Advertisement Disclosure
My friends and I recently stayed at the only viable Hyatt option in Singapore while the Grand Hyatt remains under construction: the Andaz Singapore. Generally speaking, this was a fantastic hotel, with beautiful views, an incredible breakfast, and awesome amenities. However, some features were a bit subpar, and I found the hotel to be rather stingy with its benefits (even for Globalists).
Why & How I Booked This Room
For a group of 6, finding hotel rooms in Singapore can be a bit tricky. Given we are in Singapore, it’s usually not a good idea to try and sneak additional guests into a room. Thus, I set upon a rather complicated journey to minimize our costs while making sure we were abiding by all the rules.
At a first glance, most hotel rooms in Singapore accommodate up to 2 people each. Some of the deluxe variations of rooms can let you get 3 guests. It’s rather difficult to find rooms with up to 4 or even 6 guests.
Ideally, I realized that getting 2 rooms, where occupancy needed to total 6 people, would be the best solution to all our problems. For example, if two rooms could fit 3 people each, then we would be all set.
The Andaz Singapore’s base rooms can only fit up to two people each. I first booked two rooms and used a Suite Upgrade Award (SUA) to move one of the rooms up to the Andaz King Suite, which can get up to 3 people. Since we had an eligible corporate code to use, we were able to apply a discounted rate to our stay (the Andaz did end up checking to confirm if one of us worked there). Now, with the upgrade, we had enough room for 5 confirmed adults.
The next step of my plan was to contact the hotel close to our date of stay to try and score a complimentary upgrade into the Deluxe Twin Room, which can accommodate up to 3 people. My backup plan if this failed was to do a paid day-of upgrade so we could get 3 people into the other room comfortably.
Thankfully, about 3 days beforehand, I was able to get a confirmed complimentary upgrade into the Deluxe room. Now we had a King Suite (3 adults) and a Deluxe Twin Sea View Room (3 adults)!
Checking In
We arrived in Singapore really early and took a Grab straight over to the Andaz Singapore around 8 am SGT. The hotel is located a bit further out from the Marina, but it is very easy to get down there via public transit. Interestingly, it is located inside of a larger building, where the lower 25 floors are used for different purposes.
The lobby was not totally clear to me at first, since the staff are located just on these table countertops. It’s not like a specific check in where there’s a back office or anything; it just seems like they are using a generalized lobby area to handle check in. To the immediate left is where the “club lounge” and breakfast areas are.
Since we were arriving pretty early, I was a bit worried about whether or not we’d be able to check in early. Thankfully, it seemed like at least the suite was available, so I set along that journey to get check in going. The attendant asked for our 6 passports for both rooms, and everything seemed to be going well... until the agent broke the news that we would only be eligible for breakfast for 2 people total. That was a bit confusing and seemed to actually contradict Hyatt’s direct policy on breakfasts (which I thought was breakfast for 2 adults/2 children per room).
As it turns out, this is actually property-dependent, meaning the Hyatt standard for Globalists actually can vary from property to property. This particular hotel limits you to free breakfast for 2 adults, even if you have an infinite number of rooms reserved under your name. Since we had 6 people and 2 rooms, I ended up needing to contact my Hyatt Concierge last minute to apply a Guest of Honor award to my girlfriend so that she could check in as a “separate” booking. A bit of an unwelcome hiccup, but, we live and we learn.
To be clear, here is the Hyatt breakfast benefit. Upon reading the breakfast benefit in the Globalist T&C, it appears as though this may be vague on purpose:
When staying at a participating hotel or resort that does not have a Club lounge (or if Club lounge is closed), Globalists will receive daily complimentary full breakfast (which includes one entrée or standard breakfast buffet, juice, and coffee, as well as tax, gratuity and service charges) for each registered guest in the room, up to a maximum of two (2) adults and two (2) children.
I also found out that this property is extremely stringent with complimentary upgrades. In fact, I do have to wonder if their refusal to give out complimentary upgrades to suites goes against Hyatt Globalist policy. When checking into hotels, I usually check cash fares to see if there are any suites available, and I was able to see that the Andaz Large King Suite and the Andaz Two Bedroom Suites were available. Unfortunately, even when I brought this up to the attendant, they said that since these were specialty/premium suites, they did not need to upgrade us into them. Shrug.
The attendant then gave us complimentary drink cards (only 2 for each room), wooden key cards (super cute), and directions on how to find our rooms.
The Andaz King Suite Room
I was able to score this incredible suite using one of my Hyatt Suite Upgrade Awards through my mattress running in 2023. This was an incredibly worthwhile redemption. The main area of the room had 1 king bed (with room for an additional rollaway bed) and was connected to a separate lounge area. Each of these rooms had a TV and the lounge room also had a complimentary minibar.
[...]
King bed bedroom
Lounge room
The room had 2 bathrooms, with the primary bathroom having two sinks, a full overhead rain shower, and a bathtub. There were also a wide range of amenities, including shaving kits, toothbrushes, mouthwash, robes, sandals, and more. Water pressure was fantastic all around, with a wide range of temperatures, but I wish the water would run just a little colder.
Shower + bathtub
Double sink & vanity
As a part of the suite, there was also a large walk-in closet and a separate secondary bathroom. These were incredibly useful for keeping our stuff organized and to make our stay more comfortable overall (especially if someone else was using the bathroom already).
Walk in closet
Second bathroom
Little Things About The Room
As a part of our welcome gift, after our first day of housekeeping, the hotel provided us with a cute Andaz tote bag, a welcome note, and a box of custom chocolates. They were really delicious—each one of us enjoyed a different flavor of each.
Welcome amentities
Cheesecake candies
There was also a complimentary espresso machine in the room with a variety of espresso options for guests to experience. Ample glassware and utensils, with a drawer full of sugar, mixing spoons, etc. really showcased how the Andaz was investing in the guest’s personal coffee and tea experience.
Espresso pods
Making coffee
I was also pretty surprised the room came with a complimentary minibar. The minibar had a wide variety of drinks, including Coke, beer, water, Milo, and Japanese green tea drinks. The minibar was also restocked on a daily basis.
Breakfast At The Andaz Singapore
Although the Globalist free breakfast was only for the buffet (cannot order from a-la-carte menu for free), it was still a top tier breakfast for sure. The breakfast area was to the immediate left of the lobby and was subdivided into three rooms:
- Smoke & Pepper: Asian Cuisine
- The Green Oven: American Inspired Cuisine
- Icehaus: Assorted Cuisines + Fruits + Bakery
Some critics may say the rooms being split into three is confusing—my friends would probably agree since they didn’t realize there was a whole other room (the best one, too) on their first day when they got breakfast without me.
The first room had a fresh fruit section comprising of a rotating assortment of lychee, rambutan, jackfruit, guava, etc. There was also a bakery area with croissants, waffles, and sourdough/other breads alongside a robust charcuterie section. This area also some fantastic fresh smoked salmon (definitely one of my favorites).
Toast machine in the Icehaus room
Bakery spread in Icehaus
The Asian cuisine rotated between chicken + seafood shumai, kimchi + pork dumplings, different types of Vietnamese spring rolls, chicken satay + fish paste, and Singaporean laksa. This was the undisputed best food among my friends.
Spring rolls in Smoke & Pepper
Laksa in Smoke & Pepper
The American inspired section had a variety of buffet foods as well, ranging from sauteed mushrooms and sausages to some really yummy sausages and tomatoes. This area also had an Indian breakfast selection with things like daal.
Mushrooms, tomatoes, beans in The Green Oven
Indian inspired cuisines in The Green Oven
We also found out later that you could order some custom items here and there throughout. For example, the American section also featured Singaporean Kaya toast, which is basically two pieces of white toast with a slob of flavored butter that you dip in a soy sauce poached egg. Quite good, but also felt like it was going to clog my arteries. You could also order some custom drinks, like iced lattes or TWG tea.
Iced coffee made to order
Kaya toast made to order
There was also a slightly hidden section with a bunch of excellent dairy options, such as chia seed pudding, matcha muesli, greek yogurt, yogurt drinks etc. Additionally, in the hallways connecting the three rooms, there were fresh juices (all delicious).
Special dairy section
Juice bar in between the rooms
Club Lounge, Pool, Fitness Center, And Rooftops At The Andaz Singapore
Given that this is a 5 star hotel, I wasn’t really shocked to see a wide variety of amenities and benefits scattered around the hotel.
Club Lounge At The Andaz Singapore
Hmm. Let’s just say that the club lounge here wasn’t anything particularly special. My understanding is that the club lounge is available to all guests staying at the property, so again, nothing special. It had some small snacks, two coffee machines, and cold, fruit-infused water. Unfortunately, the lounge was a bit small—we struggled to find seating even for 4 during peak hours.
Furthermore, at check in, we were only given 2 free drinks per room... despite having 3 guests per room. Even with Globalist, we couldn’t get free drinks at the club lounge without , which was a bit disappointing all things considered.
Club lounge entrance
Bar
Pool At The Andaz Singapore
On the 25th floor lobby was the pool, which was a little small but very beautiful and well maintained. While I did not use the pool during my stay, my friends did and seemed to have a great time. There were several lounge chairs and umbrellas surrounding the area. One of my friends said it was “blue.”
Pool
Fitness center
Fitness Center At The Andaz Singapore
The gym was located on the 38th floor and was alright for a hotel gym. While it didn’t have free weight barbells, the dumbbells went up to 25 kilograms (not heavy enough for one friend). Additionally, there were a variety of machines like treadmills. A decent hotel gym, but missing a few key things for sure.
Rooftop At The Andaz Singapore (Mr. Stork)
At the top of the Andaz is a bar called Mr. Stork, a very high end bar with a wide assortment of fancy cocktails. At night, the views from here are absolutely stunning and rival that of many other high buildings in the city. While we didn’t get any drinks here, we enjoyed the view and were able to get in for free without needing to pay for any drinks.
View from Mr. Stork / rooftop of Andaz Singapore
My Rating Of The Andaz Singapore: 8/10
The Andaz Singapore is a wonderful hotel that exceed expectations in some areas and fell short in others. For example, the rooms were beautiful and comfortable, with incredible views all around, but the stinginess towards even Globalist members on paid cash stays was frankly a bit surprising. At the same time however, where provided, the benefits and experiences were extremely strong. The hotel buffet was among some of the best breakfasts I’ve had, the (limited) drinks we got were fantastic, and the late checkout was smoothly handled.
- Room: 10/10 – it’s hard to beat what the rooms had to offer, with comfortable beds and spaciousness all around. Excellent in-room amenities, ranging from complimentary minibar to high quality toiletries. Daily housekeeping also places this in a solid 10/10.
- Food (Buffer): 9/10 – for a breakfast buffet, it’s hard to think of an immediate challenger. This ranks highly among Hyatt buffets and highly against other hotel breakfast buffets I’ve had. Excellent selection, great quality, and rotational variety on a day to day basis. My only quip was that the room organization for breakfast was a bit odd, don’t really understand the room design
- Amenities: 7/10 – this hotel had some great amenities, such as the pool. However, the pool was a bit on the smaller side and the fitness room wasn’t anything extraordinary. Notably, the views from the top (amenities?) were amazing
- Staff: 9/10 – the staff at this hotel were really nice! Everyone was very understanding, warm, and helpful all around. Some minor things with forgetting to give us drink tickets and strictness with club lounge seating (there was no space for 6 in the lounge, and we tried to go to the lobby to sit, they told us to come back)
- Globalist Recognition: 5/10 – I was frankly really disappointed by the Globalist recognition here. Despite online inventory showing availability for upgrades, we were unable to get the Andaz Large King Suite nor the 2 Bedroom Suite. I was told this was because they were premium suites, but I don’t think that’s the case. Furthermore, the breakfast rule limiting 2 people total despite the number of rooms doesn’t make much sense to me. Finally, even as Globalist, not being able to get even 1 drink ticket per person at check-in was a bit disappointing. The property felt overly stingy towards Globalist members, but at the same time, the breakfast was fantastic and the late checkout was honored perfectly.
