Airside hotel advice Singapore

[PhineasP]

(My first post!) In travelling Australia-Europe alone I don't usually bother with stopovers, however I will be flying with a companion Sydney-Singapore-London in May by Singapore Airlines on a Virgin ticket and my partner has persuaded me to take a break at an airport hotel in Singapore. We would prefer to transit without going through immigration or collecting checked luggage.

Neither of us has transited Singapore in recent years so we have no idea what to expect. We will be flying in to Terminal 1 and out from Terminal 2. Any advice on the available airport hotel/s and transit arrangements etc would be welcome.

 

[dajop]

Welcome to AFF, and congratulations on your first post!

What time will you land and what time will you depart? There are good options airside, but also a very good option after clearing immigration, adjacent to T3. Immigration does not take too long inbound, and if on an Australian passport, you can use electronic readers outbound so is very quick, so may not be that much fuss (and you will not have to collect luggage, even if you decide to clear immigration).

Also if you are flying Singapore Airlines you will be arriving in either Terminal 2 or 3l (most likely T3) and departing from Terminal 3.

 

[PhineasP]

Welcome to AFF, and congratulations on your first post!

What time will you land and what time will you depart? There are good options airside, but also a very good option after clearing immigration, adjacent to T3. Immigration does not take too long inbound, and if on an Australian passport, you can use electronic readers outbound so is very quick, so may not be that much fuss (and you will not have to collect luggage, even if you decide to clear immigration).

Also if you are flying Singapore Airlines you will be arriving in either Terminal 2 or 3l (most likely T3) and departing from Terminal 3.

Hi dajop, thanks for those thoughts. We will be arriving Singapore at 9.20 pm (terminal not indicated) and departing the next morning at 9.00 am and you're right, we depart from T3.

 

[I love to travel]

There are transit hotels in the airport at all three terminals just google it. Terminal 3 one is very quiet. For your time span i would book 8 hours around $130 AUD.

 

[auriga]

Just go for the transit hotel at any of the terminals. I don't think there is much point clearing immigration.

 

[eric2011]

Thats nearly 12 hours, while there are airside hotels available they are not really that great. I would clear customs and head off to the Crowne Plaza hotel.

 

[Denali]

I actually love Changi and have spent quite a few layovers airside, longest was 24hrs (crazy, I know).

Go see the butterfly garden, walk all 3 terminals, sunflower garden, pool, free movie if you want. We usually have a shower, dinner, massage then bed.

I didnt enjoy T3 because the few times we stayed there, we were overlooking the runway but it also meant we heard every announcement and golf cart beep. Last time we stayed at T3 we requested a quite room and it was fine. T2 was remodeled about 2yrs ago.

Be sure to book early, dont leave it too late or you will miss out.

 

[PhineasP]

Many thanks for all the good advice, we'll be much better prepared now

 

[moa999]

Aerotel in T1 is the most recently renovated and the one with the outdoor pool, so would be my pick.

Easy enough to transfer between the terminals in Singapore.

But book in advance as they do sell out

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Thats nearly 12 hours, while there are airside hotels available they are not really that great. I would clear customs and head off to the Crowne Plaza hotel.

Exactly. Airside is in 6 hour blocks and then by the hour.

With a 12 hour stop the Crowne will be the same or even cheaper, and far, far nicer.

As others have mentioned clearing immigration is quick as is re-entering later.

 

[Denali]

I prefer T1, found the rooms quite/bunker like plus the pool.

But OP arrives 9pm, which is 11pm Sydney time by memory, after at long flight so check in, shower, bed if it was me. Maybe a foot and leg massage after breakfast/before next flight but that's me.

 

[daft009]

Sounds like you would need a room for around 9-10 hrs. I think crowne and aerotel would work out fairly similar, benefit of aerotel being no need to clear immigration.

Have stayed at aerotel in December any was really happy with it. Ours was a 12 hr transit during the day so we stayed for the first 6 hours then roamed the terminals

Definitely book soon either way

 

[albatross710]

How about some adventure in your travels?

Assumptions. Flying SQ in and out of Changi. bags checked all the way to Europe. Both boarding passes issues in Australia, Australian (or SIN friendly) passports, younger than me. Is cost really an issue?

Sleep and rest on the 8 hour flight. Land 9:20pm, clear immigration with carry-on only. Taxi to your Clarke Quay hotel, check into your 4/5 star hotel about 10pm. Stroll around the city, eat out, go out party. Post lots of selfies to your FB friends. Sleep, awake at 7am. Shower, Taxi 7:45 to airport arrive by 8:15-8:30. Stroll through immigration with a big smile and lots of experiences..

Sleep on aircraft for the next 12 hours.

Or: Get airport hotel, stay awake in room because you slept on the flight all day. decide to catch taxi to city anyway.

Or Get airport hotel, stay awake in room because you slept on the flight all day. cant sleep because you wish you had stayed in city and not wasted your Singapore stopover.

On my last SIN transit (6 hours) from DEL-SIN -MNL I used airside hotel and am a regular. I just think it might be fun to hit the city.

Alby

 

[PhineasP]

Thanks again for your ideas everyone. Some very useful advice there. Unfortunately we are both in our 70s, Alby, so a wild party night in Singo probably not achievable, while it's a lovely thought.

 

[Townsend]

We stayed in the Crowne Plaza earlier this week and I would recommend it. Clearing immigration only took 10 mins.

 

[Strategic Aviation]

longest was 24hrs (crazy, I know).

Somewhat crazy, though 18 days takes the cake

Man who missed flight and spent 18 days in transit using forged boarding passes jailed - The Straits Times

Airside is in 6 hour blocks and then by the hour.

With a 12 hour stop the Crowne will be the same or even cheaper, and far, far nicer.

Yikes, the per-hour pricing after 6 hours must be terrible if Crowne works out the same or cheaper at 12 hours.

I stayed in the transit hotel some years ago and it was about $50 for 6 hours then. It was fine for what it is and I'd consider staying there again, dependent on price. Certainly a bit bunker-like with no windows and shared bathroom facilities, but fine for sleep after a night arrival.

If Crowne was available at the same price that's a no-brainer.

As others have mentioned clearing immigration is quick as is re-entering later.

I have also said that previously but my most recent experiences exiting T1 were disappointing. The queues weren't especially long by any means but every lane was processing slowly, for no apparent reason. What should take up to a minute per person took double that or longer for every single person. Ten people ahead of you in the queue meant >20 minutes wait.

Re-entering was easy with no queues and the smartgates are pretty efficient.

 

[JohnK]

I stayed at the T1 Aerotel recently and it was SGD58 for a single room 6 hours use. Quite a good sleep and had trouble waking up and woke up with about 15 minutes to spare and had quick shower.

 

[PhineasP]

I thought I would post a followup to this query which resulted in a lot of useful advice.

We stayed at the Ambassador Transit Hotel Terminal Three at Changi on both the forward and return journey. We did not have to go through immigration or customs or collect our baggage, which was booked through in both directions. We booked 12 hours in the hotel on both occasions and paid more than $A200 for it. The rooms were basic but quite comfortable and clean, and the tariff included a voucher for a basic buffet meal at the nearby transit lounge. The main drawback of the rooms was that the bathrooms featured a full height stippled glass window into the bedroom, which means anyone using the bathroom lights up the bedroom as well, which can disturb the sleep of a partner (no blinds on the windows). Overall we were pretty happy with the hotel.

 

[pyne]

We have stayed in the Transit hotels and they are good for 4-6 hours, if we have a longer stopover we take a taxi to Changi Village Inn, its a nice comfortable hotel, a bit dated but nice staff and good value, 2 pools and lots of places to eat within minutes. We get their free transit bus back to the airport