islandcub1

I'll be there for a few days in November (side trip from Hong Kong). I've read the reviews available on FlyerTalk, but one of the Accor hotels I'm considering haven't been reviewed. As I've never been to Singapore before, I'd like to be fairly central with easy access to the MRT, and a decent hotel breakfast (either in the hotel restaurant or in the lounge) is fairly important to me. A Handy phone or portable hotspot would be great, since I'd be using Google Maps a lot. Pool and fitness room don't really matter to me.

Hotels I'm considering are the Mercure Singapore Bugis, the Novotel Singapore Clarke Quay, and the Swissôtel Merchant Court. I'm leaning towards the Swissôtel; is it worth it to pay for a better room which includes breakfast and lounge access? I'm LeClubAccor Gold, so I don't have lounge access privileges (unless I'm upgraded to a room with them?)

Thoughts, anybody?

cowism

Sofitel City Centre. Hands down.

Maelstrom

The Ibis Bencoolen has served me well, and their upgraded Standard room has those Handy phones that you mentioned.
I'm afraid I don't have any experience with any other hotels in Singapore.

Goldorak

gilbertaue

The Novotel has large rooms and a small lounge. It's a 10 min walk to the mrt station. Mobile available - I think.

Mercure bugis has very small rooms. If you are upgraded to a loft room, you have to climb stairs and the bed is on the floor. Not very comfortable. Mrt is about 5min walk. Mobile available.

Swisshotel I can't comment as I haven't stayed. Next to the met station.

The Sofitel occasionally has rates similar to the swissotel. It sits on top of the mrt station. Mobile available.

cowism

Novotel Clarke Quay is a 10 mins walk to the station. You will be stuck when it rains. Same goes for Mercure Bugis and Ibis Bencoolen. I find the room layout of Mercure Bugis unfavorable for most travellers with a suitcase as there's simply no space to put them!

If budget allows, go for the Sofitel or Swissotel Stamford. U can easily get a local sim for 15 sgd with lots of data.

JTCz

This is only partially true regarding Mercure Bugis, you can walk right from the MTR station to the street the hotel entrance is on through a shopping centre and a covered walkway. It is not entirely elements-protected, as you have to dash across the street and up the driveway to the hotel's door, but it is not a 10 min walk in the rain.

If you need more room, ask for corner rooms - they are 511 and 611 IIRC, both categorized as "loft rooms" (you should get an upgrade from standard room to those anyway). The hotel does have a lounge, which is not spectacular, but quite cozy due to the limited number of Executive Lofts and Platinum guests, who exclusively have access there. Decor and facilities are exemplary, especially for the price. There are also a number of terraces at several floors (dining floor, inside / outside pool-and-gym floor, rooftop) if you'd rather relax / work outside (fabulous for jetlagged travellers arriving in the middle of the night).

Not sure about Swissotel or Novotel, but Mercure allows access to the rooms half-a-day earlier for half the daily rate you booked at, which was a boon for me at the time Lufthansa had a major A380 issue and I ended up arriving at the hotel at 2 AM.

tboons

Mercure bugis if you are keen on a local experience.very good local food and shopping around the area. The bus in front gets you to other places or metro if it rains. The breakfast is decent but dont need them because just 3 mins walk, you get a local hawker experience with very very good food.

I love the loft at mercure bugis.

For novotel at clark quay, the noise from clark quay could be heard at times. With the new downtown line, you can easily walk to the mrt line. Fort canning. If location is important,, then mercure. Plus, better swimming pool and gym at mercure than novotel. Good to swim during the hot afternoon days.
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djjaguar64

Stay at Mercure Bugis, excellent location.

lhrpete

I've stayed at the Mercure Bugis a few times and like it a great deal, it's exceptional value for money and for one or two nights which is my norm in Singapore these days it's fine. I've had a few different rooms and couldn't complain of any of them, they have all been smart and clean. The location is fine for the MRT and at that end of town quite a lot of places are in walking distance. I'm next there in November too.

gilbertaue

Agree with this statement, though if you're elderly (or have problems with your knees) the loft rooms are no good.

martin_paris

Hi,

Quick note : Novotel Clarke Quay is about 5 minutes walk to the next MRT station (among which 3 trough a mall) : Most of you here probably still refer to the North East Line and the stop NE5 Clarke Quay being the closest. The closest station is now Fort Canning on the downtown line that opened on October 21st 2017.

https://www.transitlink.com.sg/image...rt_sys_map.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Canning_MRT_station

theaugbunnies

The swissotel merchant court is a nice hotel but can be quite noisy during the middle of the night as the party goes on. Especially during weekends. Even at the top floor, i could hear loud music so you might want to reconsider if you are a light sleeper. The lounge is quite nice and I will find time to do a review.

The Novotel has large rooms but the decor seem a bit dull and outdated. Link below is my stay as Gold member. I will try it again now that i am Platinum to check out the lounge.
https://theaugbunnies.blogspot.com/2...rior-room.html

The mercure bugis will upgrade you to a loft room. It is something different from usual hotel rooms but the necessity to climb up and down the stairs to access the bed and washroom can be a bit annoying after the novelty wears off. The washroom is very tiny. Also my experience as Gold below.

https://theaugbunnies.blogspot.com/2...ure-bugis.html

IMH

Yes. We've stayed at the Novotel a few times. It's getting dated, and was never going to win any design awards anyway, but the lounge is good and at least some rooms have windows that open. Lots of opinions from different people here: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/acco...arke-quay.html

We've never tried the Mercure Bugis, but others have: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/acco...ore-bugis.html

The Sofitel also has fans, see above, but we were not impressed. Plenty of reviews here: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/acco...ty-centre.html

theaugbunnies

The Sofitel city centre is nice and new but i think in terms of service and offerings pales in comparison to other Sofitel in the region.