Check In

Upon arrival, I was warmly greeted by a host and porter who offered to bring my luggage to my room. I was escorted to the elevator to the 22nd Floor where the hotel lobby is located. The hotel occupies the 22nd through the 33 floors of a medical office building.

The hosts at the Registration Desk also warmly greeted me and immediately thanked me for being a Marriott Gold member. Since I arrived at the Courtyard around 9:30 am, I did not expect to check-in to my room until the afternoon. The hosts, however, were able to check me in right away that morning.

The hosts thoroughly explained the location of the Executive Lounge (33rd Floor), the restaurant for breakfast (22nd Floor), and other amenities of the hotel.

Room

A porter stopped by my room a few minutes after I arrived at the room and briefed me on the operation of the various lights and amenities in the room. Like most hotels in Asia, you must insert your keycard into a slot near the door to turn on the lights and A/C in the room. Because this hotel is integrated with a medical centerand a nearby hospital, they expect that a number of guests will be patients of the facility. The refrigerator that would normally hold mini-bar items was empty to accommodate patients who may have medicines that need refrigeration.

I was given a king bed room with a city view on the 29th floor. The room was the standard-sized room for a hotel in Asia (i.e., it was small). However, the room was nicely designed with Grohe bathroom fixtures (shower only, no bathtub in my room).

Dining

Reflecting Pool at the Executive Lounge

View from 33rd Floor

Executive Lounge

The Lounge is located on the 33rd floor, adjacent to an infinity swimming pool (which is apparently a common amenity at a number of hotels in Singapore). The lounge seats approximately 30 people and has sweeping views of the northern part of Singapore. Happy Hour is held from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm daily. Some of the food offerings included vegetable samosas, seafood dumplings, meats, cheeses, flatbread, bread, fresh fruit, pudding-style desserts, and a soup.

Breakfast

Breakfast is served from 6-10 am in the restaurant on the 22nd Floor, adjacent to the Registration Desk. Breakfast is complimentary for Marriott Rewards Gold and Platinum members.

The breakfast was buffet style. It consisted of various Western and Asian dishes such as omelettes made to order, sausage, bacon, baked beans, hash browns, waffles, congee, dim sum (e.g., cha siu bao and steamed dumplings), yogurt, oatmeal, various cereals.

Location

Access to Hotel from Changhi Airport

Whenever I travel, I typically try to take public transit as much as possible. The trip from Changhi Airport to the Courtyard was relatively easy and took about 1 hour. Note that I arrived in the early morning on the weekend. The trains are rumored to be very crowded during the week so you may want to take one of the limousine buses or a taxi if you arrive at Changhi on a weekday.

1. Take the East West Line (Green) out of the airport
2. Minor transfer at Tanah Merah (to middle platform) to East West Line train towards Downtown Singapore (City Hall, Tuas Link)
3. Transfer to North South Line (Red) at City Hall Station towards Jurong East
4. Exit at Novena Station. Take Exit A towards the Square 2 meeting point.
5. Ascend the stairway towards the Taxi Stand
6. Turn left onto the main road and you’ll arrive at the Courtyard after about 100 ft of walking

Overall

Overall, I was impressed with the hotel. The staff was very attentive, gracious, and always greeted me by name whenever I entered or exited the hotel. While the hotel is outside the central business district of Singapore, it is a short 10 minute train ride to the central part of the city. If your travels ever bring you to Singapore, I highly recommend the Courtyard Marriott Singapore at Novena.