Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Casino, Singapore
Aug 16, 2010, 3:35 am
#1
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Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Casino, Singapore
As some of you know I stayed at the new Marina Bay Sands in Singapore last week. This is a new hotel and casino built on reclaimed land out in Marina Bay. It is a Las Vegas style hotel as befits its owner Las Vegas Sands (owner of the Venetian and Palazzo in Vegas). Please note in this report all the photos are taken on my iPhone 3G and are slightly less quality than I would normally expect from my camera.
Architecture / Design
As you can see from the photo above, the hotel has a stunning design with three large towers with around 2,500 rooms and a large roof deck which spans all three and juts out significantly on one side. This houses the Sands Skypark (more below). In front of the hotel towers is the Casino building along with a relatively large shopping mall with all the leading brand fashion outlets (still some to open) and a large Expo centre. Further there is a large lotus flower construction still being put up which I believe will be an open air stage area. Please note that although the hotel is complete there is still much construction work going on in and around the hotel as can be seen in some of the photos in this report.
Room
I had a standard room on the 50th floor in Tower 3 (the leftmost tower in the first picture above), which is near the top (55 floors in total, Skypark is on the 57th floor). The room was very well designed and perfectly spacious. It had a small balcony which seemed to be wasted as there was only a foot deep or so of useable space before a glass waist height wall and a large flower bed using up most of the available space. However note that I was on the ocean side, the rooms on the Marina side did not appear to have balconies. The bathroom was well equipped although lacked a bath - only a walk-in shower was available. The main room had a large LCD TV and the bed was large and comfortable. Overall an excellent space to spend some time.
View from room
Room
Bathroom
Sands Skypark
One of the main featurs of the hotel is the Skypark, which is situated on the roof some 200m above ground level. It is open to the public for a fee of S$20 but is free for hotel guests. Unfortunately public visitors use the hotel lifts in Towers 1 and 3 to get to the Skypark and as the ticket office is near Tower 3 they mostly use that one. This means on busy days (e.g. National Day when I arrived) the elevators become very crowded. I had a number of occasions where I had to wait for a second elevator to come which stopped on most floors and was not airconditioned.
The Skypark is stunning and well worth a visit even if not staying there, just for the views. The bit that juts out over the edge contains a wooden decked viewing area with stunning views over Marina Bay and pretty much all of Singapore! You can certainly see Changi from the top.
One of the main features of the Skypark is the infinitiy pool which is 150 meters long and looks out over Marina Bay. The pool is for hotel guests only and while it is controlled I witnessed many gaps in the security so if you are keen enough it is possible to slip in. The pool and the views from it are astounding, but it was reasonably busy at most times when I went up there.
Along the ocean side of the Skypark is a botanical area and a bar for hotel guests only and a VIP area.
Casino
I didn't take any photos of the casino as I was unsure of the law in this regard, but it is enormous and stunningly designed. A huge central floor area is covered with a roof 5-6 storey high and there are 3-4 floors all with gaming machines and tables. I didn't gamble on this trip, but the place seemed to have a different vibe to Vegas, a bit more like the newer casino's in Macau which cater in large part for a Chinese audience. Here's an image I found on the web.
Operations / Service
Unfortunately there is a downside and it is on the service side. I arrived on National Day which was busy and the hotel was full. While I was able to check in immediately a number of colleagues had to wait. Despite problems with the elevators as previously mentioned, I was also unable to procure any room service on my first night as the service was "busy, so sorry". I expect a hotel to be able to cope with being full and deliver a minimum standard of service. One of my other colleagues encountered further problems by being checked in to a room with someone already in it! This may be to do with the hotel being new, but they really need to improve their service levels.
Location
Although it gives stunning views from the Skypark, the location and access to the hotel is problematic, particularly in hot and humid Singapore. Until the new Marina Bay MRT station opens I would avoid staying here unless you're using the Expo centre as I was. The taxi can be quite epensive with some mysterious extras added, e.g. $13 to Boat Quay which is only about 3 mins away which is expensive for Singapore and the traffic and taxi access to the hotel are both problematic.
Conclusion
A beautifully designed and constructed hotel, suffering from operational teething problems and current construction of the surrounding area is not yet finished. Until this is done I would not recommend staying here unless you're at the Expo centre, however I would say that the Skypark is worth a visit.
Hope you find this review useful!
Architecture / Design
As you can see from the photo above, the hotel has a stunning design with three large towers with around 2,500 rooms and a large roof deck which spans all three and juts out significantly on one side. This houses the Sands Skypark (more below). In front of the hotel towers is the Casino building along with a relatively large shopping mall with all the leading brand fashion outlets (still some to open) and a large Expo centre. Further there is a large lotus flower construction still being put up which I believe will be an open air stage area. Please note that although the hotel is complete there is still much construction work going on in and around the hotel as can be seen in some of the photos in this report.
Room
I had a standard room on the 50th floor in Tower 3 (the leftmost tower in the first picture above), which is near the top (55 floors in total, Skypark is on the 57th floor). The room was very well designed and perfectly spacious. It had a small balcony which seemed to be wasted as there was only a foot deep or so of useable space before a glass waist height wall and a large flower bed using up most of the available space. However note that I was on the ocean side, the rooms on the Marina side did not appear to have balconies. The bathroom was well equipped although lacked a bath - only a walk-in shower was available. The main room had a large LCD TV and the bed was large and comfortable. Overall an excellent space to spend some time.
View from room
Room
Bathroom
Sands Skypark
One of the main featurs of the hotel is the Skypark, which is situated on the roof some 200m above ground level. It is open to the public for a fee of S$20 but is free for hotel guests. Unfortunately public visitors use the hotel lifts in Towers 1 and 3 to get to the Skypark and as the ticket office is near Tower 3 they mostly use that one. This means on busy days (e.g. National Day when I arrived) the elevators become very crowded. I had a number of occasions where I had to wait for a second elevator to come which stopped on most floors and was not airconditioned.
The Skypark is stunning and well worth a visit even if not staying there, just for the views. The bit that juts out over the edge contains a wooden decked viewing area with stunning views over Marina Bay and pretty much all of Singapore! You can certainly see Changi from the top.
One of the main features of the Skypark is the infinitiy pool which is 150 meters long and looks out over Marina Bay. The pool is for hotel guests only and while it is controlled I witnessed many gaps in the security so if you are keen enough it is possible to slip in. The pool and the views from it are astounding, but it was reasonably busy at most times when I went up there.
Along the ocean side of the Skypark is a botanical area and a bar for hotel guests only and a VIP area.
Casino
I didn't take any photos of the casino as I was unsure of the law in this regard, but it is enormous and stunningly designed. A huge central floor area is covered with a roof 5-6 storey high and there are 3-4 floors all with gaming machines and tables. I didn't gamble on this trip, but the place seemed to have a different vibe to Vegas, a bit more like the newer casino's in Macau which cater in large part for a Chinese audience. Here's an image I found on the web.
Operations / Service
Unfortunately there is a downside and it is on the service side. I arrived on National Day which was busy and the hotel was full. While I was able to check in immediately a number of colleagues had to wait. Despite problems with the elevators as previously mentioned, I was also unable to procure any room service on my first night as the service was "busy, so sorry". I expect a hotel to be able to cope with being full and deliver a minimum standard of service. One of my other colleagues encountered further problems by being checked in to a room with someone already in it! This may be to do with the hotel being new, but they really need to improve their service levels.
Location
Although it gives stunning views from the Skypark, the location and access to the hotel is problematic, particularly in hot and humid Singapore. Until the new Marina Bay MRT station opens I would avoid staying here unless you're using the Expo centre as I was. The taxi can be quite epensive with some mysterious extras added, e.g. $13 to Boat Quay which is only about 3 mins away which is expensive for Singapore and the traffic and taxi access to the hotel are both problematic.
Conclusion
A beautifully designed and constructed hotel, suffering from operational teething problems and current construction of the surrounding area is not yet finished. Until this is done I would not recommend staying here unless you're at the Expo centre, however I would say that the Skypark is worth a visit.
Hope you find this review useful!
Aug 16, 2010, 4:24 am
#2
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Terra Australis Cognita
Posts: 5,350
Thanks for the report! I've been keeping an eye on this place for a while and will definitely check it out some day for the pool alone, but your tales of abysmal service seem very common -- the TripAdvisor reviews of the place are astoundingly bad:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...Singapore.html
Quite remarkable given the prices and that Singapore's high-end hotels are usually quite good.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...Singapore.html
Quite remarkable given the prices and that Singapore's high-end hotels are usually quite good.
Aug 16, 2010, 4:41 am
#3
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What a tiny room. I hope you didn't pay more than $200 for it. I wouldn't stay there unless I wanted to use the casino since the hotel is probably always crowded and location is really out of way.
Aug 16, 2010, 5:59 am
#4
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I have been wanting to go to the Sands in Singapore for a while now but some of my friends who live in the area suggest to visit in another year or so, since it is a bit disorganized and such, espeically on the casino floor. I don't know if you could comment about this.
Great TR, thanks for sharing.
Great TR, thanks for sharing.
Aug 17, 2010, 8:08 pm
#7
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Argentina
Posts: 40,211
Thanks Phil...interesting to say the least....it's a big un isn't it?
Not my cup of tea I must say especially location wise. I'm not familiar with Singapore but it would seem going by your photos to be just another reclaimed site turned in to a conference/exhibition complex type area which can be seen in all major cities nowadays.
I suppose if your into gambling then that would be the place to stay.
Not my cup of tea I must say especially location wise. I'm not familiar with Singapore but it would seem going by your photos to be just another reclaimed site turned in to a conference/exhibition complex type area which can be seen in all major cities nowadays.
I suppose if your into gambling then that would be the place to stay.
Sep 8, 2015, 8:13 pm
#13
Join Date: Oct 2013
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I'm quite sure he paid almost double of that, an average night at the Sands cost about $300+, not to mention he stayed on the national day weekend, in which the room rate most probably skyrocketed.
Sep 9, 2015, 7:54 pm
#14
Join Date: Oct 2010
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Rates were around the $370 USD mark the last time I checked for a weekend rate. I was unable to find any discount codes or other discounts.
More irritatingly, if you want to cancel a reservation, there is no easy hyperlink link to do so from the reservation email. It actually requires a phone call or an email to the hotel. You wouldn't know this unless you needed to cancel.
The Westin Singapore is quite close, as is the Fullerton Bay Hotel if you wanted the experience of staying in the area, dining in the Marina Bay restaurants, but across the inside of the bay.
More irritatingly, if you want to cancel a reservation, there is no easy hyperlink link to do so from the reservation email. It actually requires a phone call or an email to the hotel. You wouldn't know this unless you needed to cancel.
The Westin Singapore is quite close, as is the Fullerton Bay Hotel if you wanted the experience of staying in the area, dining in the Marina Bay restaurants, but across the inside of the bay.
Sep 9, 2015, 8:34 pm
#15
Join Date: Nov 2004
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Otherwise the only other thing we returned to MBS for was CUT by Wolfgang Puck for dinner one night.
Fairmont executive floor is well worth the premium BTW. Enjoy.