If you’ve read any of our previous Singapore stories, you will know we love to visit this small island country. And what’s better than travelling to one of your favourite destinations? Staying in a luxury hotel when you get there, that’s what.
Touching Down in Changi Airport
We took a Saturday flight, around seven hours from Adelaide, Australia. Just enough time to settle in, grab a gin and tonic, try to find something to like about the lunch served, watch something on the entertainment system, and then start getting bored.
Changi Airport is routinely ranked near the top of the various global ‘best airport’ lists, and we can see why. It feels welcoming, and it is the smoothest transition from touching down to getting into a taxi experience we’ve ever had. This trip was no exception.
Arriving at The Capitol Kempinski
As we were driven up the lush plant lined entrance way, we were feeling excited to see if The Capitol Kempinski experience would match up with what we had imagined for ourselves after all our pre-holiday research.
On arrival, we were treated to a glass of champagne at check-in which was a lovely touch. It’s a good time to mention that we took this trip to celebrate our 30 year wedding anniversary, so arriving to a glass of champagne felt very appropriate.
Now, I will point out that The Capitol Kempinski is set across two converted historic buildings: the Capitol Building and Stamford House. Accordingly the hotel is not one of the purpose built, towering structures that house many other hotels. I’ll also note that Hubby loves a huge spacious lobby. The romance of entering a large open area, with a piano playing somewhere in the background, flower displays and elaborate light fittings suspended above hit the ‘wow’ spot for him. Converted historic buildings and high-ceilinged reception areas don’t typically mix, so the lobby didn’t tick the ‘wow’ box for him, but plenty of other features did.
The Capitol Kempinski hotel is in a great location. Just across the road from Raffles City shopping mall, which sits above City Hall MRT station. The MRT, or Mass Rapid Transit network, is a great way to travel around Singapore. An underground walkway joins the Capitol Kempinski to both the mall and the MRT station which is very convenient when it rains or if you want to avoid the heat and humidity.
Booked a Deluxe Room – Got a Deluxe Room
We followed our Kempinski ‘Lady in Red’ hostess up to our room and were provided with a mini hotel tour on the way. The corridors of the hotel are decorated with warm colours and dark wood features. In our room, the Ladies in Red had left us an anniversary cake as a lovely surprise.
I was delighted to find that our assigned room was a corner one. We had a view down Hill Street towards the river, and also across to Stamford Road. The colour scheme was a very relaxing white and cream, with polished wood furniture. We had plenty of windows, practically triple glazed, and we didn’t hear a single sound except an ambulance one evening. Check out the video we took of our room.
Breakfast at 15 Stamford Restaurant
Singapore hotels do breakfast so well. I know I mentioned that we love buffet breakfasts in our story on our stay at the Fullerton Hotel, and the love affair continued at The Capitol Kempinski.
The upmarket 15 Stamford Restaurant is laid out beautifully for breakfast. Everything you could want is available, including Prosecco if you felt like a cheeky glass of sparkling with your eggs. Chefs are on hand to make eggs to order. Coffee preferences are taken, and your choice of coffee delivered back to your table.
A lovely touch was that one of the chefs visited each table and offered a freshly baked Portuguese style custard tart.
What I also loved about the breakfast was that the restaurant was gorgeous. Tones of brown, arch windows, and a stained glass ceiling impressed. Large arrangements of flowers were strategically placed around the room adding to the feeling of luxury.
Drinks at ‘The Bar at 15 Stamford’
It’s one of our personal holiday highlights to have a drink after a full day of exploring. We return to our accommodation, have a soothing recovery shower, put on something nice and head to the bar.
The aptly named ‘The Bar at 15 Stamford’ adjoins the restaurant as the name implies. Cocktails were accompanied by bowls of spicy, crunchy snacks. We sat back, relaxed and watched the mixologist do his thing.
Immediate surrounds
At the start of this story, I told you how well located The Capitol Kempinski is. Within a few minutes walk is Chijmes (a dining complex that incorporates the church from Crazy Rich Asians movie), Raffles Hotel, St Andrews Cathedral, Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall and The National Gallery.
If you don’t mind working up a sweat in Singapore’s humidity, and are happy to walk further afield, the scenic Singapore River is only a 10 minute walk away and the historic Anderson Bridge is only 13 minutes.
Aside from the nearby City Hall MRT station, there are a number of key bus stops close by. We used the bus more than on previous visits this trip, so it was great to depart and arrive within a stone’s throw of the air conditioned comfort of the hotel.
The Wrap Up
The Capitol Kempinski was an excellent choice for celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary milestone. A very welcoming hotel in a great location, and we looked forward to returning to the comfort of our room each day. There are a lot of great hotel options in Singapore, and we were glad we took this one.
