The staff were lovely, and our room was bigger than any I've had in Singapore, for less than the other top hotels charge. But the hotel is tired, and outside the door it's mostly malls. I'd come back, just not on a first trip to Singapore. See pictures ↓
Service
The service is the main reason I'd book it. The staff are warm and personal in a way that a lot of Singapore's big hotels aren't. We landed at five in the morning, expecting to sit in the lobby until lunch, and we were in our room by six. I wouldn't plan on that, but it set the tone for the stay. I'd mentioned a birthday when I booked, and there was a cake waiting in the room.
Small requests got done without any fuss. I asked for a firmer pillow, a vase taken out of the room late one night and an extra hour at check-out, and each time they just did it. The team in the club lounge were the best of all, and full of good restaurant tips.
There were small slips, like a chipped glass at breakfast, but nothing that wasn't sorted in minutes.
Rooms
The rooms are big for Singapore. We had a Deluxe Room, the standard room, and even that is 49 square metres, which is more than you get at most of the city's top hotels. They're done in soft blues and lime greens, borrowed from the Botanic Gardens down the road, with a wall of Peranakan tiles in each one. The bed was one of the best I've slept in all year. The marble bathroom has a tub, a rain shower, two basins and a separate toilet.
Ours was high up, with a big window looking towards Orchard Road and a chaise in front of it. Next time I'd pay a little more for a Premier Room. Those sit on the corners, are 58 square metres and have a curved window that wraps round the room, so they get much more light, usually for not much more money. The Boulevard Room is a Deluxe with a better outlook over Orchard Boulevard, worth it if the difference is small. Whichever you book, ask for a high floor. Families travelling together should look at the new three-bedroom suite, which has its own front door and joins up with two more rooms.
The rooms were redone in 2018, but the renovation only went so far. Our bathroom still had old fittings, the lighting was too dim and there was no proper light at the mirror. The room was spotless and very quiet, just not new.
Food and drink
The food is ordinary, apart from Nobu. You walk to it through a small Japanese garden, in what used to be the indoor tennis courts, and it has far more atmosphere than most Nobus. It's where I'd eat in the building.
Jiang-Nan Chun, the Cantonese restaurant, used to hold a Michelin star. Our dinner there was good, but Singapore is full of Cantonese restaurants I'd choose before it.
Breakfast is a buffet at One-Ninety, with local dishes next to the Western ones. I'd go for the local side, and the ricotta pancakes. I wouldn't eat dinner at One-Ninety. Go out instead. You're in one of the best food cities in the world.
Setting
The hotel opened in 1994, and the lobby wasn't part of the renovation. It's dim and a bit heavy, more like the entrance to an old apartment block in New York than a smart hotel. There's some good Asian art on the walls, but I never wanted to sit there.
The facilities make up for some of it. The adults' pool on the third floor was quiet every afternoon, with a hot tub beside it. Children go to the family pool on the roof, which has cabanas and a view across the city. The gym is large and open around the clock, and there are outdoor courts for tennis, padel and pickleball.
The location is the big drawback. You're at the top end of Orchard Road, five minutes' walk from the MRT and the big malls, and close to the Botanic Gardens. That was handy for a morning walk, but the streets around the hotel are one-way, so every taxi ride started with a loop, and there was very little worth walking to in the evening. You won't see Marina Bay, and we took a car or the train to every dinner. I wouldn't stay here on a first visit to Singapore.
Value
It's one of the cheaper Four Seasons hotels anywhere, and one of the cheaper top hotels in Singapore. Like everything else in the city, prices jump in the busy autumn weeks of the Grand Prix and the big conferences. For a room this size, two pools and this level of service, it's fair.
Raffles costs a great deal more and is a far more special hotel. If you can afford it for a first visit, stay there. If you're passing through, coming back or travelling with children, the Four Seasons gives you more room and better service for the money than most of its neighbours.
Who it suits
It suits families, return visitors and anyone stopping over on the way to Bali or the Maldives who wants a big, quiet room, a pool and staff who look after them, without paying Raffles prices. For a first visit, I'd book Raffles, or a bay-view room at the newly renovated Mandarin Oriental if you want to be on Marina Bay. For young children, the Shangri-La nearby has big gardens and a huge kids' club. For a recently remodelled room in the same corner of Orchard, the St. Regis is across the road.
