The first time I was in Singapore, I was attending a convention, and stayed at the Pan Pacific Hotel.
The second time I was on a tour with my husband and we stayed at the Orchard Hotel.
.:The Hotel:.
The Orchard Hotel is on Orchard Road. It is close to the financial district, and the malls where the cheaper shops are.
The lobby is quite large and the check-in desk is on the opposite wall, from the front door. There are a few chairs, sofas and coffee tables, scattered around this area. The colour scheme is brown and gold.
Around the corner from the lobby is a large bar called the Intermezzo Bar. On one the side of the lobby there is a small shop.
We had breakfast every morning at the Orchard Café, on the Mezzanine level.
We had a great Chinese Dinner at the Hua Ting Restaurant, and another night we ate fabulous Mediterranean food, at Esmirada.
There is one outdoor swimming poll with a snack bar.
The Hotel has two Wings, the Orchard Wing and the Claymore Wing. The Claymore Wing is the nicest.
It's hard to explain the bedrooms because we had quite an adventure.
.:Our Arrival:.
Singapore air was an hour late in arriving and it was past one a.m. when we arrived at the hotel. There was a lady at the desk and she checked us in. She told us that she was sorry but she had given our room away and we were getting the last room in the hotel!
The bellman took us to our room and left us. We were so exhausted after the 21-hour flight and the hour it took to go through custom and be transferred to the hotel, that we just lay down on the bed with our cloths on.
As soon as my husband turned off the light I realized how hot it was. The hotel was supposed to be air-conditioned but there was none on. I got up to set it and nothing happened. just then we heard a banging that was so loud we couldn't hear the traffic.
I phoned the desk and the lady said she would send someone up. We waited ten minutes and no one came. I was watching the elevator doors through the peephole in the door. the doors finally opened and a very tall well dressed Lady walked out. She came towards our room but knocked on the door of the room across from ours.
A Man opened the door and said, 'Hi honey that didn't take you long.'
I was so angry I went downstairs. At the desk there was a Man standing and talking to the Lady at the desk. Before I could say anything she introduced him as the House Detective.
I ignored him and screamed, 'Why hasn't anyone come to our room?'
She replied, 'We checked the Disco that is below your room and it was closed. Since you didn't phone back we thought everything was fine.'
I'll leave it to your imagine what I told them. They both came back to the room with me. The air-conditioning unit was in the ceiling above the door. It was making the banging noise.
The Lady called down for the Electrocution and the four of us were standing by the door.
The door of the room across from us opened and the tall Lady walked out. The Lady from the Hotel said good night to her but she didn't answer. She said good night again and this time a man's voice replied with a 'good night'.
When the Electrician arrived and my Husband and the Security Man went and sat on the bed. They tried to turn on the T.V. but it didn't work either. They checked the coffee machine and it wouldn't go on. At this point the Electrician told us he needed a new motor to fix the air-conditioning and he couldn't get one until after the Shops opened in the morning.
We had to be up in three hours for our half-day Tour. We were assured that when we came back from the Tour we would be given a new room.
We each had a cold shower and sat by the window until it was time to go down stairs for our free breakfast and the Tour.
When we returned the Assistant Manager was waiting by the front desk. He told the Bellman to get our bags and meet us in our new room.
He escorted us to the room. He opened the door and walked in. On the bed was a Man and the tall Lady from the night before.
The Bellman arrived and we all went downstairs. We were seated in the Lobby Bar and offered a free drink. It took a half an hour for a new room to be cleaned for us.
We were given a corner suite and a voucher for a complimentary dinner in the Hotel's Dinning Room.
We changed into our bathing suites to sit in the sun for an hour. Just as we got settled into our chairs it began to pour.
The next Morning we left for the Airport.
.:On Our Way Home:.
We were staying at the same Hotel for one night on our way from Bali to South Korea. When we arrived at the Hotel the Assistant Manager was waiting for us.
He told us we were staying in the same suite at no extra charge. I thought that was very nice of the Hotel.
Our suite was in the Claymore Wing of the hotel. It was called the Harvester Suite.
The rooms were decorated is a variety of shades from off white, pink, maroon and gold.
The air-conditioning in it worked. Our balcony overlooked the swimming pool.
In the living room area there was a large sofa and two soft chairs. A square coffee table was between them.
On the desk was a phone and a lamp. There was a large dresser with shelves on the bottom and a TV set on the top. Next to the TV, was a coffee/tea machine.
It had a king-sized bed, with night tables on both sides. There was a telephone on one of them, and an alarm clock/radio on the other. There was another closet and a smaller TV set.
The bathroom was tiled and had a toilet, bath/shower, a sink placed into a counter. There was a basket of amenities and a vase with one lotus in it. The mirror was as long as the counter. There was a hair drier on the wall.
We could have gone to the Executive Club, where they serve pasties and one before dinner cocktail, for free. We didn't fell it was fair to do that because of the free suite.
.:My Final Thoughts:.
Yes I would, because even though we had some problems, the staff worked so hard to please us.
I can't give you a room rate for all the rooms. We paid $100.00 CAD per night, including taxes, tips and a free breakfast.
Thanks for reading my review.
©LL2004
