Property: SO/ Singapore
Status: Accor Plus Platinum
Room booked: SO Cosy (24sqm)
Room upgraded/type: SO Urban (40sqm)
Rate: 1 night Stay Plus benefit, 1 night For the Love of Singapore Accor Plus 249++ SGD
Free internet: Yes - very quick
Welcome drink: Two vouchers to use at the lobby bar or 1927 (rooftop pool bar)
Welcome gift: Bottle of plonk, couple of macarons & chocolates
Early check in/late out: Early check-in granted at 11am, check-out at 4pm
First time staying in an SO. The fit-out is ... interesting. It looks a slightly better in person than in photos, but it's still very 'out there', and not really to my tastes.
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The bedding was very comfortable and the room had decent tech - an iPad by the bed controlled lights, curtains, the TV and Chromecast (which worked well). The phone for contacting reception was an iPod Touch by the bed, this was a bit buggy and I ended up having to pick up a call from reception using the phone in the bathroom.
The room aircon was a little lacklustre and the soundproofing on the "heritage" side of the building was quite weak. A few hours after checking in I ended up back at the front desk asking if there was any chance of another room as my neighbour was
very loudly coughing up their guts every 5-10 minutes. They immediately acknowledged the soundproofing wasn't great and asked for 30 mins to prepare another room - I was moved one floor down to the exact same type of room. The new room was fine.
The rooftop pool & bar on L6 was quite nice, although there are several office buildings directly across the road which didn't make it feel too welcoming for a dip during the day. Still a good spot for a beer - they have two Brewerkz taps which are covered by the welcome drink voucher. Other drinks covered by the voucher were a few wines and juices, no coughtails.
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Breakfast was a little chaotic with the restaurant maybe 70% full. There were plenty of staff but several were new and/or untrained. After being served food I had to ask for cutlery, a napkin, etc. The food was great otherwise (between this post and the last, can you tell I am a fan of nasi lemak..) and I'm assuming these service issues are just temporary as the hotel ramps back up after the pandemic.
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The hotel is in an excellent location if you are visiting Singapore for the food, it's directly next to La Pau Sat (24/7 hawker centre) and its large outdoor "satay street" pops up every night at about 6pm. My room was the furthest away from this so I don't know how noisy/smoky the rooms overlooking the market would get, this could potentially be an issue.
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The hotel is also walking distance to Maxwell, Hong Lim, Chinatown Centre, Amoy Street, and other great food centres, and Telok Ayer MRT station is about two blocks walk.
The concierge (Ismael) was very personable and jovial. The other front desk staff were also a little more friendly and talkative than the other two properties I stayed at. Overall I thought the location was the best of the three hotels I stayed at (Fairmont & Conrad being the others) and I thought this was a great use of a Stay Plus voucher. I'm keen to go back and try the Sofitel just a couple of blocks from here!