Hello everyone – welcome back to another of my reviews. In today’s article, I’ll be reviewing my stay at Village Hotel Bugis.
I was searching for a hotel that had three single beds, and chanced upon Village Hotel Bugis. Given its accessible location and relatively affordable price point, I decided to book a stay to check it out.
Village Hotel Bugis – Video Review
For those interested in seeing some hands-on footage of the hotel, do check out my Youtube review of Village Hotel Bugis below:
Village Hotel Bugis – The Brand
The hotel first opened its doors in 1988, before receiving a renovation in 2012. It has a total of 393 rooms, and is under the Far East Hospitality Group, which also manages properties such as Orchard Rendezvous Hotel.
The Family Room can generally be found for under $200, and includes breakfast. While it’s still a bit steep, I couldn’t find another full-fledged hotel (with a pool and gym) that had 3 single beds for less.
Village Hotel Bugis – Check-in
Village Hotel Bugis shares the same building as Golden Landmark Shopping Center, and is a mere 5-minute walk from Bugis MRT.
The entrance is rather nondescript, being situated right beside the back entrance of Golden Landmark Shopping Center.
However, the lobby itself is big and spacious, with a sizeable chandelier being the its highlight. And even though I checked in on a weekend, there wasn’t much of a queue, and I was assigned my room after a short 10-15 minute wait.
While the lobby possessed old world splendour, the hallway was a totally different story. Dim lighting combined with white walls (that had plenty of mirrors for some reason) gave the corridor a slightly eerie feel.
Village Hotel Bugis – Family Room
Luckily, the room fared better.
For one, the room felt bright and airy. At 32 sqm, it was pretty spacious as well.
There’s a large wooden wardrobe on the left of the room entrance. In it, there’s a torchlight and a safe…
…as well as multiple wooden hangers, an iron and an ironing board. However, the wardrobe did have an aged look to it, and has definitely seen better days.
However, the main bedroom – for the most part – looked relatively modern, and had clearly been recently renovated. There’s a quaint heritage artwork of trishaws and shophouses above the beds. Note that the family rooms comes in either a 3 single beds or a double bed and a single bed configuration. However, only the former configuration has a bathtub – the latter features a standing shower. As I wanted a bathtub, I opted for the 3 single beds room instead.
The bed themselves were satisfactory to sleep in. Nothing spectacular, but still better than the overly soft/firm beds of budget hotels. I particularly like the heavy duvets, which gives one a sense of comfort when tucked in.
There’s also a sizeable bag rest, though the wooden tones look dated.
Another sign of the room’s age is the 32-inch Sharp Aquos TV. The picture quality was quite blurry, and the television wasn’t capable of any smart capabilities. No Netflix and chill here.
However, the mini-fridge was sufficiently large, and I was able to fit a bottle of wine and a small cake in it (the staycation was for a birthday celebration) with ease.
Refreshments were ordinary, consisting of Super coffee and tea – I didn’t even bother to bring the unused sachets back home.
There’s also the standard JVD kettle, along with a small water bottle.
Those looking to get some work done can do so on the latter end of the table, which features a table lamp, pen and paper, an analog phone, as well as an ergonomic chair. The chair is no Herman Miller, but it’s still better than the average hotel room chair.
Unlike Hotel G, power ports are plentiful, so you can charge both your phone and your laptop at the same time.
A Panasonic hair dryer can be found in one of the desk’s drawers.
There’s also the Bible as well, should you need it.
Annoyingly, no bottled water was provided. Instead, guests are assured that tap water is safe to drink. Be that as it may, directing guests to drink tap water clearly isn’t ideal.
My room overlooked the swimming pool, with Raffles Hospital and Parkview Square (better known as the Gotham building) visible. Not the most scenic of views, but not the worst either.
The recent renovation is most obvious in the bathroom, which featured glossy new wall tiles and marble countertops.
A variety of toiletries are provided, including dental kits, shower cap, sanitary bag, as well as a vanity kit.
After the renovation, the toilet now sports a modern concealed cistern design. There’s even a seal on the toilet bowl, ensuring guests that no one has used it since it has been cleaned. It’s a small gesture, but one that I definitely appreciated. Thankfully, there’s even a bidet at the side – something all hotels should implement.
As great as having the bidet is, the highlight of the bathroom is definitely the bathtub. It’s actually pretty ordinary – it’s not the biggest/prettiest bathtub I’ve seen, but not the smallest also. A single guest should be able to soak in it with plenty of room, though two would be a squeeze.
Like in Orchard Rendezvous Hotel, the toiletries provided are by Escape, which is Far East Hospitality’s in-house toiletries brand. No complaints here, but they were unmemorable to use. No body lotion was provided as well, which is a bummer.
Village Hotel Bugis – Amenities
Being a full-fledged 4-star hotel, Village Hotel Bugis has both a swimming pool and a gym.
As it was raining, I didn’t have a chance to use the pool. However, it didn’t look like I missed much as it’s rather small and there isn’t much of a view. It’s definitely no infinity pool – I’ve swam in condo pools that were better than this.
The same can be said of the gym, which was underwhelming. Although it’s of a decent size, the machines looked worse for wear, with two of the three treadmills being out-of-order. It seems like half the lights were spoiled too, which gave the gym a dark and slightly claustrophobic feel.
If you’re just looking to do some free weights, the gym will still do the trick – just don’t expect to be blown away.
Conclusion – so Village Hotel Bugis “shiok” or not?
I would say that my stay at Village Hotel Bugis was okay. Certain aspects of the hotel definitely are in desperate need of refurbishment – the corridor, the gym, and the pool all looked like it has seen better days. The keycard access for the lift was buggy as well, and I had to get my card reset thrice at the reception because the lift kept failing to recognize it. The breakfast was disappointing too. I was expecting an a la carte buffet, but it came in the form of a takeaway bento breakfast that resembled (and tasted) like army cookhouse food. And unlike Orchard Rendezvous Hotel, the service here was perfunctory at best. The saving grace was the recently renovated room, which was mostly clean, comfortable, and had a bathtub and bidet. I don’t have many complaints about the room itself – it’s just the rest of the hotel that was lacking. Overall, Village Hotel Bugis is an ageing property that could definitely use a deeper revamp. Until that occurs, I probably won’t return.
Those interested in booking a stay can do so on the Traveloka app. Traveloka constantly has some sort of ongoing promotions, with prices so ridiculously low that I’ve personally booked about 90% of my staycations on Traveloka. Just for my readers, you guys can use the promo code “WAHTVLKSRV” (if you’re using SRV) and “WAHTVLK” (non-SRV) for 10% off any hotels bookings (up to $30 off, with a minimum spending of $100) for new users and $5 off any hotels bookings (with a minimum spending of $50) for existing users. The codes are valid till the end of 2022. Here’s a pro tip: keep a lookout for Traveloka’s Weekend Flash Sales which occurs every Friday to Sunday for the lowest prices! However, this post is not sponsored – I paid my own dime to book and review my staycations.
Village Hotel Bugis Location:
390 Victoria St, Singapore 188061
P.S Do check out the new “Discounts!” page for exclusive discounts for Wah so Shiok readers! More brands will be added very soon – stay tuned!
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P.S.S.S Shiok is a common word Singaporeans use to express admiration or approval. As of 2016, you can find the definition of the word in the Oxford English Dictionary.
