I’ve come to this property multiple times for dining or work events but never stayed – because prices are always crazy, particularly so with no club lounge facility. So when the Citi Prestige offer came along @$400nett, a relatively low(er) rate, I decided to book it just to check it off. Time to find out the reason(s) behind the high price tag!

Address – 80 Collyer Quay, Singapore, Singapore, 049326. Website.

Contact – Tel: +65 63338388. Email: fbh.info@fullertonhotels.com.

Location – Located in the One Fullerton precinct, the property enjoys sweeping views of the Marina waterfront area including Marina Bay Sands. This means it is not near much shopping or leisure options as its neighbours are mostly office buildings and bring along with it more crowds on weekdays than weekends – food options are aplenty though on weekdays so you can have fun finding out what feeds the office peeps!

Getting there – Quite easy via public transport as it offers a mostly sheltered access to Raffles Place MRT via Change Alley Mall – a 5mins-ish walk for me. Otherwise, there is no distance a Grab ride can’t solve.

Price – $400nett booked via the Citi Prestige promotion which includes:

• Breakfast for 2pax
• $100 dining credit to redeem for in-room dining, Minibar, Dinner Buffet at Town (available on weekends) and à la carte menus in all dining outlets located at The Fullerton Hotel, or La Brasserie located at The Fullerton Bay Hotel. Advance reservation required.
• One Fullerton Bear per stay (which I did not get)

Pre-arrival – I received my pre-arrival email 4 days prior inviting me to fill up my details including choice of breakfast slot via a google form. I later received a call on the morning of my stay at 11:30am informing me that my room is ready, yays.

Check In – the hotel staff helped me with the door when my Grab pulled up and showed me the way to check in – I could hear him intercom the front desk with my name, which I felt was a nice touch. I arrived to an empty lobby and Vanessa attended to me – the process was completed in less than 15mins including explanation of my booked package. I was also given a handwritten card with my booked slot.

During this time, I also realized how pretty the property is (Clifford Pier is sadly closed now though)!

Even the lift lobby looks nice!

Room – My Deluxe King (45-50SqM), 432, was actually quite nice for a lead-in room. Very clean, very spacious, and very erm brown (plenty of glossy brown surfaces). The whole space was immaculate and cleanliness top-notch. You first walk into a little corridor, with the bathroom immediately to your right and the closet + luggage space on your left.

The bathroom is big enough to contain a single sink with reasonable counter space, a separate (non-bidet) toilet, and a rainshower. SAnd then there’s the bathtub equipped for TV watching – no bath salts are provided by default but you can call to request for some and they’ll send over a very generous pot. Toiletries are Balmain branded – I’ve never tried /seen them but they are awesome!

The mini bar straddles the space between the corridor and the main room – very nicely equipped with a nespresso machines + 6 capsules, a range of expensive snacks, and a fully stocked fridge.

The main “bedroom” section sees a cushy king bed with 2 bedside tables equipped with powerpoints, facing a smart TV with chromecast ability (but limited entertainment channels). Your lighting and blinds controls are also built into part of the bedside table on one side. This space also contains more storage spaces and a Harman/Kardon speaker which you can connect to.

My WFHotel spot is a proper desk equipped with a comfy work chair, an in-house phone, and powerpoints/connection functions. A standee on the desk displays QR codes to scan for everything you might possibly need to know during your stay. On this same side is a cosy corner with a coffee table and 2 chilling sofas.

And I have a balcony too! A little wasted for the non-alfresco me but this small space offers a solo sitting sofa and views of the Customs House including the CBD buildings backdrop. If you angle this spot enough, you’d get a somewhat view of MBS and the bay.

Finally, Fullerton-branded little cartons of complimentary water is the property’s alternative to plastic or glass bottles.

Breakfast – Served at La Brasserie from 7:30am-10:30am and split into 3 slots of 1 hour each, I had picked the 830am-9:30am slot but arrived earlier and was seated with no issues. As I walked in, I realized that the place is really pretty with high ceilings and polished marbling all over – what a superb spot for the first meal of the day!

A printed menu greets you, and there was no problems ordering more than one main course. Between 2pax, we tried the Eggs Benedict on Artisan Sourdough, Smoked Salmon Scrambled Eggs (opted out of hash brown and baked beans), Cheese Platter, and Laska (kosong). My scrambled eggs were unfortunately overcooked, most of the rest passable, with the Laksa being the standout dish – delicious! Coffee was great and the entire staff team was exemplary.

Facilities – Both the Swimming pool and the fitness centre are on the rooftop level, which is where the ever popular Lantern is also located. The pool offers enough space to do laps while admiring sweeping views of the bay. There are also 2 cosy dipping pools in one corner offering similar views – I’ve heard of inconsiderate couples hogging this spot far beyond their booked slot so take note!

The gym is small-sh and should be adequate for a quick workout (couldn’t get a decent shot as someone was doing cables).

In-room Dining (menu) – The SGD$100 credit funded my in-room dinner – decided on a Fremantle Octopus ($36) and Duck Confit ($49) which came in 30mins and were delicious! And a shout-out to the impressive Oliver who turned out to be the redeeming service point of my stay. He was effortlessly polite and efficient, and brought me a box of macarons when he returned to clear the tray – he said it’s because he saw I had a bottle of wine and figured it’ll complement it. Proactive service like this is super rare!

Service issues – For a property priced on a high tier (versus similar-class properties), I was expecting maybe not flawless but still great service but walked away much disappointed by the following issues during my stay:

If not for the presence of an IPrefer desk at the check in area, I would not have known the property is part of the programme. The IPrefer website lists an impressive list of benefits for its Elites but in reality, there is zero recognition of the status and when highlighted, staff showed great reluctance to honor the stipulated benefits.

I was admittedly a little bummed when I got exactly the room type I booked and when I enquired if there is any possible upgrades as part of my Elite benefit and was told that the next higher tier, the Bayview room, is rather popular, and hence “fully committed” (because they only have 100 rooms total). On a non-holiday regular weekday Tuesday? And of course I checked – and ALL their better room types are still being sold on the hotel’s website. And just to be sure, I did the same check at 10pm that night and rooms were definitely on sale.

I also asked about my welcome amenity when I was heading out for some errands and the lady actually FROWNED and told me that it will be delivered to the room later. Her frown was so obvious even through her mask. I mean, seriously?!

Earlier at check in, I was told I will get a call in my room about my request for a late check out but that call never came. I had to approach the front desk to get it sorted out.

Check Out – Done in 10mins, during which the staff asked how was my stay. After finding out about the above service issues, she apologized and said she will take this back accordingly.

In Summary,

The hardware is impressive no doubt but I do have issues when it feels like the property lets their software slide because they know they are popular – what use is an atas space when the service is mostly below par?

I would rather they be honest, perhaps just tell me that the rate I paid was below what they think should be eligible for the full spectrum of their service. But dishing out the “no-availability” trick and blatantly lying about it is just plain rude. But it’s almost funny how they didn’t think I’d check (hey google!).

To join a loyalty programme and reap benefits from being associated with it while clearly having no intention of honouring any member benefits is just plain wrong.

This disappoint also comes from having seen glowing reviews of the property by fellow staycay peeps but I guess I’m just suay. I had thought maybe a sweeping view of the bay will help me understand the property’s high price point and luxury positioning, but perhaps not my destiny in this lifetime. I’d be really upset if I paid the pre-COVID price for this stay.

It also may or may not be a coincidence that the last property I stayed in which tried their very best to not accord elite benefits is its sister property, Fullerton Hotel.

Funny how I got stellar service from in-room and La Brasserie instead – maybe they should replace the front desk team instead?