I admit I was curious about this hotel due to its anti-microbial anti-viral stuff which seems to make it a safe choice these days. Past reviews also seem to indicate that its a decent choice and at under $150nett a night and being a “new” hotel, I figured it cant really go too wrong.

Address – 1 Farrer Park Station, Singapore 217562. Website.

Contact – Tel: +65 63630101. Email: enquiry@onefarrer.com.

Price – $148nett booked via Trip.com for a Mint Room inclusive of a $10 voucher for DBS cards inclusive of 2 breakfast – not too bad a deal!

Pre-arrival – there was no pre-arrival nor welcome email so I actively reached out to request to tag my IPrefer membership to my booking, specifically asking for early check in and late check out.

Location – First of all, “Mint Hotel” or “Skyline Hotel” are marketed as separate hotels within One Farrer Hotel itself – so look out for that giant green apple and you’ll be good. Some may say it actually is just a separate category of rooms which can also be true but its all marketing lingo to me anyways. The property also enjoys access to Farrer Park Station (NE8) and 5-8mins walk to City Square Mall where you’ll get dining options. If you enjoy Indian cuisine, then there is plenty choices within walking distance of course.

Check In – I arrived to a completely empty lobby on a weekday 1pm and I was quickly attended to by Chrisha who was great. I was given a declaration form to sign, had my vaccination status checked, and was handed my keys in 10mins. As a IPrefer Elite, I was upgraded to Mint Premier even though my booking was done through an OTA, yays (or not). I was also proactively offered a late check out of 2:00pm.

I do feel though that the corridors did not evoke a clinical sense as what others have experienced.

Room [Mint Premier] – My Mint Premier Room, 1921, felt smaller than its 33 SqM, and I was soon going to find out that I did not gett all the bells and whistles as laid out in the website:

“The Mint Hotel features cutting edge materials and design choices that actively mitigates the spread of diseases or allows for easy disinfection without compromising on comfort. These innovations include anti-microbial gapless vinyl flooring and roller blind fabrics, as well as anti-viral wall-coverings and paints”

So anyways, you step into a walkway before you see your main bedroom. The squarish layout contains your WFH desk cum ledge in one length along the window panes, and a work chair by the corner where the in-house phone and powerpoints are. On this desk is also your hotel info brochures and dining options from Socieaty (level 1 restaurant operated by Les Amis).

Adjacent to this is your mini bar / fridge area where you’ll find an Illy capsule machine, a kettle, and 2x bottled water, alongside coffee cups etc. Then the bedside table containing another in-house phone right beside it.

The king size bed sits in the middle of this side, with a bedside table on the other end leading into the bathroom.

The bathroom is designed to be right beside your bed which can be awkward or convenient depending on if you are solo. It is an open space containing a single sink with moderate counter space, a semi open toilet seat (non-bidet), and a shower compartment with a rainshower. The closet is also strangely in this space, containing your usual bathrobes and ironing board etc.

Toiletries are VitaminSpa / FreshSkinLab branded which was quite nice (from the same distributor)! The carepack left in the bathroom was also the same brand.

My elite welcome amenities and birthday cake was also placed in the room – one of the more generous amenity set I’ve seen! The chocolates were divine.

SO….. here comes the bad part.

After I took a closer look at what my space for the night would be and discovered multiple hygiene negligence and signs of very shoddy housekeeping. I spotted not-mine hair on different spots on the floor (god knows how long they have been there). Then I noticed very visible wear & tear – the floor was badly stained and chipped, the lighting+blinds controls were stained, the chair’s armrests looked kind of eroded, and the toilet’s flush mechanism was popping out of it’s socket. Then I opened the mini bar fridge and saw the dirtiest.hotel.fridge ever. The combination of yellow stains, stagnant water, and a hair inside was simply appalling. And this is a place where people usually place food & drinks.

My way of dealing with the first 2 sets of problem was to call to request for a vacumn (not ‘another’ as I’m sure it was not done in the first place) and that was done within the next 20mins. But seeing the fridge tipped me over and I plodded down to the front desk to show the pics to Chrisha who was deeply apologetic and offered a room change (she was also the one who took my vacuum request). That took about 40mins – I waited in my room and Chrisha came to pass me my new keys as well as additional help to help my move my barang.

Room [Skyline Studio] – The Skyline Studio, 1932, standing at 49SqM, felt like a completely different hotel! Located on the other end of the same floor corridor, the space is set apart as even the corridor walkways are carpeted once you walk over from Mint.

Instead of a narrow corridor, your door opens up to a spacious entrance with your bathroom to your right, and leads into your main bedroom area. The main space is dressed in classy neutral tones of brown and beige and enjoys natural lighting from the multiple window panes. In one corner is your WFH desk with a chair with powerpoints, a similar set up as the Mint Premier. There is also a fancy stationery holder with basic items for your use if need be.

For more ergonomic chilling, there is a single-seater on the opposite corner with a coffee table.

The king bed faces the TV (as all designs should be) and comes with 2 bedside tables, with one of them holding an alarm clock, in-house phone and lighting / blinds control. The other side has a smaller selection of controls. A 2-seater couch with throw pillows is placed at the end of the bed with another coffee table. I seriously think the room is set up for some serious TV bingeing.

The TV itself is non-smart, with the console below it offering some ledge and cupboard space.

On your way to the bathroom is your mini bar / fridge where you’ll find an Illy capsule machine alongside 2x bottled water, coffee cups etc (similar to Mint Premier). This time, I made sure to check that the bar fridge is clean.

The bathroom is a space deserving of its own writeup – super nice! Maybe its the choice of emerald colors and marble-ish material? Maybe its all that space?

The single sink is one of the biggest I’ve seen with plenty of counter space – not complaining! In one stretch opposite the sink is your shower (rainshower!), the semi-opened toilet (decent space!), and a bathtub (can fit a beluga). Toiletries are VitaminSpa too. The closet is also in here, similar to Premier Mint’s set up.

To seal the deal, I also have a sweeping view of the neighbourhood the entire length of the room.

Facilities – the property has 2x Swimming Pool: one on level 18 reserved exclusively for Skyline guests and another on level 6 for the rest of the guests. The Skyline pool on level 18 is comparatively smaller and better suited for erm pose-y swimmers better. The same floor also contains the Skyline Lounge – access was not included in my ‘upgrade’ but it looked like a nice cosy space.

The serious swimmers will want to head to level 6 where its long lengths and resort-ish vibe will surely motivate you to take more than a few laps. But the space also bears the full brunt of a hot day. There is also a poolside bar of sorts which was closed during my visit.

The gym, called 24/7 Workout, is also located on level 6 but was closed due to COVID-19 restriction. As far as I can peek from the outside, it was decent space and adequately equipped.

I also spotted a Pillow Lab (choice of fancy pillows) as well as a Music Room (go in and erm make music?) – both of which I wasn’t sure if they were available upon request.

Breakfast at Escape – 7:00 – 10:30am and no reservations are needed. You get to the restaurant by following the signage to the level 6 swimming pool / sunset bar but there is also an Escape banner at the end of this stretch to guide you outdoors.

I walked in at 8am and the place was empty. A printed menu on the table presents not much of a choice so I ordered the American set – and only the eggs made it and I left the remaining on my plate untouched. Oh, and decent coffee. As I was the only pax dining in, service was great and I can see the staff also try their best to manage other guests who had to order for takeaway (probably due to vaccination status).

Other Issues – I did face issues with connecting to their wifi – the combi of my room number and last name simply wouldn’t work. I called for help and it was Crisha to the rescue again (seriously, what does she not do?). While she eventually logged me in using another set of credentials, we didn’t figure out what caused the problem. It was a little frustrating as it was WFHotel for me and thought in this age and time, wifi should not even be an issue in the first place.

Check Out – seamlessly completed at 1pm on a weekday in 5mins. The staff who attended to me also apologized for the room incident, offered to store my barang while I ran out to get something, and even offered water while I waited for my Grab. Great proactive service!

In summary,

While I didn’t expect my stay to be flawless even as the hotel advertises themselves to be an urban 5-star resort, I certainly did not expect my Mint Premier to be that bad. That being said, how a hotel staff responds to problems makes all the difference between a crappy stay to a happy one – Crisha saved the day for me. An excellent service recovery experience. I still wouldn’t be able to recommend anyone to book the Mint Hotel but I would definitely say yes if anyone asks if they should try the Skyline Hotel.