Grand Hyatt Singapore should really work on its entrance, which is extremely underwhelming! Upon arriving at the hotel, we got out of the limo and immediately felt like Frogger from that Game Arcade in the 80s. We had to see if we could cut through the throng of passersby without being hit by any. The problem is that the pedestrian sidewalk is right in front of the hotel's entrance, instead of a few feet away.
The foyer is quite vast, well lit but devoid of any seats or adornment. There is a difference between Minimalism and not knowing what to do with a space, which seems to be the case with this foyer. Going further inside brings one to the front desk, the concierge and the cashier's counters. The place never runs out of people; even when all the guests are asleep, security men and the hotel staff roam around. The occupancy rate is supposedly very high, up in the mid-90%, making requests for late-check out a difficult thing. Normally, at other Hyatt locations, late check out means 4 p.m., but here in Singapore, it means 2 p.m. This becomes a problem for people whose flight is not until late night. In our case, our flight departed at 11:40 p.m. We did find a solution for that, but I will save that story for later.
I had a junior suite, called the Grand Deluxe King. All the junior suites are located in the main tower, while the other rooms are situated in the annex. The suites have two Bang & Olufsen TVs (one in the living room, the other in the bedroom; they are really advertising this B&O quite a lot. There is also a B&O store right in the front of the lobby/foyer area, just in case one is enthralled by the sets found in the suites). The other rooms in the annex have the plasma TV sets, but the rooms are smaller than the suites (it makes sense, of course). I was supposed to change to the room in the annex on my 4th night, but overbooking caused them to ask me to stay where I was, which was to my advantage, anyway...
The junior suite separates the work area from the bedroom. The office cum living room area has a nice desk with all the necessarily plugs and Internet accommodations. The room's safe is located at the bottom drawer by the desk; it is big enough to put a small laptop and equipped with electrical outlet for laptop battery charging. Unfortunately, a 17" Mac Powerbook will not fit into that safe. A "mini" long sofa and two armchair companions are placed across the television set. Refrigerator and mini bar needs are discreetly tucked behind closed cabinets. It makes the room look clutter free.
The bed is not exactly Westin's Heavenly Bed, but it suffices. The reading lights are placed so that they cross each other: if there are two people sleeping in this bed, the left person's reading light will come from the upper right hand of the bed, and vice versa. It is not necessary to do this and it creates some unnecessary shadows as well.
The bathroom area has ample amount of space. It only comes with a rain-forest-like shower in addition to the usual shower head. There is no bathtub. Plumbing is rather poor. One can actually hears the water trickle loudly when one opens the faucet at the basin.
***
The well-reviewed Straits Kitchen is all right. My friend and I kept getting hassled at having to sign the bills about 30 minutes before the end of the breakfast period. They should really just lay off that annoying habit and let us be. I do not care what time they close the register. Keep it open until I am ready to sign.
There are many stations for different ethnic food, but most of the taste was mediocre at best, except for the South Asian counter that was tucked in a corner so remote that I had missed it on the first morning. The Roti Prata, Naan and Dal were freshly made (I see them make 'em).
***
The swimming pool is more a relaxation pool. Forget lap swimming because there is no one straight lane available, especially not when there are many kids in the pool. There is only so much you can do avoiding the unpredictable movements of the kids.
The Spa is fine: there are plenty of aerobic machines, Nautilus, and free weights. The steam and sauna, albeit small, work well; and so is the warm/hot dipping pool/jacuzzi. The only thing that they could improve is to put the massage rooms in a more remote area. At the Spa, the 5 to 6 massage rooms are placed along a major corridor, but none of the rooms is sound-proofed, which means that inside, while one is trying to relax, one can hear chatters non-stop from people walking from the reception desk to the work-out room.
***
If your focus in going to Singapore is shopping at the nearby Orchard Road, then the Grand Hyatt Singapore will do the job fine. It is actually located on Scotts Road, only few steps away to Orchard Road. If you want a late check out, check elsewhere. The (Mandarin) Oriental in the Marina offers a Club Experience that allows one to check out at 8 p.m.
(Speaking of the Oriental, that was where we ended up going after we checked out of the Hyatt at 2 p.m. We left our luggage at the Hyatt, then went to the Oriental to have a Spa experience, dinner and drinks, and then return to the Hyatt to pick up the luggage and left for Chang-I.)
The Grand Hyatt Singapore
10 Scotts Road
Singapore 228211
Tel: +65 6235-4111
Fax: +65 6734-0375
