Has anyone got any opinions about the Concorde Hotel, or the Meritus Mandarin...Does anyone know a good quality 3 or 4 star hotel with pool.
thanks
Try the City Bayview, Carlton Hotel or the New Quincy Hotel. YMCA @ 1 Orchard is a nice hotel with a rooftop pool too.
http://www.bayviewhotels.com/singapore/
http://www.hotel-rv.com/ms/25167.html
www.ymcaih.com.sg/web/main.aspx…
Or this link for more Hotel offer:
http://www.asiatravel.com/singapore.html
Which of these two is better for sightseeing?
Also they had an offer of one-way transfer from airport. Do you know how much will it cost a taxi from airport to kitcener road?
cab fares wont cost more than S$20 during the day to get to and from airport.
As for which is better located, Beach road will be more convenient as u can walk to the Raffles hotel, Raffles City Mall as well as Marina Square Mall. It will be hot and humid but since u r from Greece, it wouldnt be too bad :)
Enjoy SIN !
PS. How I miss a good Gyro ! The ones here r just too dry !
Thanks!! I wish I could send you a special juicy gyro!!!
U can try to calculate an estimate taxi fare here:
www.efxsoft.com/tripsum/taxifare.asp…
haven%26#39;t stayed in any of the two, but passed by these hotels. i should the one on beach road is better located.
We are already booked into the Parkroyal on Beach Road for three nights in April this year. I think it sounds a good hotel and convenient for many things, however we have just been warned by our travel company that there is building work going on next door. This means whilst you cannot hear anything once you are in the hotel, apparently it is noisy around the pool area.
You may want to take this into consideration when making your choice - Unfortunately it is too late for us!!
Good luck - enjoy Singapore!
Thanks a lot all of you with the answers!
We are planning of going Singapure next January,maybe the building work gonna be finished until then. I hope... Anyway we will go after 10 days in Langkawi,so we are not planning of using the swimming pool..
How did you book? By the web page of the hotel? Because I had tried but it has a problem,so I couldnt proceed with the booking. I am waiting now for an answer of the hotel,as I send an e-mail...
Not stayed at Beach but have at Park Royal
Hotel not overly special. Food OK, rooms clean, pool good, fitness centre great.
Location brill. MRT (Farriers Road) 150 yds away, good connections to Orchard Road, the Quays, Chinatown all direct lines. Next door is Serragon shopping plaza - IT NEVER SHUTS! 5 floors of bargains!
Nearby curry places tops.
Trevor
Is not the same hotel? I cant find another Park Royal...
My spelling error. Its Parkroyal, used to be called New Park Hotel
The noise is likely to be the opposite the front of the hotel. They were building a new complex opposite the hotel frontage June 08 (last visit). Noise didn%26#39;t bother me then but it looked a big construction site.
I will be in Singapore in December for a meeting, and then will be free to travel around for 10 days before returning to San Francisco. I would like to get away from the city and get ';off the beaten track'; a bit - try to experience a bit of local culture(s), get out in nature, maybe some snorkeling if possible. I have never been to Asia before, so it%26#39;s all exciting and new.
I would welcome any suggestions - should I stay in Singapore? travel to Malaysia? What might be a realistic plan, given time, budget (about $100/day), and December weather?
You can only find snorkelling activities in say Phuket, Thailand. So you may want o divide your 10 days out. Singapore can give you a good tour of the several Asian cultures. See website for tour: http://www.ducktours.com.sg
or do it yourself by visiting Chinatown, Little India and Kampomg Glam, etc.
Nature places include Bukit Timah Hill nature reserve, Pulau (Island) Ubin, Sungei Buloh Nature Reserve, etc.
Off the beaten track places will include some of the southern islands, some of the parks and reservoirs, such as Labrador Park, Marina Barrage, MacRitchie Reservoir, Seletar Reservoirs, etc.
For Malaysia, the East coast is out of bound as it is Monsoon period. You can visit Malacca for culture, KL for city tour, Penang for history, and Langkawi for beach resort. These places can be reached by coaches or flights from Singapore. If you have never taken a SIA (Singapore airlines)flight, you should. I think you will never want to take other airlines after that.
My suggestions based on your likes will be 5 days in Singapore, 1 in Malacca, 1 in KL, 2 in Phuket, then back to Singapore for your return flight to SF.
For your 5 days in Singapore, do give some consideration to some of the main attractions, because though they may be touristy, they are good, especially if you haven%26#39;t tried them. You know, it is like Singaporean going first time to Disneyland or first time seeing Redwood trees. It is touristy, but worth every penny (speaking from experience). Give the zoo and night safari, and Sentosa some consideration.
Enjoy your stay in Singapore.
I couldn%26#39;t agree more with %26#39;%26#39;Woodlands%26#39;%26#39; spend a few days in Singapore, then head north to one or two of the Islands in Thailand, Langkawi, Phuket, etc. The water round Singapore don%26#39;t lend themselves to snorkeling, but further north there are some excellent opportunities for water sports. Enjoy. Alan.
I personally wouldn%26#39;t try to do 4 locations in 10 days. We usually do two in two weeks and could probably fit one more in but any kind of travelling is tiring and if you are arriving from the States you will be very jetlagged for the first couple of days. I would do Singapore and Malaysia or Singapore and Thailand but would not attempt all of it unless you are a seasoned traveller but as you say you have never been to that area I wouldn%26#39;t try to do too much because days can be used up just getting from A to B.
tripadvisor.com/GoListDetail-i8282-Suggested…
Going in Dec, it is the beginning of the monsoon season. Tioman would be a great place to visit (esp. for snorkeling) but it will rain too much that month.
What can be considered an unforgettable nature side trip from SIN is a trip to Taman Negara or Endau Rompin (u can join an organized adventure group from SIN). One of the world%26#39;s oldest rainforest (E.R is and is closer and easier to get to), what a great place for a hike, camp, etc
T. Negara has a canopy walk that is a must, white water rafting as well as a cave visit. Of course, if u r lucky, u can get to see some amazing animals. All these r done with guides (coz wild life includes wild elephants, tigers, rhino, etc !!!)
Coz of the time u r traveling, wouldnt advise u to spend too much time and expenses on snorkeling destinations (u got to travel further) so why not do something we dont have back home ? I highly recommend a trip to the rainforest.
Or if u like a cultural experience, try Malacca. In SIN, there is always Pulau Ubin (esp. Chek Jewa) or a swamp visit to Sungei Buloh
It is nothing like hiking in our National Parks coz of the different climate so enjoy the difference. Only thing is, u will have to prepare lots of liquid as it is HOT and HUMID. Bring along wicking athletic wear.
Good luck !
PS. also bring along some bug spray (their range is not as wide as ours), mosquitoes and other bugs can be bad
Thanks everyone for the great suggestions. Thanks especially to de last one for the link to the 5-day suggestions.
So, given travel costs and time, maybe I should leave Thailand/Phuket for another trip? I can forego the snorkeling and instead concentrate on rainforest and cultural experiences closer to Singapore.
Does it make sense to go to Malacca? What is the best way to get there from Singapore? How long does it take?
Thanks.
Hello ageprof,
did you consider spending 3-4 days to visit Angkor?
It is only a 2h fly from Singapore. You%26#39;ll enjoy both nature and khmer culture at the same same :p
sorry, forgot to give you this link to a Singapore Tour operator: http://rmgtours.com/index.php?current=tours
You%26#39;ll find some rates on daily trip to Malaysia and Malacca.
Hi
I%26#39;m going to singapore on Holiday between the 27th feb and 4th march and would love some advice about
1) some interesting places to see
2) some great yet affordable ( some pricier suggestions also welcome, anything between 10-40 sing. dollars per head for a great meal) food places. The stuff I%26#39;m really looking for is great seafood and places where they roast whole duck and pigs and slice them like they show on discovery channel!!!
I%26#39;ve been there once before and already visited - cafe iguana, arab street, night safari, sentosa, thai express, swiss vilage and newton food court..so please leave these out!!
thanks a ton
andrews
maybe u can try jumbo seafood and no signboard for the famous chili crab. (alhtough i found it too sweetish, i still have to try the pepper crab though).
try carnivore for brazilian barbeque. but be ready to go there on an empty stomach and be fully stuffed! :)
tripadvisor.com/GoListDetail-i8282-Suggested…
There are quite a few choices if u r looking for a Peking Duck meal. As for a whole roast pig, well, that is something usually done at a celebration (u have to order the whole pig which can add up in terms of dining cost if it is only a few people !)
In the hawker center or food court, u can enjoy the roast pig as well (usually this stall sells char siew whih is chinese roast pork, duck, chicken, etc). This may be an easier way to enjoy the flavor of a Chinese roast pig
As for seafood, love the East Coast Park Seafood center. Again, u have lots of choices here but I usually go to Long Beach.
For nasi padang, try :
www.singaporemirror.com.sg/co_rendezvous.htm
thanks guys!! looking forward to it!!
Try the NO Signboard at Geylang for the crab and others.
The atmosphere is good as its lively part of town with with a vibrant crowd.
I had brought a german couple to eat. We did not order the crabs and total cost was around 50 euros.
They said its their best meal in Singapore!
Hi Andrews,
If you wanna have good Peking Duck, you have to stretch your budget a little bit. =) If it%26#39;s just two persons to a meal, you could request for half duck.
Restaurants which IMHO serve delicious Peking Duck are the Tung Lok Restaurants http://www.tunglok.com/
Or the Prima Revolving Tower. This is a unique place to have dinner as the tower rotates 360degrees allowing you to have a good city/harbour view. Or you could have lunch dim sum there.
www.pfs.com.sg/restaurants/prima_tower/
As for your roasted pig, there are some restaurants which serve small portions of it at about S$20 a dish... chances are that you can find them in Imperial Treasure Restaurants in Takashimaya Orchard, or any of the Crystal Jade Restaurants.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Suying
Are there still free day tours conducted by the Singapore Tourism Board. My family and I are visiting Singapore in May
Singapore Tourism Board Free Day Tours???Hi Ozgirl83,
To be sure you could well send the STB an email and check with them.
Cheers,
Suying
Singapore Tourism Board Free Day Tours???Thank you will do
Hi. Will have 18 month old with us. Looking for suggestions on whether to stay at Sentosa Island (Shangri La Rasa) or in City (Park Royal Beach Road, Hotel Rendevous or similar priced - S$250-300 per night with b%26#39;fast).
Want to hang around the pool a bit (therefore city hotel must have one) but mainly spend time doing the touristy stuff like Zoo, Orchard Road, East Coast Park, Wild wild wet, Escape theme park, Dolphin Lagoon, ';Song of the Sea';, Underwater world etc. (I think most of this stuff is on Sentosa, is that right?).
For what we want to do is it better to stay on the island or stay in the city and just day trip a couple of times to the island? Once on the island are you limited to eating mainly at the resort/s or is it easy to move around the island to the various other eateries (are they open at night??) and is it easy/cheap to head back over to the city (for example just for dinner, 1-2 hours), then return back to resort?
Going late April (had booked to Penang but changed mind and like the look of Singapore better. Also have 2 nights in KL on way home).
Really appreciate everyones time and replies.
(first timers to Singapore)
Cheers, Nathan
with a babe that age, I would go with Sentosa. Dont worry about food, u can easily travel around the island for it. If not, take the free shuttle to Vivocity and enjoy LOTS (movie theatres, restaurants, shopping etc), Vivocity had a huge playground, kids love it.
And with the complimentary shuttle from the Shang, u can travel to their sister property on the main island. If not, u can also take the Senotsa shuttle to Vivocity to the MRT and go wherever u wish.
With Vivocity, u really dont need to go to town area. Besides, there are also food court and other dining establishment on Sentosa.
Good Luck
I%26#39;d definately stay in the City. All the sites on sentosa you mentioned can be done in half a day. With a 18month old to push around you are probably not going to be interested in the other attractions. I wouldn%26#39;t really call Sentosa a resort in the same way your would term Resorts in other parts of the world. Staying on sentosa is no different to staying anywhere else. Singapore is pretty small and well connected, the only real differance is there is little else accessible by foot in Sentosa- 15min in a taxi and your in the middle of the city.
That budget will get you into quite a few 5* hotels in Singapore these days.
The city without a doubt. As our friend Manster says, Sentosa is not an Island paradise, as nice as it it to visit, and with all the construction that%26#39;s happening at the moment, it%26#39;s even less appealing. Yes it so easy, cheap and quick to get there, but I would choose a lot of beaches in the world before Sentosa as a place for a %26#39;%26#39;beach%26#39;%26#39; holiday.
Most of what is worth visiting, imho, is NOT on the Island, it%26#39;s well worth a visit, a %26#39;%26#39;must do%26#39;%26#39; really, but I think the city is the better choice.
Enjoy your first visit, I%26#39;m a great place. Alan
mankster and ddiggs are spot on. sentosa is good for a half day. or maybe one full day. thats it. its hardly a ';beach paradise';, more man made really!! but its a must-see if u havent already. In fact I%26#39;ll be visiting singapore again on the 27th this month but skip sentosa this time! have fun
IMO, stay in Sentosa for a night either in the beginning of the trip or at the end. Sentosa is good for one night%26#39;s stay and no more.
It depends on what you want really. City hotels will give you the location convenience. (Actually places like zoo, night safari, bird park are no nearer to city than Sentosa) Sentosa hotels will give you a feeling of relax and slower pace mood. So are you here in Singapore to escape the bustling city pace, then Sentosa is more likely than city to attain that. If you want to see more by cutting down the travelling time, then city will be more centralized. So you have to be clear what you want, and the choice is then obvious.
If they are still using the system, I think sentosa hotels will give you free passes to come out and back to Sentosa free during your entire stay there. If you are staying at Rasa Sentosa, you can either take their shuttle or take the Sentosa Express to Vivocity (3 mins), your eating and shopping paradise (one of the top malls in S%26#39;pore). The Sentosa Express (monorail) is connected to Rasa by a beach tram route (easy to use, just hop on and off at stations).
5 days is plenty of time to cover the major attractions. Perhaps, 2 days leisurely in Sentosa, 1 for zoo and night safari, 1 for city tour, 1 for escape theme park, etc. Hope you have a good holiday with your family.
Hi Nathan,
I believe you have already somehow gathered the pros and cons of Sentosa from the above posts. =)
IF i have an 18month old with me, and I%26#39;ve got a budget to stretch, I won%26#39;t be worried staying in any parts of SIngapore since I would be travelling via taxis everywhere I go... and taxis in Singapore arent expensive (not in the off-peak hours).
It will also depend how many days you have for Singapore to do all that you listed... The zoo is in the west, the east coast park near the central, Wild Wild Wet and Escape is in the East, and the Song of the Sea/Underwater world/Dolphins are in the Island of Sentosa. This would mean you are travelling almost all of Singapore. =)
If all you wanted of Sentosa is just the above 3 activities, then Sentosa might not be your best bet. Most probably you would be better off staying in the central areas such as the Pan Pacific/Marina Mandarin/Stamford Swissotel for greater accessibility/central location. And I would prefer these hotels compared to Park Royal/Rendevous.
If you stay in Sentosa, you will not just be restricted to the hotel restaurants, there are many other restaurants on the island. If you take a peep at the Sentosa website, you will see a whole list of food selections. However, if you are looking forward to try good local food, Sentosa doesnt have it. Nearest to sentosa, one tram ride away, is the Vivocity Shopping Mall where there are shopping and more restaurants.
For good and cheap local food you would have to visit the hawker centres/food courts/small restaurants along the shophouses....
You can find the list of recommended hawker centres easily by a search in this forum.
Cheers,
Suying
Hi,
Anyone knows the cheapest store to buy a canon digital camera in Singapore. I am looking for the lowest price in the island. Thanks.
Try to check-out the singapore cruise center arrivals area. Be ready with your bargaining skills.
My husband has bought many Canon Digital Cameras in Singapore and he actually buys from a shop in Lucky Plaza, he uses them all the time and has found them to be one of the cheapest, unfortunately I cannot remember the name, he also buys from Cathay Photo if they have the right price on offer.
Cathay photo do have some real cheap cameras sometimes (Like $99 for 7MP camera although the quality isnt that good). They have a shop at peninsula plaza
Hi IceKacang,
You can try Parisilk at Holland Village. I got my Nikon from them at quite a low price (in my opinion). I tried emailing them an enquiry once and they got back to me real fast. Maybe you can check with them first before going down.
http://www.parisilk.com/index.htm
Looks like Mr Audio house is back :(
Hi IceKacang, try shopping out of Orchard area where the tourists are. I got my Panasonic Lumix at a very reasonable price with lots of goodies (worth $100) thrown in and non-stressful negotiations!! I don%26#39;t remember the name but it%26#39;s at Ang Mo Kio Hub. Shopping is definitely cheaper out of Orchard area. Let me know if you want to sus it out.
I would recommend Parisilk in Holland Village. It may not be cheaper than the shops at Sim Lim but it is usually cheaper than the chain stores like Best Denki. I find their prices very reasonable, and they%26#39;re reliable.
hi ice
i think KL have good priced cameras there as well... you see when people go for cheaper priced cameras, there is always a risk factor...
