During the pandemic with borders closed, I took the opportunity to take several staycations at various local hotels. My most frequented hotel during that period was the Conrad Centennial Singapore. When it was not closed and used for a Stay-Home-Notice facility that is. Recently I took the opportunity to revisit the Conrad Centennial for a quick one night stay. It was a chance to experience the hotel with operations back to normal and occupied by large volume of foreign visitors, not Singapore staycationers. It would also be my first time staying here as a Honors Diamond, so I was curious to see what kind of treatment I would get versus being just a lowly Gold.
Booking
For this one-night stay, I booked a Grand Deluxe King room for SGD428 plus 10% service charge and 7% GST (now 8% in 2023). During the pandemic, it was possible to get rates in mid-200s, but such prices are consigned to the past. The Grand Deluxe room is one category above the lead-in Deluxe rooms. All room sizes in the Conrad Centennial Singapore are the same 40sqm, except for the suites. The main difference is how high the room is located, and additional benefits and amenities that come with Premium and Executive rooms. I can’t recall if Standard Rewards were available, but typically these would start from 80,000 points.
Location
The Conrad Centennial Singapore is located at the Marina Centre area, integrated into the Millenia Walk mall and office towers. Being centrally located, the hotel is well-served by public transport links. There’s several MRT stations nearby, with Promenade being the nearest. That’s served by the Downtown and Circle lines. Coming from the airport, it’s a straight run down the ECP expressway, which would probably take 15min in clear traffic. Parking is available in Millenia Walk, and hotel guests get complimentary parking.
Check-in
I drove the hotel and got there a little before the official 3pm check-in time. On a previous stay during the pandemic, I had a terrible check-in experience as there was a massive queue waiting to check-in. Thankfully on this occasion there was no wait to check-in. I was greeted in a rather cursory manner by the front desk staff, and my Diamond status was recognised in a similarly indifferent manner. The staff wasn’t unfriendly, but it lacked any warmth nor did it feel like my loyalty as Diamond was actually appreciated.
3 days prior, I had received one of the automated upgrade emails and the app showed I had been upgrade to an Executive King room. On the morning of check-in, this had changed to a Centennial King Suite. Those familiar with this hotel will know getting a suite upgrade here is very very difficult. There’s only 1 suite per floor, for a total of 25 suites. This is split into 24 Centennial Suites and 1 Conrad Suite, the latter of which is not in the upgrade pool for Diamonds (I think). Considering I was only staying 1 night, I guess that made it easier to give the suite upgrade.
The suite upgrade was duly mentioned by the front desk. Unfortunately due to the lack of suites, I wasn’t able to squeeze a late checkout out of the front desk. It wasn’t a big deal to me, but it’s a little disappointing when elite benefits aren’t granted. That’s what happens when benefits are “subject to availability”.
While checking in, there was a bit of drama going on further down the counter, as a guest was doing a “Karen” and demanding to see a manager….all because she didn’t have her phone charger and the hotel didn’t have any USB-C type chargers, even staff personal chargers. I felt sorry for the front desk agent who had to deal with the guest. It’s your own damn fault if you forget to bring such an important charger, and it’s a rather ridiculous to get mad at the hotel because they don’t have one for loan.
After a couple of minutes of watching the drama, I was handed my room keys. The staff asked if I needed a info sheet with the Executive Lounge benefits. I didn’t, though I did have the staff confirm the afternoon tea and evening cocktail timings. I don’t really like when hotels assume I know everything about the hotel, just because I’m a Diamond and I’ve stayed there at least half a dozen times in the last couple of years. Oddly, the staff also only mentioned breakfast at the lounge and not Oscar’s. I went to Oscar’s for breakfast anyway (more on that later), that’s one benefit I know very well I’m entitled to.
I left the front desk, and got to the lifts before realising the front desk staff had neglected to write down the room number on the keycard docket. Luckily my girlfriend had heard it was on the 10th floor, and I knew where on each floor the Centennial Suites are located from checking the available rooms earlier, so I decided to remonstrate with the staff on this occasion and just went up to the room. The lift carpet looked pretty worn though.
The check-in experience was a rather underwhelming start to the stay. The front desk staff who attended me was rather unwelcoming and neglecting to note down the room number was a rather annoying mistake.
The Room
As mentioned, my room was located on the 10th floor, room 1001. Suites are located at one end of the building, close to the Fountain of Wealth. That posed a small problem during this stay. Because the bedroom directly faces the Fountain of Wealth and we were on a fairly low floor, vehicular noise could be in heard in the room. Being the festive season, there was also some sort of event going on outside one of the Suntec towers, near the Fountain and diagonally opposite the Conrad. Blackout curtains could block the light, but there was no solution for the noise. The hotel had done a decent job of soundproofing, but it wasn’t good enough.
Besides the noise, I don’t particularly fancy the room views. I have no interest in seeing the Fountain of Wealth after waking up. The living room windows look directly at the convention centre side of Suntec City, and felt rather close to it. Perhaps on a higher floor which would be clear of Suntec, that may not be a factor.
Honestly, I would not recommend taking a Centennial Suite on a low (probably anything below 15th) floor, unless you absolutely need the extra space.
Back to the room itself, the suite measures 63sqm. The furnishings were all very similar to what’s used in the standard rooms, just with more space to spread everything out.
Flanking the entrance were two shelves. The one on the right was empty, and useful for placing small items such as wallet, keycards to grab on the way out. The other shelf contained the minibar below, with the Nespresso machine, kettle and complimentary resting on the main surface. The minibar fridge was empty, though items could be requested. The teabags were Ronnefeldt, as used across the hotel.
Unlike the standard rooms, the Centennial Suite comes with a proper desk. I felt they could have used a proper chair with armrests. The desk faces the wall rather gloomily.
Instead of a traditional sofa, the suite has a daybed, which the same used in the standard rooms. Oddly despite being a daybed and advertised as such, it was set away from the windows. So one can’t really lounge on the daybed by the window, in a traditional sense.
The round coffee table is also the same as used in the standard rooms. Waiting on the table were a welcome note, a pack of red velvet cookies, a 250ml bottle of Acqua Panna still water and 250ml San Pellegrino sparkling water. The cookies appears to be a standard amenity – I got them even back when I was just a Gold – but the bottles of branded water and welcome note were presumably for Diamonds only since this was the first time I’d received them. I found it amusing the writer of the welcome note had made a valiant attempt to match the handwriting to the font of the printed portions.
The living room has a TV of course, mounted into the wall.
Near the doorway to the bedroom, I noticed a dent in the wall. It’s pretty low down on the wall, but still rather noticeable. I thought this is something that ought to be fixed, especially so in a suite.
The bedroom actually felt a little small, and somewhat reminded my of the King Corner Suite we had at the Conrad Tokyo a month back.
The chair and small table at the corner felt a bit pointless and just took up space in my opinion. It’s not as if it could be positioned to look out the window while reading or enjoying a drink.
The bed had the usual Conrad bear of course. However this is one Conrad plush that I already have too many of, so I didn’t take it with me on this occasion. The Conrad Centennial Singapore has one of the best beds of all the hotels I did staycations at during the pandemic. The bedding, at least in the suite, are from Frette. That’s the same brand that the Capella Singapore uses. Despite several stays, this is the first time I noticed the bedding branding, so I can’t be sure if the standard rooms use the same. Considering how comfortable we’ve always found the Conrad’s bed, I would guess it should be the same.
Both bedside tables had universal power outlets and controls for the lights. The blinds and drapes were electronically controlled, these switches were at the bedside as well.
The bed directly faces the room TV. Which leads to the odd look of the window being split in half to accommodate the TV.
The wardrobes flanked the dressing table. One side was more of a luggage space, though there was a clothes rack if needed. The safe was located below the luggage shelf. One of the drawers also contained yukatas.
The other wardrobe had the bathrobes, slippers, iron and ironing board, and the hangers for actually hanging clothes.
The dressing table had a fold up Hollywood mirror. The hair dryer was stored here. Strangely, the temperature and fan speed control for the room air-conditioning was located on the dressing table.
I’ve always felt the Conrad Centennial has generous-sized bathrooms, and the suite was no exception. There was a double vanity.
The bathroom has a separate shower and bathtub. As is typica for many Conrads, there’s a rubber duck to enhance the bath experience. Bath salts and a loofah are provided.
The bathroom amenities are the usual brand standard Byredo Mojave Ghost, in large pump bottles. The toiletries rack was clearly not designed with such large bottles in mind, since there’s no space left for guests’ personal toiletries.
The toilet in the bathroom has its own space and door, so theoretically one could use the vanity without being visually exposed to the sight of someone using the toilet, though smells and sounds will pass through. I did find the toilet was a little too dark with the door closed. It could also do with a rack for a phone or book. After all, it’s wise to bring in a phone lest one gets stuck in there for days. As long as the phone gets cleaned after.
Overall, I have to say the Centennial Suite is a disappointment. I know I shouldn’t complain about a free, hard-to-score upgrade, but there isn’t much positives of the suite over a standard room. I definitely would not pay for a suite here. Perhaps the main advantages are the desk and dressing table. Normally, the difference between a suite and standard room is the separate living area. However, the living area here really doesn’t qualify as one for me, considering it makes do with a daybed, which the standard rooms are also equipped with.
The other factor I disliked about the suite is the orientation. This is partly due to being on a low floor. Nonetheless, I much prefer the even-numbered rooms (tip: the xx26 rooms at the end are arguably the best pick) facing Raffles Boulevard and beyond that, Marina Bay. The Conrad doesn’t have views of Marina Bay due to other hotels (Pan Pacific mostly) obstructing it. However I find that orientation much more pleasant. From the suite, I feel like I’m totally surrounded by buildings close by. The noise from being a low floor is definitely an issue too. Perhaps in future if I get upgraded again and suites on a higher floor are available, I might give it another go. Otherwise, I’d take an Executive room (the usual upgrade for Diamonds) over a low floor suite.
Executive Lounge
The Conrad Centennial Singapore’s Executive Lounge is located on the 31st floor. Access is given to guests staying in Executive rooms and suites, and all Hilton Honors Diamond guests.
I’d been to the Executive Lounge a few times during the pandemic, so I was curious to see how the offerings and service protocols now that Singapore was back to normal. As it turned out, things were quite different. With self-serve buffets now back in full swing, the Conrad’s EL had also switched (back?) to a buffet style offering for food. We also weren’t required to make bookings for afternoon tea and evening cocktails – not too sure about weekends – though apparently guests are still limited to 1h slots. Does that mean staff will go around kicking out guests who have been sitting around for over an hour?
In any case, we didn’t have any issues getting seated at the lounge for both afternoon tea and evening cocktails. The Conrad’s lounge is rather small, so it was great not to have to wait for a table. The lounge did get crowded, but I never saw a queue for tables.
While food was laid out in a buffet, drinks were still served by staff. At afternoon tea, beer and wine are also available. This is a relatively rarity for most hotel lounges, where free alcohol is usually strictly restricted to evening cocktails. The buffet was in an adjacent room, which I never realised existed during all my pandemic-era stays. I knew staff were going into a backroom to get food and drink, but never realised that “backroom” was actually a buffet serving room.
I’ve always found the lounge food to be hit and miss, and so it proved again. It was mostly of the frozen variety. For afternoon tea, there a couple of sandwiches, two types of desserts, mini sausage puffs and scones. I rate the quality of an afternoon tea on the quality of the scones, and sadly the lounge’s scones are still rather poor. They looked the right texture externally, but turned out to be too cakey. The chili crab dumpling also tasted like the weirdest rendition of chili crab I’ve ever had. At least my favourite teatime food, egg mayo sandwich, was available and tasted fine.
For evening cocktails, there were salads, cold cuts, four types of cheeses with accompaniments and rather Christmas-y looking cakes, plus more frozen hot snacks. The salads were decent, and I liked the variety and presentation of the cheeseboard. Much better than the pathetic excuse of a cheeseboard from Conrad Tokyo.
In terms of drinks, there was a sparkling wine, a couple of reds and white each. The sparkling wine was Chandon Brut from Chandon Yarra Valley, a sparkling and brand I’ve expressed my dislike for previously. The other wines were lacklustre as well, typically in the mid-3 range on Vivno. A selection of spirits were also available, these were all pre-mixed by staff upon order and served to table. As is the case with most lounges, my usual order of G&T was too weak, and became weaker with each successive glass.
The evening cocktails was far from the biggest or highest quality selection I’ve seen. It certainly wouldn’t serve as a dinner replacement unlike some hotels. The food was edible but largely unimaginative. I’d probably stick to the cold stuff though, which were decent that day and served as a good pre-dinner snack.
Service in the lounge was acceptable. Most of the staff seemed pretty friendly and helpful. Drinks came out reasonably quickly, though the staff did have to double check my order. My only issue is that some fellows guests seem to enjoy chatting with a little too much, resulting in staff getting stuck in conversation. This caused us some minor inconvenience twice, first when we got to the lounge for cocktails and wanted to get a table, and again when I was trying to get a fresh glass of G&T.
Food & Beverage
During this stay, we only dined at Oscar’s for breakfast. I’ve been to Oscar’s and the Chinese restaurant Golden Peony a couple of times in the past, and Oscar’s has always been one of my favourite hotel buffets.
Oscar’s was also one of the better hotel breakfasts I had during the pandemic. Oscar’s breakfast is a good mix of Asian, Western and continental items. It’s got all the usual suspects. There’s always a local dish prepared at a chef’s station, and also an egg station. It’s also one of the few hotel breakfasts I’ve seen in Singapore that serves ice cream, which can be had with or without waffles. The food quality isn’t too bad. Their hashbrowns also happen to be one of mine and my girlfriend’s favourites, out of all the hotels in Singapore we’ve done staycations at. Today’s chef station was curry chee cheong fun (Chinese rice rolls), which was surprisingly generous with the fried stuffed beancurd.
The restaurant gets very crowded at breakfast time. On weekends it’s not uncommon for there to be a long queue for a table. Thankfully on the weekday we were there, the only wait was for a waitstaff to escort us to our table.
Overall it was another good breakfast at the Conrad. I do somewhat miss the pandemic times when everything was ala carte and they had some less run-of-the-mill options on the menu, but regardless Oscar’s continues to deliver a solid and consistent breakfast.
Facilities
I have small confession. Despite a half dozen or so pandemic-era stays, I somehow never found my way to the gym or swimming pool. My usual spot in the Conrad is reclined on the daybed in the room.
On this occasion, I made it a point to stop by the gym and swimming pool for a quick look. On that weekday morning after breakfast, both were almost totally unoccupied. The pool is rather small, but looked a decent place to relax, if you don’t mind people in the surrounding hotels and offices peering down from above. There’s also a small event space beside the pool. I’m not sure how the hotel manages the area when there’s an event, but it seems it could get a bit awkward for everyone, both pool users and event visitors. The poolside has a handful of cabanas, but the hotel choose to put outdoor sofas there. It would have been good if these were daybed cabanas.
The gym looks out to the swimming pool. The equipment is from Technogym. I was surprised to see there were still screens between each cardio machines. Fruits, water and towels were available in the gym. The gym was fairly compact, but seem reasonably well-equipped. Despite a couple of large windows, it did seem a little dark and gloomy during the day though.
Conclusion
Overall, while the Conrad Centennial Singapore itself remains one of my favourite hotels in Singapore, the Centennial Suite is a big letdown. Getting a low floor suite definitely didn’t do it any favours.
I feel it was a poor design choice to have suites at the corner facing the Fountain of Wealth and Suntec City, at every floor. It may have been a better option to have suites only on higher floors, and some suites in the middle of the building. At lower levels, the view is rather uninspiring and noise from ground level could still leak through. The odd position of the daybed within the suite’s living room was also perplexing, being a little too far from the window. Visual defects like that big wall dent should have been taken care of. I shouldn’t complain about a free upgrade, but this one hotel where one might be better served with a standard room.
Suite aside the rest of the hotel is still solid. There are some flaws: the front desk service delivery could be a little better, and more consistent. Some parts of the hotel, like the carpets, like like they’re in need of some refurbishment. On the positive side, breakfast at Oscar’s still ranks as one of my favourites. The lounge is comfortable and the offerings passable.
That said, the relatively new Hilton Singapore Orchard felt almost on par with the Conrad, when I stayed there a few weeks after opening, apart from the room sizes. Both charge similar rates as well. I might actually consider the Hilton better in most respects, except for the room (excluding suites). With Singapore getting a second Conrad, I’m curious to see if and how the Conrad Centennial will evolve. It should remain a solid choice, but some improvements are definitely needed to keep it competitive.
Have you stayed at the Conrad Centennial Singapore? What was your experience like?