This is a travel blog based on my trip with my husband to Singapore. For years after a cousin was married on this Island and we were not in a position to attend, Singapore was a place I wanted to visit. I had imaginings of it as cosmopolitan, forward, modern place that would be fun to visit. You have to go there because its tourist built attractions are fun. In terms of anything old or historical Raffles Hotel and Satay Street are basically it. It was a fun trip, because I was determined it would be fun. But, and there is a but rather, than just go ahead and talk about Marina Bay Sands, The Supertree Grove, Gardens by the Bay, the Cloud Forest, with its Avatar exhibition, the flower garden, Singapore Flyer and Changi airport with its house of mirrors, its sky net and its vortex fountain, all awesome. All a tourist must, I am going to talk about something else, but the spectacular fun that was had will be displayed in the gallery of images I accumulated.
Singapore is expensive, its congested it wants to be the best at everything but your money here doesn’t go as far as it does elsewhere. Why do I say this? Because I was a traveller on a tight schedule who amidst jam packed itineraries, needed a bolt hole to come back to where I could spread out and relax.
Firstly, upon arrival at the airport in Singapore, our transfer didn’t bother to come over to collect us, so tired and hot we had to get a cab and we arrived to The Hotel Boss. Billed as a 4 star hotel, I can tell you now this was only allocated that rating because it has a pool that is tiny and a gym that is archaic. I have stayed at YMCA’s that are better. It was clean but it was tiny. Walking into our room with our luggage required me to first sit on the bed. Asking for an ironing board and Iron, I was directed to the fourth floor of the hotel to the laundry where alongside the washing machines and dryers, 2 ironing boards stood. I was shouted out by another guest, because I moved a package left on a bench beside the boards, where I wanted to lay my clothes so they wouldn’t get dirty. The package I think was a valentines day cake, because that’s what the man shouting at me told me it was. For the next 45 minutes I Ironed our clothes, nothing new in that, I do it all the time, even on holiday in the privacy of my room. It was humid as hell, there were men half dressed wandering around in vests and I was just glad I made my husband come with me, otherwise I would have felt very uncomfortable.
I am used to a big open room even at home and sleeping in a closet was claustrophobic for me. Not to mention that the seemingly upgraded room given to us had views of building sites below, sky scrapers beyond. This is Singapore, its a concrete jungle where space is premium.
There were signs everywhere about not taking food out of the food hall but to be honest the quality of the food was so poor I can’t imagine anybody actually doing that unless they were trying to avoid buying lunches. Other signs said not to pocket the cutlery. The food hall wasn’t big enough for the number of guests staying at the hotel. Several times people wandering around looking for seats ended up asking us if they could sit with us. We always said yes, but it just wasn’t an enjoyable experience, sitting with people we didn’t know, who spoke loudly in different languages. Unlike the hotel in Kuala Lumpur breakfast, really was a quick in and out, when what I wanted was for it to be leisurely. Singapore did have a tight itinerary, but our timings meant’ we didn’t have to rush around. So, relaxation was not on the cards here. We did think about changing hotels but with only three nights booked here, the effort to repack and move and the cost not budgeted for just wouldn’t have worked.
The foyer in photographs looks quite nice, but the floor was grubby and the noise was horrendous. Loud peoples voices was just deafening. So, please never opt for this hotel and please check when you do go to Singapore about where you are staying. Don’t imagine the photographs tell the truth or even that the star rating is a genuine reflection of the grade of hotel.
So, for a blog that is meant to be about feeling good and talking about things that make you feel good, this particular account sounds a bit negative. But actually that’s not its point. For a fellow traveller I want you to avoid this Hotel Boss, absolutely. However, my account is to show that not everything in life goes swimmingly and that challenges if met with resilience can mean that what at first feels like hell, can be overcome with ease. Ultimately nothing stopped us enjoying the Singapore highlights and here is the gallery of images to prove my point.
Our next destination is Siem Reap in Cambodia. So feel free if you enjoyed this escapade to read on to our next journey.