Hotel Review: voco Orchard Singapore (King Bed Deluxe)
Keywords: Hotel - Room review - voco - IHG - Rebranded hotel - Orchard
Month of visit: January 2022
Youtube video review: King Bed Deluxe (voco Orchard Singapore) | Hotel Review
voco Orchard Singapore is the first voco hotel to open in South East Asia. This hotel currently occupies the building that was vacated by the former Hilton Hotel along the famous Orchard Road. Guests staying at this property will be spoilt for choices with the plethora of shopping and dining options within walking distance. Connectivity is also excellent being only five minutes by foot away from Orchard MRT station.
Facade of the hotel.
With the exception of the lobby area, common areas and guest rooms were not refurbished and looked fairly dated. Those who have stayed at the former Hilton Singapore will hardly find any difference between these two properties. The check in process was smooth and we were granted an early check-in at 12PM.
For this stay, we had utilised a special rate for healthcare workers with rooms starting at only $140. This room package included a night stay in a deluxe room, breakfast for two and two additional perks of our choice. For more information about the room rate, you may click here.
Hotel lobby.
The walkways leading towards guest rooms were spacious and brightly lit. It was to our pleasant surprise that the elevators were very fast.
Common areas of the hotel.
King Bed Deluxe High Floor
Check out our immersive 360-degree room tour of this room below.
360-degree virtual room tour of our room.
The room that we stayed in was the King bed deluxe room on a higher floor. Essentially, the layout of the deluxe and premium room categories are identical and measures about 32 sqm in floor size. The entrance to the room was narrow and directly adjacent were the bathroom and minibar area.
Entrance to our guest room.
The mini bar area consisted of complimentary coffee and tea making items. We were pleasantly surprised to see a Nespresso machine given that this was the second lowest room category in this property.
Minibar and mini fridge area.
Directly opposite the minibar area was the bathroom. The bathroom was very small and dated with a typical layout to hotel bathrooms around three decades ago. Our toilet bowl was clogged throughout our stay and it was an unpleasant experience. The shower/bath area was a sunken bath which appeared too small for a bubble bath and cumbersome to get into. Bath amenities were provided from Crabtree & Evelyn.
A dated and small bathroom.
The wardrobe space was beside the minibar area with standard bedroom amenities found inside. Annoyingly, the wardrobe door made a loud ticking sound for about one minute every time we closed it.
Wardrobe space and bedroom amenities.
Going past this area was the main bedroom space. This was a fairly spacious squarish area and while not the most modern, it gave a warm and cosy feel. In the middle was a comfortable king sized bed.
Main bedroom space of the room.
Bedside tables were found on both sides of the bed. Both sides had a powerpoint and reading lamp while only one side had light switches.
Bedside tables on both sides of the bed.
Directly in front of the bed was a small Sharp television and a built-in luggage rack with a drawer. The television was shockingly old with poor graphics and if you're considering connecting your HDMI cable to it, you may throw that thought away. We were informed by some of our readers that the premium rooms have a more modern Samsung television.
An old television and a built-in luggage rack.
By the window was a work desk with a glass tabletop. The chair was an ergonomic Herman Miller product and power sockets could be found here for charging needs.
A neat work desk area.
Tucked into the corner was a single seater sofa and a coffee table. This is where you can sit back and soak in the views of Orchard. In truth, we didn't see the benefits of having a higher floor as the views weren't that great.
A cosy sitting space and views of Orchard.
Facilities Highlights
The hotel has a nice rooftop pool on floor 24 and a fitness centre on floor 23. Advanced reservations will need to be made for pool and gym slots. However, nobody was managing this on-site and so guests without booking can simply enter these areas, potentially creating an overcrowding issue.
Rooftop pool
To get to the pool, guests will need to alight the lift on floor 23 and climb one flight of stairs. A decent sized pool segmented into two areas of different depths was available for hotel guests to use. Plenty of sitting spaces were found scattered around this rooftop deck including sundecks, sofa seats and proper dining tables.
A nice rooftop pool deck.
Fitness centre
The fitness centre was open 24 hours and could be accessed using our guest room card. It was very spacious and well equipped.
A spacious and well equipped fitness centre.
Breakfast at Opus Bar and Grill
Daily breakfast was held at their in-house Opus Bar and Grill. Situated on the lobby level of the hotel, this restaurant was brightly lit and had a comfortable ambiance.
Breakfast was held at Opus Bar and Grill.
While the booking platform indicated that each breakfast slot was only 30 minutes long, we were not asked to leave despite spending more than an hour. The breakfast concept was a semi-buffet style where diners can choose a one-time serving of a main dish and unlimited portions of other items from a menu.
A good semi-buffet breakfast .
The free flow items included a bread basket, cheese platter, salmon and pumpkin salad, oatmeal, cereals, yoghurt and a fruit plate. For the main dishes, diners can opt for one item from a selection of an American breakfast set with "eggs done your way", Eggs Benedict, egg white omelette set, sandwiches, pancakes, Nasi Lemak and porridge. The breakfast spread was good and food quality was commendable.
A good breakfast spread at Opus Bar and Grill.
Concluding remarks: Having taken over the building that once housed Hilton Singapore, it is disappointing that refurbishments were not carried out before they opened their doors for staycations and tourism. As such, many features were visibly dated and doesn't appear to fit with voco's theme. Service was not great and an example would be how guests will need to self-collect an ice bucket from the restaurant if they wish to order one. Nonetheless, decent staycation promotions are ongoing and a stay here can be value-for-money.
Location:
voco Orchard Singapore
Website:
https://www.ihg.com/voco/hotels/us/en/singapore/sinor/hoteldetail
