On our previous stay in Singapore, a friend of mine recommended staying at this hotel. I hesitated because when I think of YMCA, I think of backpackers, young people, dorm type rooms. We stayed at another hotel down the street which turned out to be a disappointment.
So on our second trip, I decided to take up my friend's advise and stayed at the YMCA @ One Orchard. So here is my review for this hostel.
RESERVATION / RESPONSE TIME
It was easy and fast. All I had to do was go to their website and picked up a date. There were 4 of us (3 adults and 1 child) and so I opted to get the Jr Suite promo. S$220 for 1 night with free breakfast for 3. I had to pay an additional S$6.50 for the child. It is not the cheapest accommodation but it is one of the hotels that can accommodate 3+ adults in one room. If we go to other hotels, we had to get 2 rooms and would cost more overall. I had some inquiry if I had to pay extra for the child (answer is no). They responded in about a day. Quick and easy reservation but you would need a credit card.
LOCATION
It is smack beside the National Museum of Singapore in a quiet part of Singapore. In front is the Singapore Management University (SMU). Lots of students, greenery. The Doby Ghaut MRT is a quick 3 minute walk that serves 3 lines, very convenient and one of the things I considered when I was looking for hotels in Singapore. Although you can walk towards the central part of Orchard road (about 20-30 minute walk), you can also ride the MRT.
There is a food court (Food Republic) a short block away that serves affordable meals ($3-10), a 7-11, some fast food restaurants. Very very convenient. The taxis we used seems to be familiar with the place and we had no trouble getting in and out.
ROOMS
The Jr Suite (Rm 713) was big but in all the wrong places. The room had a wall division between the bedroom and the living room. The bedroom space was small while the living room (which did not have much use) was big. There were 2 beds; 1 small double and 1 single rollaway bed. The double bed was firm with firm pillows. The rollaway was much harder and tend to move a bit. There was a reading light on each side of the room (I don't see that often in hotels) but it is too bright if you turn them on.
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| small bedroom but functional |
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| TV channels were limited, we didn't bother |
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| Window seats that can double as a bed |
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| View on the other side - back of the hostel |
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| View from the side of the National Museum |
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| there it is! |
The bathroom was small but very clean. My complaint was that the hot water does not work (no matter how many times we fiddled with the knobs/switch) and there is only the small window for ventilation. They provided 3 towels and 3 toilette packs.
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| small but clean |
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| liked the fact that they come in packs |
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| My niece showing the open storage space. On the side is the closet where you can hang your clothes. |
WIFI
Wifi was very very strong and free (!) which was a relief because we just came from Hard Rock Hotel in Sentosa and they were charging for Wifi. The signal at YMCA was so strong that at one point, all 4 of us were using the Wifi and we had no trouble even if we were all watching videos in YouTube.
BREAKFAST
Breakfast was blah and you are better off getting breakfast at the food court down the street. YMCA offered bread, jams, beans, hotdog, egg, ham, very basic salad, juice, fruits.
SERVICE
Nothing really to complain. The service was quick and prompt. Since it is a basically an upscale hostel, there were no bellman to help with the bags which was fine. We were able to leave our bags when we checked out since our flight was at midnight. I requested help in getting a taxi for the airport and they just called one for us (additional charge by the taxi company of S$2-3/trip). I asked for extra pillows with housekeeping and they immediately sent 2 at no extra cost.
FYI: No seats at the lobby so if it's useless to hang around after check out while waiting to go to the airport. Since it is YMCA, they are plenty of activities going around their conference/function room so expect a lot of people loitering around the lobby. There is a big weighing scale beside the room where they keep their bags so you can check out your bag's weight before going to the airport - you have to pay S$.10. The taxis don't stop in front of the hotel. They usually go around the back at the parking lot and you have to take an elevator going down. For taking a taxi, you can either ask the front desk to call you one (at a small extra cost) or go down one block and go to a taxi stand.
Final Verdict
I was very satisfied about the location, the cleanliness, the free Wifi and service. Can recommend this for a no frills stay.
YMCA
One Orchard Road
Singapore 238824
Tel 65-6336 6000
Fax 65-6337 3140
http://www.ymcaih.com.sg/
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