Last year, I saw some amazing deals from Los Angeles to Singapore via Air China. During that time I had just received 50,000 points from a new credit card. Luckily, I was able to act fast and snag a round-trip for only 39,000 points! Knowing I was going to be in Singapore during Thanksgiving weekend, I wanted to stay at the famous Marina Sands Bay Hotel.
In This Post
Marina Sands Bay Hotel Room
I could have easily used my points to stay at Hilton, Hyatt, or Marriott properties in Singapore, but I had my sight on the Marina Sands Bay hotel. Since my flight was free, I had more spending cash to stay in the Marina Sands Bay hotel. I decided to book a city view room to take advantage of what the hotel had to offer.
The Deluxe City View room offered a king size bed with a side sofa. An ergonomic desk area with a laptop data port made it easy to connect online. The room was also equipped with a 42″ flat screen TV.
Bathroom and Shower
The bathroom came with amenities that are common at most high-end hotels, such as a razor with shaving cream, comb, sewing kit, Q-tips, toothbrush, and toothpaste. The walk-in shower was located on the left side and the toilet was located on the right side.
Infinity Pool
What makes the Marina Sands Bay Hotel unique is not what is found on the inside but on top of the hotel. The famous Infinity Pool has one of the most breathtaking pool views in the world. The pool is only available to hotel guests, which helps you enjoy the scenic downtown view peacefully. The pool is open from 7:00 a.m .to 11:00 p.m., giving you plenty of time to explore the city yet still unwind at night and enjoy the views from the infinity edge pool.
Located alongside the pool is a restaurant and bar where you can take advantage of their breakfast buffet. It has a mixture of western and Asian style breakfast. As you can see, it was hard to choose one over the other. The buffet does come with a hefty price of $50 per person. While the food quality was decent, it wasn’t anything that spectacular where I would choose to eat there again. I’ve had better buffets in Las Vegas for less.
The Bald Thoughts
Overall, I enjoyed my stay at the Marina Sands Bay Hotel, and I would recommend it to everyone! The rooms were clean, but it didn’t match the elegant atmosphere of the lobby and interior of the hotel. The central location of the hotel was great for traveling across the city. Conveniently under the hotel is the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station for easy access. Due to my short stay in Singapore, I decided to take the taxi everywhere. The taxi fares are fairly cheap at less than $10 USD each trip. Be cautious of peak hours during the day and late at night which can double the price.
Since the Marina Sands Bay Hotel is not affiliated with a major hotel brand, your best bet is either the Citi Prestige card (4th-night free benefit) or the Barclay Arrival (use points to pay your hotel expenses), depending on how long you’ll be staying.
What was the room cost per night?
The total amount for a 2 night stay including tax and fees was $812.38. That’s a $406.19 a night. To some, it might be expensive for one night however I wanted to experience the infinity pool which was only available to hotel guests. If you’re traveling with family or friends, it will help you reduce the cost. Thanks for reading.
I stayed at this hotel in July ’15. It was a great experience for the pool. But, when I go back to Singapore, I’ll stay somewhere else. There are a lot of really nice hotels to choose from, for less money. Do it once, for the pool, then move on.
Agreed Smitty. There are many places like this where you do it once for the experience, then go the frugal route to save up for the next bucket list experience.
I agree with you. Some of the hotels I want to explore next visit are Mandarin Oriental, Fullerton Hotel, Naumi Hotel and the Grand Hyatt.
Great review and information. Does the pool really close at 1pm in the afternoon? Do you have any tips on finding discounted pricing? I plan to go there this summer…but the price is really high.
Thanks!
Hi Tiffany,
It should say 11pm. I guess I was too excited when writing this article and forgot to add that extra 1 😉 Since, the Marina Bay Sands Expo doesn’t belong to any loyalty programs or listed on OTA (Expedia, Pricline, etc) its hard to find any discounts available. During my stay I did sign up for their Sands Rewards Lifestyle which gave me a 5% discount off my entire stay. It’s not much but i’ll take it! If you really want to stay here, I would recommend just going for one night. There are alot of other nicer hotels for fraction of the price. Hope this helps!
Thanks Charlie for the time clarification. I will keep an eye on the pricing in case they do any promos.
Stayed at this hotel summer of 2016, was completely overpriced, staff was discriminatory, location was terrible (across bay from everything), food selection horrible, I could go on… This place is worth 1 night at most just for the pool selfie…
It seems we had totally opposite experiences but I’m glad you shared your experience. I was only staying for two nights in Singapore and didn’t want to go through the hassle of packing my stuff again and relocating.
There are ways to use the pool without checking in. Google is your friend 🙂
Definitely John. Always consider the alternatives 😉
I’m in Singapore right now and was able to view the pool and take photographs from the bar and restaurant adjacent to the pool. It is accessible by express elevator from the ground floor. Highly recommend Intercontinental Hotel here.
Ce La Vi is the name of the skybar I mentioned. Look for their sign in the lobby. They open around noon and close at one or two in the morning. My photos look like I was at the pool!