We booked a stay at Marina Bay Sands in November 2023, in order to enjoy a few days in Singapore after a cruise. It’s one of the iconic hotels in the world, and is fiercely expensive. Is it worth it? Read on to see what we thought.
The hotel consists of three towers, with 57 stories on each. It’s part of one of the biggest shopping centres we’ve been to, has a Metro station within the centre and is simply stunning to look at. It has perhaps the most famous swimming pool in the world, an infinity pool on the top floor, which spans all three towers and offers the most incredible view of the city.
As we’d got off a ship, we arrived well before the normal check in time, planning to drop our cases and explore the city. But in the event, we were able to complete out check in, even though the room wasn’t ready, and we were given passes to use the elevator to visit the top floor pool and bar area. We chose to have drinks and a light lunch there and enjoy the stupendous views. Guests also have a free entrance to the Skypark Observation Deck which we made use of.
Our room was ready after lunch, so we headed that way. We’d booked a harbour view room, but you can also select a city view. Ours was on the 45th floor – 4520. One thing to mention here is that the elevators are incredibly fast – our ears popped every time we used them. The rooms are huge – among the largest non-suite rooms we’ve stayed in. We had a small balcony, and looked across at the harbour and down to the gardens where the Supertree Grove gives an amazing free light show at night. But back to the room.
We had a very large double bed, a choice of pillows and a simply vast television. There was a proper desk, and a plethora of sockets and socket types, with USB B and C charging ports. There was a mini bar, with soft drinks stocked daily, and a Nespresso machine. As you’d expect, there’s loads of wardrobe space.
The bathroom was a palace of marble, stainless steel and glass, with a walk in shower larger than many hotel bathrooms, and really high quality lotions of potions. The room had superb air conditioning, and was quiet and very comfortable.
Food and drink
In the hotel itself, we only used the Spago pool bar and restaurant, which was expensive, but with great service and delicious food. There’s also a main restaurant on the 57th floor and a lobby bar in the hotel we didn’t try.
But in “The Shoppes” shopping centre that is part of Marina Bay Sands, there are more than 80 eateries, with a huge range of food, on offer, from Gordon Ramsay high class cuisines, to street food style stalls at the Rasapura Masters food court.
It’s a bit of a cliché, but it’s true to say you can pretty much get any type of food, at any price point, you want, without leaving the centre, but you’d be missing out on all the great food available in the city.
The swimming pool
The pool really is lovely, and is actually much bigger than I expected – you can genuinely swim lengths in each half of it. But the view keeps drawing you back to the side to look over the city. It’s only available to guests.
It tends to get busiest in the late afternoon, as new people check in and come straight to the pool for the obligatory selfie. There are plenty of sun beds, and waiters take orders for drinks or coffee.
Service
The service is excellent and effortless. Check in was a lovely experience, all the staff around the hotel were really welcoming and helpful and checkout seamless.
In fact it was the checkout experience that really made my day. We had a late flight, and I asked if there was any way we could get a shower. “No problem,” we were told. “Come back here at 6PM.” So we spent the day getting hot and sweaty in Singapore and arrived back at reception at 6. I expected them to give us a ticket for the spa changing rooms, but they gave us a room key. It was one of the hotel rooms, complete with a pile of towels, gels and creams, and we had the joy of using the shower, dosing ourselves with great smelling stuff and relaxing while we waited for our car.
Is it worth it?
We actually got a pretty good deal by booking well in advance. Nevertheless we paid €600 a night for our two night stay and that’s more than we’ve ever paid for a hotel, so it really is fiercely expensive.
But it’s an experience like no other and even if we could go back in time and change it, I’d rather have had the experience, than the €1200 in the bank. It’s one of those hotels you simply must try if you’re planning a visit to Singapore.
Would we book it again next time we were there? Probably not, because for half the price we could find somewhere perfectly adequate, but we’d think long and hard about it.
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