Hotel Review: The Sultan in Singapore
Hotel Classification: 4 Star
Book this Hotel: The Sultan Singapore
The Sultan is a boutique four-star hotel located in the Arab quarters in Singapore, and within walking distance to Haji Lane and Arab Street. The hotel is located in a beautifully renovated colonial building and has 64 rooms.We stayed in this hotel for four nights, the first two nights in the standard room and the last two in a bigger room, called the Sultan room.Read on to find out what I thought about this hotel:
Hotel Grounds
Reception & Interior Design
The reception and lobby are cozy looking with colonial touches here and there, as well as some Arabic influences. It's not a very big area, but there are some lounge chairs and the restaurant called 'One Bowl' is located right behind the reception.From the outside, the hotel building looks very new and sparkling white; when we arrived they were renovating the front of the building.
Rooftop
There is also a little rooftop on top of the hotel, which is very cute and cozy, especially at night, where you can sit at one of the tables surrounded by lights that are hung on the trees. The suites are also located on the second floor.
Hotel Grounds rating: 7/10
Room
Our first two night we stayed in the standard double room, which was extremely small but cozy (the photos are from the standard room). The room looked quite new and the bathroom was big enough, and nicely decorated in I think was Arabic style. The bed was very comfortable and soft as well. However, it was just too small to be comfortable enough for two people.For the last two nights, we booked the bigger room, called 'The Sultan' room, with Hotels.com rewards. Although the room was much bigger, I thought that it looked much older than the standard room.
The toilet flush wasn't functioning properly, and the water kettle was completely burned, so it was basically broken. Additionally, there was just a window overlooking the hallway, which meant that the room was very dark at all times and people walking through the hallway could basically see you if you don't close the curtains.Also, the water temperature in the shower in both rooms was only warm for a couple of minutes before it turned cold. But the worst was the noise level at night. We only found out on our second night, but there is a jazz club on top of the hotel. We could hear the bass thumping in both rooms until 3AM in the morning, which meant that I slept very poorly.
If they could fix the noise at night, I think I would've had a much better impression of the room and the overall stay at this hotel.
Room rating: 5/10
Food
We had breakfast included in our room rate, but we were quite disappointed with the choice. We expected a buffet breakfast, but instead, we could choose from five dishes each morning, but some dishes were not available every day, just some days of the week. I tried the continental western breakfast, with scrambled eggs, mushrooms, baked beans and chicken sausage and also the Nasi Lemak. The Nasi Lemak was decent but the western dish was quite bland; the scrambled eggs were very dry and the chicken sausage just looked pretty miserable. There was a coffee machine, and you would also grab some toast, cereals and fruit from a counter.We didn't try the dinner at the hotels' restaurant though, so can't really comment on that.
Food rating: 5.5/10
Service
The staff was very friendly overall, but that's about it. When we changed room to the bigger one, I asked if the noise level would be lower in the new room and the reception lady assured me that it would be. She was wrong because the noise level was actually louder.If I pay that much for a room and I also pay for an upgrade, then I expect that the staff does something when the guest complains. But they didn't do anything.What we really loved though, was that each room was equipped with a 'handy' mobile phone.
This phone had 4G and you could take it with you when you are out and about the city, so you can use Google Maps and even connect your social media accounts. After your stay, your details will be conveniently wiped from the phones memory. Very 'handy' indeed ;) I've never seen that before in other hotels, so that was definitely a really nice touch!
Service: 7/10
Location
The location of the hotel was excellent. Kampong Glam is a great area to roam around, with a lot of eateries, bars, cafes, boutique shops and sights around. It's also within walking distance to Haji Lane and Bugis Junction, the shopping district. There are also three different metro stations within walking distance, so it's all very accessible. Definitely an amazing location!
Location rating: 9/10
THE PROS
Beautiful colonial building and design
Excellent location
Nice staff
the complementary 'handy' mobile phone is very convenient
THE CONS
Could not sleep well because of loud music at night until 3AM
Our upgraded room did not have any windows, so it was very dark at all times
Shower only had warm water for a couple of minutes
In our upgraded room the water kettle was completely burned and broken
Breakfast wasn't memorable
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