Hotel Miramar, Singapore

I have stayed in a few Singapore hotels, and generally the standard is extremely good, so I was surprised to be so disappointed with The Miramar. I chose it because I was on a stopover and got a cheap deal. As I have seen the sights of Sing before, thought it would be nice to visit Malaysia for the day.

Singapore is renowned for it's cleanliness, but this has obviously passed The Miramar by, because my room was musty smelling and ...
...sweepings under the bed. Otherwise it contained the necessary, with double beds, TV, and non-sparkling clean bathroom.

Facilities include a pool. However, this is a trek down a dingy corridor with dangling wires, where you eventually pop out into the health club reception. The pool is outside, a bit pokey and paint-peeling, and surrounded by random pieces of ageing garden furniture.

The food is alright, and the restaurant ... more

I have stayed in a few Singapore hotels, and generally the standard is extremely good, so I was surprised to be so disappointed with The Miramar. I chose it because I was on a stopover and got a cheap deal. As I have seen the sights of Sing before, thought it would be nice to visit Malaysia for the day.

Singapore is renowned for it's cleanliness, but this has obviously passed The Miramar by, because my room was musty smelling and incredibly dusty, I think there was a year's worth of sweepings under the bed. Otherwise it contained the necessary, with double beds, TV, and non-sparkling clean bathroom.

Facilities include a pool. However, this is a trek down a dingy corridor with dangling wires, where you eventually pop out into the health club reception. The pool is outside, a bit pokey and paint-peeling, and surrounded by random pieces of ageing garden furniture.

The food is alright, and the restaurant service is friendly and efficient. Breakfasts are good buffets with a comprehensive selection of English and Chinese hot food, fruits and cereals. There are Japanese and seafood restaurants, and a more snack orientated cafe on-site.

The most disappointing part of my stay surrounded my idea of visiting Malaysia. Normally I like to do things independently, but as I had no real time to organise, I thought I would book one of the tours advised by the concierge to an interesting Malaysian water village on sticks. I can't remember what it was called because I never got to go. I discussed the tour with the concierge, asked him to book it for my family for the following morning, my only opportunity to go, picked up my tickets and left it at that. Next morning we waited at the appointed place in the lobby.... and waited. Being English, we had naturally got there perculiarly early, but when the collection time arrived and went, I sought out the concierge. He suddenly appeared to say that he hadn't been able to book the tour after all. Well, thanks a bunch. Would a phone call to the room the night before really have been such a challenge? In the end we hopped on the train to Johor, and had a great day anyway, but it wasn't quite the cultural experience that I had hoped for.

The good points about The Miramar are that it's close to Chinatown, and it has the usual business centre, WiFi connections, etc, but with the huge variety of quality accommodation in Singapore, all I can say is this - if you are thinking about staying at The Miramar, don't. 

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