The best budget hotels in Singapore
Singapore is one of the most expensive cities in the world, and a holiday in the destination can be very dear indeed. Unfortunately, a lot of the cheapest accommodation leaves much to be desired, and prices can fluctuate significantly. Travellers should expect to spend anything between ￡60 and ￡150 a night for good accommodation in a convenient location. Here is an insider's guide to the best budget hotels in Singapore, including the best for comfy, well-equipped rooms, fun design, swimming pools, 24-hour gyms, funky bars and good-value restaurants, near the Singapore River, Downtown Singapore and Marina Bay.
Once you get past the entrance, you are teleported into a sultry, red-swathed Parisian-inspired Vagabond Salon dressed in luxurious red velvet drapes. There are six gold-leafed 'Banyan trees' that rise up dramatically from the wooden floor to decorate the ceiling, and a 'golden baboon' at the bar. Bedrooms have plush furnishings in purple hue and the most comfortable beds blanketed in Italian-made Egyptian cotton. All have Nespresso machines. 5th quarter is a meat-centric restaurant helmed by Drew Nocente, an Australian who cures his own charcuterie.
? The best hotels in Singapore
It’s set in the Katong neighbourhood of Joo Chiat, offering guests the opportunity to go off the beaten track to explore the often-ignored eastern fringe of the city, which happens to be extremely colourful and vibrant. The heritage theme is evident from the time you enter the hotel lobby, where a feature wall bearing a collage of Peranakan ceramic patterns holds court to the hotel pavilion overhung with lanterns, where a pop-up Sixties 'mama stall' (a convenience stall usually found in housing estates) doubles-up as a book stand. There’s a 24-hour gym and rooftop infinity pool.
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The Quincy offers all the trimmings of a design-driven boutique hotel and more. Think glass and steel fa?ade, glass-wrapped lobby with egg-shaped suede sofas, iMac computers and quirky art installations like the fiberglass torso display. Design-driven sensibilities like stone feature walls and in-room luxuries like 400 thread count bedding and Molton Brown toiletries perk up the otherwise petite studio rooms. The all-inclusive tariff includes one-way limousine transfer, all three meals, evening cocktails, limited laundry, Wi-Fi access and snacks from a well-stocked minibar.
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The hotel is designed like a quaint British inn, albeit a trendy one, with occasional design pieces dotted throughout the common spaces, such as the Jan Ekselius-designed Etcetera chair and ottoman. For a decidedly small property, service by the well-trained staff is way beyond expectation. Each bedroom has a slightly different layout but is swathed in the same soothing grey palette of wood panels, upholstered fabric headboards and blinds. All come with Nespresso machines. Mr and Mrs Maxwell serves a lovely semi à la carte breakfast (headlined by fry-ups and croque monsieurs).
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This 'hotel-in-a-garden' is a stylish place to stay, with four floors boasting balconies covered in lush greenery. It offers excellent views of the city skyline from the outdoor infinity pool, and facilities include a spa, gym, restaurant, and members lounge. The location makes it a handy base for exploring Singapore. the hotel features more than 160,0000 sq ft of lush gardens, waterfalls and planter terraces. Memorable too is the outdoor pool with cabanas that resemble colourful birdcages. The comprehensive wellness floor includes a 300-metre walking track that goes around the entire hotel, an infinity pool and hot tub, a gym and a spa.
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Villa Samadhi stands out in urban Singapore as it is the only resort villa to be set in a lush nature reserve. It's bucolic and peaceful, providing a pleasant refuge from the city rat race with its old-world atmosphere and restful ambiance. The hotel is housed in a Twenties black-and-white building that once served as a British army garrison and a halfway house before it fell into neglect; it consequently has an air of old Malayan charm. Turndown service is unusually special as it comes with a nightcap of port, and there's complimentary cocktails in the bar at 6pm.
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This hotel housed in a Twenties heritage building that was once home to the Telecommunications Authority of Singapore brings 19th-century French flourishes with a dash of designer flamboyance to the heart of the Central Business District. Eclectic design pieces include a vertical crystal-studded hexagonal 'wall' separating the original building and the newer tower. Apart from Hi-So, a rooftop pool bar perched on level six, there’s Xperience where Singapore’s first female French chef, Anne-Cecile Degennes, fields a menu of classics and fusion dishes. Apple fans will be pleased to know that the hotel’s default in-room phone is the iPhone.