My Macau trip was a prime occasion to try out the futuristic looking YotelAir in Changi Airport, made especially alluring with its opening rates. Well, okay, plus the fact that I almost missed my last flight to BKK, I figured I should make myself be already at the airport for a 6am depart flight this time.

Address – 78 Airport Boulevard #04-280 Singapore 819666. Website.

Contact – Tel: +65 64077888. Email: singaporechangi.reservations@yotel.com.

Price – $100++ for 6 hours = $121nett. Their hourly rates start from $80++ for any 4-hour block up to $120++ for 5-6 hours and booking can only be done via emailing them. You inform of your start / end hours and they will reply with a confirmation, and thereafter a secure link for payments to be made online.

Only their overnight rates of $140++ can be seamlessly booked online. Rates will also go up come July 2019 as well.

Location – Located at Jewel itself on level 4 landside, the hotel occupies a prime spot in the hottest attraction of the year. Landside also means non-flying passengers can also book a staycation and eat non stop at the numerous 24-hr eateries. Or maybe, just a spot to nap from all that shopping. Easily the coolest hotel in a mall I’ve seen.

Check In – I arrived at 9pm on a Saturday for my booking and tried to check in using one of their screens but hesitated when they asked me to swipe my card. My booking was already pre-paid so I plodded to the Mission Control team (that’s what they call themselves) for a manual check-in. The chap mentioned the card swipe is in fact for verification purposes only – it’ll be great if this can be made clear on the screen. I was asked for my passport and issued my key in under 5mins. Very efficient.

Room – Premium Queen (10SqM), Room 145, was not a far walk. I had imagined the room to be claustrophobic but surprisingly it wasn’t at all. Maybe due to the clever use of space and white and purple colors, the room actually felt more than okay for 1pax with luggage. 2pax may also be fine but will be a squeeze with luggage.  Adjustable Queen bed (a little hospital like haha), very clean, and they could even fit in a foldable tabletop. Bottled water, toiletries, and toothbrushes are provided. More than adequate for my 6-hour stay. Lying in bed watching the TV feels like being in Gold Class!

One thing that needs to be drastically improved though is their soundproofing. Of course I know that inconsiderate guests are out of their control but they should have at least made the rooms a little sound-proof since the property is quite dense. Crying babies, loudly talking guests, and basically any noise became seriously amplified at 12midnight and I could.not.sleep.at.all. I managed to fall asleep at maybe 12:30am, clocking a grand total of 2.5 hours sleep.

Facilities – their in-house F&B space, KOMYUNITI (pronounced as “Community”), served breakfast only from 6:30am onwards so I brought my own food. When I went to the space at 3am to have coffee, there was only 1 other (annoying) pax  there – enjoying his Chinese drama in full volume without earphones – hence destroying any chance of a peaceful breakfast. The space do face the Vortex waterfall but at 3am, the water and lights were switched off, so there wasn’t anything to look at. Thankfully, the TV had CNN on.

I forgot to check out their gym and pool. Shucks.

Check Out – Painlessly done at 3am.

In summary, a really convenient (and cool) place to rest in between long transits (sheltered direct access to T1, T2, and T3). At a wallet-friendly price than nearby Crowne Plaza too. Just not sure about the quality of rest due to the very poor sound proofing.