hotel. An example is if you wish to relax pre or post dinner and watch TV, the lounge chair is essentially an oversized normal chair for 1, you need to drag the desk chair across if you want to put your feet up, and then there is no where to put you drink. A couple of bean bags would go a long way, as would a side table, or even better yet, a real lounge for 2.
Sep 5, 2016, 6:13 am
I believe the hotel was built on a small plot of land and thus the rooms are small. If you take a look at M Social or Studio M, they also do Loft rooms with Loft rooms starting at 22sqm, which is the same here at Mercure. However since Mercure does not charge rates as those found at Studio M or M Social. I feel that Mercure has done a fairly good job with what they have and the prices justify the amenities provided.
Adding on, I believe the hotel was aiming for the younger travellers in the sense that the Loft rooms were targeted toward them.
Sep 5, 2016, 2:54 pm
As for it catering for the younger audience, would definitely agree, the stairs and mattress on the floor doesn't work well for the older demographic.
Sep 6, 2016, 3:07 am
I was also lucky enough to get a loft upgrade and the room was designed by someone who does not spend much time in a hotel. An example is if you wish to relax pre or post dinner and watch TV, the lounge chair is essentially an oversized normal chair for 1, you need to drag the desk chair across if you want to put your feet up, and then there is no where to put you drink. A couple of bean bags would go a long way, as would a side table, or even better yet, a real lounge for 2.
Well, I have to say, the lounge is not the best, in term of food, drink, etc. But given this is Mecure, I was quite surprise they even have one.
Agree the in-door area is rather small, I guess, this is why they complement it with outdoor area. Again, I found it is a very creative way of make use of limited space.
As the room design, I kind of agree the chair they have in the room can be better and some arrangement on the lower level.
I also personally hate to climb up and down to the bed area.
But given, the price and location, I won't mind to come back while I am still Platinum.
Is that the best hotel? May be not, but to me definitely interesting and good value. The ibis next door is about the same price but no lounge access at all. No doubt ibis has slightly bigger room.
Sep 7, 2016, 5:08 am
.There are apparently five different room types, including suites, which have a rack of $499SGD.
Having checked out yesterday I can now say it's worth a look, but could be oh so much better. At the moment it's reasonable value, and a good option if you need a room to sleep and not much else.