Singapore Recommendations

[Wombat6]

I am considering a trip to Singapore ex Thailand and have heard that it is quite expensive for most things. Has anyone on this forum been there recently and can recommend places to stay, eat and drink (especially somewhere to drink}

[bangkokburning]

I like SNG more and more as I age. There are tons of things to do if you can just splash out on the transport and have the time.

Ideas

The bird park

Nat'l Garden (large green space for picnic, lovely orchid and bromeliad pavilions)

Check out the Swiss watches on Orchard rd.

Have some drinks at the Raffles

Little India

Night Zoo

[trogers]

I like SNG more and more as I age. There are tons of things to do if you can just splash out on the transport and have the time.

Ideas

The bird park

Nat'l Garden (large green space for picnic, lovely orchid and bromeliad pavilions)

Check out the Swiss watches on Orchard rd.

Have some drinks at the Raffles

Little India

Night Zoo

Limit your stay to 3days/2nights. You will be bored by the 4th day.

[LindsayBKK]

I used to like Singapore, but being such a small city once you have been everywhere it's hard to still get excited about going there.

New Casino Hotel (Marina Bay Sands) rates are 359sg a night! <deleted>?

If you go have a look at Hotel 81 Hotels Chain, generally cheaper but even cheaper hotels in Singapore are not what you may expect for the money.

I go to Kuala Lumpur now since it's closer and hotels cheaper/cleaner. Tune Hotels are also at LCCT Airasia terminal.

I am going to Tune Hotel Penang next month, my first time to Penang.

Don't forget to go to Sentosa Island if you do go. Sentosa Hotels

Edited July 5, 2010 by LindsayBKK

[redbicycle]

I used to like Singapore, but being such a small city once you have been everywhere it's hard to still get excited about going there.

New Casino Hotel (Marina Bay Sands) rates are 359sg a night! <deleted>?

If you go have a look at Hotel 81 Hotels Chain, generally cheaper but even cheaper hotels in Singapore are not what you may expect for the money.

I go to Kuala Lumpur now since it's closer and hotels cheaper/cleaner. Tune Hotels are also at LCCT Airasia terminal.

I am going to Tune Hotel Penang next month, my first time to Penang.

Don't forget to go to Sentosa Island if you do go. Sentosa Hotels

I used to stay at 1 room flat apartment just next to the beach for 100 dollar per day , i dun like hotel 81 its too small for me.

[THAILIBAN]

I like SNG more and more as I age. There are tons of things to do if you can just splash out on the transport and have the time.

Ideas

The bird park

Nat'l Garden (large green space for picnic, lovely orchid and bromeliad pavilions)

Check out the Swiss watches on Orchard rd.

Have some drinks at the Raffles

Little India

Night Zoo

Limit your stay to 3days/2nights. You will be bored by the 4th day.

only those who know VIRTUALLY NOTHING about Singapore will be bored. unlike Bangkok (I have to say that even I live in BKK and really DO LIKE my little monster Krungthep) there are more things and activities that can keep you busy for a full month without doing or visiting the same thing twice.

to add to the list of BANGKOKBURNING (wow, that nickname is almost as dodgy as mine ^^):

do not miss the NIGHT SAFARI ! worth every cent.

[THAILIBAN]

I used to like Singapore, but being such a small city once you have been everywhere it's hard to still get excited about going there.

New Casino Hotel (Marina Bay Sands) rates are 359sg a night! <deleted>?

If you go have a look at Hotel 81 Hotels Chain, generally cheaper but even cheaper hotels in Singapore are not what you may expect for the money.

I go to Kuala Lumpur now since it's closer and hotels cheaper/cleaner. Tune Hotels are also at LCCT Airasia terminal.

I am going to Tune Hotel Penang next month, my first time to Penang.

Don't forget to go to Sentosa Island if you do go. Sentosa Hotels

Lindsay, the barebones - TUNE HOTEL at LCCT can cost 50% more than a decent 3-star-hotel (such as PRESCOTT INN MEDAN TUANKU) in downtown KL nowadays, and then you still stay in the middle of nowhere, 70 km away from acual KL.

The TUNE in Penang is great though (as is the TUNE in Kuching)! usually VERY cheap (I paid roughly 30 RM per night before adding some "gimmicks") and the location is fantastic, plus has access to the FREE Rapid-Bus-Circle-line-tourist-shuttle (now that's a long word innit? ^^).

I would not recommend the HOTEL81-chain. those who are cheap are located in Geylang and usually occupied by the hour rather than overnight (with all those annoying noise-disturbances).

those who are in better location, such as Hotel81 Chinatown, or the ones at ballestier-Road or Bencoolen are usually pretty expensive.

depending on your budget, I would recommend the VALUE-Hotels (3 branches around the Ballestier area), rates are 79-119 Singa$, depending on season, plus the brand-new AQUEEN Lavender opposite the LAVENDER LONG DISTANCE BUS STATION (easy to hop on a Bus to KL from there). this pretty little hotel does not really appear as a budget-joint, you have a lot of amenities in the (very small, but not claustrophobic) rooms (free WIFI too). I paid 99 Singa$ 2 months ago or so, but since then prices have skyrocketed everywhere in SG, and the last time I checked rates a few days ago, it was 139 Singa$ at the moment. Low season will be in October or so, and rates will probably drop again. Got plenty of good reviews in tripadvisor too

Edited August 8, 2010 by THAILIBAN

[soihok]

Yeah agree with the your comment about the Hotel 81 chain, certainly better to avoid. Unless you need a room for an hour or two.

I have stayed in The Chinatown Hotel which was addequate but nothing special, price was resonable.

I live in Singapore and have worked here since 2001, there is a lot to do.

All depends on what it is you want.

[caf]

I agree with Soihok.

And try the Changi side of the Island - not a haunt of tourists and you get a better feel for Singapore

If you just stick to the touristy things then yes you will get bored. Get to talk to some Singaporeans and maybe some long term expats

And I'd give Raffles a miss

[anothertorres]

So, I am thinking about heading to Singapore for my first time in mid-November. Going to see a concert at the Marina Bay Sands and would like to get a heads up on where to stay. Should I even be concerned about getting transportation from where ever we need to go? Is it basically walkable or taxi-able?

I was looking at the Chinatown Hotel that was mentioned, it seemed decent enough. We'll just need a place to sleep for the most part. Wi-Fi would be a bonus. Is that centrally located to uhh... places my wife would like to go? She likes to shop for shit. Oh and eat, loves to eat food. A museum along the way or some park with some flowers and crap would be delightful.

Any thoughts?

Edited October 26, 2010 by anothertorres

[metisdead]

So, I am thinking about heading to Singapore for my first time in mid-November. Going to see a concert at the Marina Bay Sands and would like to get a heads up on where to stay. Should I even be concerned about getting transportation from where ever we need to go? Is it basically walkable or taxi-able?

I was looking at the Chinatown Hotel that was mentioned, it seemed decent enough. We'll just need a place to sleep for the most part. Wi-Fi would be a bonus. Is that centrally located to uhh... places my wife would like to go? She likes to shop for shit. Oh and eat, loves to eat food. A museum along the way or some park with some flowers and crap would be delightful.

Any thoughts?

Check out the MRT station at Orchard Road. It is a shopping/eating complex that goes 4 floors underground. The bottom floor is a food court.

[soihok]

To stay anywhere near to the Marina Bay Sands is going to be pricey, depends on your budget really.

For hotels avoid Little India / Geylang unless you like India and sleeze.

The Chinatown area is a better option, if you can search for places to stay around that area you are pretty much in the city and all the things you mentioned are within close proximity. There were better looking places to stay in the area than the Chinatown Hotel.

Botanic Gardens is worth a look, at least to get out of the city for a bit. Taxi's are the best way to get around and the drivers speak English, plus they are cheap ( the fare is I mean ).

Little India is certainly worth a visit but I wouldn't really fancy staying there unless I had to.

For shopping , most of Orchard Road is exspensive, Bugis is a better option and has countless shops. Chinatown has tourist kind of shops as well as a couple of shopping centres.

Never been to a museum in the 9 years I lived here, but probably worth a look.

Don't go to Raffles, its a rip off and you leave the Long Bar thinking , " What was all that about ?".

Singapore flyer, if you want to have a good view of the City as well as Batam Island ( Indonesia ).

Zoo has a night safari, the bird park is quite good, there is horse racing at Kranji, plus the casinos.

Sentosa has an underwater world, amusement park and big ( man made beach ), which is ok.

Loads of Disco's, but I,m banned from them all ( by Mrs soihok ).

I would say that a few days would be enough, a week would be, perhaps, a bit too long.

Cheers

[anothertorres]

thank you very much! would you happen to know any places to stay around Chinatown Hotel that might be worth mentioning? we will be flying in on a thursday morning and flying back on sunday afternoon, so very short time.

thanks for the great write up, it's exactly what i was looking for!

[soihok]

Had a bit of a look around on line, ( sound like a travel agent don't I .... I should be concentrating on MRT construction really ).

I remember that my brother has stayed at the Robertson Quay Hotel before, a few years ago.

According to the web site http://www.robertsonquayhotel.com.sg/rates.htm they have an offer on, but you would better check on the phone first. Its in a great spot on the Singapore River.

http://www.streetdirectory.com/asia_travel/travel/travel_id_7330/travel_site_23054/

This place is not far from Chinatown and right next to Clarke Quay and across the river from the best place for a few beers in town . " Brewerks " on Riverside Point. It is probably nicer than The Chinatown Hotel, which is ok for a place to get your head down , but a bit pokey.

There are some hotels in Chinatown , the one I mentioned that looked better is Hotel 1929.

http://www.streetdirectory.com/asia_travel/travel/travel_id_1581/travel_site_4056/

http://hotels.online.com.sg/singapore-hotels-in-chinatown.asp

I would try the Robertson Quay by phone to check rates first as the location is superior to the others.

Interesting to see the rates for Singapore F1 weekend almost doubled.

Have a nice time!

I need to get to work now.

[sms747]

Had a bit of a look around on line, ( sound like a travel agent don't I .... I should be concentrating on MRT construction really ).

I remember that my brother has stayed at the Robertson Quay Hotel before, a few years ago.

According to the web site http://www.robertson...om.sg/rates.htm they have an offer on, but you would better check on the phone first. Its in a great spot on the Singapore River.

http://www.streetdir...vel_site_23054/

This place is not far from Chinatown and right next to Clarke Quay and across the river from the best place for a few beers in town . " Brewerks " on Riverside Point. It is probably nicer than The Chinatown Hotel, which is ok for a place to get your head down , but a bit pokey.

There are some hotels in Chinatown , the one I mentioned that looked better is Hotel 1929.

http://www.streetdir...avel_site_4056/

http://hotels.online...n-chinatown.asp

I would try the Robertson Quay by phone to check rates first as the location is superior to the others.

Interesting to see the rates for Singapore F1 weekend almost doubled.

d

Have a nice time!

I need to get to work now.

I heard it it cheaper to book hotels at a service located in the airport is this true? if just slightly I would rater book first, has anyone used it?

Edited October 27, 2010 by sms747

[gkinbkk]

Traders hotel is the ShangriLa's budget chain...good value for the location, you can walk to Orchard.

Drinking:

1. Clarke Quay is the 'in' place at the moment...everything from Clubs to Blues Bars....a good one stop going out destination with more options that you can safely deal with in one night but cripplingly expensive (1 pint of Heineken was $18 when I went, it may have gone up)

2. If you like a pub atmosphere then Muddy Murphys in the basement of the orchard hotel is ok on a Friday night or Sunday afternoon (with bands) - 1 pint $14

3. Vietnamese hookers galore at Orchard Towers in Orchard Road, the country and western bar is a decent place to pull up a stool and people watch- 1 Jack and Coke $18+

4. Holland Village - Harrys/Wala Wala/Tangos/Baden Baden - all have happy hours where its either one for one OR discounted before 8or9pm depending on the bar after happy hour is done then you are paying an average $15 a drink

5. Tuesdays The Old Brown Shoe in Bukit Timah Rd has pints for $9 all night..... supposed to be an English pub but seems a bit confused about what it is, ordinary fish and chips and a Basil Faulty style grumpy old landlord....interesting though as the tourists would never be in there

Loads of options, without knowing what you are looking for its hard to tell you where to go.......drinking is horribly expensive, if you dont have a big budget then you are better off drinking a beer at a hawker centre. Chomp Chomp in Serrangoon Gardens is fantastic and the standard by which all other hawker centres are judged, give Newton and Lau Pa Sat a miss.

I wouldnt stay anywhere in either Geylang or Balestier....all hotels are short time joints

Have Fun!

[soihok]

I heard it it cheaper to book hotels at a service located in the airport is this true? if just slightly I would rater book first, has anyone used it?

Sorry, I have no idea about how they operate or the rates offerred.

You can be sure its not a rip off though, it wouldn't be acceptable here.

[anothertorres]

might have to stay away from this Robertson Quay place:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g294265-d306120-Reviews-Robertson_Quay_Hotel-Singapore.html

[soihok]

Yikes!

A mixed bag of reports there, did you make it to Singapore? Did you stay there?

It is a great location though.

[phuketrichard]

I like SNG more and more as I age. There are tons of things to do if you can just splash out on the transport and have the time.

Ideas

The bird park

Nat'l Garden (large green space for picnic, lovely orchid and bromeliad pavilions)

Check out the Swiss watches on Orchard rd.

Have some drinks at the Raffles

Little India

Night Zoo

I agree, I love Singapore even though it is expensive.

The Day zoo is great and dont foget the free light show at the Merlion on Sentosa at about 8 pm.

also a night tour of the 4 floors of whores at the Orchard Towers.

I usually stay in Little india, ( Albert court) as its a great place to hang out and walk around and eat good food.

[killerk]

what about ;value hotels ? and which one is the best for nearby shopping and sightsee area with not too much ''nightlife'' activity ???