Lyf Funan, Singapore (Hotel Review)

My search for cool and trendy hotel continues. If you didn’t read my previous post, I probably found the coolest hotel in Singapore that has a skylight that you can control from you room!

The next hotel that I went to sorta tick all the right boxes for my search; apparently trendy, cool and affordable for all target audience.

I gotta be honest. Ever since they officially opened their doors in late 2019, I never felt the urge to stay there. I believe their target audience is for the young adults, however I didn’t feel the vibe when I went there. Is it because I am not young anymore?!

Lyf Funan Singapore.

The location of the hotel lobby is confusing to say the least; it is located in a mall, which is really different than what we’re used to? Hotel in a mall? Mall in a hotel?

The design of the hotel lobby blends in with the theme of the whole mall which is casual and trendy, which makes the navigation to the lobby quite chaotic cause you can’t differentiate whether or not if that’s the hotel lobby or just another space in the mall for you to hang-out and chill at. I am honestly not a fan of the theme. Seems too cineleisure-ish for me.

Check-in process was smooth and totally a breeze. I didn’t get the staff’s name, she was very friendly and polite. This might come off as a shock for you but having a guest service agent with that attitude at a hotel nowadays is basically uncommon. I really admire hoteliers who can sincerely smile during a very frustrating situation. I totally feel that! I’m so used to smiling that it becomes a default face. You’d prolly see me smiling during a funeral. Anyways! I’m glad she wasn’t annoyed with all my questions during check-in.

My request for all my stays is mostly the same; a bucket of ice and two high glasses. Nothing too fancy! I was told that an ice machine is available on the 5th level of the hotel, so that was very convenient for me. The 5th level is the pantry, I assume. One problem though! Ice buckets are not provided. When asked if I could have a bowl or something, the Lyf Guard (that’s what they call themselves! Ironically, they do not have a pool on site.) said that we can use our kettle in the room to fill up with ice.

I thought they were joking.

So I was at their pantry, which was really overwhelming for me. In a good way, this time. I find it cool!

The pantry has rows and rows of cooking stoves where guests can use to do some light cooking. Microwave ovens are available too for guests to heat up their food. One downside is that the fridge is shared among all the guests in the whole hotel so it might get a little burdensome to find a space for your food. Mind you, mini-bars or a mini-fridge is also not provided in your room.

Also! The pantry kinda reminded me of my practical cooking lessons back when I was doing my culinary course. But then again, I don’t see myself cooking while I’m on a staycay but if you’re living here long-term or with groups of friends, it might be a fun thing to do!

The moment of truth awaits, as we took the elevators up to our room floor. The corridor that leads to the guest rooms is really interesting! Now; when I say that I was in awe, I really was! You know how I love anything historic and quaint right? All the doors to the guestrooms are designed uniquely from real iconic doors that you can find in Singapore! The door of the room beside mine has a design of a rustic, sliding gate that you can always see on old shophouses in Chinatown but what I’m more intrigued about is my door!

It might look like an old, dilapidated door but it’s actually a real design of the doors at the National Museum of Singapore!

I did a side-by-side comparison so you could see the resemblance! I literally open that door every single day of my life while I was working in the museum back in 2017, so this really took me a stroll down memory lane. Who would have thought that I dislike the hotel lobby design but love the antique-looking door to my room?

Now, to the room itself. What greeted us was huge windows on the wall with the blinds all up. The view was amazing with the iconic Central Fire Station right under us.

The view of the sunset from our room definitely looked amazing.

The temperature in the room can get humid sometimes, as the temperature of the air-conditioner couldn’t be changed to something lower than 20°C which is really weird cause this is the only hotel that I’m wasn’t able to do so. It took more than an hour for me to actually feel the difference in temperature. Hopefully, this is something that can be rectified if ever I were to come back again.

I really loved the bathroom though, it’s really cute. Most importantly, there’s a bidet! You all know how in love I am with bidets. It’s always the littlest thing that means the most.

However, the sink is located outside. Still cute but a little weird for me cause I prefer washing my hands in the area of my bathroom.

Normal essentials are not available in the room. Slippers, robes, mini-bar, fridge.. does not come in any of the room categories. I figured maybe all these essentials are located in the pantry? Which is not convenient at all. Even a room phone is not available for you to use, so if you need anything, you have to go down to the reception and verbally ask for it yourself. However, amidst all that inconvenience, a hair dryer and a torchlight is available for you to use. I love how they decided to invest on hair dryers but not a television set. LOVE that.

TELEVISION. There is none. Not one television in the room, which is simply the most ESSENTIAL item you should be able to find in your room. As per their response, a TV is not provided BUT a high-speed wifi is available for guests to use with their OWN devices. I mean.. quite surprising cause I don’t get the logic behind it. You mean.. the biggest co-living hotel in southeast asia.. doesn’t have a TV set in their room but oh, guests can use the hotel’s wifi instead! Just… amazing.

All in all, will I recommend this hotel to my friends? I honestly will not. But! If you’re here with large groups of friends, this hotel might be interesting for you. It looks like a great venue for you to bond with a team of your close friends or colleagues. Though, that might be impossible now due to the pandemic restrictions. Maybe soon!

The concept of Co-Living is interesting to me but it’s just a big no for me here. It feels very much like a dormitory. Staying in a hotel for leisure purposes, I would expect everything to be convenient for me but it’s just the opposite during my stay.

Tell me about your experience if you ever stayed here. Really interested to know about your take on co-living hotels, seems like it’s a new thing in Singapore right now.

Click here to book a room!

Aliff Daniel.