In early October, I stayed in a Studio Suite at the Andaz Singapore. Although the service was lackluster, the breakfast and beautiful room ended up carrying the day. At the time, I called it “one of my better staycations”.
Sadly, I don’t think I can wholeheartedly recommend the Andaz anymore. While the rooms are still gorgeous, the underlying value proposition has changed since I stayed, and not for the better.
Prices have gone up significantly
Let’s start with the price. When Andaz first announced its plans to reopen for staycations, it was possible to snag some pretty fantastic rates, as shown below:
| 🏨 Andaz Singapore Reopening Deals (no longer available) |
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| Weekday (Sun-Thurs) |
Weekend (Fri-Sat, PH and eve of PH) |
|
| Standard Room | S$180 nett | S$220 nett |
| Deluxe City View | S$200 nett | S$240 nett |
| Deluxe Bay View | S$220 nett | S$260 nett |
| Andaz Studio Suite | S$320 nett | S$360 nett |
| Andaz Residence Suite | S$360 nett | S$400 nett |
| Andaz Large Suite | S$560 nett | S$600 nett |
| Presidential Suite | S$760 nett | S$800 nett |
| Inclusions | ||
|
||
These rates are long gone, and you can now expect to pay at least S$250 nett for a base room, S$650 nett for a Studio Suite (if you can even find one- they’re almost completely booked out for the rest of the year), and S$850 nett for a Large Suite.
At these prices, the Andaz Singapore is basically competing with hotels like the Capitol Kempinski (a Stamford Suite would cost ~S$650-800, depending on your dates), and there’s only going to be one winner there. It also means your expectations will be a lot higher, and consequently, you’d be much less willing to overlook the issues below.
Breakfast is no longer free flow
When I stayed at the Andaz, guests could choose from the following breakfast menu, with as many servings as they wished.
At some point in late October, that all changed. Breakfast switched to the menu below:
Note how it states “includes continental dishes with one Western Specialty or one Local Favourite per person”. This means that the continental items are free flow; the main dish is not.
I’ve been racking my brain as to why they’d do this, and the only thing I can think of is cost-cutting. It’s not like switching to a single main dish helps reduce the strain on staff (who were notably overworked throughout)- since a free flow of continental items is still available, you’ll still need staff to take follow up orders and serve additional items. It takes exactly the same amount of effort to serve a main dish as it does a continental one.
It’s a shame, since breakfast at the Andaz Singapore was one of the highlights for me. I got to try all the items shown below; you’ll now have to pick one per person.
It’s even harder to swallow when you consider the fact that room rates have doubled.
Service continues to be poor
As I noted in my review, service was decidedly not a strong point of my Andaz stay. The hotel was clearly understaffed- rooms were not cleaned properly, service at breakfast was flustered, long lines kept forming at the front desk. Calls to guest services went unanswered, basic requests were forgotten, and on the whole, you didn’t get a sense of warmth from any of the service interactions.
Based on the reports I’m reading, none of this has improved. There are still long waits for check-in (even after the official check-in time), and cleaning is still suspect.
Speaking of cleaning, you may remember I wrote about finding a large clump of hair hanging from one of the lights in the living room. I pointed this out to the team and got a change of room.
You’re not going to believe this, but another Milelion reader stayed in the same room I was in (3521) a week later, and the hair was still there.
That’s unreal.
Other guests have reported various cleanliness issues, ranging from dust on the blinds to the phone being bugged. Literally.
Billing issues and overcharging
If you’re staying at the Andaz, you’ll definitely want to pass on express check-out and opt to examine your bill before you leave.
An eagle-eyed Milelion community member spotted that he’d been charged S$370 nett for a weekday Studio Suite stay, instead of the proper S$320 nett. I went to check my bill, and saw that it happened to me too. Based on reports in the Telegram community, we’re not the only ones.
What’s going on is that Andaz’s reopening rates turned out to be so popular that they felt confident enough to hike prices. For bookings made from 7 September onwards, a new pricing chart kicked in:
Notice how the weekday rate for an Andaz Studio Suite increased to S$370 nett, which is what I was billed at check-out. Andaz had basically forgotten about the lower reopening rates, and was now erroneously overcharging a number of its guests.
I asked Andaz for a comment on this, and was told the following:
Rest assured, we are actively looking into our reservations and taking the necessary steps to prevent any discrepancy in room rate. More importantly, we do actively ensure that the room rates are checked even for our departed guests as it is part of our daily check as well.
That sounds nice, except it doesn’t appear to be happening. There have still been reports of overbilling, the most recent one coming on 1 November. Whatever process they have in place to catch these, it’s clearly not doing its job. As it is, the guests are the ones who are spotting this, not the hotel.
In my case, it took two reminders to get the additional S$50 refunded to my card.
What should you do now?
There’s a host of other minor issues that have come up: no more Andaz Pale Ale in the mini-fridges, swimming pool time cut from 90 minutes to an hour, but the long and the short of it is that Andaz is no longer the screaming good deal it was in August.
If you managed to book the reopening rates, I wouldn’t sweat it too much. Even with the scaled-back breakfast and indifferent service, it’s hard to lose when you’re paying S$320 nett for a 76 sqm Studio Suite (even harder if you’re using the AMEX S$75 staycation credit). I’d do the stay, enjoy the room, and adjust my expectations accordingly.
But if you’re looking to make a booking now at the current rates, I think you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. Those who pay S$700 for a suite here are likely to find the service, breakfast and overall experience incredibly underwhelming.
Conclusion
I really enjoyed my Studio Suite at the Andaz- it’s big, it’s stylish, the bathroom is the stuff of dreams, and I’d even go so far as to say it’s my favourite room of all the staycations I’ve done so far.
Sadly, everything else seems to have come apart now, and I can’t in good conscience recommend that anyone pay the current prices. You could do so much better for the rates the Andaz is charging.
To those who stayed at the Andaz Singapore recently: how did you find your stay?
Oof
maybe room 3521 is…….. :-O
My stay on the 25th of October in the Studio suite was alright, managed to get an early check in at around 11am when I checked in via the app. I also got a surprise cake even though i didn’t request for it but I did mention that I was celebrating a special occasion. I agree that breakfast could be better.
can check in app?
Glad that I did my stay in early oct..
I stayed on 30th. Could only chk in at 5pm. Breakfast server was grumpy. Pool was fully booked and couldnt get a seat at mr stork. For a 1N staycation that was sad.
That price…… Shang Valley Wing, Capella sounds just about right.
yes, you can get valley wing on weekdays for about $600-700, and i’d wager you’d be much happier
I just did a stay from Sunday to Tuesday at the studio suite, at the great initial reopening rates, thanks to Milelion’s alert about the good lobang. Needless to say early check in was impossible. We called to enquire on check in at about 310pm, not having heard from anyone by then, and was told our room was ready but they hadn’t called us yet as they were still making calls (I later realised they sent an email on the room being available at 302pm).
Late check out request was initially denied, then given till 12:30pm, then extended till 1pm when they called us back of their own accord an hour later.
Room was great, didn’t have any cleanliness issues when I stayed, but I was ‘lucky’ enough to get the suite on 26th floor, so we got a corner view of the pool from the living area, and a view all blocked by palm trees from the bathroom. Requests for a higher floor was turned down immediately at check in. Was charged 370 for the second night (first night was correct) on check out but that was remedied immediately when pointed out (still waiting for my email copy of the invoice).
We had a few requests which were attended to promptly (larger room slippers, some ice, low batt for in-room safe), and calls to reception were always answered.
Opted for breakfast in-room both days, which provided most of the continental options, as well as multiple options for the mains. Eg, for the Asian option, we were given the laksa, fried rice, eggs and kaya toast, with the dim sum basket. Western option came with waffles and eggs Benedict. Portion size and items provided on each day differed, down to the size of the French press jug for the tea, with the second day being more complete and generously portioned.
We were lucky to get our pool slots (though it would have been nice if they had enough deck chairs for the 20 pax they allow for each session), and even got an hour extension as the slot after our initially booked one was not full.
All in all, it was a great stay in a gorgeous room for the price we paid. But at the currently inflated prices, not one I would go back to any time soon. There are definitely much more compelling options out there for those prices.
In before another keyboard warrior says something about the Milelion not getting his back scratched by Andaz and thus saying such things.
Booked Andaz in Oct & was not impressed. I am a Hyatt Globalist & had many, many previous stays with them but was not acknowledged at check-in. No special queue for Globalists, no more free Globalist welcome drinks , no more friendly service. Can’t agree more that Andaz Singapore has lost its mojo, at least on me. Will no longer recommend them to anyone. Startling difference in experience: I can only guess that there is a changed in managemen/owners.
I did a staycation with them in March pre lockdown, studio suite, everything that could go wrong, went wrong. Arrived at 3pm, finally got room at 630pm. Fast forward to 2am, wife woke me up to say someone was banging on our door. Before I could reach the door, telephone rang, saying a guest by my name is outside the door wanting to re-enter the room. Despite my grogginess, I told them that statement didn’t make sense as I am the person u mentioned and I’m in my room. Another phone call came few mins later, after I picked up, no one on the end of the line. Breakfast queue was super long and they sat us with an infant a full minute walk away from the spread. Service recovery: 1 welcome drink for late check-in and one apology letter for disturbance at 2+am. Oh and noisy aircon in the room. Beautiful rooms yes, but having ur wife swear off having staycations cause of the ungodly hour disturbance is something I can’t forgive. No thank you, Andaz Sg.
Beautiful rooms, inconsistent service.
Do say: No thank you Andaz SG
Don’t say: Thanks to you Andaz SG
Hmmm… Okay. How does Andaz Singapore compare with GH Hyatt? I am Globalist with WOH. I have a stay booked with Andaz Singapore next June for three night stay. Now, after reading this article, I’m having second thoughts about my booking with Andaz. Maybe I should consider staying at the Conrad Singapore or Hilton. I am Diamond with Hilton Honors. Or, IC or IC Robertson Quay? What you guys opinions on this? Greatly appreciate it!
I can’t comment much about Andaz since I have not stayed there but I guess by June next year things should have settled abit. I believed that most of the issues regarding the not getting early check-in late/check-out, long breakfast queues are just temporal owing to this current situation where everyone can’t go anywhere and there is a sudden influx of guests and hotels have no proper manpower planning plus adjusting to whatever adhoc restrictions imposed by the authorities.
However I do have lovely experiences with Conrad and as a usual routine I do spend a couple of days doing stayca in Conrad annually. Only big minus there is the toilets are abit old school and I am not a fan of their tub.
Thanks Dan for sharing your point of view! Ok, I guess I will keep my reservation at the Andaz. The paid rates are pretty good for Singapore hotels, not worth using points.
i can’t recommend hilton unless you’re pretty sure you’ll get an upgrade to an executive suite. the rest of the rooms are old and badly in need of a renovation, and breakfast is awful (https://milelion.com/2020/10/04/review-hilton-singapore-foodie-staycation/)
I just checked out of an executive suite yesterday and the room was old and badly in need of renovation…
The doors were hanging off their hinges and wouldn’t even close properly, I even woke up to realise I was locked out of the toilet as the toilet door got jammed during the night somehow, they had to send someone with WD40 to release the door knob.
hmmm…unless you somehow got an old executive suite (I thought they were 100% renovated)?
this is the one with the new carpets and furniture right?
Now that you mention, I wish I’d taken photos so we could know for sure.
It was my first stay at Hilton so I don’t know what the difference with the old and the new would be, but the room furniture was indeed as the current photos are on the Hilton website.
It surely does not look newly renovated however. The tile lining in the corner at the bathtub had a thick green gunk, the toilet drain covers were the old type of white plastic covers. The base of the tub also had already turned black and couldn’t be scrubbed away.
Drains for the main toilet left sink and the guest toilet sink was not working (stuck closed)
What was quite disturbing for me was that there was hair in the tub, and on the chair at the study, and the bathrobe had a slightly yellowish stain on its right breast area.
I’d thought about taking photos to share my poor experience on the hardware, however the service and the software was extremely good so I felt like giving them a chance and not publishing the poorly state of the room. (Also I was quite disgusted by the gunk and the stains to point a camera at them)
The bedding was perfect though, no stains there and nothing to complain about.
If indeed the room was recently renovated, I suspect it was just surface re-decor of the living space and new furniture. The condition of the bathrooms was quite bad and the fixtures were quite old. (I’d paid 322++ room rate Honors Discount for this, which came to 379 for the room with executive lounge access)
Thanks Aaron for your reply, Aaron and Ian! Aaron, please keep up the great work along with your newsletters! They are very helpful, especially for anything Singapore! I love all of the website’s SIA and hotels news and updates! I try to fly on SIA as much as possible! I hope SIA will bring back the A380 with the latest Fist Class product by end of next year. Planning an Australia trip next November.
no problem- quite unlikely we will see a380 by end of 2021 though, just to set your expectations
Schucks! Hahaha… Thanks for giving me a reality check! 🙂 Then, which aircraft would you predict on that route? Mainly for SYD-SIN part.
most likely an a350
booked a sun – mon stay for studio suite in early oct, tried to book pool slots 2 days BEFORE the stay, was told the slots were all full on the day of my check in, and i was only left w a sad 10 – 11am slot on the day of my check out.
did my check-in on the app, arrived at 315pm but staff insisted that i joined the ordinary check-in queue, which had spilt to the driveway outside, and i waited nearly an hour to reach my turn and finally checked in at around 430pm. had requested for a baby cot and confirmed w the check-in staff that cot was already in the room, went to the room and it was not there (!!) called a few times before it finally arrived. was celebrating my anniversary and had informed them ahead of the stay, but received no cake whatsoever, and we ended up buying a cake from their bakery for ourselves instead. found clumps of hair behind the sofa, and some sticky liquid at the entrance of the toilet, no response from housekeeping so i went ahead to clean it myself.
finally received a response to my email on the cleanliness issue, and was offered a $50 nett dining credit. opted for express check-out, and realised a few days later that the $50 offered was not deducted off my dining bill. was frankly quite upset by then and the hotel agreed to waive off the entire dining bill (around $78), but that too took a few subsequent reminders before it was reflected correctly in my bank statement.
totally agree with you on the excellent hardware, but there is really systemic issues in their housekeeping and service which is in dire need of being sorted out :/
Aww man, I was really looking forward to my first staycay after a draining year and I’m checking in tmr!
Paid around $510 a night for a Studio Suite room for my stay 2 nights ago.
Couldn’t request for an early check-in and was told to come by at 3pm.
Didn’t expect to wait for about 40 minutes when I got there. There was a line of about 8 couples.
Breakfast was just alright. Other hotels serve better variety.
I actually felt my experience at Andaz was great.
My husband and I stayed in mid oct and we arrived early on a Sunday in hopes for an early check-in. The front desk lady, Gab made small talk with us while processing docs for check-in. When she found out our wedding was just yesterday, she informed us that she will make special celebratory arrangements and placed us on the highest floor of the studio suite. We were told to wait for a call and come back later once our room was ready.
I think the front desk was too busy to follow up with a call as we returned almost 2 hours later to a long queue at the lobby. But because we checked in early, we were able to get our key cards within 10mins. They also arranged for a staff, Mohamed to bring our luggage up to the room. We told him it was fine since it was just a small luggage but he insisted. We made small talk along the way and he remembered us/room number even at checkout (quite a feat when you see 100s of guests and when our interactions were brief)
The room was clean and lovely. We didn’t find andaz ale in our mini bar but that’s okay. My gripe was the buttons/mechanism of the blinds in the bedroom. This was flagged up to the hotel after checkout and they replied that they will get maintenance to look into it. Not sure if it’s fixed.
We opted for in-room breakfast and wrote special request like more salmon and more berries and these were arranged. The breakfast also arrived slightly earlier than the scheduled timing.
We made a housekeeping request for more shower gel. While it came promptly, the attendant brought 1 bottle of shower gel, shampoo and condition. Perhaps we could have been more specific in our request?
We were also given a full sized box of toiletries (placed in room) to take home and 2 mini bottles of champagne. I was hoping to receive the pandan cake that I see others posting about.
All in all, our stay was great. My husband and I want to go back if the prices are reasonable. But seeing how it cost $600-$700 now, I’d agree for one to spend the money at Shangri-La valley wing where we stayed at right after Andaz. (Although my husband prefers andaz aesthetics to shang haha)
your stay sounds pretty good! nice that you got the champagne automatically too.
After reading the reviews, I would like to check if anyone stayed at the Presidential suite. How is your stay and if it is worth it at $760-$800 per night during the promo booking?
Stayed using the reopening deal in October service is slow then, need the make multiple call to get what you need. Andaz messenger app is not effective, and will recommend suite-breakfast instead of service at ally25. I got no issues with cleanliness then, it was almost perfect deal with Amex disc, so my expectations are much lowered. I won’t be too happy with the service if changed the current rate.
Stayed there end Sep. You’re absolutely right about the service. Service was perfunctory at best. We found cockroaches in the room on the first night and requested for a change of rooms as we were staying 2 nights. They placed us in a smaller room (although staff mentioned it’s the same type of room) and the service recovery was just lacking for a 5 star hotel. Overall bad experience, will not recommend anyone to stay there.
If you know how Andaz is positioned, one would know that thus far, Andaz rates have been promotional. Rack rates will begin to rise into the 400 to 600 per night once travel begins next year.
Singapore hotels are generally terrible in customer service, mainly because service is like a mirror. As a hospitality professional myself, it’s very difficult to be nice to Singaporeans because you all think we’re beneath you or something. Be nice, don’t speak to us like we smell bad, we are trying our best.
Absolutely agreed on the mirror bit! But most of the complaints on andaz, correct me if I’m wrong, have been about housekeeping issues, dust, cockroaches, hair, stuff that isn’t a two way interaction. For the regular rates andaz charges, that shouldnt even be an issue. Hence my willingness to overlook some things at promotional rates but not regular ones
Sorry, I am a late comer here… I have an upcoming stayca in Andaz but I am shocked. I didnt realize Andaz has such poor service.
Like to check if there is anyone who just recently been to Andaz..? Any sign of improvement or was it further degraded services..?
Feeling stressed now that it will soon be my turn this month to visit the property.
Andaz Corporate Rate are so strict, it is basically useless.
Use Fours Seasons, Swissotel or Marriott: a simple email from your corporate email and it’s done. Andaz/Hyatt Global Care center takes 1 to 3 days to reply and they are not knowledgeable.