Our welcoming return to Novotel Clarke Quay, Singapore
Recently we went on a cruise departing from Singapore and instead of transiting through, we decided to stay a few days and re-explore one of our favourite Asian cities.
But it wasn’t a difficult decision about which hotel to book. Comfort, accessibility to major sites and restaurants and somewhere with great service are the things we look for when choosing a hotel. Having stayed several times before, Novotel Clarke Quay was an obvious choice.
Located on the banks of the Singapore River right next to Liang Court and surrounded by Clarke Quay’s vibrant restaurants and bars with easy access to all Singapore’s major attractions via the nearby MRT, this hotel ticked all the boxes for us. Factor in the exceptional service we had received in previous stays and the generous sized rooms our decision was made.
Prior to our arrival we had received an email from the Guest Services team to let us know they were looking forward to our return and requesting our flight details so they could prepare for our arrival. This again reinforces the level of personal service and hospitality and the reason we were excited to be returning a 3rd time.
Upon arrival we immediately received the exceptional service we had recalled from past stays. Taken from the 7th floor check-in to the 30th floor premier lounge, we were offered refreshments as the prompt check-in process was completed. Having booked a flight that arrived early morning, we enjoyed complimentary breakfast in the lounge, despite our room already being ready so early.
A quick introduction and welcome from the Manager was a very nice touch and certainly reflected their motto #FeelWelcome. A warm welcome, familiar surroundings and our room ready well before check in time, what more could we ask for a pleasant stay?
We were delighted to have been upgraded to a Premier Floor room. A room on a Premier level gives access to the Premier Lounge, sometimes referred to as the Executive or Club lounge. Access to the lounge offers all day refreshments, breakfast, light snacks and complimentary free flow happy hour and canapes. We enjoyed the personal service from the lounge staff who handled our check-in, instead of us having to queue in the main lobby.
It was then time to head to our room, refresh ourselves and hit the ground running. Having seen some of the amazing features at Changi Airport we were keen to familiarise ourselves once more with Singapore.
The room was well laid out, spacious and offers great views overlooking, Clarke Quay or Fort Canning Park.
The large bathroom has a separate bath and huge shower with rainhead and ample amenities. A Nespresso machine is provided in the room, but we never used it, considering we could just head to the Premier lounge for an enjoyable cup of coffee while we were using the iPad to update Facebook, etc. Complimentary bottled water was also provided which came in handy to take out when exploring what the beautiful city has to offer. It was also noted that the tap in the bathroom has a sign that the water was safe to drink. The King size bed was extremely comfortable and not only could we control the TV via remote, but the bedside has a control for the lights, aircon and privacy sign.
Sadly we didn’t spend a lot of time lazing about in the hotel, utilising the pool or gym as we only had two days and wanted to see some of the sights of Singapore. With its location directly across the road from some of the best restaurants and bars, Clarke Quay has a great choice of cuisine from around the world. Sitting at one of the restaurants having lunch on our first day we heard a sound that we later learnt was that of a family of otters swimming along the banks of the river.
After a day exploring the city you are going to want to relax and unwind with a drink. That is where Happy Hour from 6pm-8pm in the Premier Lounge is a blessing . The best views overlooking the marina, exceptional service and best canapes and snacks. We might not even need dinner.
The appeal of Singapore only gets better once the sun goes down so after happy hour we went back to Clarke Quay and we decided on Japanese for dinner at EN Sakaba for a teppanyaki grill and some Japanese Beer, Asahi. Back at the hotel, before heading up to our room we stopped at the bar Le Rouge for a refreshing nightcap.
We found our room very quiet and the bed very comfortable so had a relaxing nights’ sleep. In the bathroom the shower was quite large and easy to control the water temperature. It was fitted with a rainhead so the water pressure just right too. We had sufficient towels and a robe to lounge in.
The following day, instead of breakfast at the Premier Lounge we opted for a full breakfast at The Square located on the Lobby level. There was a wide selection of fresh food to suit a variety of tastes and if it hadn’t been raining we could have eaten our breakfast outside overlooking the pool area.
As I said earlier, the hotel is located at Liang Court shopping complex which has 7-Eleven, McDonalds, Starbucks, Subway, Meidi-Ya Japanese supermarket and many other cafes, restaurants, shops and salons so can pick up some snacks to take while out sightseeing.
We made our way across to Clarke Quay MRT and caught two trains to Boon Lay and a bus to Jurong Bird Park to see the beautiful pink flamingos.
We saved SGD 14 each when we bought our tickets online and navigated our way on the MRT with the assistance of the Smart phone provided for our use for the duration by the hotel. It was great peace of mind to know we had the use of a variety of apps, google maps and even free phone calls to assist us find our way around. I could easily post updates to Facebook and photos to instagram throughout the day and not have to wait until we returned to the hotel to use the free wi-fi. We also were able to bring peace of mind to our families and phone them on our arrival at the hotel, all thanks to free use of the phone.
For those not in a Premier room there are some iMac computers for use.
One thing we love about Novotel is how environmentally friendly they are. There are little notes reminding us to hang our towels if they don’t need washing and provided fair trade toiletries, made with fair trade certified ingredients like sugar cane from Mauritius, Brazil Nut Oil from Brazil and Avocado Oil from Kenya.
During our stay we had a personal note from the Manager with a lovely selection of fruit, sweets and savouries delivered to our room and the following day a lovely dessert platter was provided.
On our final day we took advantage of the late checkout before making our way to our cruise ship for our next big adventure.
We’d like to thank Novotel’s Management for the upgrade and the staff for being attentive and welcoming. As always this review reflects our own opinions which was not influenced by our upgrade.
Have you stayed in Clarke Quay? Do you tend to return to hotels who go out of their way to make you feel welcome?
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I have never stayed at a hotel that offered complimentary use of a mobile phone during your stay. The room looks nice and roomy, too. I also appreciate a good, relaxing shower. Because my oldest son is named Clark (no “e”), we’ve always stayed in the Clarke Quay area whenever we visit Singapore. It really does have a good selection of restaurants nearby including my favorite Mexican food restaurant in Asia, Cafe Iguana. When we were living in Malaysia, we didn’t have Mexican food nearby, so it was always something we sought out when we traveled.
Michele {Malaysian Meanders} recently posted…Finding Paradise in Hanalei
Wow, you do not have to do more to convince me of staying in this hotel! The attention to detail is superb. I like how they contacted you before your arrival to make sure they were prepared to receive you. Would love to explore Singapore!
Ruth | Tanama Tales recently posted…The Best of Philadelphia: Reading Terminal Market