justlaz

Visiting Singapore for a couple days before heading off to the Maldives. Some of the recent reviews have been very helpful and having second thoughts as I have both StR and RC reserved at similar rates and deciding between them or even considering Duxton Reserve. It seems obvious the go to is the RC for overall quality, but the lack of Bonvoy participation is a major hinderance as there is an existing promo with Bonvoy that I want to take advantage of that would guarantee my elite renewal. This is our second time in SG and we're just here to chill and eat. We don't really care about breakfast since we would mostly go out and eat anyways. A few questions:

Is the pool really that bad? ​​​​​​​Are the rooms really meh? They seem nice in the pictures, though a bit more regal. For those local, is Grab still operating and available? If we were eager to stay at a Bonvoy property, is Duxton Reserve a decent alternative?

​​​​​​​TIA

McChicken

​​​​​​​While the RC doesn’t participate in Bonvoy, it has one of the best views of Marina Bay (assuming you book the correct room type), great service, and is very memorable. Definitely one of the best hotels in Singapore.

The St Regis is just an okay property, service and experience are kinda hit-or-miss, but overall mediocre for a St Regis.

Suite Upgrades might be possible during the weekdays.

The pool isn’t especially small, and there’s a free wet lounge (for plat and above) with steam rooms at the spa (limited capacity, first come first served).

Largest annoyance is that for half of my stays here, the lifts won’t accept my key card. I’d avoid staying on the weekends when occupancy is higher and service lapses much more common.

Duxton Reserve however, is tiny, overpriced, poorly managed and should be avoided like the plague. It is not, by any means, a decent alternative. A decent alternative worth considering is the JW Marriott (afternoon tea, 4 hour alcohol, modern quirky furnishings).

Grab is still the most commonly used app here, but alternatives like Gojek and ComfortDelGro are getting more popular.

quant88

The RC pool is definitely nicer than St Regis although I didn't think the rooms were necessarily nicer. Duxton Reserve is not really comparable as more of a boutique (no pool and more limited service/amenities) but for food arguably has the best location of the three. Base rooms at Duxton Reserve are indeed tiny but I thought the King Duplex Suite was pretty nice.

puchong

Agree wholeheartedly ... WAY overpriced for what it is,. Same owner / managers as the Vagabond - an arrogant Indian couple, who do not really care about Marriott elite guests.

I have not been to the St. Regis but saw their pool often from my frequent stays at the Hilton. It did not seem to be particularly small, but was often deserted,

MSPeconomist

I think the StR has an interesting pool which is reasonably large.

Kacee

The StR pool is not bad, but it's pretty small, and there's virtually no outdoors deck space.

4S has a fantastic pool (2 of them, actually).

newshound

Just checked out of the St R and we didn't bother with the pool. If feels poorly positioned and doesn't have a relaxing vibe about it at all. the fact it was completely overlooked by the restaurant put my wife off.

Overall a decent stay, nothing stellar but nothing really bad either. My last stay was at the St R Bali which is head and shoulders above the Singapore property! (perhaps an unfair comparison). I used SNA in Singapore to upgrade to the Caroline Astor suite which is pretty nice but not huge. The main bug bear was the furniture in the living room which just wasn't particularly suited for lounging around. It had more of a reception room feel to it.

I also considered the RC but the lack of bonvoy participation has always ruled it out.

m0hamed

Exactly this. They used to have (SPG Platinum) cocktail hour in the restaurant by the pool.

It's on the ground floor, has no view and if you choose to swim or laze around there are people watching you. I'll never understand why hotels do this.

quant88

Brasserie Les Saveurs overlooks the larger residences pool (which hotel guests don't have access to) which looks like https://singapore-stregisresidences....es-facilities/. The now closed La Brezza overlooked the smaller hotel pool https://www.oyster.com/singapore/hot...ol--v14642922/. I know in the past La Brezza overlooking the pool was a problem but I am not sure if that is still a concern as La Brezza is closed and if there is currently that has taken over that space. The St Regis website now mentions something about a Tentsuru restaurant but nothing about the restaurant turns up on Google so not sure when it might open.

kaizen7

St R Singapore really quite mediocre for a St Regis.
Compare to St Regis Bali, St Regis Bali is on the whole different class.
Happen to stay on both StRs quite often.

As for RC Millennia Walk, likewise, I never stay there due to Bonvoy non participation.

fdem

no sun after midday which is in some ways a good thing

MSPeconomist

Even earlier, there was a choice of SPG Plat happy hour inside or outside by the pool (with a decent appetizer buffet) or in the lobby bar with the appetizer/snack of the day. They also did a daily wine tasting in the wine room, then moved it to the high table in the main floor restaurant before eliminating it. A decade or so ago, this property had excellent elite recognition even if upgrades without SNAs were likely to only give higher category rooms, which were exactly the same rooms but on higher floors. With SNAs, I tended to get higher floor (nonstandard, but not much different) suites as a SPG Plat50

quant88

Business Times says Tentsuru has already soft opened https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/lif...p-in-singapore. Probably not of huge interest to most hotel guests as it is run independently of the hotel and there is already another independent high end Japanese restaurant in the St Regis.

quant88

I stayed here recently for a Saturday night staycation. This is the third staycation I've had at this hotel over the past few years. I liked that prebooking of time slots is no longer required for pool/breakfast. I used a SNA to get a Caroline Astor suite although there was no Botanic Gardens view as in the room description but otherwise seemed the same as the Caroline Astor suite I had last time. All the suites checking out that day had 4pm late checkout so we didn't get access to our room until 6pm although we were given access to a regular room before then. Obviously this is not ideal but with 4pm late checkouts and 3pm check-in times it is somewhat inevitable and I am glad the hotel prioritizes the late checkouts. When switching to our suite we were at happy hour so the hotel moved our luggage from the regular room but initially forgot one small bag but after some prodding brought it up. Hard product is still very good in my opinion although service is still inconsistent.

Platinum happy hour is from 3-6 in Astor bar and you get one glass of wine/g&t etc and some snacks. Platinum and above also get free access to the spa facilities which I thought were much better than the pool although gender segregated. Breakfast is still ala carte buffet but arriving at 1020 it was not so crowded and was much more efficient this time than my last stay one year ago so overall pretty satisfied with the breakfast this time. I totally believe this is not the best St Regis but at ~50k points/400-500sgd I think it still can be good value for Marriott elites.

BRITINJAPAN4

happy hour 3-6 and 1 drink !!!! What an insult, just shows this hotel is still as awful as ever, service fails , is breakfast still a zoo,? The pool is an awful design, location etc it is a St Regis in name only.