Night view (city-facing) from Marina Bay Sands

Marina Bay Sands Singapore hotel review. We went for the most basic room, Deluxe room, which costs about S$500. There are two options, garden-facing (seaview) or city-facing. The latter is $50 more expensive. We got the garden-view although you can see the city from the infinity pool.

Long check-in queue

There are two check-in counters: one at Tower 1 and the other at Tower 3. Tower 3 usually has a shorter queue, but both queues were long and we waited for a while even though all counters were open.  I hate queuing.

But the receptionist had a very good attitude which put us in a good mood. We got a room on the 38th floor.

Tip: Request to be on a high floor and if possible, in tower 2. Because the gym is on the 55th floor on Tower 2. The lifts run from 1st – 34th floor or 35th-57th. If you stay below 34th floor, you have to transfer lifts to get to gym and pool. It’s troublesome. 

Room Entrance

Even though we got the entry-level room, it is bigger than the usual city hotel’s room. It’s organised simply with the cupboards on the left and the toilet on the right.

Safe and hairdryer

Coffee and tea

Items in the bar fridge are complimentary

The bathroom is huge but
-there is no bathtub?! How can MBS’s room have no bathtub?
-there is no rain shower?! isn’t it a basic amenity by now?
-they use in-house brand for their toiletries… which is stingy. I like branded toiletries for expensive hotels. You gotta let your customers steal the toiletries home!
-the “flush button” of the toiletbowl is in an awkward position that requires you to bend over the toilet
-the light switch is at the entrance, which makes it hard to on and off the bathroom lights.

The king-sized bed is huge but it is also quite hard. I hate hotels that buy hard mattresses. It’s like they want to keep using the mattresses for years. Even after so many years, this mattress remains hard. A good mattress should be soft for an inch and then rock hard.

The pillows don’t give good support. I had to keep flipping it over throughout the night.

But beside the bed are all the control panel which include USBs to charge handphones.

View from the Garden room

One good thing about the room is that it has a small balcony, so smokers can enjoy themselves there. It also gives a clearer view of the gardens.

Here’s a video for a spatial arrangement of the room:

Gym

View from treadmill

Due to COVID safety measures, the receptionist at check-in will you a number to text for gym entrance. The gym will reply you with a queue number and time for you to enter.

The gym is spacious and has many equipment. It’s probably one of the best hotel gyms I’ve been and is on par with small gyms like Anytime Fitness.

Infinity Swimming Pool

The infinity rooftop pool, overlooking Singapore city, is the highlight of the hotel, of course. Nobody comes here to swim. I was the only one who brought my goggles. Everyone kept taking photos.

There are also jacuzzis at the other side of the pool.

Due to COVID precautions, you have to reserve the pool before the staycation. The reservation email will give you instructions how to. You can only stay for an hour each day. Remember that you can only enter one pool. If you live at Tower 3, you go to pool 3. If you live at Tower 2, you go to pool 2. There is no mixing because of COVID.

Because of the precautions, the pool was less crowded than usual. This is great, they should do this all the time, not only for COVID.

Tip: Reserve from 6.30pm to 7.30pm so that you can see the transition from sunset to nighttime where the city buildings light up. Alternatively, the next day, try for 8am-9am for an early swim to get your hunger on before breakfast.

Buffet Breakfast at Rise Restaurant

Buffet breakfast at Rise

Pastries

Dim sum

Where else can you see a dim sum dolly?

Assorted cold cuts

Vegetarian noodles

shakshuka

Japanese breakfast set

Sausage, hashbrown, asparagus

Due to Covid restrictions, you don’t take the buffet items yourself; you order it from the servicer who will deliver you the food. It’s awesome to be waited upon but this takes a lot of manpower so thank you to the wait staff.

Because it takes so much labour, there will be a queue to enter the restaurant. So be sure to be there early, preferably around 8.30am, but definitely before 9am. If not, you will queue a long time.

Not only is the service awesome, the food is great too. It is probably one of the best breakfast hotel buffets I have. There isn’t a lot of selection but what we had were delicious and of high quality.

This is the breakfast menu for your perusal:

If you book a city-view room, this is your view

Overall, I feel that this is a relaxing staycation, just what we needed. Being a Singaporean, I feel that it’s nice to be able to stay at an iconic building in Singapore for once.

Pros
-good service across the board: from receptionist to lifeguards to Rise restaurant wait staff
-Great view either way (garden or city)
-Great amenities: pool and gym
-delicious breakfast buffet
-the COVID precautions are awesome. They also reduce the number of people using the pool and gym, which makes it a better experience. I suggest that they should restrict the crowd at all times, not only during COVID.
-you can do some fancy shopping at the Shoppes next door.
-The room is bigger than usual city hotels’ rooms.

Cons
-the room is a little dated. The design could be more thoughtful. Maybe they should use this COVID time to update their look and do some renovation.

You may be interested in…
–Staycation: Andaz Singapore – Studio Suite King Review
–Staycation at Yotel Singapore Orchard Road: A (Bath)Room with a View
–Staycation at Park Regis Singapore Review: Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls (But Can Chase Heritage Food Tour)
–Staycation at Orchard Hotel Singapore Review: They Use Robots to Cook Food!

Written by Dr. A. Nathanael Ho.