The Carlton Hotel Singapore

* SM-S908E, 6.4mm, f1.8, 1s.

This page is basically my thoughts on staying at this hotel in July of 2022, with some updates from my latest trip back in April 2023.

In the past, my hotel of choice has been the Marina Mandarin or Marina Bay Sands; however, for this trip, a friend recommended I try a cheaper, but just as good option, the Carlton and given the cost saving I figured why not save some money.

My thoughts on the other hotels are pretty simple: the Marina Mandarin is excellent, in a near-perfect location, and very comfortable based on many stays over the years.

And yes, I am well aware that the Marina Mandarin has been rebranded as the Park Royal Collection, but as there are many of these in Singapore, I will keep referring to it by the old name.

As for Marina Bay Sands, based on my single short stay with them, was a major disappointment, the room was a cupboard, the TV did not work, and the shower was really disgusting, with hair stuck to the wall, in short, that was my first and last stay with them.

Anyhow back to the Carlton.

For this trip, I booked the Carlton as part of a package with flightcenter, at the time the cost difference against the Marina Mandarin was around AUD$1000, which was quite a shock, and most welcome as this trip was on my dime.

Arriving at Changi airport at some very early hour of the day, and getting a Taxi, as is usual with me, I started a conversation with the driver and asked; what he had heard about the Carlton.

He told me it was one of the older ones, but it is also one of the good ones.

A good start.

Moving on to the arrival, no surprises, it's a typical good hotel with the usual plush lobby, with polite, helpful staff, etc

The only thing I noticed on arrival was the number of staff on duty, even at that very early hour. In the past, I have always expected a skeleton staff, but no, in this case, the lobby looked fully staffed, and from the following days, I did not see any difference in staffing levels. A promising sign that they care.

The check-in process was, as expected, professional and quick; they needed to see my passport, a credit card for the $200 room deposit, give me the electronic card key, and the ever-important Wi-Fi details.

My room was on the 23rd floor, and is what they call a deluxe room

My Initial thoughts on the room are good, it's very well laid out and has a walk-in shower with a gift from the gods rain head, and separate toilet. Basically, everything you need with none of the fluff.

One thing to note is the mini bar, which is empty, although according to the web site can be stocked on demand. This is something I have not seen before, not that it's a bad thing, quite the opposite it's a big plus, as it's my way when traveling to keep cold drinks and snacks in my room. And no, this is not just to save money, but I have multiple dietary issues, which means I have to be super careful about what I eat.

Now from the 23rd floor, the view from the window should be good, but having arrived in the very early hours, only a little to see, just city lights. Anyhow, in the morning, I took the following.

For those not familiar with the layout of Singapore, this is looking out toward the Orchard road shopping strip, a near-perfect segway to the Carltons location.

The Carlton is about as centrally located as it's possible to be, being right across the street from the world-famous Raffles Hotel, diagonally opposite to the Raffles City shopping center, around a 15-minute leisurely walk to Orchard road shopping strip, and with 3 MTR subway stations within a few minutes walk of the lobby. It does not get better when it comes to location.

You will note that again, I talk about walking, and yes, I know it's hot in Singapore, so this is not for everyone. As for me, I am known for not feeling the heat or humidity and for walking everywhere.

Anyhow, for those who do not like the heat, remember the Carlton is diagonally opposite the Raffles City shopping center, which has underground access to multiple MRT stations, plus numerous other shopping centers, etc.

While on the subject, in the sublevel of the Raffles City shopping center is a Marks and Spencer, who does a killer pastry, which ended up being my go-to breakfast.

I was planning to go back to Singapore in December for a much longer visit, and yes, the plan was to stay at the Carlton. This trip was cancelled after a problem with the airline and travel agent.

Now that trip may have been canceled, but there was a longer one back in April 2023, and yes, I stayed at the Carlton, hence the following update.

For this visit, I intended to book the same deluxe room type as before, but for some reason, I ended up getting a "premier room" in another part of the hotel. I did query this with the check-in staff as I was unaware I did this, and they told me the new room is better. Time will tell.

From what I could see, the only real difference between the premier room and the deluxe one from the July trip seems to be the bathroom, with the new room having a bath and not just a shower. For me, ok, technically, its better, but for me, no big deal.

* D850, 14-24@14mm, f2.8, 1/2000s.

Then comes the view, er, what view!!!. Rather than the nice view over the city, I got a view of the swimming pool and the other hotel wing. Annoying as I prefer to sleep with the window coverings open, and in this case could not, given the privacy issues. More than a little annoying, but still not a deal breaker.

While on the subject of the view, I took this shot of Raffles City, with my D850 DSLR and 14-24@14mm lens, f2.8 at 1.2000s, through the tinted window in the lift lobby on the 11th floor of the Carlton tower. And yes it took extensive photoshop to remove reflections and distortion etc.

I really must let the Carlton persons know that on their website, in the premier room description, it talks about "City or bay view", and I had neither.

Besides that, the room was way more noisy than the deluxe one from the July visit; to me, it sounded like ductwork rattling around. In short, these minor issues are things to note and do not mean I will stay elsewhere for my next Singapore trip.

Another thing worth noting is the housekeeping persons for the floor I stayed on went "above and beyond" the usual high level of service.

I was using the towel rack in the bathroom to dry my clothes, which, while it did work, was slow and annoying, well one day, I came back to find they had put the room ironing board upside down in the window and had hung my damp clothes on hangers using that as a stand. Brilliant comes to mind and is most appreciated.

And yes I did sent a feedback email about the housekeeping persons going above and beyond 😀