The Artyzen, Singapore is like a high-class escort – beautiful, sexy and she knows it. You could fall in love, but deep down you know she doesn’t care about you – she just wants your money.
The hotel is stunning with open gardens on different floors.
The lobby is lovely, although you stand at the check-in desk – no check in while seated with hot towels and sparkling wine here!
The desk agent took full payment (6 nights) plus a cheeky S$200 per night deposit for incidentals. My Preferred Hotels Titanium Status wasn’t mentioned – we weren’t looking for an upgrade as we had booked a Grand Terrace. There was no mention of the complimentary house car, nor any local map offered.
The Grand Terrace consists of two 42 sqm rooms, connected via a 90 sqm private sky terrace.
The bathroom has all the luxury amenities you’d expect from a luxury hotel.
The curtains (drapes) are operated by a bedside button.
The terrace, surrounded by trees, is a peaceful sanctuary with two day beds.
There is a small view to the surrounding buildings, one of which had a tennis court.
The second room is similar in decor, but with twin beds,
Both rooms had a nice welcome gift of fruit and wine (part of Preferred Titanium benefits).
The large safe is in a pull-out drawer. One of the nicest in-room safes we’ve seen.
The air-con and wi-fi worked well.
The rooftop infinity pool is spectacular. The far-end of the pool is a cantilever, with a glass floor. The water was surprisingly chilly, despite the air temperature of 31 degrees C. Pool towels and tap water were provided – Singapore has good and safe tap water.
We decided to try the breakfast (price for two S$90 + S$8.91 tax + S$9 service charge = S$107.91 or US$84). Part buffet, part a la carte.
The Café Quenino looks lovely when empty.
Unfortunately, breakfast is a noisy shambles, with a poor buffet of pastries, some fruit and cereal. Staff rushing around, trying to keep up with customer’s orders for coffee and a la carte dishes. Nice orange juice. No sparkling wine.
The signature Chilli Crab Omelette – Blue Swimmer Crab, Coconut Basmati Rice, House-made Sweet and Spicy Chilli Sauce was delicious, although a bit too rich for breakfast.
The Café Quenino Congee – Chinese Rice Porridge, Traditional Chinese Condiments: Braised Peanut, Crispy Whitebait, Pickled Lettuce, Salted Egg, Chinese Olive Vegetable was not a good dish at all.
We decided the breakfast was a complete rip off. We bought pastries and cereal from the local market and had breakfast on our terrace for the remainder of our stay. The room had both kettle and coffee pod machine.
The hotel has a complimentary car that will take guests within a small radius of the hotel. That was enough to reach the closest metro stations and also the botanical gardens. It was always available as I think most guests were unaware of the service. We used that each day.
On our second day, we received a nice, albeit belated, note under the door.
We visited the roof garden, showed the note to the barman and enjoyed two cocktails by the pool. These later appeared on our bill during checkout and there was some palaver involved to remove them.
It was my birthday during our stay and the hotel were aware of this, including the manager Marcel Holman. Now, of course, I was hoping for some recognition – maybe a card or a free cocktail. Nothing happened.
Our departing flight, the next day, was at five minutes to midnight! So, I asked about a late checkout and were offered 3pm, or, for a charge of S$180 until 6:00pm.
We checked out at 3pm. On surveying the bill, I first noticed the cocktails, then a daily ‘room service charge’ of 10%, then a daily government tax charge of 9.9%. I’m guessing this a Singapore thing, where we’re told that tips aren’t expected, but they are actually added. This is akin to the ridiculous resort fees added by hotels in the USA – just a way to sell rooms at a lower price.
The entire amount was charged to my credit card (again) and both amounts sat as a debit for several days until they were reconciled.
The Artyzen is beautiful. Our Grand Terrace rooms luxurious. The hotel knows it’s special and doesn’t need to try too hard as there’ll be another mark arriving soon.
Artyzen
9 Cuscaden Road, Singapore 249719
+65 6363 6000
TravelBugAdvisor.com 