“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
That’s actually a quote from Leonardo Da Vinci that I live by. A really beautiful phrase to embrace.
Just kidding, I literally just googled that.
But it’s true no? Most of the time, simplicity is key. If you notice, more hotels are adopting the minimalist approach and I totally love that. The more complicated the hotel theme is, the more it’ll look tacky and cluttered.
In fact, that’s one of the many reasons why I truly love the next hotel that we’re gonna review today!
Ji Hotel Orchard, Singapore
Located just one street down from Plaza Singapura, access to the cute, little boutique hotel is as convenient as can be. If you’re from the mall, it’ll roughly take you 10 minutes to get to the hotel. I wanna say their logo looks korean-ish, but the hotel is giving me a very strong Japan-Muji vibe. Really cute.
While the check-in process was quick, the service wasn’t up to basic standards I must say. Quick process doesn’t mean good, okay. No greetings, no smiles. I didn’t like how they charged my card for the room incidentals instead of holding the amount on my credit card. It just makes the refund process more longer when I check out. None of the basic protocols are explained, the front desk agent seemed like she didn’t even wanna be there but weirdly so, it didn’t affect my first impression of the hotel. I think I was too amazed with the hotel’s interior, to even care about one’s incompetency.
One really interesting thing to note about the hotel is that all room numbers start with the number 8, regardless what floor you’re assigned at. I assume it’s the chinese auspicious number?
I actually asked the front desk agent, since she’s a chinese if she knew anything about it because I love facts, she literally only said:
“It’s just like that.”
The corridor that leads to the guestrooms was beyond mesmerising. Not only because of the light-airy colors, but also the glittery-zigzag carpet that is just so pleasing to look at. The designers of the hotel really did a great job making the theme really simple, yet so elegant and unique at the same time.
The room that we’re gonna review is the standard category, the superior room.
Physically smaller than the standard rooms of 5-star hotels, the superior room doesn’t feel claustrophobic to me at all. With smart design techniques, the space looks and feel larger than it actually is!
With great position of the lighting, correct color tones and the minimal usage of furnitures, the room looks visually spacious. It really is aesthetically pleasing to just be in the room to admire the simplicity of the design.
The room comes with a very comfortable queen bed which faces a huge 65-inch smart TV which I really love. The screen-mirroring feature was a little confusing to me but there’s nothing a HDMI cable couldn’t help! Just one suggestion though, I’d recommend you to bring along bluetooth speakers for your movie sessions here. The display might be great and HD but the audio was undeniably bad. I really couldn’t hear a thing.
On one side of the bed is where the end table was. Interestingly, the menu for the cafe downstairs is also in the room. We didn’t order any food from them during the stay. I prefer to walk to Plaza Singapura instead, since it’s just one street down and they have more food choices to choose from. It just made more sense to do so.
A telephone is available too for you to make calls to the front desk if you need anything! I’ll make a little prayer for you now, hoping the staff who served me during my check-in doesn’t pick up your calls.
You only get one switch here by the bed, and also one USB slot. Might be an issue for some who have lots of devices to charge, like me! I have to charge my phone, my laptop, my ipad.. my patience..
But! Other than my HDMI cables, there’s one thing I couldn’t live without: my travel adaptor with USB slots on them. Literally a life saviour.
At the far end of the room is an aesthetic open-concept wardrobe. Everyday-amenities like your room slippers are provided and placed near the wardrobe. Do you find the table interesting? Because I do! It’s very Japanese!
Like most hotels, a coffee and tea-making station is available in the room. A little minibar is placed there for your convenience, as well.
Kettle, bottled water and coffee sachets are provided throughout the stay.
For the tea-lovers, there’s a super cute teapot set that is placed there for you to use. I honestly thought it was just for decoration but when I opened the teapot, the tea leaves were already prepared in it to be mixed with hot water.
Moving on to my favorite part of the room is the bathroom! Is it weird that lately, all my favorite part of the hotel rooms is always the bathroom?
I mean, bathrooms always have the best lighting for selfies! And here, there is no exception. When you enter, a huge mirror is placed right by the vanity and sink area. Unlike the normal, boring hotel mirrors, the ones here has an LED around the mirror that you can switch on to maximise the perfect lighting for your selfie.
Like most boutique hotels, toilet amenities like hand soaps are placed in standard pump bottles so there isn’t any way for you to find out the brands the hotel use. For those with sensitive skin, this can be an issue so always bring your own toiletries!
Toothbrushes and a hairdryer is also provided in the bathroom.
The toilet is somewhat separated from the showers by glass doors. Is it necessary? It makes the area more squeezy and cramp, in my opinion. Do also note that bidet isn’t provided here! However, the hand-held shower can be extended to the toilet bowl so that helps.
The bathroom is equipped with a rain-shower system which I really love. The water pressure was definitely great and the water heater was working perfectly during my stay.
The shampoo that the hotel uses is a generic brand called All Seasons/ Centroid from China. A simple Google search brings you to a lot of wholesale-supplier websites if you’re interested to get some of your own!
I really enjoyed my stay here at Ji Hotel Orchard Singapore despite the shortcomings I’ve experienced. The great thing about jumping from hotels to hotels is managing my expectations in terms of service and experience. I always come with an open mind so when an incompetent staff serves me, I tend not to even care almost? That does not mean I won’t write about them because that’s what my hotel reviews are for in the first place.
Days after I checked out from Ji Hotel Orchard, I still had to email them back and forth about my hotel deposit refund. It really was frustrating. Hotel deposits should always be placed on hold on your credit card, never charged. I’m unsure why they’re practising that inefficient procedure.
Nonetheless, I certainly do not mind coming back. The rooms, the facilities are just value for money. This hotel is great for those who just wants a relaxing time-off or somewhere to just chill and hang out. If you’re not particular about bad guest service, this hotel is a gem.
It really was worth it. You know what they say, you get what you pay for.
Aliff Daniel 