Introduction
St Regis Singapore is one of the older luxury hotels in Singapore, having opened in 2008, which is never a good thing. I've grown wary of older luxury hotels that lean on words like "classic" and "timeless" to paper over years of not spending any money. So this one got interesting the moment it finished a full, extensive renovation, and I wanted to see whether they'd actually spent the money or just moved the furniture around. We stayed one night before moving on to our stay at Fairmont Singapore. The short version: they spent it. The rooms are the real thing. Almost everything wrapped around them still needs work.
Location
Everyone seems to like the location but I'm not really sold. It sits at the quieter part of Orchard Road - a 10 minute walk just to reach ION Orchard, and further still to anything else. For a first-timer I'd prefer either somewhere more central like Grand Hyatt if you like Orchard or close to the Marina Bay Sands. The one thing going for it is that the Botanic Gardens are close by. Lovely yes, but nobody books a Singapore trip for the Botanic Gardens.
First Impressions
Two days before arrival the app showed an upgrade to a Caroline Astor Suite, which is a good start. My actual arrival was less good. I pulled up curb-side with no bellman in sight, hauled the luggage out of the taxi myself, and walked it to the check-in counter. Once there, nobody offered to take the bags up to the room. Such a simple thing, and somehow they couldn't manage it.
The stay gradually starts to get better from here - they proactived offer 4PM late check-out due to status, confirmed the upgrade to the suite, and then informed me there's a happy hour for Bonvoy Elites happening 4-6PM daily where we get a free drink each person and light snacks - I'm not complaining!
The lobby, though, looks like the one part of the building the renovation forgot. It's wrapped in a warm yellow tone that would have been luxurious in 2008, and I'm surprised they didn't do more with it.
The Room
When you open the door to the room and it's like walking into a different hotel. Wood tones, beautiful red plates and in-room water taps which I think was the first time I saw one. They prepared a lovely chocolate cake for my anniversary with a hand written welcome note. The bed is comfy enough, and the TV also comes with an extra speaker. I can't stand hotels that do a light touch-up and call it a full renovation, but this one was clearly rebuilt from the ground up
My one real issue is the work desk. For a suite at 90sqm, it's weirdly tiny, somehow even smaller than the one I had at the Fairmont and that room was half the size.
There's two smart toilets, which I love, and it gets its own separate room after a wooden door slide away from the main bathroom. Someone finally worked out that the usual all-glass luxury layout hands your partner a front-row seat to things nobody signed up for. And the hair dryer is a proper Dyson, parked at the makeup desk in the bedroom, which my girlfriend was very pleased to see.
As part of my travel advisor job I also toured a few other room types while I was there. If you don't want to shell out for a suite, the studios are beautiful and surprisingly spacious in their own right.
Breakfast at Sofia
Breakfast is served at Sofia, where the space is genuinely stunning. Soaring ceilings, beautiful design, properly luxurious. If only the food had shown up to the same standard. The spread was on the thin side, and the two dishes we ordered off the supposedly premium menu, the lobster custard and the french toast, both managed to taste bad and look worse.
Dinner At Yan Ting
Dinner went a lot better. This is where we spent our free Marriott STARS US$100 dining credit, and I'd give it an 8/10. The Peking duck was good and the wok-fried wagyu beef was delicious. Not mind-blowing, but I can't really complain about a meal that's essentially free after the credit.
Pools
The rooms got the budget. The pool, by the look of it, got whatever was left. It does the job, but it clearly hasn't had the same love. It's small, there's no view to speak of, and the design does nothing for you. Fine for a few laps before dinner, but it's not a place you'll want to spend an afternoon.
Service
St. Regis is supposedly famous for its butler service, but I didn't get briefed on it at check-in the way I usually do. I didn't end up using it either, because calling someone just to shine my shoes and bring me coffee isn't really my thing. Beyond the big miss at the front door, the rest of the service felt sloppy too. Housekeeping knocked 30 minutes after check-in to clean my room. No. And getting that US$100 credit applied took several trips back and forth between the restaurant and the front desk. Maybe I caught them on a bad day.
