Singapore Stopover advice!!

[Guest Andrew&Ren]

Hey all

 

Our flights are booked...yippeeee!! We leave the uk on Monday May 4th arriving in Adelaide Sat 9th May, cant explain how good it feels to have them booked and know we are coming

 

Anyway...we have decided to do a 3 night stay in Singapore, firstly for a rest and secondly because the place looks fab and we want to explore!

 

Ive been hunting for a hotel and read mix reviews on the ambassador transit hotel in the airport and really not sure what to go for?!? Some people say booking it was a nightmare....others say its not relaxing enough.....its far from the centre....

 

For a start we will have LOADS of bags with us so staying in the airport seems an easy option. However i like the idea of staying in the centre to get a real feel for the place.

Of course we are on a budget and the central ones seem quite expensive...but then id sooner pay that bit more for comfort, location and peace of mind our room is booked!

 

Has anyone chose to stay in Spore for a few nights on the way over??

is it easy to get to the cenre from airport??

Does anyone know if luggage can be left safely at the airport at a cost??

any hotel recommendations on a budget???

 

If anyone has ANY info/advice itd be much apreciated :notworthy:xxxxx

[Anne B]

You must be feeling really excited ! We've done several stopovers in Singapore and love the place! If you have 3 nights then I think you will be missing out if you stay at the airport all that time, even though it doesn't take long to get to the centre of the city (about half an hour), you will miss out on just being able to walk out and have attractions on your doorstep. We have always booked our hotel up with Singapore airlines. On their stopover packages you get free airport transits and there is a free mini-bus you can hop on which does a circuit round all the main attractions.

 

They group their hotels into 5 price groups, and we have stayed in either the cheapest or next cheapest category and the hotels have always been really good. One they do at the moment in their cheapest band that we have stayed at is the Peninsular Excelsior - it is very central near Clarke Quay, which is by the river and a really nice spot (lots of outdoor cafes and restaurants). If you want to go shopping then the Orchard Road area is good, the shops are open really late, it is very international (Starbucks and McDonalds etc!) but a nice well kept area. Try and book a place with a pool, it is usually hot and steamy in Singapore so it is lovely to go for a swim and cool down.

 

You will be a bit jet lagged, but try to do as much as you can when you are there. It is a really clean, safe, friendly place and very easy to get around. Have fun !!

 

You will be able to leave luggage at the airport. Just pack everything you need for the stopover in one suitcase and leave the rest. Look at the airport website for details.

 

http://www.changiairport.com/changi/en/airport_guide/exp_changi/facilities_services/left_baggage.html?__locale=en

[Rachiegarlo]

Check out the last minute sites for hotels aswell. My mum has just returned from Singapore and said most of the hotels have lowered their prices as the credit crunch is hitting travel. She stayed at Hotel Rendezvous which is right near Orchard Rd. Her room was about $200 a night. Another hotel that people like is the Pan Pacific out at the Marina , they have pretty good deals for their rooms. We stayed here www.naumihotel.com but booked from a last minute site so got it cheaper than the hotel price. If you stay in central singapore then it is possible to walk to many of the places or a short ride on the MRT (underground). Most hotel meals are very pricey but you can eat cheaply out in the shopping centres in the food courts and in China town. You can often find deals with breakfast included. There are backpackers hostels in Little India, very basic but cheap. There are also some cheap hotel options in Chinatown. Have a look at www.wotif.com and then check out what others have thought about the hotel at www.tripadvisor.com .

 

 

If you are flying with Singapore Airlines as previously mentioned their stopover package can be worth a look at because it includes free entry to attractions like the Duck boat tour, the zoo, the bird park, which if you are there for 3 days you will be likely to use. The duck tour cost me $90 for 3 tickets and wasn't awe inspiring due to the commentary being mainly about how much hotels cost when the Grand Prix is on and how much this n that was. If for free however it provides a quick overview of the main sights around town.

 

Don't worry about your bags we manhandled 11 bags off the baggage carousel onto trollies and that was the last time in Singapore we had to lift them until we returned to the airport. Singapore is big on service and the shuttle bus drivers, taxi drivers expect to load your baggage. Same with the hotel staff. It is no big hassle and we only stayed 1 night in Singapore. It was well worth it though

1) after 14 hour flight from Manchester and slightly knackered within hours of arriving it was good to get horizontal for a few hours sleep.

 

2) readjust to lighter clothes and warm air espesh as we left -1 and knew our arrival day in Adelaide was going to be 40 degrees.

 

3) have a really good sleep and adjust to the time difference before hitting Aus. Singapore is only 2 1/2 hours behind Adelaide at the mo.

 

The stopover is well worth it if you are even considering it. Some people do fly straight through and it depends on money constraints etc. To me if you fly from Manchester you may aswell have a stopover cos you spend 18 hours in transit in Changi airport, which is not a bad airport to do it in, but for us I didn't want to spend the last bit of our holiday waiting around an airport.

[Guest Andrew&Ren]

Fab help as always guys!!!!!

Thanks so much, booking through SA seems a great option, esp with the free bus and entrance to attractions etc.

 

If anyone else has any help/advice booking a stopover through SA please let us know xxxxxxxxxx

[Guest kangomik]

stay in the city, you will love it.

We stayed at the holiday inn hotel with the pool on the roof.

Taxi from Airport to centre is about a tenner if that once you land, (you miss the price increase) when walking rounds it humid, so catch a cab for a couple of quid, far better.

Very clean, really friendly, even the guy at immigration gave us tourist advice. NO CHEWING GUM!!

 

but most of all enjoy, it really is wonderfull.

[Angela]

We stayed at Clarke Quay in the Novatel, we were collected from the airport & had a mini bus for the 4 of us, door to door service. The hotel is brilliantly located & exceptionally clean.

[Guest Andrew&Ren]

We have booked the Novotel Clarke Quay, i think location sold it!

Not the cheapest place we found but good reviews and itll be nice to have a king size bed to catch up on sleep!!

 

Thanks again for all your help xxx