gunzie39

We are arriving SIN 12:55 AM and not transferring to another flight. Does anyone know the options for a bed and shower at the airport before moving on?

marel2

Both terminals have a transit hotel ..... http://athmg.com/

Kiwi Flyer

Welcome to Flyer Talk gunzie39

If you don't have an onward flight then why not use a city hotel? Likely to be (much) cheaper that staying at the transit hotel (or the Crowne Plaza attached to the airport but landside), and more convenient for doing stuff in the morning. Singapore is small & efficient so even allowing for immigration you'll likely be at your hotel and checked in well before 2am.

lin821

If you do decide to stay at the transit hotel, see if this previous discussion thread helps:

Transit Hotel at Changi - construction work at T2 AND T1?

obscure2k

Welcome to Flyertalk, gunzie39. Please continue to follow this thread in the FT Singapore Forum.
Thanks..
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

gunzie39

Thanks all. We're not spring chickens and the thought of running around a strange city in the middle of the night is daunting. But seems that there are options. After 20+hrs travel we think we just want to crash. Thanks again.

estnet

Singapore is VERY tourist friendly. There are desks immediately after you exit customs that will assist you finding a hotel (at any price) and unlike many others these are legit and often offer good prices. A taxi (even with midnight surcharge) is not expensive (probably less than 20 USD

It is extremely easy to exit get a taxi and get to your hotel and probably won't be more than 20 minutes - much nicer than staying at the airport.

Efrem

The transit hotel is airside. Your bags will be waiting for you after you clear immigration. So, if you go the TH option, you have to carry everything you'll need for the night with you. Then, you'll have to pick up your bags at the baggage office the next day, as they will have been removed from the carousel hours ago. Not painful, you won't be the first people to have done this, but extra time and more paperwork.

(In an emergency you can get a security escort to your bags to take out prescription meds or other life-and-death necessities - though you shouldn't check those anyhow - and then escort you back airside, but they won't let you take out your PJs and toothpaste even if you're already there.)

I'd go into the city. You'll have to do that sooner or later anyhow. Customs and immigration are very efficient, especially late at night when there's less activity. It's not a long ride.

jpatokal

Am I missing something obvious, or why not just prebook a hotel online, instead of taking potluck at the airport hotel desk? Then you just arrive, pick up your bags, and can flit off to the hotel for the rest of your stay. Hotels in Singapore are cheap, so paying a full night's price for a half-night stay shouldn't be a major concern, and they'll be more than happy to hold your room until 1 AM.

Stockycub1973

Who are you flying with?

If you are on Singapore Airlines they do great deals for stopovers. You get decent 2 1/2 or 3 star hotel for a song. It also included free shuttle van to and from the airport. Passing through customs and immigration is a breeze. After enduring US Customs and Immigration on many occasions I can tell you it was a delightful surprise how fast, efficent and friendly the staff where (the immigration offical even offered me a sweetie whilst she processed my passport). The roads are empty at that time of night and you would be able to take a cab into the downtown within 20 minutes.

Even if you are not on Singapore airlines I would still recommend checking out Expedia for hotel deals. They are quoting the Peninsula Excelsior Hotel where I staid as US$96 a night. I would assume you would be able to add a hotel shuttle as part of the booking process.

htan

I would agree that better to get a hotel and just inform them that you will be a late arrival.

However if you do decide to do the transit hotel, you should book in advance. The last time I was there it was full!

Cheers and have a good trip

Thunderroad

I agree that in Singapore, perhaps more than any other place, you'd be fine going to a hotel in the middle of the night. But I also agree that you should book online to save a step.

Having said that, the transit hotels are quite cheap--cheaper than most regular hotels outside the airport--and would be the easiest option if you feel you'll just want to get to sleep as soon as possible and sort yourselves out the next day. (They're OK, but very basic for what that's worth.) But yes, you definitely should book in advance, because they do fill up.

secretsea18

Not only are the Transit Hotels usually fully booked, they have a standby list of people waiting for the no shows' rooms to open up.

I would go to a hotel in the city if I were not flying out the next morning.

Fredd

FWIW we just stayed in a Transit Hotel inside Changi on our way to the SIN Do and found it completely satisfactory. It was our fourth trip to SIN but our first time trying the hotel, after suggestions from other Do attendees.

We reserved online in advance and managed to push our reservation back one night with a phone call via Skype after a misconnect in SFO. Following FTers' advice, we arbitraily picked a connecting flight when making the reservation but nobody cared at all when we entered the country officially several hours later.

The accommodations are perfectly acceptable (a clean and honest 2* IMO) and for us about five-minute walk after getting off the plane. At something around $60-70 it was, if not a bargain, definitely cost-effective and if you're arriving after midnight as we also did it opens up transport options into the city for MRT and surcharge-free taxis in the morning.

We'll definitely use the Transit Hotel on future trips. ^

Efrem

If you do this, pick a connecting flight that departs from the same terminal at which you'll arrive. They (in my experience, others may feel free to correct me) assign you, space permitting, to a specific transit hotel based on your departing flight. No sense walking any further than necessary if you're not really departing.

As for the TH being "cheap:" they charge for a minimum block of six hours, by the hour after that. The base rate is indeed cheap compared to a hotel room in town. If you want to take some time getting ready for bed, get eight hours' sleep, then take more time the next morning, it becomes less of a bargain.