Hotel 81 Chinatown

In my last trip to Singapore, we stayed at Hotel 81 Chinatown at New Bridge Road. The reason for choosing this hotel is due to its location and price. The hotel price in Singapore generally had sky rocket since the beginning of the year. Hotel 81 Chinatown rate is SGD159 and SGD179 on peak season or public holiday

This is the lobby. Not many seats are available as can be seen. The interior decoration is rather unique with European taste into it.

At a corner at the lobby, free Singapore maps are available for free and other places of interest brochures. This is also where the visitors kept their baggage if they arrive early and unable to check in.

The official check in time is 2pm and they are really strict on that. We arrived at 1pm but told to leave our baggage at the designated area and back again at 2pm. One need to deposit SGD20 when check in for the key and the TV remote control. The money will be refund back when one check out. The staffs are neither rude or polite. Overall satisfactory.

Here is the room. I nearly got a heart attack when I first entered the room (o4-05). It is the smallest room I ever check into. The door next to the main entrance is the toilet. There is barely room to walk inside the room. Even the room had bad "Feng Shui". With the main entrance and the mirror facing the bed directly. The room is air conditioned and there is a control panel to adjust the temperature.

There is no window. So I will not know the weather condition out there. I am a bit frustrated as unable to view the spectacular view outside.

There is also this painting hanging above the bed.

Let's have a tour at the toilet. the toilet is really cramped. Note the distance between the toilet seat and shower is virtually negligible. 2 towers were provided. Toilet paper is sufficient. Shower cum hair shampoo is also readily available. We didn't use it and eventually bought a bar of soap from the nearby 7 eleven. Disposable toothbrush, toothpaste, comb and shower cap also wrapped up nicely in the hotel's packaging. Hot and cold water is available for the shower.

On the dressing table, several facilities are available. Kettle, tissue paper and hair dryer are in good condition. The mugs had the hotel's logo on it. Strangely, only 1 small bottle of processed water provided. However this won't be an issue as Singapore's tap water is safe to be consumed directly. A cup of instant noodle also been provided, probably as breakfast for the resident (refilled every day). Milo and coffee sachet is available and refilled every day.

There is surprisingly a DVD player available. Not many hotel had this for their clients

Another interesting finding is that the pillow case is of disposable type as I found these boxes down the corridor.

Hotel 81 chain is categorized as budget hotel with ISO certification. The hotel is clean and well maintained. It is tourist friendly with the maps and information readily available, basic facilities are provided in each room.