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There are two Intercontinental hotels in Singapore, the Intercontinental Singapore and the Intercontinental Singapore Robertson Quay. As far as prices, the Intercontinental Singapore costs anywhere from $200-300+/night while the Robertson Quay location will cost you about 10-20% less. That’s because the Intercontinental Singapore is much nicer…about 10-20% nicer because of the heritage style architecture. Best of all, I stayed there for free…technically.
I booked the hotel as part of my annual free night benefit with the Chase IHG Credit card. Well, they say it’s a free night, BUT the credit card does have an annual fee of $89.
See current prices for the Intercontinental Singapore: Agoda
Personally, I think it’s worth it just because you get 1 free night at ANY Intercontinental (and partner) hotels which is a much higher value than having to pay cash. Additionally, the credit card gives you Platinum Elite Status with IHG (Intercontinental Hotel Group).
The IHG brands include the Intercontinental, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Even Hotels, Starbridge Suites and Candlewood Suites.
Platinum Elite Status doesn’t really get you much. You still get standard rooms and I’ve never been upgraded to a suite. I was offered to pay for an upgrade to a suite for $80 at the Intercontinental Osaka once and I went for it…just for the experience. That was worth it for 1-night because the room was super nice and the hotel staff there did the full Japanese bow and didn’t get up until you left!
Ok back to the IHG Platinum Elite benefits: you don’t get lounge access, suite upgrades or free breakfast. You DO get early check-in and late check-out. I love this benefit. If IHG has an available room the morning of your reservation date, they will allow you to check-in early! Even in Japan! One of the most strict countries in the world regarding hotel check-in time.
The hotel reminds me of the old world colonial Hong Kong architecture that I’ve seen in older Jackie Chan movies…if that makes sense. The hotel is very traditional Singapore colonial and you feel that culture everywhere in the hotel.
Even if you’re not staying at the IC Singapore, it’s worth it to grab a drink at the bar in the afternoon. They have live music with a singer and a piano player. You don’t need to stay at the hotel if you just want to look around.
HOTEL TIP: You don’t need an elevator key to use the elevator. Go up to the 2nd floor above the 1st floor bar and you can enjoy the music for free on one of the couches.
The Intercontinental Singapore hotel is right in Bugis Junction, a popular area for shopping and dining. There are even more shopping centers, restaurants and bars in the surrounding area. Everything is sooooo close!
Most of the food is on the higher end in the area, so expect to spend at least 20SGD on a sit down meal at a restaurant. If you venture further out (10 minutes walking), you can find hawker stalls with very tasty and affordable food.
I arrived at the Intercontinental Singapore hotel at 8:45am. By 8:55am, I was in my hotel room!
I had just left the capsule hotel I was staying at ($15/night) because it was loud! Very inconsiderate people staying in the room. Additionally, there were only 4 private restrooms with a line of people trying to get in. The restroom were toilet/shower combinations that could not handle the large volume of people in the morning. My plan was to just go to the IC Singapore to use the restroom, leave my luggage and then find breakfast.
When I arrived at the Intercontinental Singapore via Grab Taxi, I was greeted by a friendly doorman who helped me with my luggage. He asked if I was a guest and I confirmed. He took my luggage and gave me a bag tag. My first mission of leaving my luggage there was complete.
With no expectations of actually checking-in at 8:30am, I went for it anyway. There was one family ahead of me in line. After waiting for a few minutes, another employee greeted me and assisted me with checking-in at the premium hotel guest check-in desk.
I actually didn’t notice the premium check-in desk when I first came in, but would have been eligible to use it anyway since I had Platinum Elite hotel status with IHG.
A few days before my arrival, I received an email from the hotel concierge regarding my room preference. I just put, “as far way from the elevator as possible” because I don’t like the noise and excessive foot traffic. That turned out to be a mistake. My room was like a 2-minute walk from the elevator. That’s REALLY far and I was surprised at the amount of twists and turns I had to go through to get to my Heritage Room at the Intercontinental Singapore.
After a few minutes into the check-in process, the receptionist made small talk with me about my visit to Singapore. Then said, “It’s a little early to check-in, but we have a room available for you.” Her words took a moment to register in my head. This was an absurdly early check-in.
I was handed the key card and escorted to the room by the hotel staff as they carried my luggage. Even though I told the bellhop it was not necessary, they insisted. I’m glad they did. I’m glad they insisted because my room was FAR away and I probably would have got lost. Apparently the Intercontinental Singapore is made up of two buildings and I’m staying on the 2nd floor next to the Bugis Junction Shopping Street.
First off, there’s noise…there’s a lot of noise. The mall is right outside my window. The windows don’t open, but the sound insulation isn’t amazing. Luckily, the mall is only open from 11am-10pm so there’s no real issue when sleeping.
The room is a Heritage room, which I guess means is decorated to show the Heritage of Singapore. Overall, I really like the design. Instead of having a plain wall, all the walls had these large rectangle moldings. There were moldings along the floor and ceiling, pretty much the design had very few sharp corners.
The Heritage room also included this large Chinese chest. In the center you could find the mini fridge while on the sides it contained other snacks, water heater, cups and dishware. The top of the chest contained the coffee and tea.
Inside the room there were A LOT of small drawers and boxes. I’m not going to post all the photos cause that’s too many, so check out the YouTube review for that.
The bathroom was also really nice. It had a large marble counter top and a separate bath/shower,
Any Intercontinental hotel in the world is going to be expensive for in-room dining, anything from the mini bar and any of the hotel restaurants. Luckily, this is Singapore! You could easily go to any of the restaurants, cafes, drink shops in the area or you could even order food online! They have several apps, but I just use Grab since I can meet the driver at the front of the hotel.
Even if I’m not going to order, I like looking through Grab’s restaurant section just to see the full menu of restaurants in the area. There’s no referral credit and I’m not being paid to advertise Grab, but give it a shot if your in SE Asia. My Grab taxi ride from the Airport to the Intercontinental Singapore was only 19SGD (US$14) for a 30-minute ride in a private car. Of course public transportation was cheaper, but I went with the affordable/comfortable route.
The Intercontinental Singapore Gym is located on the 3rd floor. You’ll need a keycard to access the gym. Inside, it’s a reasonably nice sized gym with very modern equipment. The treadmills had touchscreen monitors and were connected to Netflix, YouTube and live TV. It allows you to pair bluetooth devices, but for some reason it wouldn’t see my bluetooth headphones.
With the gyms Netflix app, you would still be required to log in with your account.
The pool is located on the 4th floor it’s an outdoor pool with views of Singapore. It’s not exactly a Singapore rooftop pool like the Marina Bay Sands, since it’s just the 4th floor out of 12. You also can’t see the Marina Bay Sands from this pool.
The area around the pool is pretty comfortable, but the pool itself is pretty small. Singapore is very hot throughout the year so make plans on using it!
Overall I had an amazing stay at the Intercontinental Singapore Bugis Junction. The location is amazing if you like food, shopping and drinking. The staff was very friendly and I would highly recommend just looking inside this hotel because it’s an experience in itself.
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