Why would anyone want to stay at an airport hotel? Prior to having the pleasure of staying at the Crowne Plaza at Changi Airport, the only answer to that question which I could have come up with would have been “convenience”. Sometimes you’ll stay at an airport hotel just to be handy for moving on to your next destination.
Well, the Crowne Plaza certainly ticks the convenience box – with a huge tick! Literally, you can exit via one of the hotel entrances and you are in Terminal 3 of Singapore’s International Airport. The hotel does offer airport transfers, but they are done on foot with one of their staff and a hotel luggage trolley. That’s all that’s needed. Now that is convenience.
The hotel has a lot more to offer than its superb location, which is strategically placed for the Singapore Expo, Changi Business Park, and several golf courses, as well as the airport. It’s also only about 20 minutes’ drive away from the business, shopping and dining areas of the city centre. All very convenient, but is there anything more to recommend about it? Absolutely, yes!
The building itself is totally unlike any airport hotel building you’ll have seen before. With the guest rooms facing onto open-air corridors, a structure planned to make the most of natural light and shade, and its theme of “wood and water”, it’s a temple to eco-chic. An abundance of tropical greenery and clever use of water features make it an oasis of tranquillity in the bustling city-state of Singapore. The deluxe guest rooms have excellent soundproofing and you’d never know you were so close to an airport.
Yet for all the luxury and calm, the hotel is also very high tech and offers excellent facilities to cater for business travellers as well as those on leisure trips. A capacious ballroom, and several Smart Meeting Rooms designed to promote creative discussion, can host events for numbers from 10 to 300.
The deluxe rooms are comfortable, with an ample 36 square metres to stretch out in. A decent-sized desk ensures plenty of working space if you need to take care of business, but you may prefer to relax in front of the wide-screen TV, gaze out of the picture windows at the tropical greenery, or perhaps plug your iPod into the bedside CD player and lull yourself to sleep with your own choice of music. Bathrooms come with a generously-proportioned bathtub and a separate rain shower.
The suites are even more luxurious, with more than twice the space – 75 square metres! The living/reception area has room enough to work in and hold meetings, with a separate toilet for guests, while the bedroom has its own LCD television, superbly appointed bathroom and walk-in wardrobe, allowing you to withdraw to your own private area when you wish. And in-room dining is available throughout the hotel, 24 hours a day.
Of course, you don’t have to be confined to your room – lovely though it is. The resort atmosphere is sustained in the Aspara Spa, where you can have all the knots smoothed out of those travel-weary muscles with a relaxing massage. And if you need to blow the cobwebs out and get the blood pumping round your body again, then take a turn in the well-equipped gym – or if swimming’s your thing, then how about a few lengths in the 30-metre landscaped swimming pool? I can guarantee you’ll never have been in a pool like it!
Guests staying in Executive Club level accommodation gain access to the Crowne Plaza Club on Floor 3. You can go online using the Club computer or with your own equipment with the Club’s free WiFi access, or unwind with a quiet early evening cocktail and appetisers (perhaps over a game of chess or Chinese chess!) before dinner. Complimentary continental breakfast is also laid on in the Club. It’s a great place to chill out, and heightens the sense of staying at a resort rather than a hotel at a major international hub airport.
But even those not lucky enough to have Club access are well provided for. The Lobby Lounge is a great place to meet friends or business contacts, with a choice of indoor or outdoor seating. If sports are your thing, then you can follow the latest match or shoot some pool in Bar 75 – a three-zoned bar with a distinctive 70s Asia theme.
And when you’re hungry, you’ve got the choice of Azur – a funky all-day dining restaurant with not one, but two show kitchens preparing a variety of international cuisines – and Imperial Treasure, a branch of the renowned Chinese restaurant chain that serves fine-dining Cantonese and speciality food.
This award winning hotel, which was on Conde Nast Traveler’s Hot List 2009, is well worth a stay – even if you don’t have a flight to catch the following day.
Crowne Plaza Hotel Changi Airport
75 Airport Boulevard
Singapore 819664
Tel: +65 6823 5300
