Hey! It’s finally October. As you know, no hotel reviews were made last month as I was venturing out our new blog segment, #ALifeWithAliff where I share parts of my daily life with you. How do you like it so far?
Apart from that, I was also out and about, hopping to hotels one after another just so you can read more hotel reviews for this whole month. Can’t wait!
Back in January, I blogged about my experience at a halal rooftop restaurant. While the food there has always been underwhelming, I kept on returning for the good views. Unlike the food, the view is always phenomenal.
Unknown to some, the restaurant is housed within a boutique hotel, D’ Hotel Singapore. The hotel was formerly known as the Wangz Hotel which was privately managed by the Wang family themselves. It was then sold over to different entities and is now under Ascott. Do you realize that most of my reviews lately are properties from Ascott? Coincidence!
The hotel is beautiful, inside and out. It really looked tropical here no? It reminds me of Dubai’s Burj Al Arab, prolly because of the sail-like feature of the building itself. I gotta say the location of the hotel is a little out of place? Don’t get me wrong. It’s very accessible with bus stops and Outram MRT station just a few metres away but the hotel is located in the mid-section of Outram Road and Tiong Bahru Road, which is in the middle of nowhere. In terms of getting there, it’s convenient but if you wanna get to a nearest mall or 7-11, it’s quite a distance away.
If you’re looking for food options, there’s a hawker centre too just beside the hotel. Mind you, no halal food is available there but hey, you can drop by the hotel’s rooftop for the halal restaurant, Fairytale Bar, for any of your meals.
D’ Hotel Singapore comprises of 41 guest rooms, with a total of 3 categories. For my stay review, I booked the mid-tier room category which is the King Executive Room.
For sure, D’ Hotel Singapore is one of the most affordable hotels right now that offer both spacious rooms and a bathtub in the bathroom. During the time of booking, the executive room’s rate was only less than $200. Let’s talk about the room!
I honestly love the executive room. It was spacious and has all the useful amenities that I needed throughout out my stay. The room measured 36 square metres, with a super comfortable king-sized bed which was facing a 37-inch flatscreen TV. Also! The TV had an option to mirror my device to the TV screen, so there wasn’t any need for a HDMI cable. Yay to technology! Since the hotel surrounded by schools and office buildings, expect no views from the rooms.
The king-sized bed was beyond comfortable. The pillows were firm and not too soft at all, which I really loved. The down-feather comforter was perfect too, what more when you snuggle in it with the perfect temperature of the air-conditioning. I had a really good night sleep.
The design of the room was quite interesting, I must say. It was a mix of tacky, yet something about it is quirky and fun. The carpet and flooring of the floor was really old and dated, it looked like it belonged to a very old office building in the 2000s.
I just realised here after researching, the building itself was an office building before it was converted to a boutique hotel. So, they didn’t change the boring flooring?
Above the headboard of the bed was a cute, colourful floral art. It was a little random but I figured, it added a splash of colour to the room, making it less boring and grey-looking.
On one side of the end table was a telephone for you to call the front desk if you need any assistance. There’s a dimmer for your reading lamp on that side too.
On the other end was the menu of the TV channels which I found really helpful. I love it when hotels print out the menu cause it’s really convenient rather than having to switch all the channels manually just to get to the right one. There was a tissue box right beside the bed too. Convenient.
Do note that USB slots and plug sockets were not available on neither side of the end-table.
Most of the amenities are included. Bathrobes, slippers and ironing board are placed inside the wardrobe. If you’re looking for hairdryers, it was kept in there as well.
Coffee and tea packets were provided too! Coffee machine wasn’t provided though but a kettle to boil hot water was available for your coffee and tea-making session.
While the coffee brand was.. just a big no, I absolutely love the Dilmah brand for the tea. While both Dilmah and Nescafe are a common house-hold brand, I personally love Dilmah. Not only do they have delicious tea flavours, they’re super affordable too.
At the far end of the room is a work-desk for you to use, big enough for any writing or typing on your laptop. While there were two plug sockets available, there wasn’t any USB slots seen anywhere. I prefer USB slots for the efficiency cause I dislike bringing my head chargers everywhere I check in.
I really love the bathroom. Similar to the room itself, the bathroom was spacious too. The staff at the front desk said he assigned a room with a bathtub for me so I’m actually unsure whether all executive rooms have a bathtub in them. Maybe give them a call before booking a room here!
Bath salts are provided together with the toiletries. Sea salt baths are known for their therapeutic and healing properties as well as their ability to ease stress and boost your overall health. So if you need somewhere to de-stress, this is perfect! It was for me.
Toiletries were from VitaminSpa, which is really a good prominent brand. They’re cruelty-free and enriched with Vitamin B5 that has countless benefits including hydrating, soothing, healing and protecting the human skin. If you interested to buy the brand to try it for yourself, it’s going for sale at only $5 for each tube at Tangs Singapore.
For hygiene reasons, I do appreciate hotels separating the bathtub away from the toilet bowl. One downside though, bidet wasn’t provided here. Also, the toilet bowl was placed uncomfortably right beside the translucent glass walls that separates the bathroom and the common area. It was really awkward for me to poop when I know my shadow is obviously visible from the outside. Someone make a petition for hotels to seriously stop putting up glass doors and walls for their bathrooms! It’s really not practical.
While I find the location of the hotel a tad too out of place, my stay was indeed very pleasant. Check-in process was fast and swift. Again, I totally forgot the malay front desk agent’s name but he was fast and efficient. And because the hotel is rather small, room service was swift. I called up the front desk for some ice and it came to my room in a big bucket within minutes.
If you’re within budget and in need of a good hotel to recuperate and rest, this hotel is perfect for you. I would also recommend you to have dinner at their rooftop restaurant. While the food isn’t that fantastic, the view totally is. And! The service is incredible too.
Aliff Daniel 