The Mercure Hotel, Bugis
Taking the long way (and back) to Singapore
Time for the main hotel for this trip, as I explore a different hotel group brand from the norm – where I go to a Mercure Hotel (part of the Accor Group brand). How does the customer service compare?
In this adventure
- I needed a break
- 02:40 on the coach? Nothing changes, with Heathrow Terminal 5 and British Airways South Lounge
- BA776 London Heathrow to Stockholm Arlanda (Club Europe)
- An afternoon in Stockholm featuring ABBA The Museum
- Off to Stockholm Bromma, AY840 Stockholm Bromma to Helsinki Vantaa with NoRRA (Economy Class)
- A Rapid Helsinki Transit and The Finnair Lounge
- AY099 Helsinki Vantaa to Hong Kong International with Finnair (Business Class)
- Transiting Hong Kong and Cathay Pacific’s The Pier Lounge
- CX715 (AY5855) Hong Kong International to Singapore Changi Terminal 4 with Cathay Pacific (Business Class)
- Into Singapore, IBIS Budget Crystal
- The Mercure Hotel, Bugis
- Boating around the Singapore River
- Exploring Hawker Markets and random fooding around Singapore
- The Best Camera is the One You Have With You – Exploring The Gardens by the Bay
- Up to the Marina Bay Sands Skypark…
- …and the fallout of a stolen and returned iPhone
- Back to Changi Airport the Pokemon Centre at the Jewel and Terminal 4
- 3K513 (AY6379) Singapore Changi to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (Jetstar Asia Economy Class)
- One night in Bangkok and the Avagard Capsule Hotel, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi
- An early morning at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi and The Miracle Lounge, D Pier
- AY142 Bangkok Suvarnabhumi to Helsinki Vantaa with Finnair in Business Class
- Out of Vantaa Airport and into Helsinki… and a little beyond
- Holiday Inn, Helsinki Airport
- Early morning at Helsinki Vantaa Airport and The Finnair Schengen Lounge
- AY841 Helsinki Vantaa to Stockholm Bromma with NoRRA (Economy Class)
- The slow return to Arlanda Airport (with a military band)
- D84459 Stockholm Arlanda to London Gatwick with Norweigan Air Shuttle
- How to get home… coach or train?
- Sometimes, Simple Isn’t Needed… Or Wanted
Heading out of the Ibis Budget, I had two options – get a Grab to the Mercure or start getting used to the heat of Singapore.
I chose the latter. Least of all, there’s only so much time one can spend in air conditioning and walking from the hotel to Aljunied station on the East-West Line.
It’s not that far, but with the heat combined with the unforgiving sun… it was hot enough, to the point where I actively sought shade when walking.
Thankfully, I just had my backpack and shoulder bag. Whilst the Backpack is nylon-based (and to a point, can absorb sweat), the Pan Am Bag is PVC at best. That and the lack of flexibility were starting to make it more of a liability on this trip – so much so that it went in the suitcase on the way home.
Eventually, I made it to Aljunied station and inside. The MRT has made one big change since I was here last – the addition of allowing payment cards and tokens from international card issuers – Visa, and Mastercard – as well as local card options including EzLink and NETS Flashpay.
For travellers, it becomes a lot simpler – reach for your payment card and tap in and tap out on the same card. Or if you’re married to a mobile wallet, tap your phone as you go along. It makes travel a lot easier.
Boarding the train, you go through various levels of cooling – from the beating heat of a summer day, through the fans of the stattion, to the industrial air conditioning of the train – and then the reverse when you get off the train.
I exited at Bugis station and back into the heat of Singapore. There’s no escape from it, if we’re all honest.
From here, I knew I was early, but I was hoping to get the Mercure and drop off my baggage for a while. I followed my nose and a map.
Normally in Singapore, I stay at the Intercontinental. As I had burned my IHG free night voucher earlier this year, it makes that hotel expensive for what it is. Thankfully, the Mercure is the equivalent distance away – but instead of turning left on Middle Road, I turn right instead.
It makes life a lot easier, and it helps to control how soaked my polo shirts were getting.
And trust me, soaked is a word, when you’re used to a low-temperature environment.
Mercure Bugis, Singapore
Advanced Purchase rate – £369
Front Reception
Back Reception
It’s seating, but not as we know it.
Look up.
I walked in and cooled as I walked in. The oppressive heat of the Singapore day vanished in an instant.
I headed towards check-in, explaining I was early, and asked if I could drop my luggage off for a while. Instead, the agent tapped away and found me a room to check into.
That’s wonderful service- I was more than a few hours early for check-in. No deposit or card was taken for incidental fees, as the rate had been prepaid.
I headed up to the 4th floor to explore.
Going into the room, the first thing to note was it was a lot more compact than the IBIS Budget I was at.
To my right at the door were the climate controls – which had a key left in it to ensure the room was cool at 20c – so it was cool going in (as opposed to oppressively hot).
To the left, there was luggage storage and a fridge – two good things within sight of each other.
As well as slippers
Heading onward, we have the shower and the toilet. These are glass partitioned cubes rather than anything else. That’s not too bad if you’re on your own. If you were travelling with another… you might not appreciate glass separation and whist for plasterboard or a proper wall for these things
Moving along, we have a sink and tap tap. Again, like the previous Accor property, the hotel had removed the plastic water bottles, rather they provided a filtered water tap (with a filter in view), as well as hot and cold water.
We all know that plastic bottles of water aren’t ideal – but they are a fact of life (hence reuse and recycling are important here).
Dental and bath kits
Tea and Coffee were a little disappointing. Going up a few levels of brands, I’d expect something a little more potent than Nescafe Original coffee – but as I’ve said, only water down a little and it can become strong enough to wake you up in the morning.
Also, Coffee Mate. That stuff still has an odd aftertaste to it
Next, we came to the TV which was wall-mounted and had at least 30 extra channels on it. And the bed.
And yes, the bed is close as heck from this. Good luck using that small glass thing as a worksurface.
This room was allegedly 15m² large. I found this out the hard way, by banging my legs against the bed more than once this trip against the bed.
Although I can’t fault them for plugs, most of the major plugs are this world-type socket, which should cover most plugs you encounter in the world.
Although I’d love to see these sorts of outlets at airports and city hotels around the world – the requirement to carry adaptors drops to nil.
I swear I got too many bumps on this bed on my leg.
Internet connectivity was fine – with it coming in around 35mbs download speeds – good enough for YouTube and Nebula.
The bed itself was reasonably firm enough that I didn’t feel like I was sinking hard into it, whilst the room temperature was good enough that I could sleep under the covers and not on top of the bed.
Because waking up as a hot sweaty mess in the morning is never a good thing.
The shower itself was a rainfall type one – and by some magic, I was able to get the temperature right each time. That’s a hard skill some days.
As for the view from the room? Nothing to write home about.
I explored other parts of the hotel at night (mainly as I forgot during the day), with the hotel having a pool and a laundry facility on the 7th floor.
And a rooftop skypark on the 14th floor.
I must admit, at night, it was a quiet getaway from the busy city. Some mist sprayers would have been nice to cool off with, but it works as it stands.
If you’ve looked at the headers of this story, you’ll know that a little disaster befell me during my Singapore trip (and if you haven’t, check back in 4 segments time).
This is where the hospitality of the hotel won out – the concierge asked questions and talked to guest services, enabling them to get an extended check out on the Monday for me.
They said not to worry about it as I was heading out, and to confirm it when I returned to the hotel after one of the numerous visits to the Mariana Bay Sands.
With the late checkout confirmed, I was able to go back and forth to the Apple Store on Orchard Road – even if I was a little bit late on my return (and profusely apologising and offering to pay for extended time – that was turned down by the front desk)
Checking out of the hotel, there were no additional charges assigned.
Perfect for me to spend an hour in a public area, waiting for all the apps to reload on the phone.
Overall
Whilst the room might have been small (and I did bang my leg more than once in the room), the customer service was exemplary.
And sometimes, that level of understanding when things go wrong by a hotel makes or breaks a stay.
With a great bed, ice cold aircon when needed and working wi-fi, it’s a great base to explore Singapore, without having to go too far from an MRT station whilst managing costs.
It’s going to be on my radar for Singapore stays in the future – that’s for sure.
Next:
Boating on the Singapore River.
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