SQTraveller

I would definitely avoid Lau Pa Sat --- food quality is awful. Office workers only buy food here because it's convenient to the CBD.
If you do stay at the Conrad, there is a far better (though admittedly more expensive) hawker centre called Gluttons Bay. It is also for tourists, but the food quality is far superior to Lau Pa Sat.
For a different food experience you could try Peranakan (the cuisine from Malay-Chinese families) --- the best is probably Blue Ginger, but it is pricey. Good Peranakan food is hard to find these days.

iluvcruising2

Conrad Hotel isn't too bad because it is somewhat linked to the Marina Square malls which have plenty of stuff to eat (including food courts) and you can even walk all the way to City Hall through underpasses. Also nearby would be Suntec City and Millenia Walk.

The following videos give you an idea of what the Marina Square Mall area looks like.

Marina Square Mall - Marina Mandarin Hotel

Pan Pacific Hotel walk to Esplanade MRT

Millenia Walk mall.

Suntec City walking around.

manneca

I prefer the Conrad. Actually, if you can wander around there is lots of local stuff going on. On the river near the Esplanade theater is a canopy with local groups performing. I'm not sure whether it's a weekend thing or during the week. And once I was there and a parcours was set up with kids careening off it. If you walk across the bridge to Marina Bay Sands, you can see locals and tourists taking pictures. Often there are professional shoots taking place there. (I was there a couple of weeks ago, saw a professional photographer and his models, two days later in Houston, the photos were up advertising Singapore in the airport.)

The food court at Sun Tec City near the Fountain of Prosperity is full of locals eating. Pepperoni is always packed with young people (and sometimes business people) getting their pizza fix. It's probably not what you meant by locals, but hey, in the US the locals hang out at the mall.

It took me a long time to figure this all out, but if you can navigate through the malls to the water front on the Convention Center side, there is really a lot going on.

Marina Bay Sands has had Friday night movies sometimes, too, which is fun.

Orchard Road is to me, far, far too many malls. I've wandered around there but haven't found as much interesting stuff as around the Conrad. I have found it difficult to find good food (I'm not into hawkers markets) around there either. There are so many good mid and up scale choices near the Conrad (if you include Marina Bay Sands).

There is a Circle line stop and a Downtown line stop just behind the small mall with the Outback across from the Conrad. (Don't eat at the Outback) From there you can get anywhere. And it's a lot closer than the Orchard Road stop to the Hilton.

I think the Conrad is a much superior hotel to the Hilton.

iluvcruising2

Yes, there is a Food Republic near the Fountain of Prosperity at Suntec City basement. You can see this in the video I shared in the previous post, on walking around Suntec City basement.

enviroian

I too am looking at the Hilton for a stay next month for 3 nights. Is the Clarke Quay area better for bars and nightlife? I'm a walker so I'm not like if it's not next door I'm not interested.

I'm interested in later evening food stalls I can grab takeaway food back to the room. Is this possible within walking distance of the Hilton?

If not is Clarke Quay a better area?

Thanks!

iluvcruising2

Clark Quay area would be better for bars and nightlife. Hilton isn't too bad, you have large upscale malls nearby and they all have eateries and food courts.

enviroian

Thanks for the info! Are the food courts open past 10?

Annalisa12

Clarke Quay is a great location for you. Eat your food out. It's fun to people watch.

A fun location for bar drinking is also on the beach near the Shangri La hotel (in Sentosa). You might like the Bikini Bar! My husband did! lol

hdogan

No. Hilton location is really bad for late night stuff, if you don't count Orchard Towers, and you probably don't want to go there Clarke Quay area may be a better choice.

evergrn

I stayed at the Hilton on Orchard Rd a couple months ago. I went to the food court in the basement of ION Orchard (Food Opera) a bunch of times. It's a great place where you can get hawker dishes. It's open till 10pm except 11pm on Fri & Sat.

http://foodrepublic.com.sg/stores/ion-orchard

Tons of options. Had a couple of amazing dishes there. Then again, I am a complete novice when it comes to Singapore, and so I don't know how their food would compare to nearby hawker centres. Walking distance to the Hilton. <10min from the food court to your hotel room as long as you take the right route. You want to take the correct escalator up out of the food court and then be sure to continue down on the higher basement shopping level so that you cross Paterson Rd underground to get to the Hilton side of the road before you come up.

It's not just the Food Opera. On the same level as the Food Opera, but on the other side is a bunch more eateries and food shops. Had an amazing Singapore-style coffee there on the recommendation of another FTer.

vogriphach

This is probably out of the question for most FlyerTalkers but I personally like staying in the East Coast - quite relaxing and the area oozes charm (especially around Katong). It's good that IHG has put up 2 hotels there.

Anyway, this area-by-area guide of Singapore hotels may be helpful.

http://iwandered.net/2017/02/07/wher...gapore-hotels/

glennaa11

that's a great resource. thanks for sharing

travelmad478

If I may tag onto this thread--I will be going to SIN for the first time for a six-night stay in May (a friend of mine will be there on business and I'm going to meet him afterwards). We need a place to stay but I have no clue where to base ourselves. At the moment I have a booking at the Quincy Hotel, which gets very nice reviews and seems good value--but I don't have any idea what the area is like. I'm very interested in local food (hawker centers etc.) and we will likely be doing sightseeing, but not shopping. What do the experts recommend as far as neighborhoods, and hotels similar in price/quality to the Quincy?

quantumofforce

not much to add on hotels as I now live here, but if you are a foodie, little India has some amazing restaurants!

Vaucluse

Another vote for Conrad.