theaugbunnies

I have a stay coming up this weekend too. Seems nothing to be excited about other than the views. I am quite happy to hear that the lounge will be up and running as our breakfast experience at cafe swiss was rather poor during my last stay. We were very upset with an incident due to poor training and attitude of the staff. The managers had to come our room to make an apology.

markis10

gilbertaue

They have TWO somewhere between 5 and 10 schools!
I haven't stayed at the Swissotel. But one thing stands out at the Sofitel CC. Staff are mostly Singaporean and many are ex SQ. That explains a lot.
​​​​​

theaugbunnies

I didnt know they are hiring ex SQ in Sofitel CC. At least the people in the lounge dont look like that. Their service is quite good though!

Cafe Swiss in Swissotel stamford is also going to be closed as from today to make way for something new.. Ha~ I think the poor staff probably cost them. I wonder how the breakfast restaurant is going to manage. So glad the lounge has started operating.

theaugbunnies

Not much was changed from the above review by cocoleolol. The lounge updated TWG offerings into the new cloth bags instead of the "plasticy" version. Welcome gift that i received was a box of chocolates. I used to receive a bottle of wine in addition to the chocolates. The liquor were self served but offerings were not of premium quality. Tiger beer was on draft.
Service might be sub par but it should be expected from such a large hotel. The panoramic views from the lounge more than made up for any lack of service. I was quite happy to help myself with whats on offer. The place could easily have accommodated 100 people so one should not expect an intimate setting. Similarly with cocoleolol, i will definitely return for the views.

PabloM

theaugbunnies

For the price that the Swissotel is marketing itself at, the Sofitel city centre seems like a better choice. It is much more personalized and the lounge offerings are so much better. On the other hand, I appreciate the no lounge policy with regards to children as I like to enjoy the peace and quiet.

PabloM

Don't go to the lounge then between 5:30pm and 7:30pm, as it's full of business people who are loud - the phrase 'peace and quiet' is not one that I'd use to describe it!!!

theaugbunnies

Yes, you are quite right, I don't stay at the lounge during that time for longer than it is required. I usually check it out and have one quick drink if i happened to be around. I prefer to use the lounge for breakfast rather than go to the main restaurant. I welcome the no child policy as i have seen many lounges become quite chaotic with the kids around. No offence to you but parents these days does not seem to be able to control their children well. People on holiday will certainly not want to be disturbed by screaming and crying kids.

gilbertaue

Going off topic here. I have seen people around a buffet in Asia. It's a sight.
But it is no difference to the lounge at the Sofitel between 5:30 and 7:30 (and most guests there aren't Asians). I avoid the lounge at that time.

Chriscross

I do not see the problem with well behaved children in the lounge. I see the problem with children running and screaming, loud adults and people using skype/facetime without head set. Anyway, the hotel lost my families planned booking of 6 days in crest suite due to their child policy and lack of alternatives (drinks in lobby bar etc).

theaugbunnies

I think for the hotels, they might gain more with this policy for business bookings. While families are a good market for hotels, i think the general spending does not quite match up with people coming on business. I mean, imagine you are trying to talk through a deal with your client and your client see children running around or loud screaming, it does not bode well and certainly is not the image that the hotel wants to create.

If you happen to see the kids from a certain Asian origin, they behave like their are the kings of the world and have no regards for others. Their parents are too similarly bad mannered and let their kids do as they please. Will the hotel rather incur the wrath of the guests because of 1 or 2 families with their kids? I don't think so. I think Gilbertaue knows what i am talking about.

It is quite hard for the hotel to discern well behaved kids and rowdy children from a hotel booking and i think it makes quite good business sense to have a no child policy, If a resort hotel has a similar policy, then i will question why is there such a need. The swissotel certainly does not belong to such a category and I very much welcome the initiative.

Richey66

Any fresh experiences, is lounge access still there for Accor Platinums?

McChicken

I stayed recently after reopening.

lounge (on the 65th floor IIRC) and lounge access is indeed still a thing here. Checkin queues are long, but while non-elites had to wait several hours for a room, I was assigned a room on the 62nd floor with a balcony immediately.

free drink vouchers can be used at any of the dining outlet in Fairmont or swissotel (including Skai bar).

IMH

This was a two-nighter in October 2022 with ALL Platinum status.

Were you happy with the hotel/stay?
Overall, yes. For the first time in a while, we experienced a Singapore hotel we would return to. It’s a large property, so one shouldn’t expect much in the way of personal touches, but the hotel just works in a way that so many sadly don’t.

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
We booked a “Harbour View Suite”. Because it was a suite and because the booking was made online using Suite Night Ugrades, we didn’t expect or receive a further upgrade. The room description includes the words “high floor”, but we were ‘only’ on the 28th floor. I would expect “high” here to mean, at least, the upper section of the hotel that begins on the 38th floor. (Rooms in this zone can be reached using a dedicated bank of lifts serving floors 1-8 then 38-70, whereas guests staying below the 38th floor need to take two lifts to reach the 65th floor lounge.)

How are the rooms?
The room was clean and spacious and delivered the promised view. We loved it. However, despite the space (around 80m²) and the ‘guest’ WC and washbasin, I would still class it as a junior suite: it isn’t possible to receive visitors without them being very aware of the “bedroom” part of the space. There was also only one TV, viewable from the sofa rather than the bed.

The room had stacks of storage space (more than we could possibly use) and a full-size fridge-freezer.

Light operation wasn’t entirely intuitive, but easy enough to learn.

The light on the magnifying mirror didn’t work. Floor lights under one wardrobe couldn’t be turned off at night.

Welcome drinks, amenities or any other special perks?
A plate of fruit and a bottle of cheap but cheerful red wine were waiting for us in the room. At check-in we were advised that a free drink each could be claimed in our choice of the Swissôtel or Fairmont bars or restaurants using our key card. That worked, although the list of drinks available using the voucher was extremely limited – it would be easy to get the feeling that we were viewed as freeloaders rather than valued loyal guests.

At check-in we requested and were granted a 14:00 checkout. However shortly before 13:00, simultaneously, a friendly woman from the lounge knocked on the door and a less-friendly woman from the front desk phoned, both to ask when we would be leaving. The front desk person muttered something about “high occupancy”, although some hours later I could see at least four units of our room type being offered for sale.

The L65 Lounge
We had breakfast in the lounge – lots of options, good quality – and visited once for an evening beer. A very nice space with pleasant staff and enough space for the number of guests. We look forward to returning.

Value for money? Would you return?
The room rate was fair, given that prices everywhere we’ve visited or looked at recently have tended in the direction “eye-wateringly high”. Getting the final bill right took some discussion, though, as the SNUs hadn’t made their way into all corners of the booking.

We’re looking forward to the two new Pullmans (Orchard Road and, later, Hill Street) but for the time being the Swissôtel is likely to be our new go-to, replacing the Novotel. In our opinion it’s vastly superior to its sister and neighbour the Fairmont (about which I’ll be posting shortly).