The loss of my Accor Platinum was not an enough deterrent for me to try this much-delayed property. Railway junction theme and 19th century roots of luxury travel here I come!

Address – 1 Hill Street, Singapore 179949. Website.

Contact – Tel: +65 6019 7888. Email: HB5L7@accor.com.

Location – Located in the cityhall area, the property enjoys direct sheltered access from Cityhall MRT station via Capitol which can take you to Funan as the closest mall. Or if you want to clock those steps, walk all the way to Raffles City, Suntec City, Marina Square, and Millennia Walk is possible too.

Price – $338++ = $402nett booked direct for an Executive King Room for 1pax which is not the cheapest but the best I could find in the scene of raising hotel prices in Singapore.

Getting there – There are 2 entrance ways to the hotel, either via Madison’s on the ground floor on Hill Street, or there is a proper driveway for pick up and drop off just off Hill Street. Its actually quite a wide and impressive driveway, including the very cute luggage storage area which is designed to look like a train carriage.

You are greeted with more luggage-ish stuff as you enter the very short corridor.

Check in happens on level 3 where a 2 staffed counters sit amongst a wide space peppered with sitting options – kind of looks like a nice spot to hang out. I also spied what looks like self-check in counters and a Nespresso machine here – not sure if they are meant for guests’ use at our own pace?

Check In – I was attended to immediately and the whole process was quite seamless as I had already pre-paid my room charges. I was informed that I have been upgraded to the Executive Room with Bay View as an Accor Gold, explained the Executive Lounge’s benefits, and happily confirmed my late check out request for 3pm.

Lastly, I was passed one of the biggest welcome drink voucher I’ve ever held in my hands – redeemable at Madison’s or El Chido.

Room – My room 1023 at 25SqM was certainly a much cozier space than what I’m used to, with the room at one glance starting with the open concept wardrobe to the right as you enter. I’ve said it and I’ll say it again – I actually quite like designs like this where I don’t have to struggle with cupboard doors.

Up next is the tiny but comfy sitting area + coffee table with my welcome amenity and welcome letter on it. After Pan Pacific, I was so glad that I don’t have to chase for this!

The design of the bedroom space was compact, with the king bed facing the whole of the neighborhood ,sufficiently spaced bedside tables, and a wall-mounted swivel TV on the side but this means a rather awkward angle when TV-chilling. Lighting options as well as day/night blind controls can be managed from the bedside, alongside power points for charging your devices.

The mini bar spot is set at the entrance of the bathroom and is a compact but sufficient spot with all the quintessential as expected. I thought it was cute that the ironing board is hidden in a sliding compartment behind the structure -smart!

I later realized that the complimentary mini bar was a benefit of this room type but it was not mentioned at check in so I kind of missed stealing those sparkling waters.

The bathroom is understandably cosy but more than sufficient for 1pax. Toiletries are C.O Bigelow ones which I found not bad although the pump mechanism on mine was so clumsy and made it difficult to efficient get enough with one pump.

It took me a while to get used to the bed facing the whole marina bay kind of set up but I gradually started liking it – lovely at night in particular especially with the Raffles City Xmas Tree visible.

Executive Lounge (website) – Located at level 3 on the other side of the elevators, the lounge is opened from 6:30am-10:00pm, offering breakfast and evening cocktails for eligible guests. There is also a written policy about allowing only 12yo and above but I do see the staff allowing at discretion and proactively directing guests with young children to sit in the outdoors area – I thought it was a good compromise!

The indoors area of the lounge is a classy living room-esque space offering comfy seating for solos, couples, or groups. The outdoor section offers an alfresco setting right beside the pool, which was a good alternative as the temperature in the indoors area can be freezing on some days.

The outdoor area is a good enough space to enjoy some fresh air. This outdoor area has a hot food station where hot food will be laid out during breakfast and evening hours so take note that if you may end up smelling like food if you sit near them during those hours.

The all-day offerings are the usual non-alcoholic drinks and cookies, whole fruits etc. I was also impressed that they have a whole variety of sparkling san pellegrinos which I endeavored to try!

Breakfast at the Lounge (6:30am-10:30am) – guests can also opt to take breakfast at Madison’s for a bigger variety (eg noodle station, more cold cuts etc) but after surveying what’s on offer, I decided to take mine at the Lounge instead for a more peaceful breakfast environment as well as try their Laksa which is not available at Madison’s.

I was the first pax at 7:15am and saw a decent spread of the usual international offerings:

The staff was not wrong when they said the laksa is a must-try – it was delicious, and the chef even gave ingredients than usual as my order was without noodles. Shoutout to their not-too-sweet home-made muesli and not-salty smoked salmon. I like! For coffee, you can hardly go wrong with a Nespresso.

However, the staff told me that my morning was the last one that breakfast is offered at the Lounge due to food wastage – breakfast for all guests will be at Madison’s going forward. What a pity since this only started for a week but I also understand why – I hope they keep the laksa option though!

Evening Drinks & Canapés (5:00pm-7:00pm) – this was as usual my most anticipated session and I was pleasantly surprised to see a small but sufficient quality selection including hot food. The usual cheeses, cold cuts, cut fruits, desserts were great, and the satay was good too!

[Quick disclaimer: the club team was very generous to me and invited me back for evening cocktails even after I checked out at 3pm so I enjoyed a 2nd session of this alongside some of their famous chicken wings which were super tasty!]

Alcohol on offer was a lovely cocktail called Summer On The Hills – a mix of vodka, campari, grapefuit syrup, and soda – the kind staff even adjusted the sweetness level after knowing I am not a fan of sweet stuff in general. Also on offer is a very respectable Prosecco which i focused on so didn’t try any wines or beers.

Madison’s (website & menu) – this is the hotels all-day dining spot and breakfast place for all guests wef 20 Nov 2023 onwards. It actually quite a cosy chill out place with comfy seating – great for a girlie catchup! As of time of writing, Accor Plus members get 50% up to 4pax for the remaining of Nov 2023 (offer details here) so a great chance to try their menu – prices seem overpriced if not.

I enjoyed my welcome drink here – a somewhat small pour but rather decent Chardonnay.

Facilities – Both the Pool and the Gym are located on level 3 and I was actually impressed by both! The pool is very photogenic and at the same time decently sized to get some laps in. There is also an alfresco area of sorts in a wide open area right next to the pool with some seating – not really sure what it is for but I suppose useful for those who likes fresh air.

There is also another rooftop pool located on level R – a smaller one and probably designed as an IG spot more so than proper swimming. This is co-located with El Chido, the property’s Mexican alfresco spot but it was way too humid during my visit so didn’t stay long.

Service – I’m not sure if coming from a very meh Pan Pac stay made a difference but I felt service here was quite on point, with everyone I interacted with was smiley politeness, from the staff at the arrival driveway area to the kind lady who checked me in. It sure felt nice too to be appreciated as a mere Gold member.

The service from the Club Lounge team was a standout and highlight of my stay – Farah, Syed, Adrian, Puva, and Peiru were consistently warm but also efficient, and of course generous & kind to me. They made sure I was well-fed, remembered some of my food preferences, and made sure I never had a lack of alcohol or sparkling water in my system.

Check Out – painless done at the front desk at 3pm on a weekend.

In Summary,

What a winner this club lounge team is. Its service like this that cultivates returning guests and I saw the same warmth and friendliness extend to each and every guest that walked into the Lounge. Great job you guys!