I got drag along by my friend for a last minute staycay at Parkroyal Collection Pickering a couple weeks ago. This is my first time staying under the Parkroyal Collection brand. With that, Seeing The World In Steps marks its 13th unique property in Singapore. A rather new hotel in Singapore, Parkroyal Collection Pickering made headlines when it first open, the design of the building blends in environmentally friendly practices and technologies. Greenaries and water features can be seen throughout the property. It is said that the foliage here is more than double the land size of the building. Giving you a feel of living in a large greenhouse. Located in the heritage Chinatown area, the property is perfect for tourists exploring the surrounding sights. It is also well connected with the nearby Chinatown MRT station. Marina Bay, Sentosa and Orchard Road are not far away as well.
Booking Process & Pre Arrival
This was a pretty last minute staycation and we made plans literally on the day itself. We paid 200 SGD for a Lifestyle room with breakfast included via Trip.com. I wasn’t able to apply my GHA Black membership for additional perks. Just to share a little on the GHA membership, even being a top tier GHA Black member, you are not accord club or lounge access. Rather, you will have to book a club room to gain club access. Even when upgraded, club access are specifically excluded. Parkroyal Collection Pickering have a total of 367 rooms and suites spread across 10 categories. Do take note that not all the rooms here comes with a bathtub so do make a point to request for a room with one if that plays a factor in your hotel stays. I also realise from some of the reviews that I read, the Signature rooms have really tiny bathrooms.
| Rooms | Collection Club Access | Bathtub | Size | No. of Rooms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Urban | No | No | 28 Sqm | 154 |
| Lifestyle | No | Selected | 32 Sqm | 84 |
| Signature | No | No | 37 Sqm | 21 |
| Urban Junior Suite | No | Yes | 48 Sqm | 21 |
| Collection Room | Yes | No | 28 Sqm | 40 |
| Collection Lifestyle | Yes | Selected | 32 Sqm | 36 |
| Collection Signature | Yes | No | 37 Sqm | 3 |
| Collection Lifestyle Junior Suite | Yes | Yes | 48 Sqm | 3 |
| Collection Signature Suite | Yes | Yes | 73 Sqm | 4 |
| Parkroyal Collection Suite | Yes | Yes | 166 Sqm | 1 |
Checking In
There are plenty of seatings around the lobby area and they were rather comfy. The lobby area is bright and spacious, helped by the abundance of greens and the high ceilings. Staying on a weekend, I was really afraid of the crowd but thankfully the line wasn’t too crazy. I usually tend to avoid the holidays and weekends when doing a staycation, it just dilutes the entire experience.
There is also a dedicated Discovery counter located to the side. Check in was actually pretty smooth, although our room isn’t ready and we had to wait. I had no complaints since it isn’t official check in hour yet! However the situation was further exacerbated when at 3pm the hotel computer system had a system glitch and they are not able to assign rooms. Speak about the timing to take a break! That was really annoying and soon there was a huge amount of people around the lobby. We finally got our room at around 4pm. Check out timing was extended till 3pm the next day given the delay in checking in.
Lifestyle Room
We were assigned room 613, a Lifestyle room located on the 6th floor. The room is located on the non-air conditioned side of the building, facing Hong Lim Market. With the glass door linking the indoor lift lobby to the corridor constantly left open, that makes me wonder how exactly energy saving they are, when cold air is constantly escaping. With that being said, I really love the corridors, they are well integrated into the entire urban oasis concept. Look at these wooden doors of the rooms! I literally walk past them and miss it while looking for my room. They are so nicely hidden, just like a beach hut shack by the side of the forest.
The Lifestyle rooms are a level above the lead-in Urban rooms! Coming in at 32 Sqm, the Lifestyle rooms gives you an extra 4 Sqm and some of the rooms also comes with a bathtub. The room is not huge but the space was nicely utilised. The entire room can be easily seen in one look and is in a regular squarish shape. I love the decor and the finishing here which feels really comfortable. The use of cool grey finishes as well as the semi-carpeted floors adds up a lot of flair to the entire space. I do wish that the room can be a lot brighter, the lights are insufficient when there isn’t any natural light in the evening or when it is gloomy outside.
Immediately after entering, behind the door, this is where the luggage rack is located. The space is rather small and it definitely can only fit a cabin size suitcase. Next to it you can find the wardrobe. Bathrobes and bath slippers can be found inside as well as an ironing set.
The minibar is next to it. You have a little fridge which is bare nowadays, probably due to hygiene concerns. A kettle is provided alongside sachets of instant coffee and teas. And oh my god, Liptons teas??? This can’t be the standard for a 5 star hotel! Quality sachets of teas and proper coffee machine should be a basic amenity for a hotel of this quality! How much would a couple of pods and sachets of TWG or even Twinings cost the hotel? Less than 5 bucks a night. This is disappointing!
A Samsung Smart TV can be found mounted on the wall. It’s pretty small even for a room size like this one! They do come with a pretty good selection of cable channels. For the Soccer fans, Fox Sports and Hub Sports Arena are available. The lush comfortable king size bed can be found in the middle of the room. The bed is comfy and just right for me. I’m a person who prefer a harder mattress. Beddings were topnotch and the pillows were great as well.
Besides the bed you can find the lights switches as well as outlets. It is kinda weird that controls for the blinds are not installed here but by the window. A couple bottles of drinking water can be found here as well. Keeping in touch with the eco friendly theme. Reusable glass bottles are provided. Similar to the ones I had at Mandarin Oriental, while I appreciate their efforts to be sustainable and by using reusable glass bottles. The caps were a tough nut to crack, often, I find myself unable to open the metal caps and I am a pretty strong guy. I’m sure there has to be a better way!
The room have a pretty lovely view of the surrounding Chinatown and CBD landscape. I love how the greens are incorporated giving the vibes that you are living in an urban garden, looking out at the bustling city.
At the far end of the room you can find a proper working desk as well as a small couch. Good for those who need to get some work done! It’s accompanied by a proper lovely Sayl Herman Miller office chair which provides spectacular back support for prolonged working. Wifi in the room is easy to connect and fast. The small couch is rather comfortable and good for lazing around in the day. It is rare to have such a space in a normal room. Surprisingly there are no care kits to be found on the table which seems to be a norm these days in hotels. I do wish that the TV rack is an adjustable one, this way you can angle the TV towards the couch area.
The bathroom is located at the far end of the room and it’s a spacious one. This is probably my favourite part of the entire room. It comes with a separate soaking tub and standing shower. I love how the bathroom have an “open concept” with a huge sliding door. This allows the bathroom to be open up to the main room area when not in use. Making the entire room look even more spacious.
This got to be the most spacious tub that I have ever tried, the squarish and rectangular size shape allows easily for soaks with your loved ones. Furthermore, with the taps located to the side, you do not have to worry about hitting your back on it. It do take a while to fill up as the water pressure isn’t that good. Similar lighting issues that I have already pointed out earlier, it is dark in the evening. The showering area is spacious and definitely good enough for two. Water pressure and temperature control is excellent here. Amenities from Metis are provided, an Australian brand. It is my first time using them and they are pretty lovely. Housekeeping is pretty generous with them as well with one set alongside the basin and another by the shower.
Collection Club
Located on the 16th floor at the top of the hotel. The Collection Club was a pretty lovely space. I was invited by a rep from the hotel to take a look and get some pictures. It is really a nice place and welcoming. I love the abundance of natural light and the use of warm wood finishes. Service was attentive and polished. I would be keen to come back in the future and book a club room to review it.
While I did not partake, the menu for afternoon tea and evening cocktails look rather good! You can check them out here!
Pool
The infinity pool is located on level 5. The pool is open from 6am to 8pm daily. With current social distancing measures, capacity is capped at 28 pax at one time. With that, guests are informed to make reservations for their preferred slots which are in 1.5 hours periods. I love the vibes of the pool here, it felt extremely relaxing in an urban oasis enclave with the lush landscaping around you.
The pool is great for getting some laps done as well with its regular shape. If not, there are sunbeds and these really private lantern looking shaped cabanas, all on a first come first serve basis. Given that the area is partly sheltered, the pool is not really ideal for tanning. Poolside service was really bare, towels are left unkept and there is no offer of water at all. You can head to the fridge in the gym to grab some bottled water though. Facing the city skyline, it is a rather lovely spot for some pictures here.
Gym
Also located on level 5, just behind the pool area, the gym boost amazing view of not only the city skyline but also the pool. It is capped at 10 pax. Reservations are required and slots are in 1.5 hour periods.
While I did not use the gym it seems like a really nice space and really spacious. All sorts of equipment that you need should be there. However, my friend who use the gym told me that most of the equipment are pretty old and not well maintained.
Breakfast
Breakfast is served at Lime Restaurant, the hotel all day restaurant. While there are a lot of hype for their lunch and dinner buffet, it does seems that there are a lot of complains about the quality of food as well. Reservations are required and you can make it after check in. However, even when staying over the weekend, there isn’t much crowd. It shouldn’t be hard getting a seat. Service was bad and the staff were pretty rude, they were nonchalant despite the lack of crowd.
Upon being shown to the seat, pastries and fruits were brought over, consisting of some danish, croissants and muffin. They were alright.
Drinks order were taken and upon enquiring only orange juice, hot tea or regular brewed coffee are offered. That’s awfully miserable! Furthermore for a 5 star hotel quality! They couldn’t even provide a machine made cappuccino or latte! Holy heck! This is what I expect from a hostels breakfast and not at a 5 star hotel! Ordering can be done thru scanning the QR code and from the interface. You can check out the menu here.
We ordered the Scrambled Eggs, Omelettes, Nasi Lemak and the Pancakes. Nothing really stands out and most of it was barely edible. The scrambled eggs were literally the worst I ever had in a 5 star hotel. They are definitely cooked in bulk and left for a while before scooping them to serve.
Don’t let the word ala carte get too much to you, after all it is only a fancy word for plated buffet right here at Parkroyal Collection Pickering. On hindsight, serving speed were awesome! As it turn out, the highlight of the meal goes to the hashbrown which was perfect fried with a golden hue! One advice! You are better off sleeping in and skipping breakfast.
Conclusion
Good hard products and concepts at Parkroyal Collection Pickering but poor executions and stingy. The rooms were rather lovely despite the fact that I was only in one of the base level rooms. I love the concept of the place and the surrounding. I am sure my experience will be even more lovely if it is on a weekday. Service were unmemorable but I will strike that down to a weekend/peak period issue and give them the benefit of the doubt. The bathrooms here are nice, especially the spacious soaking tub. Breakfast however certainly wasn’t 5 star at all, same goes for the amenities in the room. Lipton? I would really be looking forward to be back and stay in one of the Collection room to check out the club offerings. Next up, a trip back to Shangri-La Valley Wing! I will be checking out the Valley Wing Deluxe Room this time around.
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