I have to be honest and say I only booked this due to my Hotelux benefits. This property is so sought after for staycays during this time of non-travel that for a while, staycay crowds here were absolute madness. So while I know the property is really pretty and I’ve eaten here countless times, I never really felt that pull to staycay here. But I eventually pulled the trigger anyways just to check it off.

Address – 5 Fraser Street Singapore 189354. Website.

Contact – Tel: +65 64081234. Email: singapore@andaz.com

Location – The property is known to some as the honeycomb building because of the honeycomb windows. Situated in the Bugis locale, it benefits from immediate connection to Bugis station ((EW12 / DT14) which means direct sheltered access to Bugis Junction for shopping. Otherwise, there is also Haji Lane across the road which offers an eccentric mix of shops if you are prepared to brave the heat and rain if you have bad luck with weather.

Price – $300++ = $354nett booked via Hotelux which includes early check in / late check out, room upgrade subject to availability, and of course the all important USD100 dining credit ($130). Stacking this with the timely Amex offer saved me $60 too, yays.

Check In – Arriving at 130pm on a Monday at their level 2 lobby, I was surprised by the check in line which was serviced by one counter, and 2 elite desks as backup. I was perhaps the 5th in line and was attended to in estimated 30mins (these are times I really miss my elite treatment at Marriotts and Hiltons). I was also disappointed that there was no help with my luggage lugging while I stood to wait despite at least 2 staff milling around. The actual check in took about 15mins – my benefits explained and I was interestingly given a choice of room between a corner room with ‘views of sunset’ and a normal room with a hollywood kind which is 2 king beds pushed together (who would need so much rolling space?!)

You can get a copy of their welcome letter by scanning a QR code laid out on the check in desk (there’s a ‘regular’ welcome letter version and then a ‘room only’ version). I was also given my 2 key cards in an ….envelope?

The lobby on level 25 where you have to change lifts to get to guest rooms is actually quite nice with plenty of natural sunlight streaming in and the entire place decked out in its signature yellow / beige hues.

Room – I picked the corner room with sunset views in the end and I think its the 1 King Bed with Bay View (42SqM). It was perfectly Andaz as far as I remembered the pics to be. I did find that the layout is a little different from what I have been used to as the different parts of the room feels very “cut out” for some reason.

You see a tiny landing after the door, then the bathroom, toilet, and shower to your left. Further inwards is your open concept wardrobe, the main bedroom, sofa, and TV / mini bar area. The liberal use of wooden furnishings works very well in giving the space a unique vibe BUT personally, it didn’t quite feel like a room I would want to chill in – maybe too Andaz?

The main bedroom contains a king bed, 2 bay windows indeed offering very nice views of the city landscape. A cosy sofa in one corner accompanied by the swivel TV, a round work desk, and a chair (not great support for for WFH though).

There is also a lonely corner containing a small square of a table with a powerpoint. I can’t imagine what a guest would use that for though.

All items in the mini bar is free at Andaz – one potato chip snack, one kit kat, and canned drinks in the fridge alongside one bottle of Andaz Pilsner. Yays to free beer! The same cabinet also contains a nespresso machine alongside the necessary cups and stuff.

The bathroom is surprisingly spacious with separate areas cut out for showering, toilet-ing, and skincare /making up/ sink area. Toiletries were Malin+Geotz peppermint series which felt a bit siap for my hair.

For any request, you can scan a QR code on your in-room phone and get connected to your digital concierge chatbot (hi Andy!) here. The link also works on browsers as an option. For human interactions or special requests, you’d still have to press “0”, though it took a couple of attempts for my call to be picked up.

Breakfast – Served from 7:30am – 10:30am @ Alley 25 (menu here), I was bright and early on a weekday and led to a seat in Icehaus (seats started filling up soon after). You can take your pick of one main from the western or local selection and the rest is unlimited orders. I picked a ham and cheese omelette which was great but the accompanying sides were lacklustre.

From the continental selection, I had the cheese platter, smoked salmon, and chia seed pudding. First 2 were as expected but chia seed pudding was surprisingly nice!

Facilities – the gym was closed during my stay but I managed to waddle by the following:

Sunroom – this is a space on level 25 (same as the main lobby) for all in-house guests to enjoy complimentary non alcoholic drinks and small packs of local snacks. It was suitably crowded on a weekday 3pm+ but I managed to get a seat for 1pax to get some work done. I liked that the service was attentive and polite despite the busy crowd.

Pool & Jacuzzi – located on the same level 25, I was surprised by the pool crowd on my visit but the long-ish pool does seem to offer quite a nice infinity view while offering some actual swimming distance. I also spotted a lonely outdoor jacuzzi on the other corner. Bookings are required and you can do so via Andy.

Herb Garden – this was an interesting find on the same level! I had quite a bit of fun checking out what herbs / vegetables there were.

In-room dining: I spent my $130 on the followings in my room and screenshots of the menu available via Andy for your easy reference:

Andaz Club Sandwich ($22) – this was my alternative after my char kway teow kosong test failed – the chef said he is not able to do kosong as the taste will not be the same without noodles and he is not able to add more veg as requested and instead recommend that I order the stir fried veg at $12++. So this became it as I see that it had chicken, bacon, fried egg and I can easily exclude the bread. I also asked for the fries to be replaced by a salad if possible – and was pleasantly surprised that it came as an actual quinoa salad! Taste wise, it was not bad!

Auntie’s Laksa (kosong) ($18) – this was my add-on as without bread and quinoa the above became a little too light for dinner. My kosong order this time was successful and it came without noodle and seemingly extra ingredients (yays to more prawns – thank you chef!). It was one of the better hotel laksas I have tried!

Tabao items from Alley 25 weekday lunch menu -the remaining of my credits funded the following which became my dinner: Hummus ($14), Tiger Prawn Salsa ($24), Chicken Satay (8pc for $20), and their signature Pandan Chiffon Cake ($16). I had muted expectations of the Andaz fare but all were surprisingly nice!

Check Out – Efficiently completed at level 2 in 15mins and they even allowed me to split my bill and pay using 2 cards as I wanted to maximise my amex offer. Niccee.

In Summary,

I have mixed feeling about this one. While the room is cool and definitely Andaz-y, I did not get the “wah i want to chill in my room!” vibe. The F&B fared so much better than I thought which was a plus. For the same price point and same benefits, I’d pick Four Seasons over this. Another one off my list!