Sleeping in one of the world's most iconic hotels: the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore
Probably along with the Burj Khalifa (Dubai's Sail-shaped hotel), Singapore's Marina Bay Sands is one [...]
Singapore
Probably along with the Burj Khalifa (Dubai's Sail-shaped hotel), Singapore's Marina Bay Sands is one of the most famous and iconic hotels in the world.
In this article:
I don't mean by quality, but by the fact that all of us at least once in our lives have heard about this hotel, seen pictures and imagined taking a dip in its spectacular pool.
Reservation
This hotel does not belong to any hotel chain, so there are no opportunities to use points or other strategies to stay for free.
N.B. There is one way and that is to be enrolled in the casino loyalty program that is inside the hotel and be a big player, by doing so (as happens in Las Vegas) you get into the hotel's good graces and will be able to receive invitations and giveaways, including rooms.
To book so I aimed for the travel portal of American Express, like all beautiful facilities is very expensive, but if you take proper advantage of the right combination of offers you can significantly lower the cost of the room.
In detail, for my reservation I took advantage of a hotel promotion along with a cashback offer from Amex that allowed me to discount €200 off the total cost of the reservation, to which I added the annual €150 voucher. All for a cost that for two nights would have been about €750, but in the end I spent less than €400.
Foreword
There are dozens and dozens of nicer hotels to stay in Singapore, so in this one it only makes sense to spend one, at most two nights, only if you want to get access to the rooftop pool. If you are not interested in this experience, my advice is to aim for lots of other facilities.
For example, the Fullerton Hotel which is exactly in front of the Marina Bay Sands or the brand new Hilton Orchard or Of the small boutique hotels like The Vagabond In the Little India neighborhood.
Check-in
The hotel is huge, the three towers house more than 2500 rooms, has two lobbies located under tower 1 and tower 3.
I arrived in the morning around 11 a.m., hoping for an early check-in. Having gone through all the paperwork, I was offered an upgrade to a better room than mine with access starting at 12 p.m. It was my first visit to this hotel and my room would not be available until 4 p.m. In addition to this, to allow me to fully enjoy the pool even on the last morning, I was offered a free 3 p.m. check-out at no extra charge.
The room
My room was on the 50th floor of Tower 1, Tower 2 is being renovated so many floors are closed, and Tower 3 will be the next to be renovated.
What about the room, it is huge.
The window occupies the entire exterior wall and offers a spectacular view of Singapore Bay, the bay where F1 cars speed through the grand prix.
The bed is a super king size, in the space available it seems small though! Then there are a huge desk along the wall and two armchairs with small table in front of the window.
The view during the day, although the sky was overcast, was beautiful. But at night WOW.
The bathroom was probably larger than a studio apartment, all marble. With an exposed bathtub in the center of the room.
Double sinks and a double shower.
The products offered from the Roberto Cavalli line, which are of the highest quality
All items in the minibar are free of charge and are restocked daily. So is the coffee machine and related pods.
The room could not lack, of course, a mega smart TV, an ultra fast connection and lots and lots of space.
Also excellent is the care for the environment with recycling bins, use of little plastic, and many other small attentions.
Services
The hotel houses everything, more than 10 thousand people work there every day in the whole facility, however, in the end the services are quite limited, or rather many things are available to everyone.
The mega mall, casino among the largest on the continent, convention center and spa to name the main ones.
The reason people book this hotel is only one. The pool. One is willing to pay this price just to take a dip in the most iconic pool in the world.
Rules of entry and modalities I have already explained in an ad hoc piece, just a reminder that access is restricted, you have to reserve your slot (one per day) and you cannot bring guests, much less manage to sneak in.
Food & Beverage
Room service is operational h24, I wanted to try it but the attendant explained that due to a security drill they would not take orders for about 60 minutes. O therefore opted to "go hunting" on my own.
Breakfast is served in two restaurants. The first is on the ground floor in the huge lobby that also houses starred restaurants and stores.
Alternatively, there is one on the top floor, the pool floor. I preferred to eat inside, cooled by the air conditioning.
There is no longer a buffet, but a la carte menu and table service via QR. You can choose what you want, from savory to sweet, from hot to cold.
In conclusion
Would I repreneur? Obviously NO., I wanted to take a dip in the MBS pool And I did, as said in Singapore there are dozens of hotels at a similar or lower cost that offer better service, which in a facility of this size is objectively difficult to provide.
This is just one of many reviews you can read on our site. Every Wednesday we publish a review of a lounge airport, while every Friday you can read the review of one of our flights or a hotel where we stayed.
Pro
- The swimming pool
- The view
- The room
Against
- Not cheap