Singapore Hotel Upgrades
First Non-Smoking Hotel, Wireless Broadband and free mini-bars.
May 19, 2007
Once again Singapore is to the fore in the bid to offer extras to its guests. The five star Royal Plaza Hotel on Scotts Road, after its complete renovation, is offering features which are unique in Singapore, if not the world. It is the first hotel in the city-state to have all 511 smoke-free rooms and suites, plus, it is also offering free broadband both wireless and wired, in each room! It will also, a spokesman announced this week at the hotel’s Grand Launch, start to measure the quality of service through a “Mystery Shopper” programme to test the hotels “branded service values”. The new glass façade is already attracting attention and the hotel is already being referred to as Plaza on Scotts.
That’s not all, this five-star establishment is even offering a free mini-bar in every room. Each day the mini-bar is replenished with two beers, two mineral waters, two juices and two soft drinks. Mind you, the luxurious Kempinski Hotel in Estepona in Spain was offering this about four years ago when it opened its doors for the first time, and I presume it is still on offer. Many hotels in Thailand leave two or four bottles of water per room for their guests. The Dusit Resort Hotel in Hua Hin, Thailand actually distributes free bottled water morning and afternoon to its guests around the pool because, as G.M. Victor Sukseree explained, “de-hydration is a problem in our heat and we’d rather give water away than have our guests become ill from heat exhaustion“.
Another hotel in Singapore is making news. The Furama River Front Hotel now boasts 596 rooms after its five-month renovation and refurbishment. There are swish new executive rooms and the hotel’s carpark has been transformed into a ballroom - the Mercury Ballroom - to accommodate weddings and seminars for up to 340 banquet guests.
This, it is hoped, is the first step for the Furama Hotel International Group in its bid to grow. Plans are afoot for expansion into Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam.
Other news from Singapore concerns the city’s most visible attraction, The Singapore Flyer. This giant ferris wheel which will reach 165 metres into the sky, feature 28 capsules each able to carry 30 people, and is due to commence operations in March 2008. Each ride will take around 37 minutes. The Flyer will be located on Raffles Avenue at Marina Bay, and from the commanding heights, tourists will be able to view the city, Sentosa Island and as far away as Malaysia and Indonesia.
