Holiday Inn Express Katong Review: Hotel In The Middle of Singapore's Heritage Area

For our new years weekend getaway in Singapore, we wanted to stay close to the airport on our first night, as our flight was at 9 pm from Jakarta. Our search via booking[dot]com led us to Holiday Inn Express Katong. We have stayed at Holiday Inn Express JI Expo Kemayoran before, now it is our turn to try their branch in Singapore.

We arrived at 2 am, because our flight was delayed for two hours. Airplane traffic is also very bad at Jakarta's airport on Friday night. The check in was fast and we were welcomed by Christmas decoration at the lobby of Holiday Inn Express Katong.

The lobby at 2 am

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Yotel Singapore: A Hi-Tech Hotel In The Heart of Orchard

My search of a hotel around Orchard Road led me to this purple hotel called Yotel Singapore. Mr.Husband was the one who introduced me to this hotel, and when I saw how purple this hotel is, I proceed with the booking.

We alight at Orchard MRT station, and walked through ION's underground to Wheelock Place, then continued taking the underground to Shaw Towers. Yotel Singapore is located at the back of Shaw Towers. The underground might be very confusing, pay attention closely to the sign heading to Shaw Towers.

The drop off area of Yotel Singapore

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Pengalaman Menginap di Airbnb Area Bugis, Singapura

Sudah pernah menginap di airbnb di Singapura? Saya belum pernah, sampai dengan secara impulsive saya membeli tiket Jetstar PP untuk melihat Tulip Mania Festival 2017. Karena dadakan, saya mencari penginapan yang murah meriah.

Alhamdulillah saya memiliki travel credit di airbnb yang saya dapatkan dari program referral airbnb. Jadi kalau teman-teman sayang sama saya (ihiiiy!), sign up di airbnb dengan kode booking TMERIAM1 (<-- atau di klik aja link nya ya). Nanti akan ada diskon USD25 untuk reservasi teman-teman (min harga kamar USD75) dan saya pun mendapatkan what so called travel credit. Yuk sign up! 

Mari kembali ke pencarian airbnb saya di Singapura. Secara spesifik saya memasukan "Bugis Singapura" saat mencari lokasi. Memilih "1 person" karena saya bepergian seorang diri, tidak lupa filter "entire home" karena saya tidak mau tinggal di rumah orang lain, dan mengklik tombol search. Airbnb mengarahkan saya ke beberapa pilihan dan tau sendiri kan yang saya pilih? Yup, yang paling murah!:D

Jodoh mempertemukan saya dengan sebuah apartemen yang very compact di area Bugis. Harga yang saya bayar? Rp 200 ribu semalam setelah dipotong travel credit (harga normal Rp 1 juta semalam). Tapi begitu saya tiba, eh.. kecil banget yaaa! 

Shock juga kamarnya mini tapi setelah dipelajari lagi, konsep dan idenya patut ditiru!

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Amaris Bugis Review: Hotel di Singapura Rp 1 Juta-an

"Mba, saya cari hotel murah di Bugis untuk keluarga, sebaiknya apa ya?"

Banyak pembaca blog yang bertanya kepada saya mengenai hotel murah di Bugis, Singapura. Dan karena faktor lokasi yang very central, hotel di Bugis itu cukup mahal.

Pilihan hotel di Bugis yang Rp 1 juta di antaranya Fragrance Bugis, Marrison Hotel yang reviewnya pernah saya tulis di sini, Parkview dan ada juga chain hotel Indonesia yang membuka cabang disana, yaitu Amaris Bugis. Tapi ya itu, kamarnya kecil-kecil, kalau anaknya masih kecil dan hanya satu, mungkin cukup.

Familiar kan dengan lambang "a" ini?

Mr.husband pernah menginap di Amaris Bugis dan membawakan saya oleh-oleh berupa foto hotel dan kamar Amaris Bugis. Siapa tau bisa menjadi referensi teman-teman yang mencari hotel di Bugis dengan harga Rp 1 juta-an.

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Mandarin Orchard Hotel Review

What's the most famous and favorite hotel on Singapore's Orchard Road? Probably, Mandarin Orchard Hotel is the answer. The location is at the heart of Orchard: 2 minutes walk to Ngee Ann City, a stones walk away from Paragon Mall, and H&M is around the corner.

 

This is definitely not my choice if I travel with my family (although the beds in the room are huge!). First of all, because of its price, and I am not really "an Orchard person". But I had the opportunity to stay here (for free), so I guess it's not a bad idea to share my experience staying at Mandarin Orchard Hotel.

 

The ground floor which is directly linked to a shopping mall called Mandarin Gallery, is only a waiting area. You have to go to the 5th floor to reach the lobby area. The lobby has a modern and minimalist design, with a touch of luxury from its lighting as well as the hanging lamp.

 

I love the hanging lamp at the lobby area

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Evergreen Residences Singapore Review

Nowadays it is hard to find a place to stay in a decent room with an en suite bathroom under 100 dollar in Singapore. Hotels in the city center offers room starting from SGD110. Your only choice might only be to stay in the hostels, which cost around SGD30 per person. 

If you are looking for a hotel in Singapore under 100 dollar, you have to choose a hotel which is located a little bit out of the city, but with an easy access to the MRT station as well as to the bus stops.

One of the option is to stay at Evergreen Residences in Aljunied area, a new residences building which is located 3 minutes away from the bus stops, and 10 minutes away both to Aljunied and Mountbatten MRT Station (Aljunied and Mountbatten are in the green and orange MRT line respectively).

In front of Evergreen Residences, Singapore

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Staying at The Pod: a Luxury Capsule Hotel in Singapore

It was my first experience to stay at a capsule hotel, and I was lucky that the first capsule hotel that my wife choose was a luxury one:D It was The Pod Boutique Capsule Hotel in Singapore.

Tesya came across The Pod when she was searching for a Singapore hotel in Agoda for me. Then we checked its website, and we both amazed by the pictures of the bed and also the price:p Anyway, we reserved one single pod for my night stay. We'd love to try how it's like to sleep in a luxury pod.  

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Review of Parkroyal on Kitchener Road Singapore

I have passed Parkroyal hotel many times, and always wanted to stay at their hotel located on Beach Road. Unfortunately with the hike of Singapore Dollar exchange rate to Indonesia Rupiah, I choose budget hotel when I travel on my own to Singapore.

So this time I had another training in Singapore and my friend who was organizing my flight and accommodation asked what hotel I choose. I didn't had a chance to browse anything, and suddenly this Parkroyal on Kicthener Road came across my mind. Not only it was near the training venue but also it was only one minute away to Mustafa shopping center, which opens 24 hours:p

Parkroyal on Kicthener Road, the best hotel around Little India

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V Hotel Bencoolen Singapore Review

V Hotel chain is very famous amongst Indonesian who are looking for a hotel to stay with their family in Singapore. Their first hotel, V Hotel Lavender located above Lavender MRT Station offering easy transport access, and now they opened their second branch in Bencoolen, just beside Bencoolen MRT station, which is still under construction.

the entrance to the hotel

I did not notice "the construction" part at the time of the booking, when I arrived at the hotel, I just realized that there is a heavy construction of a new MRT station  just in front of the hotel.

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IBIS Hotel Bugis

Unlike other Ibis hotel, Ibis Hotel Bugis in Singapore is quite an expensive hotel: my tiny room cost USD 150 per night, including breakfast. I didn't expect such a small room could be that expensive. I booked this hotel on a last minute, just one day before my departure to Singapore. I would like to stay on the green line MRT, I was looking for a hotel with a free wifi, and  the hotel that crossed my mind that day was Ibis. 

Ibis Bugis has two entrance, I always thought that the entrance would be on Bencoolen street. But I was wrong, the main entrance was on the Bencoolen Link, facing the backside of South East Asia Hotel and Kwan Im temple.The taxi stand for Ibis was there, while on the Bencoolen Street side you may find a bus stop just outside the hotel.

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Pillow and Toast Singapore

Another hostel review in Singapore, this time we tried to stay at Chinatown area as we were coming to Singapore by ferry from Batam. So we would like to stay on the purple line MRT, to have an easy access from and to Harbourfront Ferry Terminal. 

Actually we booked Pillow and Toast Heritage, a new sister hostel of Pillow and Toast. We booked a 6 bedded mixed dorm there, but as more people joining our trip, we had to change our booking to the 8 bedded mixed dorm and two friends had to stay separately at the 8 bedded female dorm. Pillow and Toast Heritage were full, so they offered us to stay at the Pillow and Toast on Mosque Street. All of our emails were promptly replied by the hotel staff, they were indeed so helpful.

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Fragrance Hotel Riverside

If you are looking for a hotel with a swimming pool for kiddos in the heart of Singapore with a limited budget, I would recommend the Fragrance Hotel Riverside at Clarke Quay. It's strategically located, brand new and very clean, the seven eleven is next door, and it has a rooftop pool! Read the rest of the post and I will tell you why I like this hotel a lot. 

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River City Inn Singapore

During my other weekend getaway to Singapore last week, I stayed at River City Inn Singapore with a friend of mine, Nia Kurniasih. We were traveling to Singapore to visit our bestfriend, Dini Rosdini and her family. As we were looking for the hostel just few days prior to our departure date, most of the hostel were full. We were looking for female dorms, and the one in River City Inn were still available for two person.

At the time of the booking, we didn't notice that the hotel is located on the 4th floor of a shophouse, until I read the confirmation email thoroughly from hostelworld, on the MRT from Changi to the hostel:p Thank God we got only one backpack for each of us. So the stairs issue was not a problem. But if you have a large luggage, please be advised that you have to take your luggage up to the hostel without a lift. 

To reach River City Inn, we had to take the stairs from this yellow building up to the 4th floor. On the 3rd floor, there is a new hostel called Blissfull Loft. I didn't went inside, but it looks clean as well.

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Fragrance Hotel Emerald

Frankly speaking, I have been avoiding staying at Geylang area Singapore all this time because of the area is famous for its red light district. Until a friend of mine asked my opinion about Fragrance Hotel Emerald. I read tripadvisor review on Fragrance Hotel Emerald, and to my surprise, the reviews were overall ok. There are other Fragrance hotel in Geylang area, but the one with better reviews is the Fragrance Emerald.

We booked this hotel on the first night of our Singapore weekend getaway. We booked through Agoda, utilized our Agoda point, and therefore our room was only IDR 400,000 without breakfast. So cheap!

We arrived at Changi at about 1 am, and took taxi to the hotel which cost SGD 25, of course because of the midnight fare. Normal fair will not be more than SGD 15. When we were heading to the hotel, we passed the red light district and there were still many people arount at about 1.30 am!

The hotel located at Lorong 6 Geylang, which is far enough from the red light district. I might say that Lorong 6 is "clean"

We checked-in, and were upgraded to a deluxe room:) Though space was limited in the room, it was a very clean room and it also has a bathtub. We still had space beside the bathroom to do our muslim prayer. The downside of the room was the ceiling's height. 

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Tree in Lodge Hostel Singapore

This is our first experience to stay in a dorm ever, and we are glad that our first experience was not disappointing. We decided to book Tree in Lodge after reading all the positive review on Tripadvisor. First we tried to find on their website whether they have private rooms. But they only have dorms. So we booked one bed in the female dorm for me (SGD 29) and one bed in the 6 bed mixed dorm for rene (SGD 29).

This hostel is located 3 minutes away from Bugis MRT. It is so close to the Marrison hotel Singapore, you may read the review of Marrison hotel that I have posted in tesyasblog. Tree in Lodge is located on the second floor of this building, if you have luggage, don't worry lift is available.

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The Matchbox Hostel Singapore

Another weekend getaway in Singapore for me and rene. This time we stayed at three different hostel : Fragrance Emerald, The Matchbox and Tree in Lodge. We will have them reviewed one by one starting by the Matchbox. 

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Landmark Village Bugis Hotel Singapore

It was my first time ever travelling with our kiddos to Singapore. I need to find a hotel with a short walking distance to green line MRT station, a hotel with a great swimming pool, yet our budget is limited. So I need to find a hotel which allowed us to take two children under 12 years old. Through "free cancelation" privillage from Booking.Com first we booked Parkroyal on Beach Road, but than we cancelled as it's a 20 minutes walk to Bugis MRT. Than we changed our booking to Studio M hotel. The Studio M hotel request us to add an extra bed for our 4 years old boy! So we changed to other hotel again:p At the end I choosed Landmark Village Singapore Hotel, of course I wasn't sure of my booking beacause of all negative reviews on Tripadvisor. However many of the reviews said that the pool area is nice. 

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Marrison Hotel Singapore

A brand new hotel located at the heart of Bugis, to be precised just at the back of the field which used to have the New 7th Storey Hotel, my fave budget hotel in Singapore. Too bad the New 7th storey hotel has been demolished due to the construction of new MRT line.

I have never stayed at Marrison Hotel, but I did a survey on its location for my friend Alisa Haqiqi and I thought maybe it will be useful for my blog readers as well. Marrison Hotel located on the Beach road, but if you are coming from Bugis Village (Bugis MRT Station, exit C), you will have to pass Tan Queen Lan Street, to reach the hotel. It is about 5 minutes walk from Bugis Village.

This is the exit from Bugis Village.

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The Carlton Singapore

I choosed to stay at The Carlton Singapore in December 2011 because of its location. Yes The Carlton Singapore is strategically located. It is only 5 minutes away to City Hall MRT station and only 2 minutes away to Bras Basah MRT station. It looks very modern from outside.

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Parc Sovereign Singapore

This is a new hotel in Singapore at the time of my booking (March 2011), there was limited review on the internet. However, I booked the hotel anyway through Agoda for a three night stay (12-15 April 2011) for USD 425 room only. I thought a new hotel can't be that bad. All of the furnitures should be new.

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