Quick Summary
- Fan shaped luxury hotel in Marina Bay
- 527 Rooms and Suites
- 5 restaurants and 1 Club Lounge
- Outdoor pool overlooking Marina Bay
- Indoor walkway connected to Marina Mall
- Suitable for couples, families and business travellers
- One of the largest buffet breakfasts in Singapore
- Walking distance to major attractions
Keep reading to see our hotel review of the Mandarin Oriental based on our 3 night stay here in July 2019 in the Club Ocean View Room.
Location & Getting there
If you’re coming from Changi International Airport, it’s an easy 20 minute car ride or 3 minute MRT ride to the Mandarin Oriental.
The hotel is located on Raffles Avenue which is right in the heart of Marina Bay – the main dining and entertainment district of Singapore. Benefits of being in the heart include being close to:
- Public transport: Walking distance from the MRT and subway
- Major landmarks such as: Helix Bridge, ArtScience Museum, The Singapore Flyer, Esplanade theatres, Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre
- Major shopping centres such as: The Shoppes and designer malls on Orchard Road
Club Ocean View Room
During our stay we were in the Club Ocean View Room with incredible panoramic views and access to the Club Lounge.
From our bed we were facing the Singapore Flyer and I guess because we were on level 19 we could also see Marina Bay Sands from the desk/workspace so we ended up having the best of both worlds!
We loved the warm and inviting modern asian decor and to top it off, we were even greeted with a souvenir gift, a pot of chinese tea and welcome snacks too.
Our room was extremely spacious with the perfect amount of space so that our bulky luggage never got in the way.
You can see in the bed photo above that all the USB and charging ports were right next to our bedside (which is something we love!) the other great inclusions were:
- Bathroom amenities
- Hairdryer and ironing facilities
- Large marbled vanity area
- High speed WiFi
- International wall sockets
- iPod docks and USB sockets
- Bathrobes
- Large work desk
- Twice daily housekeeping
- Ultra HD Smart TVs
Rooms & Suites
There are actually so many different rooms to choose from at the Mandarin Oriental that it’s easy to be overwhelmed, so here is my attempt at summarising the different room types:
- Deluxe Room: City view room and private balcony
- Ocean View Room: Singapore Flyer and ocean channel view room
- Marina Bay Room: Marina Bay Sands view room (great for the light show!)
- Mandarin Room: Larger room with city views and private balcony
- Club City View: City view room from a higher floor with access to the lounge
- Club Marina Bay View: Marina Bay Sands view room from a higher floor with club access
- Ocean Grand Room: Larger room with sofa space with Singapore Flyer and ocean channel views.
For those interested in the suites, these are the different suite rooms:
- City Suite: Room with option of two twin beds or one king bed with a living room and views of the City.
- Marina Bay Suite: Room with option of one king bed or two twin beds with a living room, private patio, and views of the bay
- Club Marina Bay Suite: Same as the Marina Bay Suite but on a higher floor and club privileges
- Premier Suite: These suites have a large sitting area and a small dining area and vanity room
- Oriental Suite: This is a king bedroom suite with private balcony, vanity room, dining room (for 8 people) with pantry.
- Mandarin Suite: This is a two-bedroom luxury suite with two king bedrooms, two private balconies, two powder rooms, a dining area (for 8 people) with a study area, and a living area.
Pool & Spa
We didn’t actually get to use the spa or fitness centre here but they are both located on the same level as the pool.
The reason for that is probably because we were pretty taken by the view from the pool that most of our time was spent there instead haha.
The outdoor pool has comfortable lounger chairs facing the city view, private kids pool and plenty of sunbeds.
With the all year round humid weather, we think it’s pretty worthwhile to stay at a hotel with a pool because most of your time will be spent there.
If you’re like us, you’ll end up lounging around from afternoon to night until dinner time so you can catch the light show.
Restaurants & Dining
There are 7 dining options available in the hotel (which gives you a pretty good idea of just how big it is!). Here is a summary of each of the restaurants:
- Melt Cafe: Breakfast, lunch and weekend dinner buffets
- MO Bar: Upscale bar with view of Marina Bay
- Dolce Vita: Italian food by the pool
- Cherry Garden: Cantonese restaurant inside hotel
- Bay @5: Outdoor lounge with casual food
- Teppan-ya: Japanese teppanyaki
- Morton’s the Steakhouse: Award winning steak and seafood restaurant
During our time here we only tried the Melt Cafe for breakfast and the MO Bar for cocktails and share food so here is our review of the two:
Melt Cafe (Breakfast Buffet)
Okay.. umm… WOW!!!! The breakfast buffet at Melt Cafe was one of the biggest and best buffets we’ve ever experienced in Singapore (and we’ve been to Singapore quite a lot now!)
From memory, the buffet was split into different cooking stations:
- Chinese Food: Noodle station, dim sums, congee and more..
- Malaysian Food: Nasi lemak, rendang, kaya toast and more..
- Indian Food: Roti, curries, rice, samosas and more..
- International Food: Pancake and waffle station, egg station, bacon, bread, salads, cheeses, yoghurts, cereals and more..
- Desserts: Pastries, fresh fruits, cakes, muffins and more..
We’ve heard so many great things about this buffet and we definitely weren’t disappointed. Our personal favourites were the options for Indian Food and Malaysian Food, which was just like top quality restaurant food you wouldn’t expect from a buffet.
Apparently they serve up an incredibly impressive dinner here too so we hope to try it next time.
MO Bar
If you’re a Game of Thrones fan and just an overall lover of aesthetically pleasing food and drinks.. you …must.. MUST order the Mother of Dragons cocktail.
This drink has a literal picture of a dragon on it and was inspired by the ancient dragons of Ha Long Bay. It’s made from cachaca infused dragon fruit juice, aloe vera and has a hint of citrus which makes it a bit sweet and tangy.
The other drink we tried was Twilight by the Bay which is made from fermented mangosteen and cinnamon rum which was a bit stronger in taste with some sweetness.
Equally impressive to the drinks was the food. The menu at MO Bar consists of either bar snacks or share plates and we ordered the Indo-china Prawns and Galley Potatoes to share.
These dishes along with the complimentary welcome snacks (vegetable chips) were such generous servings that this unintentionally ended up being our dinner.
Summary
Considering that this is a very well known upscale hotel in Singapore, it’s prices are actually decent and paired with the attentive service and attention to detail, it’s well worth staying at the Mandarin Oriental during your time in Singapore.
If it’s your first time in Singapore and you want to see all the main attractions, most of them will be walking distance from the hotel so you’ll save yourself the headache and costs of getting around town too.
This hotel was perfect for us (a couple on their honeymoon) and since we were here during a public holiday, there were plenty of other couples and families staying at the hotel too.
We’ll definitely be returning to the Mandarin Oriental!
Where to Fly Next 
Great post 🙂
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