Hotel Review: Mandarin Oriental Singapore (Marina Bay View Room)
Keywords: Hotel - Room review - Mandarin Oriental - Marina Bay
Month of visit: May 2021
Youtube video review: Staycation during Phase 2 Heightened Alert | Mandarin Oriental Singapore
Situated just five minutes away from Esplanade MRT and seven minutes from City Hall MRT, Mandarin Oriental Singapore is a luxury hotel close to multiple shopping malls such as Marina Square, Suntec City and Raffles City Shopping Mall. This hotel offers guest rooms and suites with unparalleled views of the Marina Bay and sea as well as housing five in-house restaurants.
Exterior facade of the hotel.
In this review, we stayed in the largely popular Marina Bay View room which has a modest size of 34 sqm. As we stayed during the Phase 2 (heightened alert) period, there were many regulations that were in place such as no dine-ins in restaurants, closure of gyms and gathering limit of not more than two person. During this period, hotels can only accommodate at 25% occupancy and so visibly, there were not many guests. Nonetheless, there was a queue as we waited to check-in.
Checking into Mandarin Oriental Singapore.
The lifts serving different floors have glass panels facing towards the walkways leading to all the guest rooms. This open concept design made the hotel feel very spacious and the brightly lit walkways gave a very warm ambience.
Lift lobby and walkway to guest rooms.
Marina Bay View Room
Do check out this well-appointed Marina Bay View room in our immersive 360-degree room tour below.
360-degree room tour of the room.
The guest room has a standard layout of most entry level hotel rooms. Immediately on the left was the wardrobe area where standard bedroom amenities such as an iron, ironing board, clothes hangers, bedroom slippers, bathrobes, shoe polish and an umbrella were provided. There were also drawers for additional storage spaces as well as a built-in safe.
Wardrobe area upon entering the guest room.
Directly opposite the wardrobe was a relatively large marble bathroom. The bathroom had a floor to ceiling glass panel which overlooked the bedroom and Marina Bay. Privacy blinds could be adjusted from the inside.
Overview of the marble bathroom in our room.
The bathroom offered only a single vanity. Bathroom amenities such as vanity kit, dental kit and hairdryer were found in drawers beside the sink. A good sized mirror and a magnifying mirror were also provided.
Single vanity of the bathroom with amenities.
Both a standing shower and a soaking tub were available. The standing shower had a fixed shower head and no hand-held shower was provided.
Standing shower in the bathroom.
The soaking tub was attached to the wall and was not particularly large. It was also fairly dated and its water retention ability was not great. The shower gel, shampoo and conditioner were housed in a reusable container instead of the typical individually packed disposable capsules.
Bathtub and soap placed in reusable containers.
At the corner, the toilet seat was found, right next to a full length mirror.
Toilet seat at the corner of the bathroom.
The main bedroom area was fairly nice, with floral carpeting and leather finishes to give an overall modern look. A large king sized bed was positioned off-centre, with two bedside tables next to it. At the corner was a single seater leather sofa where guests can sit back and soak in the views from the room.
Bedroom of the Marina Bay View room.
On the walls by the bedside table were switches where we could control all the lights in the room. Importantly, a powerpoint was conveniently located here so that we could charge our electronic devices easily while resting on the bed. On the tables, a digital clock, a telephone, tissue box, a care park and water filled in reusable glass bottles were found.
Bed-side tables.
The care pack consisted of 3 sanitising wipes, a pair of gloves and 2 single-use masks.
The care pack provided during the pandemic.
Directly opposite the bed was a flat screen television supported on a marble top wooden cabinet. The television was fairly small. Beside this cabinet was the working desk.
Television and work station situated opposite the bed.
The minibar area was situated directly under the television, hidden in a cabinet. Unlike most hotels which do not provide minibar items during the pandemic to minimise touch points between guests, this hotel does. However, as the prices are on the higher side, purchasing your beverages at nearby malls is more economical.
Minibar area in the cabinet beneath the television.
A simple work station was placed at the corner of the room beside the television. Conveniently, HDMI cables were provided for connecting your devices to the television.
Work desk area.
The highlight of the Marina Bay View Room is of course, the unobstructed Marina Bay views.
Complimentary beverages and views from the room.
Facilities
This hotel has a very nice outdoor pool with views of the Marina Bay. The pool was long enough for doing laps and surrounding the pool were sun decks.
A beautiful pool at Mandarin Oriental Singapore.
In addition, there were a number of private cabanas with privacy curtains for guests to unwind on the pool terrace. Also, the seating spaces at the Dolce Vista restaurant were available for guests to utilise.
Private cabanas and seating spaces.
Dining Highlights
While the hotel has five very good restaurants, dine-ins were prohibited during the Phase 2 (heightened alert) period and so we were not able to dine in. Also, breakfast had to be served in-room.
Breakfast in-room
We were required to place our breakfast order the day before and they were brought to our room at our desired time. We thoroughly enjoyed our private in-room dining with great morning views of the Marina Bay.
Breakfast served to our room.
Each guest was entitled to one breakfast set which included continental set, western set, asian set and vegetarian set. We had opted for the western set and asian set. The western set came with eggs done your way or pancakes and came together with seasonal fruits, a bread basket and yoghurt. Meanwhile, the asian set had a choice between Nasi Lemak or Roti Prata and came together with fruits, yoghurt and a dim sum basket. Both sets came with a choice of hot beverage and chilled juice.
Western and Asian set items.
Concluding remarks: A staycation during Phase 2 (heightened alert) felt more relaxing than during normal times because of the greatly reduced occupancy rate. The service rendered was commendable and our room were clean although it felt a little dated. We believe paying a premium for the Marina Bay view is well worth the money.
Location:
Mandarin Oriental Singapore
Website:
https://www.mandarinoriental.com/singapore/marina-bay/luxury-hotel
