Had a 2-night weekend stay at this property recently, and was fairly satisfied.

Used SNAs to increase the odds of getting an upgrade on what I assumed might be a busy weekend, and received confirmation for a Marvelous suite five days out. ^ Arrived at about 9am, and was told they had pre-upgraded me further to a Fantastic suite ^, which however was still occupied, so instead of waiting around, I was happy to take the “downgrade” to an immediately available Marvelous suite.

Was assigned a x48 suite, which is large and well-appointed, not overly flashy by W standards, with a large wrap-around balcony (with lounger) and a very nice bathroom. Great view of the harbor from bedroom and bathroom, view of a wall from the living room. Unfortunately, there’s not much privacy, as due to the location of the suite (in a protrusion from the building), a dozen rooms have a direct view from their balconies to the x48 balcony and bedroom. Plus, if you’re on a low floor, you have to worry about people on the walkway and boats. So if you want privacy, you pretty much have to keep the shades closed all day long, which is a shame.

Full breakfast was offered as a Plat amenity choice (in lieu of the 500 points), and was pretty satisfying, although the chaos described in earlier posts still persists (they can't get tea delivered, but have people roaming the room pushing waffles). In terms of selection and quality, this is a nice breakfast, almost on par with the Ws in HK and Taipei. Had room service lunch one day (very poor), and no additional experience with dining at W.

I will admit that the hotel was nothing like I expected. I’ve been to Singapore dozens of times, but only stayed on Sentosa once, at the Amara Sanctuary Resort, which felt like a relaxing retreat from the city, with tranquil seaviews, lots of greenery, etc. I imagined the W to be similar to that, rather quaint and secluded, but that’s not the case. It’s part of a luxury housing development, adjacent to a yacht harbor and probably a dozen or so restaurants and small stores. Doesn’t feel like a resort at all, and there’s no sense that you’re getting away from it all. In fact, I'd have to describe the W more as a poorly located city hotel (think LM Cyberport or W Walkerhill) than a great place for a getaway. This isn’t necessarily a strike against the hotel, just not at all what I expected.

The location, IMO, has major drawbacks. There’s no public transportation, and nothing is convenient to reach, which makes this hotel an extremely poor choice for anything but staying put. And there’s not much motivation to do that: The pool is rather unexciting and crowded, the landscaping is uninspired, and there are limited activities.

Taxis are extremely hard to come by, usually requiring a phone order, which makes the price jump to (by Singapore standards) outrageous amounts – we paid S$20 to Marina Bay Sands and S$44 to the airport (without waiting or ERP charges). Add to that the wait – even if you order by phone, usually no cabs are nearby.

Would I return to, or recommend this property? If you’re talking SPG only, it’s clearly preferable to the Sheraton, and for the below-40 crowd, probably a better hotel the St Regis with its stingy upgrade policies. But the location is poor for tourists who want to explore the city, and impossible for work. It’s a shame, really, as it’s one of my favorite W suites, but I can’t imagine I’ll be rushing back, and there are very limited circumstances which would cause me to recommend staying here.