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-   -   Foodie hotel in Sinagapore? (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/singapore/1089232-foodie-hotel-sinagapore.html)

suciu May 25, 2010 9:03 pm

Foodie hotel in Sinagapore?
 
I'll be in Singapore for three days in August, and I plan to live in the hawker centers. I'm looking for a reasonable hotel ($50-$175) that might have a nice lobby but doesn't have to have nice rooms.

The key thing is that it be located either near your favorite hawker center or near a hakwer center that is open very late at night. It should also be close to public transport.

I've never been to Singapore before, so I would really appreciate any advice you have.

Thanks.

suciu May 25, 2010 9:05 pm

"Sinagapore." Heh.

Whoops. :-)

dsgtc0408 May 25, 2010 10:40 pm


Originally Posted by suciu (Post 14023579)
I'll be in Singapore for three days in August, and I plan to live in the hawker centers. I'm looking for a reasonable hotel ($50-$175) that might have a nice lobby but doesn't have to have nice rooms.

The key thing is that it be located either near your favorite hawker center or near a hakwer center that is open very late at night. It should also be close to public transport.

I've never been to Singapore before, so I would really appreciate any advice you have.

Thanks.

Let's start with what the more or less favorite hawker centers might be. My personal favorites:

- Whampoa Market (Whampao Drive)
- People's Park (off Eu Tong Seng Road, Chinatown)
- Riverside Zion (off Zion Road)
- Rochor Road (near Bugis Village and Sim Lim Square)
- Tiong Bahru Market (off Seng Poh Road)

Other posters may question my choices... this is a partisan issue.

To the other part of your mail - how do you feel about staying at the one of the budget hotels? I've never stayed in them but frankly some of them do post hourly rates... These include Hotel 81, Fragrance Hotel and Value. I suggest you check the websites for these hotels for more. I bring these up because they are legitimate choices.

Back to the hawker centers:

Whampoa: Quality Inn (Balestier Road), Hotel 81, Fragrance Hotel, Value.

People's Park: Furama, also Hotel 81

Riverside Zion: close to Grand Copthorne, Riverview, Holiday Inn Atrium

Rochor Road: Hotel Intercontinental, Golden Landmark. There are other hotels in the area (I think the Ibis is around there) plus backpacker places, you'll need to check.

Tiong Bahru Market: Link Hotel, Hotel 81. There's also a boutique hotel recently opened up on Tiong Bahru Road, unfortunately the name of the place escapes me.

Note that the Rochor Road hawker center is rather old and beat up - a genuinely local experience. The other four have been renovated in the last three years or so. All of the hawker centres I suggest are well frequented by locals.

Last but not least - there's always the Newton hawker centre (close to the Sheraton), however it's an expat and tourist haunt, known for exceeding high prices and is overrated given its prices and aggressively touting hawkers.

jpatokal May 26, 2010 6:35 am


Originally Posted by dsgtc0408 (Post 14023957)
Tiong Bahru Market: Link Hotel, Hotel 81. There's also a boutique hotel recently opened up on Tiong Bahru Road, unfortunately the name of the place escapes me.

This would be the rather unfortunately named Wangz. Despite the name and the matching, uhh, rather stubby appearance of the building, it seems quite nice inside, but a little above the OP's price range.

As for hawker centres, one of the many reasons I'm partial to Scarlet is that it's smack dab opposite Maxwell Hawker Centre, which is among the best in the city by any measure. The location is handy for exploring Chinatown as well, although it's a bit of a hike to the nearest MRT.

suciu May 30, 2010 11:48 am

I've upped my budget a bit, and I'm currently considering:

Wangz
IC
Fullerton

(basic rooms, all)

Does anyone feel like commenting? Should location drive my choice (presumably to IC)? Or should I feel comfortable planning to just cab around. Is traffic that rough? Does anyone of these three find itself better located for many hawker stalls? Keep in mind that I'm not trying to hit one or two... I'm going all day every day.

Does any one of the three have access to some late night (maybe midnight-ish, 1am-ish) eating areas?

suciu May 30, 2010 12:39 pm

By the way, dsgtc0408, I just wanted to thank you for writing an incredibly thorough and informative post. A lot of effort, but I sincerely appreciate it. Thank you.

jpatokal May 31, 2010 6:31 am


Originally Posted by suciu (Post 14047023)
I've upped my budget a bit, and I'm currently considering:

Wangz
IC
Fullerton

Does anyone feel like commenting? Should location drive my choice (presumably to IC)? Or should I feel comfortable planning to just cab around. Is traffic that rough? Does anyone of these three find itself better located for many hawker stalls?

I'd rank Fullerton head and shoulders above the rest: it's a great hotel in a great location, with Lau Pa Sat, Gluttons Bay and Market St Hawker Ctr within easy walking distance, Chinatown's near-infinite eating options not much further away, and the entire city within striking distance via Raffles Place MRT.

The IC is not particularly special as far as facilities go and the location, while handy to Bugis and the MRT, isn't particularly good for the city centre. Wangz is a bit of an unknown quantity and quite awkwardly located for everything except Tiong Bahru hawker centre, which is admittedly good, but not so good I'd plan a vacation around it.

suciu May 31, 2010 9:18 am

I booked Wangz. (jpatokal, I didn't see your post before I booked)

I have to admit, although the Fullerton is a gorgeous building, I just didn't like any of the pictures I was seeing of the rooms. Wangz seemed to promise the better hotel experience.

The big hurdle for me was the distance between Wangz and, well, everything. However, I'm a big walker (at least a few hours every day), so I figured that it wouldn't be too bad. I'll make a trip report and let everyone know how I felt.

Thanks for your help!

dsgtc0408 May 31, 2010 10:57 pm


Originally Posted by suciu (Post 14050836)
I booked Wangz. (jpatokal, I didn't see your post before I booked)

I have to admit, although the Fullerton is a gorgeous building, I just didn't like any of the pictures I was seeing of the rooms. Wangz seemed to promise the better hotel experience.

The big hurdle for me was the distance between Wangz and, well, everything. However, I'm a big walker (at least a few hours every day), so I figured that it wouldn't be too bad. I'll make a trip report and let everyone know how I felt.

Thanks for your help!

Thanks for your kind comments - we try to help if a fellow FTer asks a concrete question (well, most of us, anyway).

On the location of Wangz, granted it's in a funny place. But if it makes you feel better, if you stay in the hotel, there's a bit of an outdoor restaurant where you could conceivably sit, drink, and watch the world go by. Additionally it's worth noting that part of the Singapore eating experience is to go to the kopitiams (for sure Singlish, actually I think Hokkien Chinese for coffeeshop) to eat. There's three or four in the general area of the hotel, say if you walk backwards on Tiong Bahru Road to the bus stop directly across from the main entry to the Link Hotel, also an additional kopitiam that's on the road headed towards the Hotel 81, plus a couple of seafood places on Outram Road (sort of behind the Link Hotel), diagonally across from the DDB ad agency offices. These are potentially options because they tend to be open late, as in midnight, possibly a bit later than that.

Oh yes, on the walking part - walking on Tiong Bahru Road away from the Link Hotel for say 10 minutes will get you to the Tiong Bahru MRT station. So the location isn't precisely bad in terms of connectivity, but you will have to walk - in hot and sticky weather (maybe bring a towel?).

suciu Jun 1, 2010 9:38 pm

Thanks again, dsgtc0408. :-)

Helpful directions; I was able to noodle around on google maps and visually identify all of the places you mentioned in advance. I think I'll be able to give a nice trip report when I return.

jpatokal Jun 2, 2010 6:42 am


Originally Posted by dsgtc0408 (Post 14054284)
Oh yes, on the walking part - walking on Tiong Bahru Road away from the Link Hotel for say 10 minutes will get you to the Tiong Bahru MRT station. So the location isn't precisely bad in terms of connectivity, but you will have to walk - in hot and sticky weather (maybe bring a towel?).

Alternatively, most all buses running west past the hotel go to Outram Park MRT, while most all buses eastwards pass by Tiong Bahru MRT. (I suspect Outram Park might even be a smidgen closer.)

Last but not least, Ka-Soh Seafood is tucked away just across the expressway towards Outram Park. They've gone a bit upmarket, but their famous fish head noodles are still worth a try, and the aircon is handy if you tire of sweating it out at the hawkers!


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