Orchard Hotel Singapore- August 2013

Updated 30 Oct 2013 
The hotel contacted me and offered some perks on my next stay as reviewed.
I have to admit this hotel does take the effort for service recovery.

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Official website of Orchard Hotel http://www.millenniumhotels.com.sg/orchardhotelsingapore/
 

Overview of the hotel

 The Orchard Hotel is part of the Millenium and Copthorn Hotels. http://www.millenniumhotels.com/
 

 The Orchard Hotel is located at the beginning of Orchard Road.Nearby shopping centres include the Forum The Shopping Mall, where my hairstylist Mr Gary Soh is the salon director at SHS HAIR STUDIO PRESTIGE, Tanglin Shopping Centre (see St. Regis Singapore) and Ion Orchard a short walk away
 There is also a Jason's Supermarket nearby (http://www.yelp.com.sg/biz/jasons-supermarket-singapore) which operates 24-7.
 The hotel is also next to Orchard Towers which is infamous for the clubs and bars.
 The entrahe hotel is a typical 5-star property look and taxis are usually readily available.

The lobby is rather spacious and houses the lounge (Intermezzo Bar))and buffet restaurant (Orchard Café) as well as a noodle place simply named as Noodles.

Intermezzo Bar

Orchard Cafe

 

The Service

Checking in was not easy and the wait for the room was more than an hour!
 One does not feel much warmth and eye contact from the staff as they scuttle around doing their job.
 

The Room

 
The hotel has 2 wings so be sure to check which wing the room is located.

 

I was given a Premier Room which is described as "Elegant and contemporary in design, the Premier Room is generously spacious at 377ft² (35m²) and well equipped, featuring a 40" LED TV with comprehensive Cable TV Channels, a large writing desk and wifi access."
 Somehow the room felt rather cramped and the room seemed a little tired despite being claims of being 'newly renovated'.


In particular, the bathroom look really worn as pictured.

 
The view from the room was really quite poor and sounds of construction thundered through the glass at times.

 

The Gym and Pool

 The rather famous gym was closed during my visit and is expected to reopen in September 2013.

Thankfully the pool was rather enchanting at night.

 The "Giant Chessboard" at one corner of the pool was mildly interesting.

 On the whole, I am rather impressed by the greenery at the pool giving a image of an urban oasis.
 

The Food and Drinks

We had dinner at Orchard Cafe which was a potpourri of various cuisines avaliable in Singapore, including Japanese, Indian, Chinese and local Peranakan.
 The crowd was excessive and we had to wait for certain popular dishes especially the satay (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satay) which may be (poorly) deemed to be the local kebab.

The Cantonese Restaurant Hua Ting is quite famous and is worth a try as I heard.
 Overall the stay is nothing to shout about and the major letdown of a long wait at check in leaves a very bad taste!

( 30 Oct 2013: See top of entry for update)