Singapore - Looking for advice on booking accomodation for a 11-night stay in SG

I'm hoping to book accommodation in the next month or two for a 11-night stay in Singapore that would be in November as soon as I find out what dates in that month that Anime Festival Asia is taking place in.

I know for a fact that Singapore is pretty expensive when it comes to hotel accommodation and out of my budget of £3000, I've budgeted around £2000 for accommodation and £1000 for spending money.

I've found out through reading threads on FT that Hotel Intercontinental's Royal Ambassador has a deal where if you sign up for their membership, you get a voucher for a free weekend night for use in any of their hotels, but I was wondering what their rates are like, especially with the one that you have to use for the voucher (Also, because I'd be staying over 2 weekends instead of one weekend, does anyone know if I can buy a second voucher from Hotel Intercontinental and use it for the second weekend?)

Also, would it be cheaper to book a hotel room through specialist sites like Agodia or hotelrooms.com or rent an apartment for 11 nights?

Unlike most vacations that I take which are usually around 3-4 nights at the most, this will be my first-ever long-term vacation as well as the first time that I've been overseas in over 20 years so I want to make this trip a very special one as well as get value for money at the same time.

In the last year I think hotel prices have gone up in Singapore more than in any other country in the world. The trick is to book early nowadays and look for some deals. Expedia might have some as well. Some hotels are much cheaper on weekends whereas others are cheap during the week.

You really need your dates first before you can think about planning anything though. With those in hand you can get some real numbers on the board.

I have to agree with you there when you say that prices in Singapore for hotel rooms are through the roof, same as with Moscow; another place I'd love to visit one day.

You would have thought that the people that run Singapore would have done something about this if they want to encourage more tourists to visit and spend money in the country.

You're right in that I definitely need the dates of the event because ironically enough, even though the organisers have revealed the date of the one in Kuala Lumpur which is slightly smaller than the one in Singapore, they still haven't revealed the one in Singapore itself which is a bit stupid.

With flights, I'll definitely be looking at getting my flight through either Flight Centre in Manchester or seeing if I can get a decent student discount rate as a university student through STA Travel in Liverpool.

At the end of the day, I just hope I don't end up in a situation where I have to change hotels every few days because the price of staying in one hotel is way too high.

IME there has not been a consistent cheapest accommodations booking site. You have to try them all. Some sites has clear out prices close to the dates.

I had very good results contacting sales in the hotel directly for a extended stays, especially in SE Asia.

For 11 days I would also look at serviced apartment unless you want/need the amenities of a hotel. As long as the accommodations are close to SMRT you will be fine.

IME there has not been a consistent cheapest accommodations booking site. You have to try them all. Some sites has clear out prices close to the dates.

I had very good results contacting sales in the hotel directly for a extended stays, especially in SE Asia.

For 11 days I would also look at serviced apartment unless you want/need the amenities of a hotel. As long as the accommodations are close to SMRT you will be fine.

I'll look at trying that advice of yours about speaking to the sales departments of various hotels directly as well as looking at renting serviced accommodation if the situation with the hotels doesn't work out.

Does anybody else have any advice about booking a holiday to Singapore, such as flights, getting to and from Changi Airport, etc.

SMRT has station at Changi which connects you to just about everywhere at the right time of day.
Taxis are honest but depending on time of day and weather there could be shortages. There are time of day, pickup/destination surcharges.

From UK best routing is LHR SIN. There might be savings if you stop over in the Middle East as opposed to direct flight.

SMRT has station at Changi which connects you to just about everywhere at the right time of day.
Taxis are honest but depending on time of day and weather there could be shortages. There are time of day, pickup/destination surcharges.

From UK best routing is LHR SIN. There might be savings if you stop over in the Middle East as opposed to direct flight.

I take it that it would be a lot more expensive flying from my local airport (Manchester) to Singapore than it would going from Heathrow to Singapore?

I don't know what time the flight I'd be getting would be, but I know that I'd be flying out on a Wednesday as Anime Festival Asia is usually held on a Friday to Sunday and I'd want to allow time to recover from jetlag getting to Singapore.

I take it that it would be a lot more expensive flying from my local airport (Manchester) to Singapore than it would going from Heathrow to Singapore?

I don't know what time the flight I'd be getting would be, but I know that I'd be flying out on a Wednesday as Anime Festival Asia is usually held on a Friday to Sunday and I'd want to allow time to recover from jetlag getting to Singapore.

Don't limit yourself about airfare.

Many times MAN LHR SIN is cheaper than LHR SIN on the same airline with the same LHR SIN flight

You would have thought that the people that run Singapore would have done something about this if they want to encourage more tourists to visit and spend money in the country.

The last 2-3 years showed double-digit growth in number of visitor arrivals. Arrivals are on an alltime high. Are "that people that run Singapore" doing a bad job?
Thats why prices are that high. You are not the only one who does want to visit Singapore.

Search for flights between MAN-SIN, iam sure it will be cheaper compared to LHR. There are multiple possibilties via various airports in Europe and the middle East. Via MiddleEast might be cheapest option.

You would have thought that the people that run Singapore would have done something about this if they want to encourage more tourists to visit and spend money in the country.

Well, as mentioned above, I think that's the thing: they've figured out that sky-rocketing prices haven't had any negative impact whatsoever at rising tourism figures. So the laws of economics have somehow not been relevant here.

There are deals to be found though, and once you have your dates it'll be easier to recommend a place.

Well, as mentioned above, I think that's the thing: they've figured out that sky-rocketing prices haven't had any negative impact whatsoever at rising tourism figures. So the laws of economics have somehow not been relevant here.

There are deals to be found though, and once you have your dates it'll be easier to recommend a place.

I guess you're right there about the laws of economics somehow not being relevant to hotel rooms in Singapore.

As for the dates of Anime Festival Asia, a friend of mine in Singapore told me a few hours ago that the organisers apparently usually announce the dates for the event in September, which may be OK for people in Asia, but not so good for people who live in other parts of the world who'd love to visit the event as it reduces the opportunity to get a cheap room in Singapore.

In any case, seeing as the organisers haven't answered my question about dates on their Facebook page, I'll send them an email about it so hopefully I can get a concrete idea of when I can book the accommodation and flights.

Ironically enough, the organisers of the London MCM Expo (which is a event similar to the San Diego Comic Con, but slightly smaller) usually posts dates for the following year's events just after the end of the October one in London (it's held twice a year in May and October in London), so if they can do that, why the organisers of Anime Festival Asia do that, I don't know...

I'm hoping to book accommodation in the next month or two for a 11-night stay in Singapore that would be in November as soon as I find out what dates in that month that Anime Festival Asia is taking place in.

I know for a fact that Singapore is pretty expensive when it comes to hotel accommodation and out of my budget of £3000, I've budgeted around £2000 for accommodation and £1000 for spending money.

I've found out through reading threads on FT that Hotel Intercontinental's Royal Ambassador has a deal where if you sign up for their membership, you get a voucher for a free weekend night for use in any of their hotels, but I was wondering what their rates are like, especially with the one that you have to use for the voucher (Also, because I'd be staying over 2 weekends instead of one weekend, does anyone know if I can buy a second voucher from Hotel Intercontinental and use it for the second weekend?)

Also, would it be cheaper to book a hotel room through specialist sites like Agodia or hotelrooms.com or rent an apartment for 11 nights?

Unlike most vacations that I take which are usually around 3-4 nights at the most, this will be my first-ever long-term vacation as well as the first time that I've been overseas in over 20 years so I want to make this trip a very special one as well as get value for money at the same time.

Hi,

Last year I stayed at The Grand Mercure Roxy, albeit for a couple of nights, and found it to be very reasonably priced. It's not far from the airport and it's one of the very few hotels which provides a free airport shuttle. There is also a free bus to Paya Labar MRT station and opposite the hotel are bus stops. Getting to and from the city centre is a doddle.
As for booking, I went through Accor - the hotel's website. My room was spacious, clean and very comfortable.