Ah, finally.

This stay was postponed twice (from May, then from Aug) due to tightened COVID measures, especially with restrictions on dining-in making a big impact as it would have meant not being able to access the COLLECTION Lounge at all, which was pretty much the point of me booking a COLLECTION room. The final nail in the coffin was the fact that room reservations told me that club offering alternatives will be delivered to the room only once (but I think you can order as much as you like perhaps)

Address – 6 Raffles Boulevard, Marina Square Singapore 039594. Website.

Contact – Tel: +65 6845 1000. Email: enquiry.prsmb@parkroyalhotels.com.

Location – Located in the Marina Bay area and attached to Marina Square Shopping Mall, this property enjoys sheltered access to the major surrounding malls which offers plenty of stuff to do if you are running on a “room-only” rate like me. The nearest MRT station is Promenade (CC4/DT15) which links you up enough for running around or getting there.

Price – I had booked this wayyyyy back in May via the DISCOVERY Up to 40% Sweeter Savings promotion at a very decent rate of $280++ for a COLLECTION King. Stacking this with the then Amex offer gave me a further $60 off – Yays! The promo further includes:

• Flexible 25-hours stay from time of check-in
• Special gift hamper upon check out

Pre-arrival – no pre-arrival email but I reached out to request for 11am check in as GHA Black which they confirmed. I also asked about getting a room with a daybed and my 2-tier upgrade and was told that that my booked COLLECTION King has them but they can only guarantee a COLLECTION Marina Bay for the upgrade (but no daybed) if I prefer, with with the 2-tier upgrade to an Urban Suite will be subject to availability. I replied to confirm that I would prefer to stick to my COLLECTION King for the daybed but otherwise will be happy if the Urban Suite turns out to be indeed availability.

Getting There – I took a sheltered underground stroll from Cityhall which took slightly longer than usual due to the closures of several exits from Marina Square. If you don’t drive, you have to find the lifts located at the nook opposite McDonald on level 2 which will take you to the basement carpark + a short walk including up another small flight of stairs to reach the landing street level of the hotel. Alternatively, you can get to the escalator beside Ya Kun on level 2, take it down one level to the street level, then turn left and walk around the roads. Phew.

But when you do actually get there, a very green and very nice lobby greets you.

Check In – The actual check in happens at level 5 where the front desk is.

I got there at 11:30am and found a relatively empty lobby . I was assisted by a staff at the Discovery Desk who passed me a welcome letter as COLLECTION Club guest.

I was told I have been given a COLLECTION Marina Bay King to which I asked if this is the room which has a daybed and was told yes. I went up anyways and opened the door – no daybed. So I went down again and spoke to a different staff at the regular front desk and explained my situation. He then told me what I suspected – only the Lifestyle Room (well, and Presidential Suite) has the cute daybed and he apologized for the miscommunication.

Now that I was going to have no daybed anyway, I enquired about getting an Urban Suite. It took an additional 10+mins of the staff typing on the keyboard, leaving the desk to ask someone else in the back office, that someone else coming out to type more stuff, a little discussion between the 2 of them, and finally getting my keys to a Suite on level 16.

Just when I was turning around to go to my Suite, the staff stopped me and said they have to change my room again. I jokingly asked if they are going to give me the Presidential Suite this time – and got a weak laugh in return and no apologies. I eventually got keys to 1411.

This is actually the first time I had to negotiate for my 2-tier upgrade as GHA Black.

30minutes. On this.

Room – My Urban Suite, 1411, Urban Suite (63-66 SqM), actually felt quite nice although the sparse furnishings made the space feel a little empty. As most reviews have mentioned, the Suite is actually made up of 2x rooms with a connecting door, with the mirroring room converted into a living area.

The main bedroom (1411) actually feels like quite a decent space for a short stay. I quite liked the pretend-wood furnishings and the cool color tones – quite classy. Not so much a fan of the bare floors but I guess that’s supposed to part of the overall ‘nature’ design theme. A huge cushy king bed sits in the middle with 2 bedside tables containing powerpoints, facing a smart wall-mounted TV with chromecast ability.

On one side of the bed is some luggage storage space and your wardrobe – an oblong design (is this meant to be a ‘tree trunk?) where you can’t actually open the door properly and instead have to fold-open the doors with limited swing it to one side. Once you actually open it, you’ll find a Dyson hair dryer (every hotel should have this!) with 3 attachment choices + your usual bathrobes, ironing board, safe and bedroom slippers.

Diagonally across from this is a work desk + work chair as well as your in-room phone. However, there is only 1x powerpoint and strangely located below the table so you’ll have to rotate your charging. And I also found out that there is no wastebin in this entire space. WHY?

The bathroom in this section doesn’t feel as updated as the rest of the space but perfectly functional. The single sink offers fair countertop space + a filtered tap for refilling your drinking water. The open space toilet and bidet are installed separately, alongside a bathtub which looks a little aged. Lastly, the standing shower space seems somewhat tight and in my opinion will definitely benefit from more lighting]. Toiletries are Metis brand which are just okay.

Then, there’s the living area (1412) – which unfortunately felt a little empty due to the sparse furnishing (too much space between the coffee table and TV!). A similar TV is planted here facing a classy looking but too-small-for-the-big-space sofa, with an additional loungey chair on the side. There is also a dining spot of sorts with a table + 2 chairs right at the corner.

You’ll find your mini bar in along one side of the wall here. An empty fridge is accompanied by 2x glass bottles of drinking water, a Nespresso machine with 4 pods provided, a kettle + cups and stuff here.

A Pan Pacific care kit is also placed here for your convenience.

The living area also comes with its own bathroom which is similar to that in the main bedroom, just smaller, and comes equipped with its own set of Metis toiletries- so yays to not needing to fight over the bathroom!

I had a rather pleasant view both in the day time and night.

Later that afternoon, they also delivered a welcome amenity of a giant pudding + teas (and THE stones).

COLLECTION Club Lounge – the website paints a very exciting picture of this relatively new space – what’s not to like about a new club lounge?

• Access to the COLLECTION Club Lounge at Level 5 from 7.00am to 10.00pm
• All day refreshments (non-alcoholic)
• Daily Buffet Breakfast from 7.00am to 10.30am
• Afternoon Tea from 2.30pm to 4.00pm
• Evening Cocktails from 6.00pm to 8.00pm

The space, located on level 5 beside the pool, is really nice! The choice of soft colors and cushy seats offered a nice chilling vibe, with multiple seating permutation to accommodate different group sizes. Some seats also come with powerpoints nearby so it made for a good WFHotel spot for me too. There is also a selection of newspapers and reading materials for your reading pleasure. Do note that the air conditioning here is on full blast most times so bring along something to keep warm!

During my first visit, we were also presented with a bag containing a bottle of wine + cookies. We were told that this was because we were Club guests but I also wondered if this is meant to be the ‘special hamper’ included in the package.

Breakfast (7.00am to 10.30am) – I was only the 2nd table to be occupied at 830am on a Wed morning and was promptly seated. A printed menu is available for your choice of mains instead of a QR code to scan which I appreciated. My choice of the omelette with chicken patty was okay though the omelette was a little bland for me. I was also not proactively offered any bread basket nor fruits – ended up having to ask for fruits which turned out to be delicious!

Afternoon Tea (2.30pm to 4.00pm) – I missed the 1st afternoon’s due to work but got sent pictures – looked a little carby for me! I did manage to try for the next day and it was okay for a midday nosh I suppose.

Evening Cocktails (6.00pm to 8.00pm) – A printed drinks menu is laid out on the table while the bites are supposed to be ‘chef’s choices’ ie no menu. We were presented with a pretty bento of six different bites (3x savoury + 3x sweets) with no explanation of what they were – but all were quite tasty! I think we had a california maki, a meatball, otah skewer, a pandan pudding, a black sesame cake, and finally a rather unmemorable cake slice. Refills of only your desired items are possible, and my Prosecco was perfectly drinkable, with multiple rounds proactively and very efficiently offered. We even had super tasty ‘off menu’ cheese platter offered by the staff – very nice! There are also chips and nuts available if you so wish.

Service at the Collection Lounge was particularly attentive during evening cocktails but unfortunately a little spotty during breakfast where my requests for straws were forgotten and had difficulty getting attention despite the space only 4-5 tables filled.

Nonetheless, the lounge makes for quite a breath-taking pic at dusk!

Facilities – Level 5 is also the property’s “Wellness Floor” which comprises their Fitness Centre, Swimming Pool, and St Gregory Spa. But before that, the alfresco area of this level is also quite pretty!

The Fitness Centre is quite spacious and could fit in a good workout.

The mineral water swimming pool seems fairly okay for laps although I saw more families and kids during my visits. Plenty of daybeds dot the circumference of the pool, including some sun-tanning friendly ones at one corner of the space. There is also a little jacuzzi available for dipping.

I had a chance to stalk the public areas of the property and found level 5 really photogenic! And boy, can those birds sing.

Issues and Service –

Unfortunately, my stay was the completion opposite of what it should be in terms of service experience.

Wifi:

I had some challenges connecting to the Stay@Parkroyal wifi network as it kept telling me “guest not found” despite entering my room number and last name. I called the front desk and was told to give them a few minutes to ‘reboot the system’. 5mins later, I got a call-back to ask me to try again and this time it worked.

Dirty bedsheets:

I found some stains in between the bedsheets which surprised me as I wonder how housekeeping could have missed them. For a newish property, this lapse in housekeeping standards surprised me and made me wonder how clean the rest of my room actually is. I requested for a change in bedsheets before I left for some errands – and the stains were still there when I came back. I ended up deciding not to bother with it anymore.

Keycard coding and access:

I dropped by the Collection Lounge at about 1:00pm in an attempt to take some pics without the crowd but my key cards wouldn’t work and there were no staff to be found inside those locked doors. I had to make my way down to the front desk again to have them recoded.

My partner was only able to reach the property later, so I had his name added as a second guest and was told he’d have to register when he arrives. When he did, he was told that my keycards will be deactivated upon them issuing him new ones – I had to get mine recoded thereafter.

So I went to the front desk again to get my keys recoded, then went up to the Collection Lounge for evening cocktails, only to find that the new keys can’t access the lounge too. So I went back to the front desk AGAIN and by now I was losing my patience with how they aren’t able to even code room keys properly and had to tell them to please have my cards working as they should be.

When I was finally give my working cards, I was again told that my partner’s cards will be de-activated and was told that this is because there is a limit to the number of working cards a room can have. But I later found out that he was only given ONE card – so how did they expect us to share that one card the first time round when they deactivated mine? And this need to constantly swap out card was really becoming a hassle!

No apologies:

During my attempts to resolve the above issues, most of the staff I encountered simply acknowledged the issues and went about sorting them out but no apologies were given – except once. For a 5-star hotel, I had expected more.

Check Out – Completed in 5mins at 6pm on a weekday.

In Summary,

To say my stay was fraught with issues was an understatement. It was clear that some staff I interacted with were new and would benefit from more training but I think I’m still allowed to be annoyed at the wasted time. I did like the room very much and the entire space is really pretty though. Perhaps I’ll be inclined to make a return stay if prices for the Lifestyle Room is correct.