View from the Room: Hotel Bencoolen, Singapore
Our introduction to Singapore began after being dropped of at a 4-star hotel memorably located on Hong Kong Street.
Rated 4 stars, Hotel Bencoolen is modern and conveniently located near a big shopping centre and a couple of train stops. For our 4-night stay, we took a smallish room as we intended to mostly be out to drink in as much Singapore as possible before heading to Kuala Lumpur.
Despite expecting a smallish room, we still had a sofa, desk and chair plus an armchair to add to the comfort levels.
The only negative was the thin curtains so the city lights shone into the room and it was quite noisy on our second floor so sleep was inconsistent.
Storage
And this is another in an incredibly long line of hotel rooms with no hooks. It did have another hotel rarity, drawers; 3 of them. I still don’t know why hotels have stopped offering drawers (answers on a postcard).
Open double wardrobe with 5 wooden hotel hangers.
3 shelves below are ideal for shoes and one up above. That’s another trend, wardrobes without doors.
One bedside drawer and 2 at the good-sized desk/dressing table ✔️
Ample storage along a slim shelf
Bathroom
For a standard room, the bathroom is spacious. It’s behind a frosted, wall which ensures the room stays light and airy.
They’ve provided a separate shower alongside the all-important bathtub. I love the separation as bathtubs can be dangerously slippy when also used for showers (as proved by beloved’s broken ribs when slipping in on in Krakow).
Both had an additional hand shower.✔️
Generous sink ✔️
2 large towels and a bath mat. We were short on hand towels but there was a linen cupboard right outside so managed to access them from there.
Toiletries - shower gel, body lotion, shampoo and conditioner.
Toothbrush/paste
Shower cap
Vanity kit - cotton buds and cotton wool pad.
Facilities
TV - only had 4-5 channels although Netflix was available.
UK-style 3-pin plug sockets
Safe
Slippers✔️
Iron/board
Hairdryer
Tissues
Food and drink
Kettle and tea/coffee ✔️
2 bottles of water
Breakfast was included although we never partook. It was in the tiny lobby, we managed to get a seat once but there was no food left. It never looked particularly appetising but great if you can make it work and are prepared to wait for a seat.
Hot drinks and water are available in the lobby 24/7✔️
Service was adequate although we weren’t able to safely store our luggage on the last day, other than in the open lobby right by the front door. Luckily check-out was at 12 so we decided to leave the cases in the room for one last exploration of the city before heading to the Changi airport early to enjoy its many wonders.
