Holiday Inn Express Katong is probably the most affordable HIEx franchise in Singapore. It's near Changi airport and is located at a quiet neighborhood. The hotel is clean, modern, and everything is well maintained. Here's a quick tour of the hotel, our room, its amenities, and everything else!
The lobby is located at the 7th floor so you have to take the lift from the ground level of Katong Square.
Alighting from the elevator, you'll be greeted by the reception counter. Check-in was a breeze. Everything I requested from my Agoda booking was granted (high floor, orange room, early check-in) and it didn't take 10 minutes for me to get a room.
I was even able to request for a Handy mobile which made me love the hotel even more! According to the staff, only certain queen rooms have Handy mobile included. As long as you're checked in you can bring this around with you outside, it has unlimited 4G data and free international call to certain countries.
If you need to surf the internet, there's a small nook at the side of the reception counter with two computer machines. There's also some travel guides and a Forex machine too.
Our room is located on the 15th floor. From the lobby at 7th floor, you have to take another lift to go the rooms. It's not too bad having to transfer lifts, I'm not sure why some reviewers complain about it. Being an express hotel, everything is kinda self-service. Even the extra things you want to request for your room, you have to pick up at the reception. So don't expect luggage assistance when you get here. :)
The room we got is a decent sized one. At 19sqm I was kinda hesitant about the space but when we got in, it actually looks spacious. Thanks to the floor to ceiling windows overlooking the peaceful Katong district and the overall smart space design.
The bed is super comfy and the pillows are marked soft and firm haha. I don't know but it seemed more like soft and super soft. I was expecting the firm pillows are as firm as the throw pillows haha.
The bathroom is simple and has some very practical features. I like the use of liquid soap dispensers for handwash, shampoo/bodywash. I also think it's smart that the shower door and bathroom door act as one. When you open the shower door, it will close the bathroom. So when you're taking a shower, the bathroom is open. Basta ganon hahahaha. It saves a lot of space.
The closet area isn't that big, but it's enough to store our luggage and put out our clothes. There's a safe, iron, and ironing board as well.
For tourists like us, I appreciate the presence of universal sockets, USB ports, and Handy Mobile. There's also a bluetooth speaker/alarm/radio you can use. And for your entertainment, the room is equipped with a Samsung Smart TV which has Radio, Youtube, and Miracast. Let me warn you though that the Youtube feature is pretty useless because there are fixed categories and there's no option to search for a video.
If you want to watch Netflix, I suggest you bring your own laptop and HDMI cable. That's what we did! There's free and fast wifi anyway. :)
There's complimentary bottled water, coffee and tea. Faucet water is potable too (by WHO standard guys) so no need to worry about it!
Every day from 6:30 to 10:30am, breakfast is served at the 7th floor. There's a modest selection of bread, muffins, ham, sausage, salad, fruits, and cereals, and there's also coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and a variety of fruit juices. Apart from the intercontinental breakfast spread, there are also some local Asian dishes like congee, dry noodles, dal, and so on. It's not much but it's enough to fill you up!
The only thing important to me is coffee. And they have 3 coffee machines spread out across the hall. Love it. There are a lot of seating areas and also an outdoor space for guests who smoke.
When you're done with your food, you can place this card to inform the cleaners that your table is ready to get tidied up. And when you're not yet finished, you can flip it over! Isn't that neat?
If you're on the go, you can grab some coffee and pick up some muffins near the reception counter instead. They provide take-away cups and paper bags for that purpose. I think this is a really thoughtful touch targeting their business class guests.
I have no qualms about their housekeeping. They would visit us everyday around 1pm to take out the trash, restock our bottled water, coffee and tea, refill the shampoo and hand wash dispensers, vacuum the carpet, and replace our towels. And get this, when they're done cleaning the room, they would dial something on our phone that would indicate that our room has been visited by housekeeping already. Ang high tech! This third world bitch is shookt.
Outside the breakfast hall is a small gym you can use if you find the need for a quick workout. Jeckie and I was able to try it one night and found it pretty cool. It's small but it's enough.
There are two treadmills, an elliptical cross-trainer, and a stationary bike inside. On the open area outside is a rower, a bench, a rack of dumbbells, and two exercise balls. Also provided are face towels, drinking water, and wet wipes for you to clean the equipment after sweating on it. I love how obsessed this city is with cleanliness, urgh.
Note that there's no swimming pool here!
24-hour self-service laundry
I just love how Holiday Inn Express enables you to be productive everyday lol. Yes , you can do your laundry here. There's also an area where you can fold and iron your clothes. Just be ready to shell out $7 per load. So that's $14 for a wash and dry combo.
When we planned for this trip I didn't care about where the hotel is located because I know getting around Singapore is easy. And indeed! We didn't have any problems getting around. Thanks to the Handy mobile, we have data everywhere we go so it's easy to navigate around.
The nearest bus stop is Roxy Sq. and it's around 30-40 minutes away from the CBD.
I'm impressed at how incredibly feature-packed this hotel is. It's not a place for guests wanting to be pampered with 5-star service, but they provide everything you need with a high standard to enable you to mind your own business comfortably. I love it. It's the first time I've experienced such concept and it's pretty neat. 5 nights well spent!
