At the beginning of the school holidays, my husband had a seminar at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore, so without further ado, we just had to join him. This now iconic building, designed by architect Moshe Safdie, is made up of 3 towers connected at the top by the Sky Park that has an enormous curved infinity pool, bars and restaurants. The lower ground floor houses the car park and the underground connection to the shopping complex and entertainment facilities on the esplanade. Our modern, spacious room was in Tower 2 with an amazing view across the sea and to the Singapore Flyer. Behind the hotel, construction is well underway for an enormous garden complex.
The over 2,500-room hotel is incredibly busy. There are plenty of curious people just coming to gaze at the structure and to go up to the Sky park and enjoy the view. If you are not staying at the hotel, this will cost you around S$20 p.p. and will only get you the view, as the pool is for hotel guests only. The pool is split into sections; the one nearest Kudeta restaurant is for adult use only. Obviously the pool is very popular, so go there for the sunrise, rather than in the late afternoon, when everyone wants to be there!
The buffet breakfast in the lobby is also busy, particularly at the weekends (try and be early or late). The lobby also has an excellent bakery and coffee shop, which we used in the afternoons. In the evenings there is a free light and music show on the esplanade waterfront overlooking the Merlion statue and the beautiful Fullerton Hotel. This is a really nice area for a stroll in the evenings; we saw lots of joggers along here and children playing. On the esplanade is the Art and Science museum shaped like a lotus flower.
The shopping complex has plenty of restaurants, cafés and an excellent food court, which is near the artificial ice-skating rink. There are lots of high-end shops here, a toyshop, but no bookshop as yet. The entrance to the theatre is also here and we were lucky enough to see the spectacular Lion King show.
Upon checking out we used the free hotel shuttle service to the airport.
Since our trip I have heard that the best value rooms are the Clubrooms, which include drinks and snacks in the club area. Checking-in times are VERY strict, 3pm onwards (unless you have a Clubroom) therefore queues can be long. We really enjoyed staying here, our son still talks about it!
TIP – Don’t try and re-arrange the fridge in the room, as the drinks will automatically go on your room bill!