Parkroyal on Beach Road

Earl and I just spent five perfectly wonderful days in Singapore. It was a look and see trip sponsored by his office as he'll start working there next month. We were billeted at the Parkroyal on Beach Road and what made it great was that we got upgraded to the Club Floor. Since I used to book hotel rooms for a living, I've always wondered what it would be like to stay in that room category and now I can definitely say that it was so much fun!

Here are the inclusions for the Orchid Club Premier King Room:

Guests have access to the round-the-clock Orchid Club Lounge which serves breakfast, all-day refreshments and evening cocktails. The Orchid Club butlers are on hand to facilitate guests’ requests.

• Priority check-in and check-out at Orchid Club Lounge
• Welcome fruit basket and drink
• Complimentary daily newspaper
• Complimentary breakfast, afternoon tea and evening cocktails at the exclusive Orchid Club Lounge
• Complimentary Shoe Polishing
• Complimentary Pressing upon arrival (two pieces)
• Complimentary Laundry up to two pieces per day (excludes dry cleaning and non-cumulative)
• Complimentary in-room Broadband Internet access
• 20% discount on all Business Centre services
• 20% discount at Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant (for a la carte menu only)

The bed was so comfortable that I decided to check what brand they were using for the pillows and the mattress pad - Northern Feather Asia. Unfortunately, based on their website, it doesn't look as though as they do retail. As to the bathroom, it was very clean and the rain shower was quite soothing after a long and tiring day.

We tried their evening cocktails at the Lounge and it included a light buffet. The food was good and if you ate enough of it, you would not need dinner. Buffet breakfast was also nice but I must say I prefer the one over at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel.

We didn't have much to complain about except for the bathroom sink faucet that would at times only have hot water no matter which way you turned it. Also, the telephone inside the bathroom would periodically beep repeatedly for some unknown reason. It wasn't loud enough to wake us up so we didn't mind too much.

Oh, and when we requested a flat sheet from housekeeping, the attendant knocked on our door twice and then opened it before I had a chance to reach the door! I was a bit uncomfortable with that because what if we had been dressing up at the time?

Those things were minor though and most of the staff were quite friendly and helpful that we thought we were on vacation instead of a business trip.