Milelion Picks: Best Economy Hotel Staycation Deals

As more hotels get approved for staycations, we’re seeing an increasing number of deals flooding the market. It’s easy to get overwhelmed, and because not every deal’s a good one, there’s some landmines to avoid! 

In this series of posts, I’m going to highlight what I think are the best deals for each price segment, so staycationers of all budgets have options. Deals aren’t static, so I’ll periodically update these posts as new ones pop up and old ones get nerfed. 

You can find additional resources on The Milelion’s Staycation Portal.

Note: Most of the hotels below aren’t in outlying areas; in fact, they’re all in prime districts. In better times, they’d probably be in the mid-tier at least; but the current economic climate has depressed their prices into to the economy range. Show them some love by supporting them! 

Hotel G

Hotel G bills itself as a “lifestyle hotel” (one wonders if the G stands for ‘gram), with rooms boasting vintage decor and rain showers. They even serve mineral water in tetra packs, which is quite possibly peak hipster. 

The entry level “Good Room” measures 11-13 sqm, and if you book through Trip.com, you’ll get two nights for S$153 nett, complete with 2 p.m check-out, breakfast, and an upgrade to a King-sized bed. 

Hotel Mono

Minimalism is the theme at the Hotel Mono, opened in 2016 and set amidst a restored heritage shop house. Rooms adopt a black and white motif, and a standard double(15 sqm) will set you back S$122++ (S$144 nett) per night. 

If you’re a solo staycationer (and ain’t nothing wrong with that), a single room (11.5 sqm) is available from S$122 nett per night. 

Hotel NuVe

Hotel NuVe (not to be confused with the NuVe Heritage) is located in Bugis, in the Arab Street shophouse area. Rooms have complimentary minibars, and the Classic room (14-16 sqm) will set you back a mere S$106 nett per night. 

Hotel Soloha

In happier times, rooms at the Hotel Soloha would have started at S$185++ per night, but they’ve now come down to a mere S$98++ (S$115 nett). 

Low rates doesn’t mean low quality. Rooms here have hansgrohe button mixer rain showers (which my contractor told me would be expensive), 4K smart TVs, and noise-insulating walls built to STC-45 specifications. 

I’ll be reviewing this hotel in early August and am quite interested to see how they pull off luxury in a shoebox (standard rooms measure in at 11-16 sqm).

Hotel YAN

Hotel YAN channels industrial-chic in the Kampong Glam area, complete with concrete and metal facades. 

Rooms have complimentary minibars and rain showers, plus every guest gets their own take-home amenities kit.  You could pay S$115++ (S$135 nett) for a Premium Double (10 sqm), but based on the photos I think I’d spring for the S$125++ (S$147 nett) Superior Double with Balcony (12-15 sqm). 

lyf Funan

Ascott probably set a record for the most gratuitous use of the word “millennial” when they opened lyf Funan in September 2019. 

Targeted at millennials, the lyf concept is said to be “managed by millennials for the millennials and millennial-minded”, and looks to provide collaborative spaces and social programmes to create a “live-work-play” experience.

Leaving aside the fact that millennials like regular hotels just fine, thank you very much, at least lyf’s got a nice co-working vibe going on. It looks like a JustCo or WeWork, if they had lodging facilities. 

lyf’s rooms start at 18 sqm. This may sound small, but compared to the other rooms in this post, it’s comparatively spacious- and with a S$127 nett price, it’s hard to argue. Other room configurations include:

• lyf style: Equipped with a Playstation console, measuring 18 sqm
• up and down: A bunk bed studio, measuring 18 sqm
• one of a kind plus: A larger version of the base room, measuring 27 sqm
• all together: A two bedroom apartment, measuring 41 sqm
• two of a kind: Another two bedroom apartment, measuring 43 sqm

Millennials must hate capital letters too. 

Conclusion

For a sense how these staycation deals compare to those we were seeing before the circuit breaker, you can check out my staycation article from March 2020. Not all the URLs will still be valid, but I did documented the cost and inclusions in the article. 

If you see any other great staycation deals, do send them over to me via this link and I’ll take a look.