Singapore - Day and a half in Singapore - where/what?

I'm hopping around Asia/Pacific on award flights and will be in Singapore for about 33 hours. It'll be my first time there and I wanted to get a bit of advice on the best area to stay in and some of the must-see and must-do things.

My flight from BKK gets in at 13:00 on Monday and then I leave for Sydney at 22:30 the next day. I have HHonors Gold and SPG Platinum status. Supposedly Sheraton Towers isn't that great, and St. Regis is out of the price range right now, so I'm open to the choice of hotels. Which area would serve as a good base?

Of course, I'm planning on checking out the late night Hawker centers, and I would also like to visit Marina Bay Sands resort (the roof mostly), but what else can I do in the amount of time I have? Sights, parks, cultural things? Or should I just walk around?

Thanks in advance.

I'm a frequent traveller to Singapore.

It depends on your interests.

If I were you, I would start with Chinatown as they have a good variety of hawker centres. After visiting Chinatown, a 1km or so walk would lead you to boat quay (a relaxing place for sight-seeing with a lot of mid-higher end restaurants)

If you are into shopping, must visit: Orchard St, Bugis St (food and stuff are cheaper at Bugis compared to Orchard street). After 10pm, do your shopping at Mustafa Centre (that place is open 24h). Not far from Orchard St, there is a well-known hawker centre-- Lau Pa Sat.

Don't forget to bring your passport if you are going to the casino (you won't be allowed to enter without it). Shorts and flips flops are also banned in casinos.

I'm not bit on shopping - mostly want to check out the city, architecture, food, etc. Maybe a fun event if something happens to take place while I'm there.

I'm hopping around Asia/Pacific on award flights and will be in Singapore for about 33 hours. It'll be my first time there and I wanted to get a bit of advice on the best area to stay in and some of the must-see and must-do things.

My flight from BKK gets in at 13:00 on Monday and then I leave for Sydney at 22:30 the next day. I have HHonors Gold and SPG Platinum status. Supposedly Sheraton Towers isn't that great, and St. Regis is out of the price range right now, so I'm open to the choice of hotels. Which area would serve as a good base?

Of course, I'm planning on checking out the late night Hawker centers, and I would also like to visit Marina Bay Sands resort (the roof mostly), but what else can I do in the amount of time I have? Sights, parks, cultural things? Or should I just walk around?

Thanks in advance.

Regarding hotel choice - I would go with the Intercontinental especially as I see you have PC Plat status. Great central location and a beautiful hotel with extremely good service.

I'd check with the respective hotels and see who can give you the best late check-out arrangement.

I was under the impression that IC's didn't look at PC status, just Ambassador?

If you're there for 1 night, I don't think the Sheraton will exactly disappoint, especially not if they give you a 6pm check out!

Many love the Conrad, especially if you get lounge access.

Ah, but unless you want a free drink or three, I reckon Singapore is the one city in the world where not having lounge access wouldn't bother me. I mean, if you eat in the lounge it just leaves less room in your stomach to fill by eating elsewhere!

Location-wise, I'd be inclined to knock some points off the Conrad too. The area has got more interesting but you're still a bit out on a limb.

Seriously though, if you want to be walking around, you'll want to have a shower before you leave for the airport so you'll really value that late check-out.

To get back to your original question, i'd propose doing something like this.

Land a 1pm, be at the hotel by 2pm. Head to Little India by MRT, couple of hours wandering around, then back to the hotel by 5pm. Get freshened up then go out for dinner - probably do the Marina Sands before 9pm to avoid the cover charge then head to somewhere like Lau Pau Sat.

Next day, see Chinatown (couple of hours wandering, some good lunch options here too) then head up to the colonial part of town around (what used to be) the river mouth. You've got the Fullerton Hotel, Raffles statue, the opportunity to do a bump-boat tour on the river, the Merlion statue, Raffles hotel and the Padang all in that general area. If you're still flush for time, the botanical gardens are nice for a walk around (and the new ones by the Marina must be open now too I guess). Back to your hotel 5-ish (where you've negotiated a late check-out) then maybe find somewhere for dinner on your way to the airport.

SwissTony, that sounds like a pretty awesome itinerary. If I followed it, would I be near some Hawker centers to get street food? Definitely want to try that.

Lau Pau Sat (evening of day1) is a hawker centre, although I have to say that these places are better enjoyed in a group....

There's another one in Chinatown (Maxwell Road) but given your limited time in Singapore, i'd suggest just doing one, then eating at another style of place on the second day.

If you can come back and tell us what you manage to sort with a hotel, that might assist with what you do, especially on the second evening en route to the airport.

Enjoy!

I booked Holiday Inn Orchard City Centre — which seems to be pretty highly rated on TripAdvisor — for now, and will see if maybe St. Regis opens up for Cash & Points award.

That's a very good location. You're quite close to Somerset MRT and I suspect you can walk almost all the way there through air conditioned malls. If you like Sushi and technology, make sure you go into Genki Sushi in Orchard Central for a bite to eat. I'm not saying anymore, but it's not expensive (and I was as impressed as my kids were...)

I thought the tourist office had self guided walking tours but I can't seem to find them. You may however want to look at something like this http://comesingapore.com/travel-guide/article/536/the-little-india-trail

Oh, and you can pick up some reasonable quality tourist brochures at the airport on arrival for free.

If you want a drink later on and don't want to stay in the hotel, there's a few bars on Emerald Hill Road.

Get Chilly Crab at No Signboard Seafood at Geylang & enjoy the scenary ;)

Don't forget to bring your passport if you are going to the casino (you won't be allowed to enter without it). Shorts and flips flops are also banned in casinos.

I've worn shorts and flip flops to the casino MANY times.

I've seen their dress code policy too, they don't seem to enforce it.