Andaz Singapore does not do shy. It rises above Bugis in DUO Tower at 5 Fraser Street, with direct access to Bugis MRT station, and from the minute we walked in, it was clear this place had no interest in being another safe, beige business hotel. It has 347 rooms and suites, multiple dining venues, an infinity pool, a 24-hour fitness centre, and the sort of polished confidence that can either feel slick or slightly insufferable depending on execution. Thankfully, this one mostly lands on the right side of that line.
The location does a lot of the heavy lifting. Bugis is one of those areas that rewards laziness in the best way. Kampong Glam is nearby, Little India is nearby, Bras Basah is nearby, and if the weather is not trying to kill your will to live, the city still feels pleasantly walkable from here. That said, Andaz is not just coasting on geography. It has a very specific kind of urban swagger that makes checking in feel less like arriving at a hotel and more like entering a very well-funded version of your cooler friend’s apartment building. If that sounds familiar, it sits somewhere in the same universe as The Standard Singapore, just with a slightly more polished filter.
The Room Did Not Waste Our Time
Our room made a strong first impression without trying too hard. Floor-to-ceiling windows, warm tones, proper daylight, and a layout that felt generous by Singapore standards. The decor takes cues from Kampong Glam shophouses, but not in a way that screams “heritage concept.” It is more subtle than that. The bed was excellent, the blackout situation worked, the bathroom felt properly considered, and the separate toilet setup made daily routines less annoying, which should be a low bar in hotels but somehow still is not. The complimentary minibar was another genuinely useful touch instead of a fake perk with one sad canned drink.
What we liked most was that the room felt lived-in rather than staged. Some design hotels are so committed to aesthetics that they forget guests have luggage, chargers, bad habits, and a need to put things somewhere. Andaz has enough practicality to avoid that trap. It is still polished, still very aware of its own visual strengths, but it never tipped into “this room was designed by someone who has never stayed in a hotel before.”
The Pool Is Good Enough To Change the Mood of the Stay
The infinity pool is one of the hotel’s best cards, and yes, we know “infinity pool” is the sort of phrase that usually comes with brochure disease. But this one earns the mention. It sits high enough to make the surrounding city look briefly elegant, and the whole level has a nice balance of openness and shelter. It is not the biggest pool in Singapore, and it is not trying to compete with Marina Bay Sands for skyline drama, but it is exactly the kind of place where an hour can disappear without much effort.
The 24-hour fitness centre is another quiet win. It is not huge, but it is actually usable, which is more important than size. Too many hotel gyms are built for photographs and guilt. This one is built for people who may genuinely want to exercise. And since it sits high in the building, it avoids the usual basement-punishment energy.
Alley On 25 Does More Than Just Feed the Room Rate
Breakfast at Alley on 25 was good. Not transcendent, not “best hotel breakfast of our lives,” but more than competent. What we appreciated was that breakfast did not feel lazy. There was range, there was movement and there was enough variety that repeat mornings did not become a punishment.
The one thing that landed a little flatter than expected was the coffee. Not terrible. Just not memorable. In a hotel this design-conscious, with this much lifestyle confidence, the coffee should have had a bit more authority. It did the job. It just did not win any arguments.
There is also Mr Stork on level 39, the rooftop bar with 10 teepee huts and full city views, which sounds dangerously close to gimmick territory but somehow avoids complete embarrassment. The view helps, obviously. So does the fact that the hotel does not overcomplicate the experience. You go up, you look out, you order something, and for a while Bugis feels much more glamorous than it normally has any right to. If you are staying here, it is worth going at least once, if only to confirm that the city still looks very good from above.
Service Kept the Whole Thing From Becoming Too Slick
This is where Andaz really held itself together.
Andaz has enough style that bad service would have killed it fast. A place this polished cannot afford staff who act like they are doing guests a favour by existing. Thankfully, that was not the case. Service throughout the stay felt warm, capable, and free of fake charm. Front desk interactions were smooth, housekeeping was sharp, and the whole place ran with the sort of quiet competence that makes everything else easier to forgive.
That last bit is important, because Andaz is not a flawless hotel. It has a point of view and sometimes hotels with a strong point of view can get slightly too pleased with themselves. But when the people running the place are this steady, the confidence reads better.
The Pros
- The Bugis location is excellent and direct MRT access makes the whole city easier.
- The room sleeps well, which is not glamorous but is still the point.
- The complimentary minibar is a genuinely useful perk, not a sad token gesture.
- The infinity pool and Mr. Stork are both good enough to justify their own hype.
- The service is confident without becoming robotic.
The Cons
- The room occasionally chooses style over ease.
- The coffee at breakfast needs more authority.
- If you want old-world luxury or full ceremonial grandeur, this is not that hotel.
So, Is It Worth It?
Yes.
Not because it reinvents the city hotel, and not because every part of it is perfect. It is worth it because Andaz Singapore gets the fundamentals right while still having an actual personality. The room is comfortable. The location is sharp. The pool helps. The dining is stronger than it needs to be. And the service keeps the whole operation from drifting into glossy self-parody.
There are more grand hotels in Singapore. There are more old-school hotels. There are probably more emotionally neutral hotels too, if that is what you want. But if the brief is a stylish city stay that still feels genuinely useful once the novelty wears off, Andaz Singapore makes a very convincing case for itself.
RERG Rating: 4.2 / 5 Stars
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