A Tourist in My Own Country - 3 Singapore Staycations (Andaz,InterCon RQ,Conrad)

[yflyer]

I jogged slowly along the Fullerton side of the Marina Bay waterfront...



...past the old Clifford Pier...



...enjoying the scenery along the way...



At one point, there was a need to pass through a hotel passageway (Public access was provided) and past some of the buildings lining the bay, but apart from that, the route essentially took me right around the bay...



...to the opposite side...



...and right past Marina Bay Sands...







...and right under the Lotus-shaped ArtScience Museum...

[yflyer]

At this point, I could have continued past the Helix Bridge towards the Marina Barrage...



...past the Gardens by the Bay...



...but I decided instead to go over the Helix Bridge...



...and once on the other side, crossed under the bridge...



I then followed the track past the Singapore Flyer...





...along the shoreline towards the Kallang river mouth...



...and then under the Benjamin Sheares Bridge, where there was a very pleasant park and walking/cycling track...

[yflyer]

This was very close to the spot where the popular Duck Tours amphibious vehicles went off-road and entered the water...

I was lucky enough to be nearby just as one of these converted DUKW amphibious vehicles entered the water...





...and continued the tour as a boat...

[yflyer]

The path went all the way round to SportHub...



...but I wouldn't go all the way round that day, instead, I left the track at Nicoll Highway MRT station...



...and crossed the overpass over Nicoll Highway to The Concourse...



...and jogged past the busy streets of Arab Street and Masjid Sultan...





...before arriving back at the Andaz for a total distance of just under 8km.



This was a great running route, with a lot to see along the way, as well as several stretches of relative quiet and solitude.

This is a run best done on overcast days, or in the early morning, or late afternoon/early evening, when it isn't too hot.

[yflyer]

Moving on to impressions of our stay at the Andaz...

When we first stepped into the hotel, we had no preconceived notions of the Andaz brand or its brand values. While we previously had many great stays at Hyatt properties in other countries, including such amazing hotels as the Park Hyatt Milan, the Andaz name was unfamilar to us. In fact, as mentioned at the start of the TR, none of us even knew we would be staying at the Andaz until minutes before we showed up to check-in.

Overall, we were highly impressed. We marvelled at how refined and upmarket the hotel was -- the property's design values were right at the top end.

This was not a flashy, grand hotel. Instead the emphasis was on understated elegance and style on an intimate scale.

And what really surprised us was that this style and sophistication was married to many local touches. This was not some uber cool hotel design that could be replicated anywhere in the world -- From the teh tarik to the rubber in-room slippers, this hotel had a real sense of place, and felt as if it could be nowhere else but Singapore.

Service was warm and personal, yet casual. The room was beautiful and very comfortable. Mr Stork, on the roof, should be on every guest's list of places to spend time.

In an age where everything that could be monetized would be a chargeable extra, it was refreshing to stay in a hotel where you weren't billed for everything little thing, for example not only was wifi complimentary, the minibar was free, and so was coffee and tea in the lounge.

Location-wise, this was a daring choice of address: The Andaz was close to the Civic District, but not actually right in the heart of it. It was in a slightly edgier, more colourful part of town, close to Bugis Street and Arab Street. The Andaz was close enough to the city centre and transport hubs to travel convenient, yet far enough from the tourist hoards to give the area around a hotel a fairly local character.

It was only after our stay that we realized that the Andaz Singapore was positioned even higher in the Hyatt brand hierarchy than the Grand Hyatt Singapore, already one of the nicest hotels in Singapore.

The Andaz Singapore wowed us with a great room and a very distinctive service concept which we really appreciated.

A great first introduction to the Andaz brand, and a very enjoyable start to our series of Singapore staycations!

To be continued!

[jammed]

新年快乐, 万事如意 Another wonderfully written TR yFlyer!

As someone who seldom stays in local hotels, I appreciate yr detailed renderings of Andaz. Wld not have guessed that it’s so luxuriously done up inside, with the retail so desertingly quiet downstairs (save teh few F&B). Incidentally yr TR reminded me whether the new state of Malaysian-SGP relations will have implications on the joint Duo investment. The food arrangements is interesting, I wonder whether a regular business traveler will have the time to sample all teh offerings across various corners for a regular workday breakfast; you think?

That said I do stay at the IC every other yr or so (to save from overseas holidays, ironically), and ran close the same route as you did. My 8k sees me all the way to Marina Barrage too, thru the Bay but Helix Bridge and Gardens BTB.

Looking fwd to the rest of the TR

[yflyer]

新年快乐, 万事如意 Another wonderfully written TR yFlyer!

As someone who seldom stays in local hotels, I appreciate yr detailed renderings of Andaz. Wld not have guessed that it’s so luxuriously done up inside, with the retail so desertingly quiet downstairs (save teh few F&B). Incidentally yr TR reminded me whether the new state of Malaysian-SGP relations will have implications on the joint Duo investment. The food arrangements is interesting, I wonder whether a regular business traveler will have the time to sample all teh offerings across various corners for a regular workday breakfast; you think?

That said I do stay at the IC every other yr or so (to save from overseas holidays, ironically), and ran close the same route as you did. My 8k sees me all the way to Marina Barrage too, thru the Bay but Helix Bridge and Gardens BTB.

Looking fwd to the rest of the TR

Thanks, jammed! And Happy Lunar New Year to you too!

I've not stayed at the InterContinental at Bugis before, but I've often wandered through the beautiful lobby, and dined at the excellent Chinese restaurant there, Man Fu Yuan, on several occasions.

Your 8K running route through Marina Barrage and Gardens By the Bay is also one of my favourites...in fact I did end up running through there on my staycations in the following weeks! More on those coming up!

[Squeezer]

Have always enjoyed reading your TRs... are you sure you're not a journalist?

[yflyer]

Have always enjoyed reading your TRs...

Thanks, Squeezer!

...are you sure you're not a journalist?

Yes, quite sure!

[yflyer]

Continuing with the TR...

The next weekend, we checked into the InterContinental at Robertson Quay.



Most Singaporeans, and perhaps many visitors, would be familiar with the InterContinental Singapore at Bugis, first opened in 1995 as part of the Bugis Junction shopping mall and office complex. This is one of Singapore's most well known hotels, located in a bustling part of the city, and coincidentally not far from the Andaz.

However, if you asked any Singaporean at random whether he or she knew about the other InterContinental, odds are you would get a blank stare.

The InterContinental Robertson Quay is a very new hotel, first opened in 2017. It is located by the Singapore River, in Robertson Quay, a hot spot for entertainment and night life not far from Clark Quay and Mohamed Sultan.



Although much less well known than the InterCon at Bugis, the InterContinental Robertson Quay is a gem of a hotel, very different from the Bugis property: While the InterCon Bugis emphasizes tradition and rich history of the Bugis Street area, the InterCon Robertson Quay is about style and modernity, close to the nightlife by the Singapore River.

The Bugis property was large, grand, and was a popular venue for everything from weddings to corporate events and dinners. By contrast, the Robertson Quay hotel felt intimate, and personal. Instead of bustle, you had calm and serenity...

[yflyer]

Our room...



A fairly compact room, but very nicely styled, with a King Bed...



...and large HD flat panel TV...



Leather armchair....



...with a partial view of the Singapore River (I believe the River View rooms were on the other side of the hotel...those had a better view of the river...)



Rather than a work chair, you had a bench built into the wall...



I found it ok to place my computer on the black circular table and sit on this bench to work, but this is not an ideal work surface if you needed to spend a lot of time at a computer or doing work (But why do that when staying here?)...

[yflyer]

There was a Bose sound system...



As well as an in-room smartphone that could be used in-room for hotel services, but could also be taken out of the room, and used as a cell phone, while in Singapore.



Web surfing worked fine on this phone, with the SQTalk site easily accessible...

[yflyer]

Pillows and bedding were very comfortable...

[yflyer]

There was an in-room Nespresso machine...



Very nice wine glasses and teapot...



Fully stocked minibar (On a chargeable basis...)...



...as well as mini cocktail shaker...





...and premixes for several cocktails...

[yflyer]

Bathroom near the room entrance...





Shower, but no tub...





Nice bathrobes...



...and some of the most comfortable bedroom slippers I had ever encountered over the years...