Mandarin Oriental, Singapore

We are still in the hotel (room 1734) but we’ve had such a great experience so far that I feel compelled to feed this back. We came to Singapore to celebrate my husband’s 40th plus our 10 year wedding anniversary. The hotel were very kind and decorated our room, and presented us with a card and yummy cakes! The check-in experience with Mihai was very swift (which we appreciated after travelling for nearly 20 hours!) and informative. My son was very pleased to be gifted a bag with some activities and a lion toy. He even received his own key card. A really nice touch. The rooms are beautiful and very functional. We have a great view of MBS and the marina area. Despite the surrounding building work, the view from our room is spectacular and we cannot hear any noise from the building site. Housekeeping deserve a special mention. They’ve kept our room spotlessly clean and are super efficient at turning around our room. We have been amazed by the food choices at breakfast. The choices are vast but everything we tried tasted really really good. I would go as far as to say, this is one of the best hotel breakfasts we have ever tried. They even have an ice cream bar! The staff are incredibly attentive and will stop to chat, despite being busy. We have used the gym and swimming pool and I have to say they are top quality, and one of the better ones we have experienced in a city in Asia. One thing that stands out to me is the willingness of many of the staff to engage with guests. They seem genuinely interested in our plans and are willing to help. I would have no hesitation in recommending this hotel to friends and I would love to stay here again.

We arrived at 11am after an overnight journey with 2 toddlers. At check-in we were told that one room would momentarily be ready (11:30am) so even though we were prepared for a 3pm check in (brought pool gear to slip into and have lunch with the kids while we waited) - but since we were told we thought we’d wait. EXCRUCIATING We were checked in at 3pm on the dot to both rooms together. They kept us in limbo for 3.5 hours with toddlers. About 15 attendants in the lobby - not even one helped us to relocate or move to a restaurant. They saw our kids struggle: hungry, tired, needing the loo - it was a nightmare. By 1:30pm I told my husband I’d go order the kids lunch by the pool, as we wasted so much time against our original plan of just swimming till 3pm. Kids were already in tantrum mode. Upon asking, they hesitated to allow us to the pool area and restaurant! The receptionist who originally told us 1 room would be ready momentarily, was there the entire time and kept signalling to wait a little more - which was the real madness of it all. It was the worst Mandarin Orient we’ve ever stayed at, especially since we moved to the Raffles upon our return a week later which was absolutely splendid. Our nanny was with the kids on the first night whilst we walked to dinner - we told her to order a scoop of ice cream at 10pm for our old toddler as promise. It took her 25 minutes on the phone with reception and in-room dining who insisted there was no ice cream. I suspect there was a language barrier - not sure what on earth was going on. She was so distressed and they said no food was available - but by now my toddler was expecting it so we sent it via a delivery app to the hotel in desperation. 1. Upon our return, we discover a 24 hour menu with ice cream on it, so not sure why they did not recommend it. Or suggest it. She speaks very clear English - and she said they insisted that they could not serve any ice cream even though regular in-room dining ended at 11pm. 2. Our nanny said even though she had 2 toddlers with her - reception insisted she go down 7 floors to receive the delivery of ice-cream herself as they could not do it on her behalf. Seems fine, except it was paid for and he was waiting at reception so it seemed like it was straight forward enough to just do - but since one kid was sleeping and she didn’t want to leave him alone in the room- she had no choice but to leave both kids alone and run down quickly. I wish she had called us we would have rushed home, but it’s sad that even though she explained to them she couldn’t leave the kids, they still refused. On our first morning, both our kids were traumatized and crying from fear - as they woke up at 9:30am to an hour of loud banging and crashing from the floor below. Since the hotel has a balcony style of flooring where it’s open and you can view all the floors till the bottom- there is 100% noise pollution from each floor across the hotel. I think they had a restaurant being re-opened so had a ceremony I’m guessing but morning time, with no notice to guests, a full hour of the loudest noise. We could barely eat breakfast because it was deafening, and the kids were so insecure. Unheard of. Simply unheard of. We stayed 4 nights but I wish we had moved out after the first - At check-out we asked for luggage collection 30 minutes before. Till the last minute, we were all in the car - the luggage never made it down. In fact the doormen felt so bad they ran up and brought it down from the room themselves! We had checked out. The luggage was ready to go 30 minutes prior to departure. The hotel wasn’t even busy that morning. Lots of attendants hanging around the lobby but they seemed to just be there for show, as none of them ever helped or assumed any responsibility for guests. We asked the concierge for help with Night Safari details, a very popular attraction at the Singapore Zoo. They told me to Google any details as it would be easier, and they didn’t have much info. I was asking about tickets/distance/itinerary, etc. Any info would’ve been helpful, or willingness to investigate but they weren’t interested. We asked them about the best local ice cream: they said Ben and Jerrys. They were right, google was a lot more helpful than they were, but again, I was expecting Mandarin Oriental services. Shocking and absolutely not worth a recommendation.

First class service from check in at Haus65 to breakfast, afternoon tea and canapés. Knowledgable staff, nothing was too much trouble. Special thanks to Justin and Sarah and the rest of the staff.

Amazing accommodation with extras included - very comfortable and well appointed rooms with incredible views - we will be back

Great location and 5 star for the hospitality of the staff. Booked through AMEX FHR, the staff politely made accommodations for all the perks/upgrades included. Embu breakfast buffet was delightful and we would look forward to breakfast time. Bright and open space with a wide variety of stations, all items tasted fresh, many live stations (egg, noodle bar, waffles/pancakes) with very friendly and cheerful chefs. Fruit section was our favorite. The floor staff at the restaurant was very attentive to promptly clear the plates and bring beverages, and frequently check with guests for additional requests. Pool area is a must experience, great views of the bay, well equipped and again great staff. We also appreciated the glass water bottle service that the hotel provided. It's a great effort to save the use of plastic bottles and every time we requested water service, it was promptly delivered. It was very convenient to reach housekeeping using the Whatsapp app and the responses were almost instant. The hotel is clean, bright, open and modern but what made our experience delightful and memorable was the hosting people (staff). We were always greeted with a smile and everyone made a genuine effort to help us in all possible ways.