Novotel Clarke Quay

The Novotel at Clarke Quay is in decent location. Many would perhaps consider it a great location but as I am not really a fan of Clarke Quay (totally lacks charm and most places there range from poor to average) and it is a bit far from the closest MRT it is not excellent. The hotel itself occupies one of two towers sharing a swimming pool in between them (the other one is a Somerset serviced apartments building). This hotel requires you to take an elevator up to the lobby level and then another elevator to reach the rooms.
We had a pleasant stay here, service was friendly and welcoming. We were upgraded to a nice executive level room which had nice views over Clarke Quay, Marina Bay and much of the city as well as access to the lounge. The room was spacious but also in typical Novotel style lacking charm and seemingly designed by someone with no sense of style and class. It was however very comfortable and there was a nice TV, free wifi, safe, iron and ironing board.
The hotel also has a gym but that was very small (especially considering the size of the hotel) and in need of some renovation. All in all not a bad hotel but also not very special.

Location is great. You pay a little price premium for the location, and also, Singapore is just damn expensive. At close to $ 200/​night incl tax. there are other options.
So I stayed total of 3 nights. 2 nights on premier floor (free upgrade, because all the other non-​smoking rooms aren’t available.) One night on a standard floor after I checked out and checked back in. Good to have the comparison. Much nicer rooms and view with the premier floors, and also those rooms have a bathtub, rather than just a shower. Also, more spacious, and lotion and exfoliating body soap.
However, here’s the thing. In both rooms, I happened to be in the room when housekeeping came by. BOTH TIMES THEY OPENED THE DOOR AND ESSENTIALLY ENTERED THE ROOM BEFORE EVEN KNOCKING!!! Then they’d announce themselves because they realized someones in the room. In the premier floor, one guy let himself in the room, realized I was working in my room, then made some mumbling comment about the bathroom … did he have to use it… and then he hurriedly left. 5 minutes later
It’s a solid four star property, with some absolute required training needed for their staff. 3 stars I feel is generous.

Nice big room, bathroom well appointed, very well cleaned. One of those annoying hotels where you have to take two lifts to get to your room from street level — one from ground floor to reception on 7^th floor, and another from there to your room.
Front desk staff particularly cold and distant and appeared robotic and inflexible. The most annoying thing upon check in was the deduction of $ 50 per day «bond» on my credit card, despite the room being pre-​paid. I understand that they need to cover against people running away and not paying mini-​bar, laundry, room service etc, but this is excessive. For a 6 day stay they took $ 300 off my card.
This could be a lot to some people as it’s money you can’t spend whilst you are there. Why can’t they do what a lot of other hotels do and just take an «imprint» of the card without taking money of it? This is «the norm» in the west these days. They still have the credit card number and details and can charge it if people skip without paying a bill, but guests can still use money on their card for their holidays. I was also told that using a «debit» card was unacceptable and must use a credit card. Strange and frustrating.
Restaurant staff were a bit hit-​n-​miss. I think every morning there was something missing from the table setting — whether it be a spoon, salt shaker, sugar. You needed to ask for something every morning, and it just appeared sloppy. Breakfast was good however.
Nice pool area, and public areas of the hotel. Free internet terminals in the lobby. One very helpful staff member was a gentleman at the concierge desk on the ground floor, (an Indian man by the name of Mamman or similar) who couldn’t do enough to help guests. Impressive. As this hotel has a western GM and Resident Manager, I was surprised that the service standards had slipped so much compared to when I was there last time. Not sure if I’ll stay again. I think for the price, and with how much competition there is in Singapore these days, there are better options out there.
Tip: If you need to buy cheap supplies for your room, don’t go to the 7 – 11 next to the hotel enterance, turn right, walk 30m, enter Liang Court Shopping Centre and go down to the basement where you’ll find a HUGE supermarket at about ¹⁄₃ of the price.

While neither the Novotel nor Clarke Quay would have been my first choice for a stay in Singapore, my cousin’s corporate rate was just too good to pass up. And we were happily surprised at how wonderfully everything worked out!
The hotel itself is pretty nondescript as chains often are, but our room was spacious, quiet, and had entirely modern furnishings. The hotel is pretty much in Clarke Quay and so there were a plethora of restaurants and bars nearby (including a Starbucks next door), though a decent breakfast was harder to come across (Central Mall across the street has a branch of Ya Kun). The location is central to most of the city and the MRT is also handy. Wifi charges are expensive, which really was the only annoyance, but it is offered for free in the lobby.
The Novotel is a good choice for those on a budget and we also found Clarke Quay to be a nice, centrally located alternative to Orchard Road.