The Hotel Life: Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay Signature Marina Bay Room Review

A couple of weeks ago I did an impromptu stay at Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay, a very new hotel that has recently completed its renovation after rebranded from the previous Marina Mandarin. I was excited to review and check out the hotel after my stay at Parkroyal Collection Pickering earlier in the year. It will be a nice contrast and lets see which goes down as the best Parkroyal in Singapore. Perfect data point for GHA members who are looking to clock a LE every year as well. Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay is located in the marina bay enclave and just steps away from the Suntec City and Marina Square shopping malls. It kinda forms a belt with the surrounding Mandarin Oriental and Pan Pacific hotel. It is well connected to all the attractions in town and you will have your choice of restaurants and shops in the malls. It is nice that you are near the bayfront area for a little stroll after dinner and checking out the Singapore skyline. 

Booking Process & Pre Arrival

The hotel stay was kinda last minute and I literally just booked the room days before my stay. I got the Discovery Staycay Everyday where I booked the Urban King room for 216.57 SGD Nett a night. It is an impromptu plan to celebrate with my friend. The rates are pretty good especially given that we are staying during the school holidays. I am certain that Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay can be booked for a lower rate but it is still rather worth it given that this will be my first stay this year at the Parkroyal brand. I will be able to earn a valuable Black Local Experience.  

My room was double upgraded to the Signature Marina Bay View room. Early check-in at 9am and late check-out at 6pm was also accorded. One of the best perks of staying in a GHA property is the ability to enjoy my GHA Black status benefits. I have always managed to get a 33 hours stay for a one night stay. That is as good as a staycation and a daycation lump in together. This is further extended till 7pm on the day of check -out. Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay have a total of 583 rooms and suites spread across 10 categories. Bathtubs are available in selected rooms, so do take note and make a request if that is a factor in your stay. The rooms are inspired by elements of nature and each room or suite either overlooks Marina Bay, Padang or the city. Surprisingly, a stark contrast to Pan Pacific and other Parkroyal hotels in Singapore, Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay follows the standardised approach where all rooms above the club rooms receive club access and this includes the suites as well. You can find the breakdown of the rooms below. 

Rooms	COLLECTION Club Access	Bathtub	Size	No. of Rooms
Urban	No	Selected	31 – 33 Sqm	227
Lifestyle	No	Yes	33 – 35 Sqm	182
Signature Marina Bay	No	Yes	31 – 33 Sqm	88
Family	No	Selected	63 – 66 Sqm	4
COLLECTION	Yes	Yes	31 – 33 Sqm	38
COLLECTION Marina Bay	Yes	Yes	31 – 33 Sqm	22
Urban Suite	Yes	Yes	63 – 66 Sqm	12
Lifestyle Suite	Yes	Yes	66 – 70 Sqm	3
Signature Marina Bay Suite	Yes	Yes	63 – 66 Sqm	6
Parkroyal COLLECTION Suite	Yes	Yes	199 Sqm	1

Checking In

I arrive at around 10am and as I pulled up to the entrance the polite bellboy was out to help me with my bags and usher me thru the safe entry procedures. The hotel has a pretty grand driveway and there are a couple of parking lots in front of the entrance, these are available on a first come first serve basis. If not you can park at the Marina Square carpark. Free parking is provided to guests. Rather than finding your way inside, I will recommend you to simply enter the carpark via the entrance off the hotel to make things easier.  

The ground floor is just a concierge and waiting area with the main check-in counters and reception at level 4. I was greeted at the entrance by the manager and offered in-room check in. Syahira who was assisting me was an absolute gem. Everything was taken care of for me and I was in my room in minutes. All Syahira need was my credit card and she also gave me a brief introduction of the room and the hotel while on the way up. I love the public areas of the hotel. It was sparkling new and everything was clean and fresh. You can even see workers doing touch up around the hotels. GHA Black members currently also get 25% off dining and takeaways. 

The main lobby is located by level 4 and this can be said as the centrepiece of the hotel. The lobby was gorgeous and you can find plenty of seating here. Playing to the theme, the area is being decorated like a garden in a hotel.

I love the seatings that look like a birds nest. What really surprises me was the fact that Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay have its own resident birds! Yes, that’s right! You heard me correctly. The hotel has a total of 5 REAL birds in cages by the lobby. They all be chirping all day long and can be heard throughout the building. What a lovely sound to welcome you! This must be the only hotel in Singapore to have its own house birds. 

You will find the surrounding vaguely similar to Pan Pacific Singapore with the open atrium design. The interiors are pleasing and comfortable. The bubble lift further makes it even more lovely with the view of the atrium when travelling between the ground floors and your room. 

Signature Marina Bay Room 

My room was located on the 16th floor. I was assigned room 1637 a Signature Marina Bay room. Upon entering you have a little short entrance. I do love their design in this area and they are pretty thoughtful. There was a little ledge or platform extending out which is perfect for placing some items or wearing your shoes just before heading out. 

I like the design of the place, the palate and some light brown finishing make the place looks rather classy with a hint of luxury. It could be even better if they have thought of placing a full-length mirror by the wall here, that would be perfect. Guests could check themself out just before leaving the room. 

The bathroom is located to the right of the entrance and behind a glass door. This was my least favourite part of the room. It doesn’t look welcoming at all. It kinda gave me a hospital vibe. It felt rather claustrophobic and pretty stuffy inside. The ventilation needs to be better when the bathroom door is closed. The huge amount of white marble usage here makes it rather discomforting. While I appreciate that the toilet comes with a bidet, the toilet bowl was very small and uncomfortable. The bathroom also comes with a separate bathtub. While it is spacious, it is designed to be low. I didn’t like the design of the tub and it doesn’t feel welcoming. 

I also didn’t like it that there is no rainforest shower installed in addition to the handheld one. This should be a basic item in any 5-star luxury hotel. Toiletries are from Melt, an Australian brand frequently seen across Parkroyal and Pan Pacific properties. They are decent. I appreciate that the water pressure and temperature were good. The towels were high quality and soft as well, perhaps due to them being new. 

There is only space for one basin and beside it, there is a drinking water tap installed which provides you with filtered water. Parkroyal Collection hotels in Singapore have always stress about being eco friendly and I appreciate having this installed. Reusable bottles are provided here rather than disposable bottles of water. 

The wardrobe is located near the entrance and opposite the bathroom. All sorts of standard amenities are provided including a safe, bathrobes and bath slippers. It is nice to see that a proper quality hairdryer is provided in addition to the one that is fixed to the bathroom wall. 

Coming at 31-33 Sqm, the main space of the room is pretty spacious. With the king size bed located in the middle of the room, you can find a huge and spacious luggage rack area opposite it. 

A platform next to it and under the TV also acts as the working desk in the room. Outlets are conveniently located here and the wifi is strong in the room. The chair provided a decent amount of back support for a brief period of working. A Herman Miller ergonomics chair will be a nice addition to the room. The TV was a good size for the room and high quality too. I love that it’s mounted on a movable rack that can be swirled to the ride to face the chair or even pulled out to make it nearer to the bed for a good lazing movie night. This also makes it easy to connect your laptop via HDMI and stream shows. Sadly the TV only supports Chromecast. For the sports fan you will be pleased to find that Hub Sport, Fox Sport and Bein Sports channels are all available. 

Left on the desk was a welcome amenity consisting of some sweets and cakes. I really love those gem icing cookies which bring back good memories of when I was still a kid. The ondeh ondeh roll cakes were extremely good as well. Everything came covered in cling wrap which is very much appreciated these days.  

The bed is comfy and I had a good rest. It is towards the firm side which is perfect to my liking. On both sides of the bed, you can find nightstands as well as controls for the lights. I also appreciate that an international socket outlet is installed in addition to a USB charger port. Great job in having these installed during the recent renovations. There is a QR code by the side of the bed which brings you to the hotel online interface where you can access the facility booking and request housekeeping items.  

You can find a carekit left on the nightstand. A norm these days in hotels, inside you can find some surgical masks and hand sanitiser. 

At the end of the room, you can find a single seat as well as a coffee table. 

The minibar area is located in a little cabinet. You can find an impressive commercial Zenius Nespresso machine here with 4 capsules provided. A kettle, as well as TWG packaged tea, are provided as well. I am really glad to see TWG teas rather that the liptons their sister property provide. The fridge is left empty. 

The room had decent views of the Marina Bay area and this extends from MBS and the Gardens by the Bay. Do take note that the view is partially blocked by Mandarin Oriental. The renovations and cranes outside might be an eyesore currently.

Much more lovely in the evening! 

Last but not least, the room comes with a tiny “balcony”! I am not even sure if I would call this a balcony or just a little ledge. It is basically good for doing nothing besides standing there and taking a picture. It is too narrow for anything else. This would be good in the past when smoking is  still allowed but it’s kind of pointless these days. You can’t place any furniture there. I would rather they renovated it and make the room more spacious. Simply a waste of space now. This is what happens when they only refresh the interior and not the exterior of the building. In hindsight, SHN and quarantine folks will really appreciate having this. 

Gym

The gym is located on level 5, just off the main lobby area. It looks really good from the outside and I even say plenty of exercise bike, the place also has a little set up for spin classes. Sadly, due to the tightening of COVID-19 measures during my stay, I wasn’t able to check out the gym which is closed. 

Pool

The pool only recently completed its renovation. What is really special about the gorgeous pool is the use of mineral water as well as the 1380 fiber optic lights which is a sight in the evening. This is something that you should not miss! The mineral water used it’s said to be less drying and milder for those with sensitive skin when compared to the normal swimming pools. The pool is currently open from 7am to 10pm. Due to current health measures, a total of 30 pax are allowed at one time. Reservations are required to use the pool. However, during my stay, there was no attendant by the pool to check on reservations neither are there any offer of glasses or bottles of water. This is disappointing for a 5-star hotel. Towels are available off a rack by the side of the pool. 

The regular shapes do allow for getting some laps in. It isn’t huge, especially for the size of this hotel. You can find plenty of sunbeds on both sides of the pool. I do feel that they had a huge design myopia regarding the pool. The orientation of the pool isn’t ideal. Given the renovation and remodel of the place, they should have designed the pool to face the Marina Bay area rather than the lawn. That would be really awesome and gorgeous. Something akin to the pool situation over at Mandarin Oriental. 

Conclusion

It had a rather lovely stay. It certainly doesn’t hurt that the property is so new and everything is clean and in mint condition. GHA Black members are certainly well treated here from my experience as well as what I had heard from others. The 9am check-in, 6pm check out as well as the double room upgrade elevate your entire staycation. While I really dislike the bathroom and the kinda useless balcony, this is still my preferred go-to Parkroyal in Singapore. I can foresee myself being back every year to earn a valuable LE if the rates are right. It will be even better if the hotel throws in club benefits for top tier members. The rooms here vary and are extremely inconsistent though. I have heard of some rooms within the same category having rainforest shower yet mine didn’t. So do make sure to put in a request if it matters to you. A great start to my week-long birthday celebration!

Seeing The World In Steps stayed in Early June 2021 during Phase 2 (Heightened Alert)