Singapore on the Cheap!

The trip to Singapore was not planned. It was one of those last minute things that we decided on because we wanted to go on a quick vacation but we didn’t want to spend a lot. Singapore is a great city because it has a lot of cheap hotels AND there are lots of cheap flights going to and from the country.

The Airline: We could have saved a lot if we booked our tickets during a promo but this was biglaan so the next best thing is to choose a budget airline Our favorite is Jet Star. This is our 2nd time on Jet Star and we will definitely choose to fly with them again. The flights are always on time and the staff are friendly and efficient. There is no food on the flight but you can buy your meals online or onboard for around 300-600 only. For a 3.5 hour trip though, we really didn’t need to eat. We had heavy breakfast na lang for the flight out from Manila. For David, we brought snacks and water for him to munch on while we were in flight. Yes we were  water in David’s thermos plus bread and snacks in case the little bugoy got hungry. For 3 round trip tickets, we paid 25k. Our flight out of Manila was at 10am.We got to Singapore at 2, which meant that we still had half-a-day to go around the City. We took my aunts to Marina Bay Sands and the Merlion Park for the first day 🙂 Our flight out of Singapore was at 4pm. We had a full day to roam around and meet up with a friend before we left for Changi. We checked out early at our hotel and left our bags at the reception area so we could still go out 🙂

The Hotel: Our titas were staying in Orchard at Concorde Hotel so we wanted to stay near them. Our budget however did not allow us to stay in any of the hotels along Orchard until I found Hotel Supreme in Kramat Road, Orchard. Nakiki-Orchard lang sya hahaha. Pero it was just behind Concorde Hotel and with that small difference, meant a price drop from a hotel room of along Orchard of about USD200  a night to USD99 a night. Yes, our studio room was just USD99 a night! Pero syempre there are payoffs. This hotel was probably built around the 1970s and it has seen very minimal improvements. The elevators are super small. Me, Dan, David and David’s stroller are enough to fill one lift. As in ang liit. Well, I took pictures of our room which to be fair is really big pero well I’ll let the pics do the talking:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The carpets were blue and could use a few more rounds of vacuuming in my opinion.  We had two twin beds in the room that we pushed together so that us three could all sleep together.

However you can’t ever beat Hotel Supreme’s location. It’s got a taxi line at the back and it’s right across Concorde’s Hotel food court. It’s a few steps literally from Orchard Road. It’s a block away from Plaza Singapura (Dhoby Gaut station) where Tim Ho Wan is and is a few blocks away from 313 Somerset and H&M. Di naman ako maarte and the main thing I look for in a hotel room is that it’s clean.  In hindsight, the room IS clean but with all the things you saw in the pic above parang di naman malinis masyadooooow.  Our philosophy is that tutulugan lang naman ang hotel and with that you really can’t beat Hotel Supreme’s price. Maybe if it was just me and Dan, ok lang, sige ,we can stay there again but if we’d be bringing Noah and David, I might think twice.

We booked the room via Agoda by the way. I’ve used this service twice already and I’ve had no hitches so far. I was even able to cancel a reservation and had the reservation charges reversed in my credit card without any drama.

So in summary, book a budget airline (or better yet book Singapore flight on promo fares) then check out Hotel Supreme. If my pics didn’t turn you off then by all means book Hotel Supreme! It’s on a great location on a great area in Singapore with lots of fine restos and shopping.  Think of it this way, the money you save on airfare and lodging is extra money for shopping and good eating! Yahoo!