The 656-room Orchard Hotel Singapore is an upscale property next to the infamous Orchard Towers and near Orchard Road’s major shopping areas. Rooms are all modern and elegant, and include Signature Club rooms that have a chic, almost boutique vibe, with a blend of contemporary and traditional Asian design. The main on-site restaurant is highly regarded for its Cantonese cuisine, and there are two more restaurants and two bars on-site. The expansive events space is popular for business gatherings, weddings, and social events. The plus point of the location of Orchard Hotel is that it is situated along the famous entertainment and shopping belt.

It was a quiet afternoon when we checked in to the hotel. Since the ruling about the Phase 2 restrictions took place, many people have decided to cancel or postpone their staycation, so we did not need to stand in long queues while waiting to check in.

With the upcoming Dumpling Festival taking place in June, many places have started to sell rice dumplings. The ones being sold at the hotel are made by Hua Ting restaurant. They use many premium ingredients to make each rice dumpling, from the Hong Kong style to the Cantonese kee chang with velvety red bean filling.

Orchard Hotel used to be linked to Claymore Connect shopping mall, but due to the implementation of the single entry/ exit, the link with the hotel is currently closed. We have to walk a larger round in order to access the shopping mall.

As part of our wedding anniversary celebrations, I had booked a Signature Premier room with clubroom privileges. It contains all the features of the Signature deluxe room, in a bigger living space. At a generous 387 Sq Ft, your exclusive retreat by Pierre Yves Rochon is made to fulfil your every need. The Signature Premier room unlocks benefits including complimentary WiFi, minibar and a full sumptuous breakfast buffet at Orchard Café. Enjoy all-day complimentary use of reading materials and private meeting rooms for business discussions and small meetings.

The bedroom was overlooking Orchard road and the swimming pool just directly below our room. While there is not much of a scenery, but at the 17th floor which was the highest level in the building, we were more than happy with the skyscraper views.

This is the dining area, where we sat down to enjoy our dinner and breakfast. It was a huge table that was enough to fit four people and I liked the polished, glossy surface.

As for the living room, it was a spacious area to Netflix and chill. The room has 2 televisions, one in the living room and one in the bedroom. So two people can watch different channels at the same time.

Moving on to the bathroom, it had a stylish bathtub and marble flooring. While the tub itself is not standalone or did not have a view, it still deserved a good soak in it.

This is the view from the room of Orchard Hotel, which consists mainly of rooftops and skyscrapers in the distance. Even though Ion Orchard is a stone’s throw away, it can’t be seen from this window.

The minibar is well-stocked with TWG tea bags and Nespresso capsules. The fridge has been cleared of all drinks, which is common ever since covid-19 broke out. I miss the days where I could help myself to beer or soft drinks in the minbar which is complimentary, especially at Andaz.

Facilities

Orchard Hotel has many facilities and amenities to cater to the hotel guests. This is the clubroom for Premier guests or those staying in the suites. I would have liked to enjoy my afternoon tea here or breakfast on the same level, but it was unfortunately closed as no dine-in was allowed during our stay. Thus we missed out on the free flow tipple and afternoon snacks.

The pool is nothing much to rave about. There is no view as it is located on the 4th floor. The pool also comes with a jacuzzi, and slots have to be booked in advance using a QR code. Once we reach the pool, we have to scan the SafeEntry and also show our booking reservation. I booked a swimming slot at 8am and only 3 people came down to swim at that timing. This was much better than other hotels such as Sofitel or Carlton where all swimming pool slots were fully booked.

The weather was kind of gloomy during the time I was at the pool. Looking up the glass building of Orchard Hotel, you can slowly count to the 17th storey. The pool surroundings is tranquil and I suppose it must have seen better days. The jacuzzi was a welcome respite but the water jets were not so powerful to massage my aching leg muscles.

There is also a gym, but it was closed at that moment due to Phase 2. All these regulations really make a staycation less pleasant and less worth it. I feel that we can exercise with our masks on and that there is no concrete evidence of many Covid cases being spread from gyms.

Food options

Hotel guests on staycations cannot dine at food-and-beverage establishments on the premises, according to the stricter rules during Phase 2.

After we had completed our check-in, we were able to collect our afternoon tea takeaway boxes from Orchard cafe because the club room was closed. The spread for tea time was quite decent, with a mix of savoury and sweet food. The rainbow-coloured kueh lapis was the most interesting while the rest of the items were pretty mundane. It was a promising sign to see that the takeaway tea set was put in cardboard boxes which are biodegradable compared to using plastic ones.

As part of our anniversary surprise, I also arranged for a slice of cake to be sent to our room. We were touched by the personal note attached to the cake, with heartfelt greetings and signatures from the front desk staff. It was a thoughtful gesture indeed.

For breakfast, I called the front desk to arrange for them to send it to the room, but nobody picked up the call. Disgruntled, I had to go down to the lobby to pick up breakfast. There was a mix of Chinese, Western and Indian breakfast that we could pick and choose. Going with our favourite, we chose omelette, bacon, hashbrown and sausages. There was a lot of plastic boxes involved due to the need to be hygienic, which is inevitable. The toasted bread and croissant were cold by the time I took up, so it was very hard to bite into. Ah how I miss the freshly baked croissants in Paris that we ate every morning from any random bakery.

This is the flow chart for the take away breakfast. It is really troublesome to be doing safe entry and temperature check even for a 5 minute stint to collect the breakfast. I wish we could do away with such measures in the near future.

Overall, we enjoyed our stay at Orchard Hotel because of the spacious room and the lack of crowds. While the staff were mostly polite, I wish they could improve on their efficiency in answering our room calls. Our crockery for dinner was not cleared and we had to leave it overnight in the room. Some of the facilities are also slightly dated, so it would be a good time for an upgrade. Next time if we were to come back and stay again, we hope to be able to use the clubroom and more of the other facilities.