Hotel: Holiday Inn Orchard City Centre, Singapore

Location: Singapore

Room: Executive Room

Perfect for: Couples, Business trips

Category: 4 star Executive

Spoiled for choice when looking at hotels in Singapore! Whether you’re visiting Singapore for the tourist attractions, to splurge on a bit of shopping, or both, there is something for everyone. The challenge is finding a property within budget, that also meets your criteria.

We spent two nights at the Holiday Inn Orchard City Centre and were not disappointed.

The hotel is located on Singapore’s main shopping street, Orchard Road and is a short walk from the Somerset and Dhoby Ghaut MRT (Metro) stations making it a perfect spot to base yourself whilst in Singapore.

Our welcome experience…

From the moment we pulled up into the driveway of the hotel, we were greeted by some incredibly friendly staff and were impressed with the look and feel of the hotel.

The car door was opened, our luggage was promptly transferred to our room and we received a warm welcome from the staff on reception (Munirah) who had us checked in within 5 minutes. Munriah explained to us where the gym and pool was, restaurants, bar and executive lounge and breakfast – we left our check in counter not needing to ask any questions.

Most would think that is normal, but I can assure you it isn’t. Prior to our check-in at the Holiday Inn, we also stayed at Marina Bay Sands and our arrival experience couldn’t have been worse, but that’s a story for another post.

The Room…

We booked an Executive Guest room and were not disappointed. The room was well equipped having everything you need including a safe, mini bar, lounge chair, large king sized bed and comfortable bathroom with amenities.

Something we have never seen before at a hotel is a handy phone. This phone offers unlimited internet and includes calls to 10 countries – how amazing is that when you don’t have data activated on your phone!

Complimentary drinking water is also provided daily free of charge, which is amazing, especially when you’re walking around all day long! You can also get additional bottles of water from the gym if you’re thirsty 🙂

Executive Lounge

The room we booked included the Executive Lounge. I can’t stress enough how much value you get out of this! You are probably aware, or you are now, how expensive drinks are in Singapore.

As an example, we paid S$10 for a glass of Soda Water in the city so when you get access to the Executive Lounge which includes an extensive range of drinks, including beer, wine, soft drinks and of course, a Singapore Sling cocktail.

The lounge also includes breakfast, afternoon tea and snacks for dinner (which is easily enough for a meal!).

If you upgrade to an executive club room, you will have access to these special privileges:

• Personalised check in and check out services at the Executive Lounge
• Access to the lounge from 7 am – 11 pm with light refreshments available all day
• A continental breakfast from 7 am – 11 am in the lounge, or access to the Window on the Park restaurant for a full buffet style breakfast
• Daily afternoon tea from 1 pm – 4 pm
• Daily evening drinks and snacks from 6 pm – 8 pm
• Two pieces of non-accumulative laundry or pressing service
• Complimentary in room local calls
• Complimentary usage of the computers in the lounge and business centre

So, if you ask me – it is worth upgrading your room to have access to the exec lounge!!!

Meals…

Window on the Park: This all day dining restaurant offers buffet breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert. We ate breakfast here on the first morning and it was delicious with an egg station and plenty of fresh food available.

Lobby Lounge and Bar: We decided on a late night snack, around 10 pm and wandered down to the lobby lounge and bar where we enjoyed some beef sliders to share while listening to live music.

The service and general atmosphere was great and the food came out quickly.

Tandoor: This award winning restaurant can seat 80 people and gets quite busy on the weekends, so best to book ahead. They are open for lunch and dinner every day. Tandoor provides you with authentic North Indian dishes and the flavours are simply divine. We were quite spoilt at Tandoor and our menu was as follows:

Starter

Samosa & Corn Chaat – Fried pyramid-shaped pastry shell stuffed with potatoes and chickpeas, served with tangy corn salad

Soup

Murgh Badam Ka Shorba – A rich infusion of chicken soup brewed with fresh mint

Kebab

Ajwaini Macchi Tikka – Fish tikka flavoured with carom seeds, spices and chargrilled

Nimbu Murgh Ka Tikka – Morsels of chicken delicately flavoured with lemongrass, kaffir lime and jalapenos

Main course

Murgh Makhani – Every Indian’s delight, chicken tikkas cooked in rich creamy smoked tomato sauce

Malabari Fish Curry – Chunks of fish cooked on slow fire in a tangy spiced coconut curry

Dal Makhani – Black lentil slow-cooked overnight with tomatoes and garlic, finished with butter and cream

Mango Curry – A unique ripe mango curry from the Mangalore region of India

Naan – Plain Naan & Garlic Naan

Dessert

Saffron Pistachio Kulfi – A unique mélange of handmade saffron pistachio flavoured Indian ice cream

Gulab Jamun – Khoya (reduced milk) balls deep-fried to a golden colour and immersed in rose flavoured sugar syrup

Health and Fitness…

The hotel has a pretty well fit out gym which overlooks the rooftop outdoor pool area.

So if you are someone who likes to stay active and healthy on holidays, this hotel has what you need.

Good to know…

The hotel doesn’t have a car service to and from the airport, but a taxi is super cheap and the journey is only around 30 minutes.

Also, if you’re travelling with children, the hotel has a great package called Kids Stay & Eat Free which is for kids under the age of 12 can stay for free when sharing their parents’ room with up to two kids in each room. This is pretty good and can help save some $$ when travelling with your family.

Checking out…

Just like checking in, our check out experience was fast and easy, which is what you want when you are usually on your way to the airport!

Above and beyond…

The staff at the hotel were more than helpful. When I asked the concierge for a city map, the team member spent the next 5 minutes showing me where to go and what to see and ensuring places of interest were circled on the map.

The not so good…

There is nothing I can put under this category, we couldn’t fault our stay as it exceeded our expectations based on the budget.

The verdict…

If you’re looking for a well priced, well-appointed hotel then this is the spot. We loved our time at the hotel and would recommend it to anyone visiting Singapore.

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“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta

Note: The photos used in this post are a combination of photos we took and photos obtained from hotel management.