Singapore - Need hotel & restaurant recommendations

We will be ending our portion of the 2017 WC in Singapore and would be interested in hearing which hotels we should consider. Also, we would be interested in restaurant recommendations.

I know there used to be somewhere on cc.com to ask these questions in a general forum, but I couldn't find it.

Thanks for your help.

I have had great experiences at the Conrad Centennial. Their main restaurant, Oscar's, has a lot of local patronage.

If it's Singapore -- it is Shangri-la...

I prefer Conrad, the other half Shangri-La. Never required a restaurant....love the lounges.

We are here now! Will be in touch when we get home.

In Singapore we always go to Iggys.It is in the Hilton on Orchard.Consistently makes the Asian best 50 restaurants.

For something simple but nice at lunch-Salt on top of the Ion building.

We also liked Les Amis.

If you want a hotel that is special go with the Ritz Carlton.

Keith

If you fancy Las Vegas meets Singapore then try the Marina Bay Sands, and Spago on the 57th floor is an outstanding fine dining restaurant.

I am with Keith on the Ritz Carlton outstanding hotel with a great club floor and very close to shops and other restaurants.

Thank you all for your suggestions.

I'll still take Raffles, but it's been some time since we've been there. We had the Ava Gardner suite when we were there and it was great. Food and service in the old fashioned way! Can't remember the name of it, but there's a great restaurant at the top of the hotel just across the street from raffles. Great view of the city and very good food; mostly Asian.

If it's Singapore -- it is Shangri-la...

Absolutely right. Sorry to all the other suggestions, all perfectly good hotels and I have stayed at many of them....but The Shangri La Valley Wing suites are wonderful and the hotel and staff so very special. Afternoon tea on the Rose Verandah beats the tourist trap that is Raffles hands down.

The Valley Wing at The Shangri La wins hands down for me after twenty years of visiting Singapore every year, I have tried them all!!

The Valley Wing suites are superb as is the private check in, lounge with complimentary drinks and last Christmas Perrier Jouet Champagne all day, it is rather like Silver Sea, but on land.

Victoria, the Ritz is also my choice. It's much less chaotic then the Marina Sands but still in the general vicinity. Great walking area and lots of dining options.

I agree with Keith and others re: ritz Carlton. IN fact, I'll be there next week. But go for a marina view club floor room.

If you don't want to go somewhere fancy - you can't beat one of Singapore's food halls. Once you decide where you are staying, just do a search for food halls, and you will probably find one near your hotel. These halls are amazing - a feast for the eyes and taste buds - and it is fun to go to different vendors and try their particular specialty. This is how Singaporeans eat.

jjs217

Thanks for the great suggestion about food halls. We do not want upscale restaurants. We want to eat where the locals eat.

The Ritz Carlton marina view rooms look amazing. Since we're only there for 2 nights, is the Club Level all that important?

jjs217

 

Thanks for the great suggestion about food halls. We do not want upscale restaurants. We want to eat where the locals eat.

 

The Ritz Carlton marina view rooms look amazing. Since we're only there for 2 nights, is the Club Level all that important?

The club level is always a bonus. Great food options and lovely drinks. I can remember sitting in the jacuzzi tub in my suite, overlooking the ferris wheel.

There are many restaurants that line the river with every cuisine imaginable. Just be careful if you opt for a crab. They charge by the gram and never show you the weight, just the bill......ugh $500 crab! Lessons learned.

The club level is always a bonus. Great food options and lovely drinks. I can remember sitting in the jacuzzi tub in my suite, overlooking the ferris wheel.

 

There are many restaurants that line the river with every cuisine imaginable. Just be careful if you opt for a crab. They charge by the gram and never show you the weight, just the bill......ugh $500 crab! Lessons learned.

Ouch Christie, you could have had two bottles of Dom for that. I agree the club lounge at the Ritz is the best of all the Ritz Carltons we have been to. They have a great food selection hot and cold. Also, if you want to dine there and not leave the lounge you can order from the restaurant menus and they will set you up and you can dine there....of course cocktails included with a beautiful view.

Thanks for the heads up on the crab.:eek:

jjs217

 

Thanks for the great suggestion about food halls. We do not want upscale restaurants. We want to eat where the locals eat.

 

The Ritz Carlton marina view rooms look amazing. Since we're only there for 2 nights, is the Club Level all that important?

It's not important. Just very nice.

So if you want to eat locally you need to go to hawker stalls.Here is one of the better guides-

http://www.hungrygowhere.com/hawker-food/

We're spend many weeks each year in Singapore and it is the center of our food world. Hawker sellers normally make and specialise in a single dish that they and their families have been making for generations. Each hawker is hygiene inspected and rated on a regular basis and their scores are prominently displayed for all to see. They break the law if their scores aren't displayed. Finding the best places is simple. There are queues. It's impossible to spend more than a few dollars on a meal (except chilli or pepper crabs!) and Singapore is the genuine fusion food capital of the world. Most tourists choose chilli crabs but most Singaporeans prefer pepper crabs.

Some random posts about and from Singapore mostly oddly about food, and the picture of the seafoody soup was S$3:50 ie £1:75 and it was wonderful.

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showpost.php?p=46771199&postcount=4182

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showpost.php?p=46799238&postcount=4198

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showpost.php?p=46811225&postcount=4203

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showpost.php?p=46813957&postcount=4206

I have never come across the chilli crab scam before, but scamming is rare in Singapore but it is a scam as no one I have seen sells crabs for $500. An expensive crab restaurant meal would be $100. All our normal hawker meals are around S$5 or so ie £2:50.

There is a very speedy tourist consumer resolution service in Singapore should you ever need it. Normally a phone call to them and then from them to the scammer sorts things out quickly in your favour. Overcharging would be considered "inapropriate retailer behaviour".

https://www.case.org.sg/complaint.aspx

Tourist-to-business disputes

For tourists who wish to flag inappropriate retailer behaviour, you can call the Singapore Tourism Board at 1800-736-2000 from Monday to Friday (excluding Public Holidays), between 9 am to 6 pm daily or email STB at feedback@stb.gov.sg.

Alternatively, you may visit our office any time from Monday to Friday, 9 am to 4 pm with the following documents.

Passport

Original invoice / receipt of your purchase

Any other supporting documents for your dispute (such as signed agreement and credit card bill)

Our office is located at;

170 Ghim Moh Road

#05-01 Ulu Pandan Community Building

Singapore 279621

Jeff

Thanks for the info Jeff. A little late for any recourse for me. It happened to be a sister restaurant from one we had lunch at. Never expected to be treated differently. The worse part, another couple we met at the hotel joined us. They shared a crab and got taken too.

Thanks for the info Jeff. A little late for any recourse for me. It happened to be a sister restaurant from one we had lunch at. Never expected to be treated differently. The worse part, another couple we met at the hotel joined us. They shared a crab and got taken too.

You are very welcome. Good to know for your next visit :)

The system works very well.

For example I have had hundreds of taxi rides in Singapore and taxis are so so cheap and all have gone well. Taxi drivers don't even expect tips. However I was overcharged on one ride (I was charged an extra charge for being within Marina Bay when we were outside) I emailed the taxi company to double check just for my own knowledge and within two hours there was an apology and a voucher for a free ride arrived at the hotel the following day - and the driver was "reprimanded" about being careful with extra charges.

Maggi's for example returns tips!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=41722161&postcount=332

In fact your post did trigger a memory of an overcharging of Americans for crab at the Newton Circus but as soon as it was reported the hawker was shut down for 3 months as punishment and the server wasn't allowed to work for one year. Draconian but it dissaudes over charging as it was national and in fact international news ...... What it means is that tourists rarely get overcharged compared to other countries as there is nil tolerance and they actually do something about it.

http://www.angryangmo.com/singapore/singapore-expat-news-newton-circus-hawker-suspended/

I also hope the OP finds this and the information they requested specifically from me about Nice as they didn't return to say so. :( ;)

Jeff

You are very welcome. Good to know for your next visit :)

 

The system works very well.

 

For example I have had hundreds of taxi rides in Singapore and taxis are so so cheap and all have gone well. Taxi drivers don't even expect tips. However I was overcharged on one ride (I was charged an extra charge for being within Marina Bay when we were outside) I emailed the taxi company to double check just for my own knowledge and within two hours there was an apology and a voucher for a free ride arrived at the hotel the following day - and the driver was "reprimanded" about being careful with extra charges.

 

Maggi's for example returns tips!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=41722161&postcount=332

 

In fact your post did trigger a memory of an overcharging of Americans for crab at the Newton Circus but as soon as it was reported the hawker was shut down for 3 months as punishment and the server wasn't allowed to work for one year. Draconian but it dissaudes over charging as it was national and in fact international news ...... What it means is that tourists rarely get overcharged compared to other countries as there is nil tolerance and they actually do something about it.

 

http://www.angryangmo.com/singapore/singapore-expat-news-newton-circus-hawker-suspended/

 

I also hope the OP finds this and the information they requested specifically from me about Nice as they didn't return to say so. :( ;)

 

Jeff

Sorry Jeff -- I've been on the road. Can't always reply as soon as expected. Thanks to you and Dr. Ron for the information.