A Stay in the Iconic Fullerton Hotel

363

Hubby had a milestone birthday in 2018 and as Singapore is one of our favourite destinations, is warm all year round, and is relatively close to our home country, it was his choice for a short birthday holiday. 

We wanted to stay somewhere special and had always dreamed of a stay at the Fullerton Hotel. It’s an iconic hotel set in the impressive former General Post Office building. The location on the Singapore River is also a huge positive.

Arrival

Our flight landed shortly after 3pm and we took a taxi from Changi Airport to the Fullerton Hotel. If you have travelled through Changi Airport, you’ll know that it is usually a dream for travellers with low wait times for immigration processes and luggage collection (and most other services really). We were at the hotel at 4pm where a member of the concierge helped us with our one suitcase. 

Hubby’s birthday is bang in the middle of the Christmas and New Year’s Eve festive period, and the exterior of the hotel was beautifully decorated adding some extra ‘wow’ to our arrival.

Check In

The Christmas theme extended into the lobby. An enormous gold coloured christmas tree, cleverly made out of teddy bears (the Fullerton Hotel’s mascot), stood in the centre of the lobby as the key feature piece. 

There was no wait to be served and the check in staff member who served us was lovely. We had booked a ‘Post Master’ room (2018, the rooms have been renamed since; now a ‘Marina Bay View’ room) as we wanted a balcony overlooking the harbour towards Singapore’s well known Marina Bay Sands hotel complex. Despite arriving after the designated check in time, our room was not ready. However we were offered an alternate available room for immediate access, or we could wait if we chose. As the alternate room did not have a balcony we elected to wait.

We were offered a complimentary drink in the lobby bar whilst we waited. A refreshing Tiger beer hit the spot after the day of travelling. Our room was ready before we’d even finished the beer and the check in staff brought us our key cards. 

The Room

Our room’s colour scheme was relaxing neutral tones and rich, dark wood. The marble bathroom was quite spacious and had a walk in shower.  This room type has plenty of cupboard space, and a nice work desk too. 

The views from the balcony were worth holding out for. We had a spectacular view of city buildings, the river, the Marina Bay Sands complex and over to the Singapore Flyer (ferris wheel).  The hotel is situated over busy Fullerton Road and although the traffic noise was quite apparent whilst on the balcony, the room is very quiet thanks to excellent sound proofing.

We admired the view at sunrise, throughout the day, dusk and night, and the view never got old. The only balcony related issue we experienced was that our phone and camera lenses would fog up as we left the air conditioned room into the Singapore humidity. 

Check out this video for the complete view.

Breakfast

A buffet breakfast was included in our stay (pre Covid). We love hotel buffet breakfasts! Our typical approach is to make an event of it, and fill up on a variety of things. That way, we are fully fuelled for lots of exploring on foot, and won’t have to stop for lunch (maybe an afternoon snack), and then have a relaxing dinner somewhere. This is exactly what we did on the day we visited Little India, Arab Street and Haji Lane which you can read about here.

The Fullerton’s breakfast is in their Town Restaurant, which has both indoor seating (in the cool of the air conditioning) and outside riverside seating (with a great view of river goings-on). We opted for sitting outside whenever we could. Be warned that the seating outside fills up quickly! We worked out on our second last day that you can book a table, so we did that to ensure our final breakfast would have a great view. 

There is everything you could hope for available, the hotel describes their offering as international flavours from east to west. There was a chef-attended egg cooking station to prepare eggs however you want them. 

Our cappuccinos came cutely topped with the teddy bear mascot chocolate motif. 

Exploring the Hotel

Aside from the Teddy Bear Christmas Tree, the lobby was beautifully decorated for the season. Other Christmas trees, luxe tinsel and baubles were tastefully positioned around.

There is a corner dedicated to the history of the building, tracing the timeline from the former General Post Office to the current day hotel. Aside from the dining venues and the bar,  there are also a couple of small shops.

The lower lobby has a central water feature complete with large koi fish. There is also a garden area on the hotel grounds. 

The Fullerton Hotel’s lobby is in an amazing central atrium. The rooms are around the atrium, with views either into the atrium, or outside.  We enjoyed the great view down into the lobby as we made our way to the swimming pool. 

The swimming pool is an infinity pool which overlooks the Singapore River. The other side of the pool is surrounded by the huge marble pillars which make up the building’s iconic look. I did swim, and staff are on hand to provide towels, water and serve drinks or snacks if you fancy them. The day I swam, despite it being the busy Christmas period, I was the only one in the water for most of my swimming time. 

The lobby’s Courtyard restaurant offers a beautifully presented English style high tea. We have previously enjoyed High Tea in the Courtyard restaurant during other trips to Singapore. We opted to have high tea this trip too, which I’ll describe in a future story.   

The Lobby Bar

There is a rooftop bar, with amazing views, however it was the lobby ‘Post Bar’ where we decided to enjoy pre dinner drinks. The bar has a clean, elegant feel. The central island bar is nicely illuminated, with friendly staff ready to help you choose from the good range of drinks on offer. 

Our Negroni was beautifully presented, complete with a smouldering cinnamon stick. The bright pink Singapore Sling was served in a modern glass with a Merlion nestled in the base (click here if you are not sure what a Merlion is). 

We were delighted with the included bar snacks – fried, salty and very addictive.  

Since our visit in 2018, the bar has changed its name to Signature Reserve@The Fullerton Hotel.   

The Wrap Up

We loved our stay in the Fullerton Hotel. It is such an impressive building, with an elegant interior, you can’t help but feel you are somewhere special. At the same time, staff go out of their way to make you feel welcome and relaxed. 

It’s a great location for watching the regular Marina Bay light shows, and also for exploring the Singapore River. We had Singapore Chilli Crab along the river during our stay. Immediately across the famous Anderson Bridge are museums, a concert hall, theatre, arts centre and Singapore Parliament buildings. These buildings and the surrounding gardens are great to explore.  

If you get the opportunity to stay at the Fullerton Hotel, take it!