Transit hotel in Singapore Airport

[mumofoliver]

Hi

We are travelling to NZ to visit DH's family in March, with our 3 year old and 8 month old (argh!). On the way back, we have about 16 hours between flights so would like to book a hotel somewhere. As we don't arrive in Singapore until 5pm local time and leave midday the next day, I don't think there is any point in getting a hotel other than in the airport.

I am a bit confused about the transit hotel at Singapore so was hoping someone with more knowledge can help. From what I can see, each terminal has it's own hotel but from memory, I think you can get between terminals when transitting anyway? We fly into either terminal 2 or 3 but I see that terminal 1 has the swimming pool which I would like to make use of. Can we stay at terminal 1 even if we are not arriving at that terminal? Also the reviews on trip advisor vary for each terminal.

Also, the transit hotel website says that there are building works going on at the airport, especially terminal 1 so perhaps we shouldn't stay there anyway?

Finally, does anyone know whether they provide cots as we don't want to take a travel cot with us (and we won't be able to access our luggage unless we check out).

And any other useful tips/advice would be greatly received - am dreading the trip already!!!

Cheers (and sorry for the long post)

Can't tell you anything about the airport hotel, but I have stayed overnight in central Singapore when we flew in around 5pm and out the next morning. It worked really well for us and so you may want to consider it. It would mean you get your choice of hotel/facilities/no building works!

Getting through passport control, etc was amazingly quick and the taxi ride into town was also fast as it is not very far and the taxis are very regulated. Once at our hotel we had an evening stroll, a meal (there were lots of options) and then a good night's kip followed by a relaxed ride into the airport the next day.

HTH

My parents lived in Singapore for 5 years so we never stayed in the hotels but I would second OhSheesh and say togo into the city. It's a 25 minute taxi ride from the airport, you are extremely unlikely to have to wait more than 10 mins to get through passport control so you could be in a city centre hotel about an hour after landing.

There are masses and masses of places to go out and eat and everyone and everywhere is hugely child friendly. It's a very family friendly culture and everyone you come across will bend over backwards to help you.

An amazing experience is to go to the open air food court at Lau Pasat. They have a whole street full of satay stalls (no. 7 is the best!) and masses of local food stalls. There is a seafood stall where the serving staff wear bright orange t'shirts, it's very close to all the satay stalls, that does amazing squid and fish.

Fatty's on Bencoolen Street also does fantastic chinese food.

The airport really is very close to the city and the city itself is well worth visiting so imo it would be a shame to just stay at the airport hotel .

I've used the transit hotel alot, last time in May this year.

Each terminal does have it's own hotel but you can easily travel between each. Yes, you're allowed to stay at any of them and travel between each - including pool which is great. They have a monorail to get you between terminals.

Yes they do have cots you can use, i think you might need to book in advance.

But agree with others, you could be in a nice plush hotel really quickly and have a nice evening/morning out.

Have a great trip,if you're flying with Singapore Airlines, they are excellent!

Thanks for all the replies (sorry for delay in responding, problems with computer). Thanks to your comments, we are thinking about going to a hotel in the centre. Next question, any recommendations? Don't want to spend masses but we are prepared to pay for comfort and ease bearing in mind the time we are there!

We are flying Singapore - they are my favourite and we have used them heaps. Plus they had an excellent sale on for our flights - £360 pp

We stayed at the transit hotel last year and found it suited our needs perfectly. It was quick and easy to get to, the staff are geared up for transit passengers and the open air pool on the roof was fantastic - the children still talk about it now. We were staying at the hotel in Terminal 2 I think and just got the little train to the other terminal to use the pool. There was also a small children's play area in the airport and if you time it right you can watch and help with the feeding of the fish.

I did this and got a cheap place in Lavender. The tube in Singapore is exactly like the London one (it even has the same voice!), so get a hotel on the same tube line and you can't go far wrong.

www.johomaps.com/as/singapore/singaporemetro.html

If you are planning to stay in town, try the Traders Hotel at Grange Road. My husband's family stayed there when we were getting married in Singapore. The hotel, service and facilities are fab. The botanic Gardens is just across the road for abit of R&R walk and lovely orchid display.

Stay at the terminal 3 transit hotel next to the free cinema. It's newer than the terminal 1 and it's only a monorail ride to the pool (but the pool IS difficult to find - which is a good thing otherwise everyone would be there) - did this with 7 month old dd when travelling by myself. The rooms are a good size - clean, new, modern, air con and quiet. Reserve a cot when you book. You can book any terminal hotel you like. But i'd double check they have your booking before you fly.

See the butterfly enclosure and waterfall and cactus garden while your there too.

It was great staying in transit there. Very surreal. And very child friendly.

Next time you go to NZ stay in Singapore a little longer and enjoy what it has to offer. It's brilliant for families. TBH with 16 hours you could do the free citysights tour without going through customs - but i'd rather take a leisurely pace with kids in transit.

Also, check with the hotel that the building works aren't affecting the pool. It would be a shame to turn up thinking it was useable if it isn't.

If you're flying SIA, then you could use their Singapore stopover holiday deal. It worked very well for me when i had a week in transit.

The transit hotels rock. It doesn't matter which one you get booked into, it takes about 5 mins on the cool monorail between them all and the kids love it! When we went last Feb the pool was not affected and it is open air with a bar and loungers! VERY VERY surreal after a 12 hour flight! But good!