Singapore is an expensive city, particularly for hotel accommodation. And even more so when you come from an emerging market country like South Africa with a (usually) weakening currency. Although we try to limit our accommodation costs when travelling, neither of us are big fans of dorm rooms in hostels. We could still accept a private room in a hostel if we had to stick to our limited budget. So, when I was looking for a place to stay during our two-day visit in Singapore, privacy, reasonable budget and a central location were my criteria for a hotel.

Hotel Clover Singapore

And then I found the Hotel Clover in Hong Kong Street, Singapore. Not only was the prices quite reasonable for a centrally located hotel offering a private room with a bathroom and wifi, but it also included breakfast. But the proof of how good a hotel it is would be when we stay there and experience it for ourselves.

Location, location, location

One of the best features of the hotel was its location. It was close to two Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) stations, namely, Raffles Place and Clarke Quay. There are also several bus stops nearby. Its proximity to public transport helped us get there quite quickly after arriving in Singapore early in the morning from the Woodlands Checkpoint Train station.

Several sights are also close enough to the Hotel Clover to walk to such as the Raffles Hotel (15 minutes), Suntec Convention Centre (Duck tours and red bus tours – 20 minutes) and China Town (10 minutes). Clarke Quay has several restaurants and is only a 10-minute walk from the hotel.

All-in-all, an excellent location for the price we paid.

The staff at Hotel Clover

When we eventually arrived at Hotel Clover, the staff did not disappoint. They were always very friendly and helpful, and that went from the reception staff to the girl who cooked breakfast. It was refreshing after having spent a few nights at the Royal Bintang Hotel in Kuala Lumpur where service and comfort were clearly not a priority. Since we arrived too early for our room to be ready, we left our luggage in the luggage storage provided by the hotel.

Hotel Clover – the rooms

Our room was lovely. Since it was a boutique hotel, the size of the room was not huge. As soon as you walked into the room, you faced the bed. The bathroom was almost bigger than the room itself, which I found strange. But what the room lacked in space, it made up for in comfort. The room was immaculate, and the decor was easy on the eye with laminated wooden floors. The wifi provided by the hotel worked like a dream and was fast.  We also loved the large safe in the room, which worked like a dream and could easily accommodate our two MacBooks and my iPad.

The bathroom was spacious and separated from the bedroom by a frosted glass partition – although it was not transparent; it was still revealing. So, if you consider staying in this hotel, make sure it is someone you feel comfortable with when naked. The shower itself was heavenly with a rain showerhead.

Other benefits of staying at Hotel Clover

After a day of sightseeing, returning to the hotel was a delight!  The complimentary bottled water and soda provided by the Hotel Clover were a blessing as Singapore is always hot and humid.

The breakfast was basic and comprised an egg, made to your request. Other standard items, such as little boxes of cereal, bread and jams were also provided. Not the best breakfast, but consider that it was free and still filling, it didn’t matter to us.

The rooftop of the hotel features a terrace with a pool and a little sitting area. Even though we had every intention to make use of the pool, we found ourselves out till late each night visiting Clarke Quay and eventually ended up not even seeing the rooftop terrace. Clarke Quay has several restaurants near, some on, water, which was lovely to sit and have a few late night drinks.

The hotel also offers arrangements for tours, but we did not make use of this service. We only asked them to arrange a taxi for us on departure, since we had an early flight at 6:50 and needed to be at the airport long before the MRT opens for the day at 5:30.

The verdict

We loved this hotel. It was not perfect or cheap enough to be a budget hotel, but it ticked a lot of boxes for us regarding budget, location and comfort. The free breakfast, bottled water and soda were bonuses we thoroughly appreciated and enjoyed. We definitely would recommend this hotel to anyone looking for a decent hotel in a central location. We will consider staying, here again, should we ever be lucky enough to visit Singapore again.

Over to you!

Have you ever stayed in the Hotel Clover in Singapore? If not, which hotel in Singapore is your favourite?