Stay Details

We spent seven days and six nights in Singapore in total. After finishing a 4-night stay at Fairmont Singapore, we used our remaining two nights at InterContinental Singapore, about a 10-minute walk away.

  • Property: InterContinental Singapore
  • Dates: Early April (2 nights)
  • Room Type: Heritage Room
  • Redemption: Redeemed with two annual Free Night certificates from Chase IHG credit cards

The Heritage Room is supposedly in the older part of the building, and is slightly better than the most basic room type.

About InterContinental Singapore

InterContinental Singapore is located in Bugis, one of Singapore’s well-known commercial districts. It’s also less than a 10-minute walk from Bugis MRT station, so the location is quite convenient.

The Fairmont we stayed at earlier had a more European/American style, with very high ceilings in the lobby, luxurious chandeliers, and massive oil-painting backdrops. By comparison, the InterContinental felt more like an understated Asian-style design and a bit warmer overall. On the front desk staff name tags, in addition to their English names, there was also a line with their names in Japanese. My guess is that the hotel gets quite a few Japanese guests.

In the nearby shopping centers, several department stores were Japanese-funded, and there were also quite a few Japanese restaurants. It may just be that the area we were staying in had a stronger Japanese influence. Bugis itself is a cultural district in Singapore, and there are also Muslim and Indian cultural areas nearby.

Hotel Experience

When I made the reservation, I didn’t really pay attention to the room size. It wasn’t until we checked in that I realized it felt genuinely small. The room was 38 square meters, and once you fit in the bed, sofa, coffee table, and desk, there was barely any space left beyond a walkway. Compared with the 46-square-meter room at the Fairmont, it felt much more cramped. That said, one entire wall was floor-to-ceiling windows, so the natural light was excellent.

Looking out the window, we could see the hotel pool and a road intersection. Fortunately, traffic in Singapore is fairly light, so it was pretty quiet. The only noise we noticed was the occasional motorcycle or sports car passing by late at night.

The bed felt a little short, almost like it was only about 1.8 meters long. We even wondered what tall Western guests would do—would they have to switch beds? There was also a phone on the nightstand available for guests to use for free. It could make local Singapore calls and use mobile data, which is a nice perk for travelers.

The small sofa and coffee table setup felt a bit underwhelming, especially for a room that cost nearly $200.

The cabinet by the entrance was actually pretty distinctive, and looked somewhat Japanese in style. Inside was the minibar fridge stocked with various drinks and alcohol. The hotel replenished two bottles of water per day, which was half of what we got at the Fairmont, where we received four bottles daily. Water in Singapore is expensive, though—around 3 Singapore dollars per bottle—and even basic restaurant water usually costs extra (1-3 Singapore dollars). Since we’re used to getting a free glass of ice water at restaurants in the U.S., that took some adjustment.

There wasn’t anything especially noteworthy about the bathroom, so I won’t include photos. The bath amenities were supposedly from a high-end San Francisco brand, though in actual use they didn’t feel particularly different.

Hotel Pool

Since our child likes playing in the water and Singapore is quite hot, we headed to the pool shortly after getting settled. The hotel pool is on the 4th floor, with a deeper pool (1.4m) and a smaller children’s pool (0.5m). Most of the people at the pool and sunbathing were Western guests, and a few were already extremely tanned. Swimming in the middle of tall buildings felt pretty different.

Looking up at the hotel from the pool, it looked quite upscale.

Bottom Line

Our stay at InterContinental Singapore was fairly average overall, perhaps because we were comparing it with the Fairmont Singapore from the previous few days. We had also considered another Singapore property, Intercontinental Singapore Robertson Quay, which was built in 2017. Compared with the busier Bugis area, that property seemed quieter and more modern. At the time, though, moving over from the Fairmont was more convenient, so we chose the city-center hotel instead. If you get the chance, it may be worth trying. That said, both InterContinental properties in Singapore cost more than 40,000 points per night, so the annual free night certificate from the IHG Premier credit card can no longer be used there.