We recently decided to stay at the Westin Singapore as little treat for the kids, given it is school holidays.
My number one criteria in booking a hotel is always the... *drumroll* bathtub. Why? Because I for one,
love my baths and the kids love splashing around in a warm bath after a good pool session. So, the Westin bath tub was what got it to the shortlist.
Interestingly, there aren’t that many hotels in Singapore that come with a bathtub. Surprising, but believe it or not, most hotels in Singapore have showers only... and probably only about ten have decent bathtubs. Westin’s bath tubs is undoubtedly one of them. Their website and Agoda show stunning photos of the bathtub right by the window with this magnificent view of the skyline.
But unfortunately it kinda almost stops there. And our bath tub was no where near the window.
Firstly, the entrance is hugely underwhelming. The Westin Singapore is located right in the middle of the CBD, making it a very convenient business hotel - next to lots of pubs and eateries.
The concierge and check-in is on the 32nd floor, which meant one has to go through this musty and horrible smelling reception on the ground floor (where you do your security check-ins) before you go up. I always think that the first impression is one of the most important and this failed dismally. Some background music and definitely an air freshener or scent would definitely help.
The check-in process was nothing spectacular, not particularly warm nor cold. Business hotel I guess.
Our room is relatively spacious compared to many other five star hotel rooms in this city, but some things were already falling apart. The room feels “minimal” - even the drinks fridge was completely emptied out.
Another thing I do when I stay at a hotel is to check out their room service menu. The room service menu here is what I would call, slightly uninspired with the usual standard stuff of the breakfast stuff, some local snacks and the standard western food of pasta, burger and salad. Nothing particularly worth mentioning.
We ordered the satay platter and unfortunately as I suspected, it was a plate of very uninspired beef and chicken meat on sticks served with a bowl of very sweet peanut sauce. The fresh onions and cucumber were the highlight for me.
We booked a spa treatment of a scrub and 90-minutes massage. The spa itself it pretty spacious with what seems to be plenty of treatment rooms. They have a hot tub and steam room which is complimentary for use if you stay at the hotel or take up a treatment session at the spa. I definitely HIGHLY RECOMMEND booking a session to use the hot tub, around sunset if you can.
The view is pretty amazing and it is a wonderful way to relax the tired muscles whilst watching the world go by underneath. This is by far the highlight of my stay.
As a hotel guest, you can book a 2hour time slot to use their "spa facilities" without needing to have a massage or treatment. I spent close to two hours the next day just alternating between the hot tub and the steam room and allowing myself to relax without any mobile devices. Bliss.
As with all hotels during this pandemic, we have to book and we’re allocated a two hour slot for the swimming pool. The bar area next to the pool was closed and there were no attendants in sight. The water was super cold and despite the infinity pool design, the entire area just felt... boring and again, uninspired. Some music or having some plants or
landscaping around to disguise the blatantly shut off bar area would have been a nicer touch.
Overall, this hotel felt like it was operating at its bare minimum (I’m hoping because of the pandemic) and it lacks any warmth or personality.
When the hubby and I discussed if we would stay here again, our conclusion was - only for the bath tub and the hot tub. So probably not. 😬
The Westin Singapore is located at:
12 Marina View Asia Square Tower 2, 018961