I’ve actually always been kind of curious about this property. I’m not usually a boutique hotel person but there is something about this hotel that I find attractive enough to consider a staycation, but only if the price is right as there is no loyalty programme to benefit from. Also, my fantabulous Clan Hotel experience earlier this year injected some level of confidence about the Far East Hospitality’s management of their properties.

I had missed out on Trip.com’s 1-4-1 sale previously and made a mental note to make my booking if I do see it again. And it did!

Address – 76 Telok Ayer Street, Singapore 048464. Website.

Contact – Tel: +65 65802888. Email: info.amoy@fareast.com.sg.

Price – $270nett for 2 nights booked their 1-4-1 sale in July, including daily breakfast for 2pax too. The room also includes the following benefits:

• Complimentary daily breakfast at Genius Central
• Complimentary WiFi access throughout the Hotel
• Complimentary minibar (Non-refillable)
• Complimentary local calls
• Complimentary parking (1 redemption per stay)

Location – This one-of-a-kind property is nestled within the vicinity of Thian Hock Keng Temple, amidst the hip-ish Far East Square cluster so you get plenty of food options (your choice of cheap hawker stuff at the nearby Market Sreet Temp Hawker Centre / Amoy Food Centre or burn more at the neighbouring cafes / restaurants. Telok Ayer Station (DT18) is an unsheltered 5mins walk across the street, passing by it’s atas sister The Clan Hotel.

Pre-arrival – No pre-arrival email sent but I reached out to ask for early check in.

Check In – After dropping off at the Clan Hotel drop off / pick up point (the nearest available to the hotel), I arrived to an empty lobby on a weekday 2+pm and was attended to quickly. Check in was completed in less than 10mins and I was shown to my room while breakfast arrangements was explained to me.

The cosy check in lobby was actually quite nice with its little touches of chinese culture.

Getting to my room was a rather interesting experience with the incidentally aged loft lobby and surname-peppered corridors (but they don’t have mine. Bah).

Room – My Deluxe King (22SqM), 214, was located on level 2 and overlooked Far East Square shophouses. It looked exactly like how the official pics, just with very visible wear & tear.

You step into what is a sort of split-level space adorned in dark wooden tones and peppered with chinese touches. The open concept wardrobe and luggage space is to your left – plenty of space for your barangs.

On this same “level” to your right is your very linear bathroom – a single sink with reasonable countertop space, the toilet, and then a standing shower space. Everything is decently clean with toiletries a random Escape brand and Fresh Artistry body lotion. Water pressure could be better though.

Further down into the space on the same side as your wardrobe is the mini bar space – a nespresso machine with 3 capsules which was nice touch for this hotel tier, alongside 3 TWG teabags. Water is not provided here but instead you get a small glass jug which you can refill with tap. The fridge comes with 4 cans of drinks which is one-time complimentary.

The main bedroom space on the lower level has a quite comfy Queen bed with 2 bedside tables equipped with reading lights and lighting controls. The TV is wall-mounted to the left of the bed but can be swivelled out up to a certain angle for TV-ing in bed.

In the last corner of this space is your WFHotel desk with a comfortable amount of space, plus more than than enough powerpoints for one pax. The phone is quite cute I have to say – and it works too! Then there’s a digital clock device which looked like it serves more than tell the time but I never played around with it enough to find out. I even got a handwritten welcome card which is always nice.

While wear & tear in such a property can make the space feel very dated, the curtains in the room didn’t help. It looked dreary and was quite dusty so I wish they remove it and just have the blinds there instead.

I also ended up having an issue with the WFHotel chair as it gave my leg rashes for a while – I attempted to ask to leave the property early (ie the stay would become just one night instead of two) but was told no refunds would be given if so due to the promotion I booked. So I asked them to replace the chair and give the room a proper wipedown while I was out. I came back to a new (and different) chair and it seemed to do the trick.

Breakfast – As the hotel does not have an on-site restaurant, guests can enjoy breakfast at the nearby Genius Central – a healthy bite cafe which doubles up as a co-work space.

No booking is needed and guests can simply walk in from 7am-10am. You get a printed menu and pick one main course and 1 drink – and is served a banana and a touch of welcome juice (the jambu was delicious!) once seated.

Over the 2 mornings, I tried the Omelette which turned out to be one of the best I’ve tried even in hotel restaurants. The egg was suitably moist (not cooked to death) with melty cheese, and accompanying sides of tomatoes and greens were super fresh and delicious! I also managed to try 3 of the Smoothie Bowls and they were nice too (some were tabao so excuse the messy look)!

Facilities – As expected of a boutique property, there was no facilities to take advantage of.

Check Out – Painlessly done at 3:30pm on a weekday.

In Summary,

It was a cute experience and breakfast was really nice, but I was disappointed that the hotel was not flexible with my request to leave the property early with a pro-rated refund. Prior to my checkout, I managed to email a Benjamin whose name was on the welcome note to feedback about the rash issue and when I checked out, Clemence was there to personally say hi and talked about the issue. I actually appreciated this gesture alot as it showed that the property takes such feedback seriously. Well done Far East Hospitality!