The 386-room Carlton City Hotel is a four-star business hotel located in Singapore’s Tanjong Pagar neighbourhood. Upon its opening in 2013, the hotel became the second property for Singapore’s Carlton Hotels (no relation to The Ritz-Carlton). Like the two other Carlton Hotels, the property is part of the upmarket World Hotels Elite collection.

Booking Carlton City Hotel

Accommodation prices had shot up in preparation for the Christmas and New Year holidays when I started planning for this portion of the trip (read: last minute). As such, I struggled to find a hotel I could justify paying for in Singapore, given how absurd the average room prices have become since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic. I later found the Carlton City Hotel going for SGD 199 (~ USD 146, GBP 117) a night on Agoda. As I’ve stayed here before, I booked the hotel in a blink knowing that this price won’t last. For reference, I could get a room at the Shangri-La for that price back in 2019.

Location

The Carlton City Hotel is located in Singapore’s historic Tanjong Pagar neighbourhood within the city state’s central business district. Adjacent to Chinatown, Tanjong Pagar is known as an architectural hotspot thanks to its collection of historic Peranakan shophouses and unique set of buildings. In recent years, the area has also emerged as one of Singapore’s principal food destinations, being home to many popular cafés and eateries.

Carlton City Hotel itself is located on Gopeng Street, across from the Guoco Tower (Singapore’s tallest building) and a three-minute walk from the Tanjong Pagar MRT Station. The latter is an especially convenient feature, given Singapore’s excellent and far-reaching metro system. Within view of the hotel is also Pinnacle@Duxton, Singapore’s tallest public housing project and an architectural icon in its own right. Furthermore, Singapore’s Chinatown, its iconic Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, and the Lau Pa Sat Hawker Centre are within a five to fifteen-minute walk from the hotel.

Arrival and Check-in

After my excellent flight on Garuda Indonesia, I took a taxi from Singapore Changi Airport to the Carlton City Hotel. Following a leisurely 25-minute ride, I arrived at the hotel’s covered porte-cochère and was greeted by a friendly doorman. Having confirmed that I was checking in, he took care of my bags and pointed me at the direction of the reception.

I wasted no time checking out the hotel’s marble-clad lobby and headed to the reception desk. Even though I arrived early, the friendly reception agent was still happy to check me in. After getting a copy of my identification and processing my deposit, he issued me keys to my room without question. Having woken up early, I really appreciated this!

With my keys in hand, I headed to the lifts right next to the reception. On this occasion, I was assigned a room on the 17th floor which is a middle floor. The ambience gets darker and more intimate as you get closer to the rooms, which is an interesting design touch.

Deluxe Twin Room

At 32 sqm (344 sqft), the entry-level Deluxe Rooms are decently sized for a short stay. Given the property’s profile as a business hotel, it was no surprise that the room exuded a corporate and relatively smart look.

Bedroom

Despite being over 10 years old at this point, I found the greyish-cream bedroom still looking quite pleasant. With its high ceiling and large windows, the room felt quite spacious despite only being 32 sqm in size. The two beds, which I found nice and firm, are the centrepiece of the space. While I would have preferred the pillows to be bigger, the bed was still comfortable nevertheless.

To make up for the lack of sofas or armchairs, the room has a bay window on which you could sit or place your belongings. While I liked sitting here and looking out at the view of Tanjong Pagar, the hotel missed an opportunity to place seat pads and cushions in this area.

Across the bed, you’ll find the wall-fitted smart television alongside the minibar contained inside the console under it. Next to that is the glass work desk, which fittingly features an ergonomic Herman Miller office chair. A hotel-branded water bottle is curiously presented on the desk, which is for sale like the contents of the minibar. There is also a portable luggage rack next to this.

Finally, you’ll find the room’s closet by the entryway. It contains a pair of bath robes and a safety deposit box, along with an iron and ironing board.

Bathroom

The marble bathroom is located by the room’s entryway and features a separate bathtub and shower setup. On top of having a separate walk-in shower, I really liked that there is both a rain shower and a hand-held shower. In any case, I found the water pressure and temperature to be great. Unfortunately, I’ll add that the bath amenities were house-branded and were rather bad.

As you’d often find at many business hotels, the bathroom has a large window over the bathtub facing into the room. In addition to allowing sunlight into the bathroom, I imagine this was placed to make the space look more airy. Of course, a blind can be pulled down for more privacy, assuming you’re travelling with someone.

Finally, I found it interesting that the hotel has a filtered water dispenser located next to the sink. This makes total sense since the hotel does not otherwise provide bottled water and Singaporean tap water is drinkable. However, I did wish they provided a reusable bottle or a carafe to be used with this, like the arrangement at Orchard Rendezvous Hotel. Perhaps that explains the well-placed Carlton City-branded water bottle in the room, which is for sale at SGD 10. If so, that would be a rather cheap move on the part of the hotel. Hmm…

Amenities

Terrace

Most of the hotel’s facilities are located on Level 3, where you’ll find the Plate all-day dining restaurant and the hotel’s terrace. The latter is located right outside the restaurant, in which the hotel’s gym and al fresco pool are also located. Within the terrace, you’ll find a shaded area, with deck chairs and sun loungers by extension of the pool.

Gymnasium

Located on the Level 3 terrace and across from the swimming pool is the hotel’s gym. Despite requiring a key to access, the gym is only open between 06.30 to 22.00. The facility consists of a small room fitted with TRUE Fitness-branded treadmills and cardio machines, in addition to some weightlifting equipment.

At the very least, to compensate for its small footing, the gym features floor-to-ceiling mirrors on three sides, along with a large window on one side. Furthermore, water and fruits are also provisioned by the entrance to the gym. Aside from its small size and limited opening time, I found the gym to be sufficiently nice for a short stay.

Swimming Pool

Much like the gym, the hotel’s swimming pool is open each day from 06.00 to 22.00. Surrounded by two rows of sun loungers, the nicely sized pool is set within full view of Tanjong Pagar’s eclipsing skyscrapers. Despite being relatively contemporary, the blue tiled pool doesn’t look like anything special compared to the many incredible infinity pools you’d find in Singapore.

Being strategically placed, the pool is not shadowed by the surrounding buildings and receives a full dose of sunlight. This, of course, makes it conducive for sunbathing, if that’s something you’re into. Furthermore, within a clear view of the pool is Pinnacle@Duxton, one of Singapore’s well-received architectural landmarks.

Service

In spite of my short stay, I found the service at the Carlton City Hotel to be good. Apart from being friendly, I found the staff members at the hotel to be quite proactive. This includes the lobby staff, who would proactively assist you with your bags or in calling for a taxi. I’ll also note that the staff aren’t shy to greet guests, which is always a nice touch.

Overall

In a nutshell, the Carlton City Hotel is a pleasant hotel located in a convenient location with relatively comfortable rooms and good service. Given its business-oriented target clientele, the hotel itself doesn’t have features that really stood out to me. Regardless, despite its lack of special amenities, it is a comfortable property I’d be happy to come back to given the right price.

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