I’ll be the devil’s advocate here in saying I did not enjoy my short experience back in late June. Despite a booking only for one, I was upgraded to a room with two twin beds, which won’t do much for me. To be fair that was the best upgradable room category they had when I checked in, and slightly larger than the entry-level rooms with one twin bed, which I booked. Front desk was very straightforward about not participating in Globalist suite upgrades, but “may make exceptions during low occupancies”.

Despite an upgraded room, I really wouldn’t call it large or airy. Some of The Standard’s design cues were apparent, but neither the furnishing nor noise insulation were the best. Thankfully views out toward the pool was pleasant enough, and I did appreciate the tall calling. Bathroom was strikingly similar to quite a few Standard hotels, and water pressure from the rain shower was okay. Bed was much harder than The Standard London or Standard International’s The Manner though. Compared to rooms at Grand Hyatt or Andaz, it’s Hyatt Place standards at best – Hyatt Places in this part of the world could get quite nice.

The rather limited public spaces were stunning, so was the pool. The property doesn’t have an on-site fitness center, and converted a guest room into a gym similar to Hotel Toranomon Hills. I almost couldn’t hold it when I stepped inside the so called “gym room” – it was probably the most entertaining part of my stay. To make things worse, there’re no alternatives for gym access at all. Avoid The Standard if you start your days with a treadmill session.

I had an early departure and wasn’t able to partake breakfast, but the hotel was nice enough to prepare a breakfast to-go bag. The contents were pretty good, some pastries, yoghurt with granola and a fruit bowl. But unfortunately Andaz still has it beat, with smoked salmon and even scrambled eggs with bacon in its extravagant takeaway breakfast (no pictures on that – apologies). My booking was made pretty much ad hoc on the day before arrival. I paid around 25% less than the nearby Grand Hyatt, and I regretted my decision not to splurge a little more every minute while I was there. A few photos in the spoiler tag below.