We had a 2 night stay at the Capitol Kempinski recently and really enjoyed it. Our prior stay was at the JW Marriott, which was good, but the CK took it to a luxury level of service and food.

How we booked
We booked via Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts for around US$360 per night. Definitely one of the more competitively priced stays vs other luxury options in town during our dates.

Location & Arrival
The hotel is centrally located by the City Hall MRT and a connected mall. It’s a block from Singapore Mgmt University and 3 blocks from the Singapore Nat’l Museum, along with the Raffles around the corner and fairly easy walk to The Esplanade and Gluttons Bay. We took a cab from the airport (about SG$20) and on the return took the MRT back (East-West Line to an easy cross-platform change at Tanah Merah), which took about 45 minutes.

The car entrance to the hotel is a bit hidden, but that adds a touch of discrete luxury. Doormen grabbed our bags and we were ushered in to sit at a desk in the intimate lobby. I appreciated how understated and warm it was, rather than trying to be grandiose. We were checked in by an intern, which felt a bit templated but she did a good job explaining our FHR benefits (the US$125 converted to SG$160, about SG$12 off exchange rates at the time). As part of check in we were offered two glasses of Prosecco.

We were famished after a long travel day, so grabbed a quiet bite at the bar before coming back to be escorted to our rooms. Our bags were already there, along with a creative charcuterie plate and fruit basket, along with a bottle of wine.


Exterior of the Capitol Kempinski Hotel

Arrival at the Capitol Kempinski

Fancy golf cart at the Capitol Kempinski

Understated and intimate lobby of the Capitol Kempinski

Welcome amenity: Charcuterie board

Welcome amenity and note: Fruit plate


Our Room
The rooms are spread out across a couple low slung buildings, so the hallways are winding and long. Thankfully our room was near the bank of elevators that deposited us in the Capitol Mall, which made our in/out easier.

We had booked a Deluxe Room and received a one category upgrade to a Heritage Room, which is the same size but has an enclosed balcony overlooking the street. At 484 sq ft it was a fine size for a city hotel, but other than a small couch, no where to lounge. There was a desk in the terrace area, which I liked as someone could be working with the door shut while someone else took a rest. The desk doubled as a makeup vanity.

Our front desk escort, gave us a brief tour, pointing out the Nespresso and inviting us to a free minibar (don’t get too excited: 2 cans of Coke, 1 San Pelligrino and 1 Sprite). The bathroom was a nice size with a separate toilet area (with Japanese toilet) and small shower room. There were two sinks and a tub. The amenities were small bottles of Convivio by Salvatore Ferragamo, which we quite liked. These were not replenished on the second day. Slippers and robes were provided. There was no ironing board in the room, but they were happy to deliver one.

The beds were delightful and cozy. One quirk was there were no USB charging slots in the walls and the sockets did not accommodate foreign plugs without an adapter. Thankfully there was a wireless charging pad on one side of the bed, which worked great. And the front desk kindly lent me an adapter.

There was a TV with a Sonos sound bar. And a wardrobe closet in the entryway, along with drawers below the suitcase shelf.

Wi-Fi in the room was great. As far as we could tell, we did not get a nightly turn down service.

Overall a great room for what it was and we were very pleased. The hotel seemed relatively empty during our stay, but our upgrade stuck firmly to the requirements, which perhaps missed an opportunity for a surprise and delight.


Winding hallways in the Capitol Kempinski

Heritage twin room at Capitol Kempinski

Bedside plugs and storage

Double vanity and tub

Bathroom amenities, I appreciate that they stocked additional items you might otherwise have to request

Small shower with three shower heads

Salvatore Ferragamo amenities

Sonos sound bar on the TV