Finally redeemed my second (and last) Stay Plus benefit!

There are not a lot of Accor properties in Singapore which I’ve wanted to try but not yet. Some are not in my list as they don’t have a club lounge. Novotel looks too old on pics, So Sofitel doesn’t have a club lounge, and thanks but no thanks to Ibis. And of course Raffles Singapore is not on the list.

So with all that in mind, the list narrowed down to Swissotel Merchant Court, with the added incentive that they had a facelift in 2016 and rooms looked pretty fresh on pics.

Address – 20 Merchant Road Singapore 058281. Website.

Contact – Tel: +65 6337 2288. singapore-merchantcourt@swissotel.com.

Price – with my Accor Plus Stay Plus benefit, I only needed to top up $90++ to upgrade to a Swiss Executive room which works out to be about $45++ per pax for breakfast and evening cocktails. Not too bad!

** Check out its more recent prices here **

Location – Located in the happening Clarke Quay area, the property was refurbished in 2016 and now offers modern rooms with cheerful washes of white and yellow. The nearest MRT is Clarke Quay which is a sheltered walk 5mins away. Otherwise, the night happenings at Clarke Quay is quite enough to check out if that’s your thing. Or Chinatown is a short walk away if you are adventurous enough.

Check In – I arrived at 1pm on a regular Saturday to see a loooong queue at the front desk. Hopped over to concierge to ask about checking in at the Swiss Executive Lounge – the chap made a call and off we go! Once there, the process took about 15mins

Room – Room 1147, a Swiss Executive King (30SqM), was decked out in bright colors and had plenty of space for 2pax for a 1-night stay. There is a little hallway once you enter which leads you to the bathroom on your left, then the mini bar on the right.

The mini bar had your usual stuff and a nespresso machine with 6 (!) pods which was very generous of them.

In the main bedroom area was a big king bed in cheerful yellow and a work desk which was quite nice, and of course a big TV with plenty of channels to rot your weekend away.

The signature swiss chocolates were on the table – a cute touch with its ceramic holder:

As I had mentioned an Anniversary occasion in my booking note, I later also received a bottle of red wine and more chocolates, along with a welcome note!

The bathroom was actually quite nice although with no double sink and cleanliness was not an issue. Toiletries provided were Purovel Spa brand, which is the in-house Spa.

Executive Lounge – located on level 11 (yays to staying on the same level), the lounge is suitably located in one corner of the floor with a gigantic sign to show you where you are:

The Swiss Executive Lounge offers an exclusive space for guests staying in our luxurious Swiss Executive Rooms or Suites. The contemporary lounge features an eclectic mix of communal and personal seating as well as a vitality corner offering daily selection of wholesome breakfast favourites, light refreshments throughout the day and complimentary drinks and canapés every evening during Happy Hour (6pm to 8pm). Located on Level 11, the Swiss Executive Lounge offers stunning views of the Singapore city skyline throughout the day.

It is actually a much smaller space than I anticipated, with the design and floorings looking abit haphazard.

Food offering hours:

• 6:30am – 10am Breakfast
• 6:00pm – 8:00pm Happy Hour

The food and beverage area is small and can feel extremely cramped at times:

Off hours, only cookies and coffee / tea are available. And the space was almost completely empty.

Come Happy Hour, you can expect a selection of hot finger foods, pizzas, cold canapes, breads, cheeses, and fruits. Quite impressive given the space.

Alcohol wise, Tiger Beer, 2 choices of red, 2 choices of white, and a handful of regular spirits. The wines were actually quite palatable!

Facilities – Unfortunately, this time round, I did not even manage to venture to the pool and gym to see how it looks like. Opps.

Breakfast – I was encouraged to take breakfast at Ellenborough Market Café (located on level 1) due to its variety. I was bright and early at 6:30am and the place had 2 other tables already occupied. Huge variety alongside your usual egg station, even a “Vitality Station” of healthy choices. They even had a real honeycomb! So fancy.

Service – Service was surprisingly pro-active especially at the Lounge. Had nothing to complain about really. Parking was also easily obtainable at the ground floor concierge.

Check Out – Painlessly completed at the Lounge @ 2pm.

In summary,

a pleasantly nice property to spend a weekend at. The refreshed room was more than satisfactory and the Lounge albeit small was a nice add on to the experience. I would actually come back again! 🙂