Saturday 3 June, 2017
Old fashioned service with a smile seems to no longer be “on trend” at most hotels. Some impersonal Receptionist, usually very good looking but who appears to have overdone the Botox and can’t smile, checks you in without a smile in super fast time with little or no information. No wonder so many guests return to say that their Key Card does not work – they just haven’t been given instructions on how to use it!
Not so here at the Concord Hotel in Singapore. The Porter whose name I do not know but has been here since I first started staying in 2013 met me at 6.30am this morning with a cheery “Welcome Back” and a freshly squeezed fruit juice mocktail.”Just to freshen you up”, he said in a fatherly manner as he took my heavy cases. He could see that I was exhausted after my 12 1/2 hour flight from Copenhagen.
The lovely Faridah greeted me at the Premier Lounge and offered me her undivided attention, a strong coffee and a delicious fresh Danish Pastry while I sat in the Premier Lounge as I checked in.
My room was ready and waiting for me. A real bonus. Unlike most hotels where you have to fill in the time until 3pm which is check in time.
I have a lovely room on the 9th floor overlooking a park with a full room sized picture window. It couldn’t be lovelier.
All the staff are amazing from the Housekeeper who came to see if I had any washing needed doing to the person who collected my shoes for cleaning. My clothes were taken at 10.30 and back, hanging in my wardrobe by 4pm. When I went for complimentary cocktails and finger food my shoes were collected and housekeeping had them back polished and shiny before I returned to my room 1/2 hour later.
The room attendant came mid afternoon to change the towels and later my bed was turned down before I got back from dinner. I couldn’t ask for more.
Today between naps to catch up on the sleep I missed out on during my long flight from Copenhagen to Singapore due mainly to my watching movies all night, I managed to do a little bit of site seeing. I was too tired to walk for miles so this afternoon I decided to do the hop-on-hop-off bus – yellow route.
This route took us past the Fullerton Hotel, down to Clark Quay, right up to the Botanic Gardens check in, along the famous shopping strip Orchard Road and right up to the Marina Bay precinct.
Tomorrow morning I will continue my hop-on-hop-off tour as the ticket is good for 24 hours. It really is the only way to see a city and to get your bearings.
Unlike Copenhagen which never got above 10 degrees whilst I was staying there, the temperature in Singapore today was 31 degrees with a light breeze that thawed my bones and made the tour very pleasant. I learned a little more about Singapore and its people and tomorrow I am booked to participate in the Changi Chapel and Museum tour. I will learn about the role it played as a World War 2 Prison Camp. This tour should be very interesting.
Families of Ireland 