Singapore & Bangkok - Hotel recommendations

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CuriousJoe

Recycles dryer sheets
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Folks:

We are planning a quick trip (3 - 4 days each) to Singapore & Bangkok during February 2025

Party of 3- couple and a friend

Any suggestions for hotels that are centrally located and not terribly expensive?

Thanks
 
We stayed in two cheap places back in 2023 (flew into BKK and flying out of BKK). They both get good reviews on trip advisor. The best was the Ago Hotel in Chinatown. Comfortable and in a good location. We only stayed one night but I give in a thumbs up. Not the best we've stayed in in Asia but pretty good.
We also had a room at the Unforgotten B&B, not too far from the same area of Bangkok. The place was "quirky" and not to my taste. I'd say it's one to avoid
 
Check out the Raffles Hotel in Singapore and the Dusit Thani in Bangkok. Both are historic and majestic IMO.
 
We stayed at the InterContinental Singapore Robertson Quay for 3 nights in April. Fairly reasonable standard rooms and located in a very walkable area close to Chinatown. We booked a club-level mini-suite and the club was very, very nice. I'd certainly book there again.

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CuriousJoe said:
Folks:

We are planning a quick trip (3 - 4 days each) to Singapore & Bangkok during February 2025

Party of 3- couple and a friend

Any suggestions for hotels that are centrally located and not terribly expensive?

Thanks
Click to expand...
Carlton in Singapore. Centrally located, reasonable, and very nice.
 
Yotel Singapore on Orchard Rd is where we stayed. We liked the location and price. Check out the train for getting around. It’s almost free to go to the airport.
 
I always stay at Orchard Road in Singapore and as a Marriott Bonvoy Titanium loyalty member, I would choose the Marriott at Tang Plaza using points. My last trip was in March 2025 and I stayed at St. Regis also using points and it is a little further away but walkable to Orchard Road. It really does not matter where you pick because of their great public transport system, and trains and buses are very inexpensive, air-conditioned and very clean. You should buy a pass / ticket (available at train station in one of the convenience stores inside the station) and use it for both train and bus and the fares are capped by distance as opposed to charged independently. For instance if it cost me $1.20 to take the train but I needed to take a bus to get to where I ultimately want to be, the bus trip can cost me only 20 cents. I was very hesitant to take a bus but I was blown away by the simplicity, convenience and comfort. You can download the app called SingBus if you need to take a bus after or before getting off/on a train. The app will tell you exactly when is the next bus arriving, and whether it has arrived. If you want convenience you can always take a taxi and they are also very inexpensive.

I also find that foreign exchange rates at the airport (all run by Singapore banks) are often better than ATM rates. You can also find "Money Changer" booths and shops "everywhere" in the city and their rates are also better than ATM exchange rates, which is very different than in Europe.
 
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RetiredHappy reminded me to suggest you set up the Grab on your phone before traveling to Bangkok. It's the Asian equivalent of Uber. It is very easy to use. Like Uber you can monitor arrival of your ride, see exactly what it will cost and avoid any difficulty in communication with the driver - you type in your address and pay via the app. Just be aware if riding from BKK airport to downtown the drivers want to use the toll road and they have all asked me for cash to pay those tolls. It's a small charge, but hit an airport ATM before summoning your ride.
 
Singapore also uses Grab but I didn't use it in the end because it is 100% cashless and if you use a US credit card, there is quite a bit of surcharge by the company (Grab) for using a foreign currency card.
 
No surcharges for me... I've used Grab in lots of Asian countries and never seen one. Perhaps a Foreign transaction fee frrm the credit card company? I only link no-transaction fee cards.
 
fosterscik said:
No surcharges for me... I've used Grab in lots of Asian countries and never seen one. Perhaps a Foreign transaction fee frrm the credit card company? I only link no-transaction fee cards.
Click to expand...
I read that under Ts&Cs in the Grab app when I was at the step of adding my credit card information, so I didn't use it. I only used the taxi once this March. For the trips between the airport and the hotel, I was fortunate in that I got free rides courtesy of my sister whose investment bank includes 12 free limo services in Singapore every year for herself and family.
 
CuriousJoe said:
Folks:

We are planning a quick trip (3 - 4 days each) to Singapore & Bangkok during February 2025

Party of 3- couple and a friend

Any suggestions for hotels that are centrally located and not terribly expensive?

Thanks
Click to expand...
In the past we have stayed in 4 and 5 star hotels in Bangkok. The prices are much lower than NA. They often include a fabulous buffet breakfast. One of our favorites is the Chatrium Riverside. Be aware that Lunar New Year starts on Feb 17. You should get your reservations for that period nailed down.
 
^Forgot to add we have actually stayed at five hotels in Bangok plus two others...one each close the each of the airports. They we all first rate. If you want the names I can dig them out.

In Singapore we stayed at Ibis on Bencoolan. Mid priced, excellent. As are most Ibis hotels that we have stayed in.
 
Thank you all

Our friend recently stayed at M I Rocher in Singapore and said he likedit.
It is budget-friendly and centrally located, so we may go with that.

At 4 nights with 2 rooms it gets pricey. We will be out all day sight seeing, and need rooms to take a shower and go to bed
 
Conrad in Singapore if money doesn't matter.
 
fosterscik said:
RetiredHappy reminded me to suggest you set up the Grab on your phone before traveling to Bangkok. It's the Asian equivalent of Uber. It is very easy to use. Like Uber you can monitor arrival of your ride, see exactly what it will cost and avoid any difficulty in communication with the driver - you type in your address and pay via the app.
Click to expand...
I tried using Grab the last time I was in Bangkok and because of the traffic problems in Bangkok it didn't work out well, the pickup time kept getting delayed, I gave up after waiting about an hour. Plenty of taxis on the street but if you're staying in an area with a lot of top end hotels most won't use the meter. Best option is to stay withing walking distance of a BTS station.
 
We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Clarke Quay. It's close enough to Chinatown and many restaurants along the river. Also has a full complementary breakfast. Rates were reasonable, not the cheapest but definitely not the most expensive either
 
I stayed in the Conrad Singapore Orchard a year ago, and it was quite nice, with easy access to transit stations. The breakfast buffet (like at many large Asian hotels) was fantastic!
 
10 years ago we stayed in Singapore at the Hotel Fort Canning (now rebranded the METT). Can't speak for the new hotel but the ambience, rooms, pool etc were all fantastic. Set off a bit from the bustle of city but easy walk to Dhoby Ghaut metro station -- metro is great to get around everywhere -- and close to Clark Quay. We loved it.
 
CuriousJoe said:
Folks:

We are planning a quick trip (3 - 4 days each) to Singapore & Bangkok during February 2025

Party of 3- couple and a friend

Any suggestions for hotels that are centrally located and not terribly expensive?

Thanks
Click to expand...
Both SIN and BKK are great cities. Been regular stops for years.

Hotels. Any major hotel will be good. If you don’t have executive lounge access, book the breakfast rate.

SIN. Tang plaza Marriott is in a good location and subway right there. Hilton and Hyatt are others. Mandarin Oriental Is always an option. The Fullerton is unique.
It is worth a subway ride back to the airport to spend time at the Jewel.
Botanic gardens, food courts, China town and the list goes on.

BKK. Same for hotels. There isn’t a bad major chain hotel in Bangkok. Get BTS tickets. Lots of options for travel. Taxi, grab metro or train.

Several major shopping areas Icon Siam, Emsphere, and lots of others.
You are expected to pay tolls to from the airport. Some drivers will pay for you and others expect you to pay. Less than 100 baht unless they have gone up recently.

Don’t forget to do the electronic arrival card.

Then Asian breakfast buffets at most hotels are amazing.

All my pics were too big. One of Singapore Merlion did fit.

Have fun.
CuriousJoe said:
Folks:

We are planning a quick trip (3 - 4 days each) to Singapore & Bangkok during February 2025

Party of 3- couple and a friend

Any suggestions for hotels that are centrally located and not terribly expensive?

Thanks
Click to expand...
 

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I’ve really been enjoying browsing all these hotels people have stayed at via Google Maps. Armchair traveling is fun too.
 
Leaving for seven snowbird weeks in Thailand and Malaysia in three weeks. Cannot wait. We may decide to go down to SIN for a few days once we are in Kuala Lumpur.

It is an amazing area for a winter vacation. This will be our sixth snowbird trip. Everything from amazing cites...BKK, KUL, SIN, to some wonderful, almost emply beaches in non touristy areas. Ditto for Vietnam. Our first trip was three weeks. We were hooked. After that it was two months.

Eating like the locals, in SE Asia ( and Southern Europe), has changed our eating habits for the better since retiring.

The only downside for us are the long flights.
 
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