Dan and I spent a few nights in Singapore on our honeymoon earlier this year, and we stayed in 3 separate hotels due to our flight schedule – the Holiday Inn Express Singapore Katong, the Marina Bay Sands, and the Singapore Intercontinental. Of the 3, the Holiday Inn was by far the best value, the Marina Bay Sands was the best bucket list stay, and the Intercontinental was my favorite!

As you would think, I totally expected the Marina Bay Sands to be my favorite hotel in Singapore. However, the Singapore Intercontinental totally blew me away! That being said, I would stay at any of these properties again.

Our stay at the Singapore Intercontinental was during our last two days in Singapore, right before we flew back to New York. Upon arrival, we upgraded to Club Lounge access for an extra $120 USD. This gave us access to the Club Lounge Friday night and Saturday night (even though we checked out on Saturday) and a 4 PM checkout time, which was perfect since our flight departed Singapore at 2 AM…

The Hotel

The Intercontinental is a grand hotel right in the middle of Singapore, very close to the Singapore Art Musem and a short walk from Marina Bay Sands and the Central Business District. The Intercontinental is styled, both exterior and interior, in traditional Singapore fashion – lots of wood, elegant and expansive rooms, and the most gorgeous circular-pattern tile floors. The design here was 100% my style! The centerpiece of the common area is the below gorgeous and expansive dining room, which acts as a restaurant, tea salon and a bar with live music in the evening.

Our Room

The rooms were decorated much like the common areas, and I was loving it! In addition to the fabulous decor, our room, while on the smaller side, was laid out very well. We had a Queen size bed, a small sofa, a very nice flat screen TV, a desk, a small refirdgerator, and a nespresso machine. A lot of things in a small room.

The bathroom was a completely separate room (I was really over those flimsy bathroom doors at this point…) with a fancy shower and separate bath. It was also decorated in the cutest black and white tile floors and had fun local bath products.

The Intercontinental surprised us with a Happy Honeymoon chocolate plate! Seriously, honeymoon desserts are really the rage in Southeast Asia…

Amenities

We unfortunately did not have much time (or rather we did not choose to spend our time…) to utilizing the hotel’s amenities, but we did make it to the pool area. The pool area is on a rooftop and was very nice, although a bit cold. Since the pool was on the cooler side and it was a bit windy, we lounged by the pool and ordered lunch.

Dan’s favorite amenity at the Intercontinental (and the Holiday Inn!) is the in room smart room for all guests. Yes, at both properties, the hotel provided a smart phone for guests to use during the stay. The smart phone provided free internet access and local calls, as well as lots of information regarding touring Singapore. Very, very useful!

In addition to the pool and the smart phones, the Intercontinental has a fitness center and two restaurants on site.

The Club Lounge

Now I loved the hotel without the Club Lounge, but it was really the Club Loung that pushed the Intercontinental over the edge for me! The Club Lounge is a space located within the hotel that only guests will Club Lounge access can use. We purchased access for 120 Singapore dollars a night, and it was totally worth it. In addition to providing a respite from the general hotel public during the day, the Club Lounge also offers complimentary breakfast, tea, and happy hour – all GREAT deal in pricey Singapore.

Happy Hour

Happy hour was our first experience with the Club Lounge, as it started just after we arrived. Upon arrivial in the Club Lounge (permitted via a special key card), a waitress seated us at a table and took our drink orders from a menu of fancy cocktails! Since we were in Singapore, obviously we ordered the Singapore Sling. Drinks were unlimited and consisted of wine, sparkling wine, beer, standard cocktails, and the list of special cocktails.

In addition to the drinks, the Intercontinetal Lounge sets up a self-serve buffet during happy hour that offers everything from salad, to cheese, to sushi, to small snacks, to several plates of dessert. Here are some pictures – definitely worth the 120 Singapore dollars.

And, in additional to the cold bar, the Intercontinental serves a trio of hot appetizers during happy hour. Service is via waitress and the hot food was actually really tasty. This was an awesome feature and you really could make a meal out of these snacks.

Breakfast

Breakfast is another great feature of the Club Lounge. Like happy hour, patrons are seated by waitress and the Club Lounge sets up a pretty elaborate breakfast buffet for guests.

We thought that the buffet was the extent of the breakfast (and we were totally satisfied with that) but, when we sat down, our waitress brought around a menu with lots of made to order hot food options. So, of course, we had to order some hot food… Between the two of us, we ordered eggs benedict, a side of hash browns, dim sum, and a traditional Singaporean breakfast (cannot remember the name!).

Afternoon Tea

Another fun offering at the Club Lounge, which we almost skipped, is afternoon tea. We ended up going to Afternoon Tea when we saw it on the main dining room’s menu for $70 Singaporean dollars a person. We are not really “tea” people; we have had it in London (hello, sketch) but we definitely would not have gone had we seen the public price.

To start tea, we were seated by a waitress and brought a tea menu, which also included the set menu of food that would be served with our tea.

After we ordered our tea, our waitress brought our a 3-tiered tray of snacks. As set forth on the menu, the snacks included delicious sandwiches, traditional desserts, and a plate of scones! This was much more food than I expected, but a really fun experience! 

We ended up loving tea and stayed in the Club Lounge until Happy Hour started… My one other absolute favorite thing about the Club Lounge was its _______ decor, even the sink was done in this decor:

Upon investigation, it turns out the lamps, sinks, flower pots, tea pots, etc. in the lounge are done by a local Peranakan artist called Joot! I purchased a few things to bring home. It was absolutely gorgeous and now I want to do my house in this style…

STEAL OUR TRIP

Singapore Intercontinental:  We upgraded on arrival to Club Lounge access for $120 Singaporean dollars, which included access to the Club Lounge on Friday and Saturday. Definitely a good deal for us, and probably most, given the expense associated with going out in Singapore.

ON A BUDGET

The Intercontinental is definitely not the most budget friendly place to stay in Singapore. Instead, I would recommend the Holiday Inn Express Katong, which also in the IHG network has a pool, in room smart phones, and a huge breakfast buffet included in the price.

Holiday Inn Express Singapore Katong: 88 East Coast Road, Singapore, 423371. We stayed here the night we arrived in Singapore. Its in a fun area not too far from central Singapore.