While in Singapore on our way to vacation we stopped at the W Singapore Sentosa Cove. As its name suggests and to avoid any misunderstanding, the hotel is not in Singapore itself but on the nearby island of Sentosa Cove, accessible in less than half an hour by car (depending on where you come from and the traffic).

Sentosa Cove ? What’s that ?

Sentosa Cove is the leisure part of Singapore. Meaning: ideal for families who don’t care (or don’t care much) about the city and are looking for fun activities instead. You will find, among other things, a beautiful aquarium, a small Universal Studios park (which can be visited in less than a day), an aquatic leisure center or a casino.

So unlike the city center, the hotels on the island are more resorts than business or luxury hotels.

So to answer your first question: if you want to visit the city the W Singapore Sentosa Cove is not ideally located. If a pool and fun activities are what you’re looking for or if you’re trying to keep the whole family happy after a few days in the city center, the island is an option to consider.

As usual at W we arrive in a huge lobby very design, dotted with sofas, benches, and places to settle down to discuss or pass the time. (Attention: design does not always mean good taste, especially at W, where the worst alternates with the best, although everything is a matter of taste).

Although I admit that it looks pretty good at night. One wonders if the Ws are not especially designed to live at night. Well, actually it’s in the brand’s DNA.

Anyway, we arrive at the check-in

Olivier had used one of his “Suite Night Award” to try to choose his upgrade, I let the fate act. This will allow us to present you two radically different rooms.

As for the rest, the check-in procedure could not be smoother, the protocol followed to the letter, the loyal customer recognized and thanked. So much for the administrative formalities.

Now let’s discover our two rooms: the Away Room and the Marvelous Suite which have replaced the two standard rooms reserved at the beginning.

Away Room at the W Singapour

Why Away? Not because the room is outside the hotel but because it is in an area of the hotel adjacent to the spa (Away Spa) with a decoration and a theme supposedly consistent with the spa in question.

Notable advantage: the area is at the end of the building and on the first floor. No waiting in the elevators, away from the noise of the nightlife areas, two steps from the spa and fitness room and with almost direct access to the pool.

She is not especially large, which is rare for W.

As far as design is concerned, it avoids any lack of taste, even if you are free not to like it. I will be without opinion, neither disappointed nor delighted.

On the other hand, the bathroom is rather spacious with bathtub and large independent shower.

Room not particularly large to which I will thus make a principal reproach: that to not have a space office to put a computer. Even though we are in a resort, there are still limits.

On the other hand, its small size has an explanation that is obvious once you have pushed the glass door.

The room has its own private pool. Very appreciable to take a dip in the calm and to refresh oneself without going to mingle with the crowd around the pool.

And as is often the case with W, it’s at night that things are appreciated (or not).

As usual a little video to recap everything.

Very nice but not a lasting memory for me. A little because of the room but maybe mostly because of the rest… we’ll talk about it later.

Marvelous Suite at W Singapore

To discover the Marvelous Suite we go up in the floors of the W Singapore.

A large room decorated with good taste.

With view on the marina:

And a nice small balcony.

A large living room.

A nice office area:

And a dressing area.

And the video to get a better idea.

Bars and restaurants…. yes but…

The W Singapore has several bars and restaurants.

We will skip the upper range restaurant, the ” standard ” range being already very expensive in Singapore.

It offers a very complete breakfast buffet.

Very varied and well made.

In the evening, the same restaurant offers an affordable menu by local standards and an excellent all-you-can-eat buffet, very varied and very good. As for the wines, they remain at prices that we find largely unreasonable.

If you want to eat in the property, this is the best – or least worst – solution. There are surely more interesting places nearby.

The hotel also has a bar. It has the merit of existing but we were not impressed by what the bartenders made, both in quality and quantity.

But the W Singapore is a resort…

The W Singapore, let’s repeat it, targets a leisure and family clientele. It is in fact in its “codes” a little less premium and less demanding than other hotels of the chain.

The word resort usually means volume. The hotel is therefore large and accommodates a lot of people. A lot of people means a big pool, and the one of the W Singapore is big. And it is even very beautiful, day and night.

With consequences like:

– children screaming and running around, even though their access to the pool is very restricted (time slots and presence of parents).

– noise all the time with the normal use of the pool during the day and the late night drinks. Thank you for those who have rooms overlooking.

And a certain carelessness in the service. There are exceptions of course but take any premium brand, as soon as they open a resort the service level deteriorates.

If by any chance you go to the pool early in the morning for a little morning swim while the hotel is just waking up, you will find a mess of towels not cleared from the night before, glasses and bottles not cleared from the night, deckchairs placed anywhere. In short, a lot of nonsense, in any case unacceptable at this price level.

Wellness at W Singapore.

As mentioned above, those who want to treat themselves a little will find a spa that we have not tried. The gym is very pleasant at all hours of the day and night. It is on the ground floor and therefore overlooks the outside but keeps an original side.

I personally liked this atmosphere for morning sessions before the day begins or before I go to bed.

The W Singapore ? Yes but no

Conclusion: there are things which we liked like the rooms which without being out of the common had their personality, without fault of taste. The overall design was quite nice.

Food ? Good but at this price it is the minimum expected.

The pool? To be avoided for the reasons mentioned above. Not pleasant in peak hours and in a “day after party” atmosphere outside, so much so that we wondered if someone was taking care of the service and cleaning.

Flaws that can be overlooked….but not at this level of range and price.

Fortunately we only stayed two days. Enough to rest, just enough to not get sick of it. Then we head to the Andaman, in Langkawi, to live an experience of a completely different kind.