Orchard Rendezvous Hotel is a 4-star hotel located in the upscale Tanglin neighbourhood of Singapore. The 350-room property opened way back in 1970 as the Ming Court Hotel. The hotel changed hands in 1991 and was renamed into the Orchard Parade Hotel. In 2018, the hotel was sold to Singapore’s Far East Hospitality and underwent a total refurbishment leading up to its name change. It joins Far East’s two other existing Rendezvous Hotels in Singapore and Melbourne.

Booking Orchard Rendezvous Hotel

Since hotels in Singapore are priced at an all-time high nowadays, I really struggled to find a reasonably priced place for one night. Whilst major chains were charging an arm and a leg, I found that hotels of the local Far East Hospitality group were going for more reasonable prices. I ended up booking the Orchard Rendezvous for IDR 1,730,000 (£93) which I think is a relatively great price for this day and age.

Location

The hotel is located on Tanglin Road, an upscale chiefly residential neighbourhood in the heart of Singapore. The central section of Orchard Road can be reached in about 10 minutes on foot, where you’ll also find the Orchard MRT Station. There is similarly a bus stop across from the hotel, at the Delfi Orchard Shopping Mall.

Arrival and Check-in

I arrived at the Orchard Rendezvous at 10.00 in the morning, having walked a leisurely 10 minutes from the Orchard MRT Station. Given my early arrival, I was expectedly told by the courteous and friendly check-in agent, Thava, that my room was not ready. Surprisingly though, he offered the use of a shower facility in the hotel dedicated to early-arriving guests. Wow, very impressive! The lobby also looked relatively nice if not a bit old.

I went out for a slow lunch and came back at 14.00. Sure enough, the room was ready by then and I was immediately issued a key. So far so good! On the path to the lifts, there was also a neat art installation (which also happened to be for sale).

My Superior Room

I booked an entry-level Superior Room, which comes at a size of 26 sqm. Whilst ultimately not that small, this is honestly nothing special for Singapore. I was assigned a room located at the far end of the corridor, near the emergency staircase.

Bedroom

What first occurred to me when entering the room was the distinct lack of sunlight. Surprisingly, the window had nothing in terms of a view. The (lack of a) view outside was towards a dark wall, which itself was obscured by the frosted glass. At this point, I was glad I stayed only for the night.

The bedroom looked quite new but it seemed to be the case that the renovation budget was limited. It consisted of a bed, a desk, and a sofa chair. Whilst I liked that there is a desk, the bed was completely rock hard. Whilst hard beds are common in Asia, I’ve found them to be relatively rare at Singapore hotels. As such, I honestly struggled to get a good night’s sleep.

Additionally, the minibar came with an empty glass bottle in place of the regular plastic bottles of complimentary water. The intent was for this glass bottle to be filled with tap water. Whilst the hotel obviously put an environmental spin on this, I honestly thought it was just them being cheap. This is particularly more evident from the use of a plastic remote cover, plastic slipper covers, and plastic laundry bags in the room.

Bathroom

Located by the doorway is the room’s similarly small bathroom. Curiously, a bathtub was installed, although that might just be a legacy of the 50-year-old age of the hotel. In that sense, the bathroom looked quite old, although it was thankfully bright and clean. However, I also noticed that certain metal handles in the room were rusting, which could have been maintained better. The toiletries provided were from ‘Escape’ which seemed to be Far East Hospitality’s house brand.

Hotel Amenities

The hotel has a gym and pool, located on a terrace on the sixth floor. From here, nice views of Tanglin Road and Orchard Road are visible.

Pool

The pool had an interesting design since it is slightly elevated from the ground. Yet, it interestingly isn’t an infinity pool. The pool is surrounded by a number of daybeds and a few sun loungers. Honestly, it was nicer than having no pool, although it didn’t seem very inviting.

Gymnasium

Behind the pool is the hotel’s small gymnasium. The space is a bit dim and looked quite outdated, but I appreciate the fact that it is open 24 hours a day.

Service

The service at check-in by Thava was very good. He was very friendly and welcoming, which honestly gave me a very positive first impression of this otherwise mediocre hotel. I was impressed by how proactive he was. Apart from that, I had limited interactions with other staff members, although everyone else seemed to be well-intentioned and friendly enough.

Overall

Overall, I think Orchard Rendezvous is a mediocre hotel with a reasonably nice location. Whilst the rooms left much to be desired, the hotel was otherwise completely serviceable, particularly for a short stay like mine. I definitely wouldn’t go out of my way to stay here again, although I’d still consider it should the price be right!

Read more from this trip here!