Detailed Review
The Intercontinental is an unrivalled celebration of Singapore's rich heritage with its distinctive Peranakan architecture, elegant interiors and old Straits artefacts. Attentive staff, a warm welcome and a host of superb facilities complement the perfect environment in which to work, meet or relax.
While the hotel exudes the old-world charm of Singapore with its traditional architectural traits and decor, the modern business traveller will find the hotel's amenities and facilities keep up with the fast-paced global business demands.
The hotel features a variety of guestrooms, including Deluxe rooms, the signature Shophouse rooms, Club InterContinental Rooms, Business Rooms and a range of luxury suites. All rooms have remote control television with built-in radio and interactive facilities, mini-bar, direct dial dual-line telephones with fax and internet hook-up capabilities and personal voice messaging system, hairdryer, iron and ironing board, coffee/tea making facilities, personal safe and luxurious down feather duvets and pillows. Each bathroom has a separate shower and bath.
The award-winning Olive Tree Mediterranean Restaurant and Man Fu Yuan Chinese Restaurant and Restaurant Suntory offer a wide variety of cuisine.
The hotel is located in the civic and cultural district of Singapore, historically a bustling area for trading and entertainment. It is now the Bugis Junction Complex - comprising vibrant shopping, office block and the hotel. The city's financial district, Orchard Road, Boat Quay, Clarke Quay are all within minutes of the hotel.
Independent Reviews
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"A business class hotel in a heritage building"
Intercontinental Singapore
By Caroline Major
Trying to get a cab in Singapore is a bit like trying to get your luggage delivered to your room in the Intercontinental hotel in Singapore. It can take some time. Once you get past that though, you can settle into an interesting high end business hotel. A dime a dozen in Singapore, the Intercontinental has tried to distinguish itself by choosing an old building for its opening (in 1995) in order to retain some of 'Old Singapore'. Its personality lies in the row of live-in shops dated from the late 1800's, which have converted into the covetable 'Shophouse Rooms'. The street below is still a shopping street, which retains some charm in a city of oversized shopping plazas. The original grid of narrow outdoor market streets have been covered with a glass roof, set amongst the more average shopping mall. Looking down from the balcony of your Shophouse Room, you get some atmosphere of the original Singapore street. Young funkies come to the Parco Plaza to watch the latest release films and hang out.
The rooms retain the hardwood floors from the previous incarnation of the building. Combined with the louvered doors opening onto the shopping market below, and the potted palms, Intercontinental have indeed managed a little of the colonial charm they seek, and the elegance of the bygone era. Adding colour is the selection of Peranakan (Straits Chinese) artifacts, paintings, framed ethnic jewellery and ceramics. Make sure you ask for one of these Shophouse Rooms, otherwise, in the 406 room hotel, you may end up with a more standard business hotel offering.
Facilities wise, this hotel specialises in small to medium sized conferences. There are 13 meeting rooms of various sizes, all with the latest high-tech gagetry and differing degrees of privacy for your posse. Making up the complement are the 'Business Rooms' on the Club Inter-Continental private floor. Equiped with 200m range mobile phones, you can wait for a call anywhere in the hotel complex. Get Singaporean about it, and spend the wait in the shopping mall. Alternativedly, get busy at the desk with its ergamonic chair, or print out your Singapore Snaps. Maybe just hang out in the private lounge and indulge in the complimentary high tea or cocktails. The hotel has had a string of awards in it's relatively short history, including a spot in the top 5 best business hotels in Singapore from Business Traveller Magazine.
A 20 minute taxi ride from the airport, the hotel is right next to the Raffles Hotel, is on the MRT, and midpoint between Orchard Road and the Shenton Way Financial district. It doesn't have a nightclub like most of the other chain hotels in town, instead offering an elegant lobby lounge (complete with harpist) and a more casual bar. There is a Chinese and Japanese restaurant as well as a Mediterranean brasserie. Worth a mention is the breakfast buffet in the Olive Tree. It's loaded with anything your western palete might crave, as well as equally impressive Japanese and Chinese selections.
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