There are a number of heritage hotels located in downtown Singapore, especially in the Chinatown and Bugis area. Many of these are converted from old shophouses in the last decade or so. Generally speaking, most of these heritage hotels offer fairly small rooms and few of the amenities that you’ll find in large establishments – e.g. a gym, swimming pool, business center, and parking. But in exchange for that, you do get a different experience altogether: these hotels are less likely to be preferred options for visitors with kids, and certainly not for large tour groups visiting Singapore.
For our second couple staycation of the year, we selected NuVe Heritage Hotel, situated along Purvis Street, and coincidentally just behind the Naomi Hotel where we stayed at eight years ago with Hannah. This is actually our second time staying at a heritage hotel, the first being The Majestic @ Melaka seven years ago – which seemed more a luxury boutique than a heritage establishment even.
My notes!
The hotel is small: just six floors, with about 4-5 rooms per floor. To get into the hotel lobby, you have to squeeze past tables in the restaurant. During off-peak hours it’s just a minor annoyance, but during lunch or dinner hours, it’s a hassle – and the pathway through is fairly narrow. You’ll need to especially take care that any luggage you’re carrying does not smack in the restaurant patrons. The location of the hotel – along Purvis Street – is great, with numerous eateries a plenty all within easy walking distance. There’s also two level basement carpark with perhaps three dozen lots at a building that’s a few minutes walk away, and it offers flat parking rates for public holidays and Sundays.
The Welcome Drink was underwhelming; it’s self-service and what tastes like honey-dew flavoured syrup. The jars of Asian-styled cookies are a nice tough though.
Our Deluxe King Room is just 20sqm – not as tiny as the one we stayed in @ M Social Singapore last December, but it can probably fit two adults but no more. There is a small work table that also doubles up as a dressing table on one side of the bed, and a nightstand on the other: and that’s it. There is little other furniture in the bedroom.
The hotel itself isn’t too old or at least looks like it’s gone through refurbishment in the last several years. However and possibly on account that the room walls are painted in a off-white, stains show up easily, and there are some in the unit: especially around the parquet floor and its skirting. Size and stains notwithstanding, the Deluxe King room itself is clean.
Thankfully, the toilet and bathroom stall didn’t get shortchanged: it’s of normal size, and equipped with the usual amenities: toiletries, and the stall itself is equipped with a rain shower head.
The minibar is complimentary – and in a nice touch, well-stocked with a variety of drinks, including the usual fizzy and non-fizzy drinks, beers, and light snacks.
In-room WIFI that’s reliable and stable and quick enough but oddly it wasn’t using a secure type of connection. You’ll want to add an additional layer or two of security, e.g. VPN if you’ve got it.
Oddly, there was a general lack of power points in the room. There were two in the mini-pantry area but that’d mean if you’re looking to use and charge a laptop at the same time, you’d need a fairly long power cord of somewhere in the 2-3 meter length. The one power point I had on one side of the bed was already plugged into the room’s digital clock.
The room had a pretty large TV – 46″ would be my guess – that carried Mediacorp’s broadcast channels, a few others and not much else. Though it did have HBO – which meant we could catch the series finale of Game of Thrones (beautifully done up epilogue-styled episode that tried its hardest to wrap up all the loose plot threads, but by this stage, the series had already been pretty much done-in by the abysmal writing in this last season).
Sound-proofing is an issue: we could hear other units’ doors closing or slamming quite loudly. Thankfully, there are just a few units per floor, so it didn’t happen too often: but you will hear visitors coming and going on your floor in this hotel.
The complimentary breakfast spread is fairly small: eggs, hashbrowns, Spaghetti Bolognaise, bread and some spreads, and beverages. Tasty enough though, but it’s just enough variety to get you by and nothing more.
Finally, the largest annoyance for this stay: the staff were a mixed bag. The hotel staff manning the reception area were unfailingly polite and warm. But the cafe staff were unsmiling and impolite even. The reception staff said that the cafe was a separate enterprise – and it shows. The vibes I got was that the cafe did not like hotel guests. On the second day morning, I’d came down early for breakfast, and seated myself after I informed reception of my room number. Along comes the wait staff who likewise came up to demand the same. No problem on that for me – but it was his lack of acknowledgement after I replied that was a real turn-off. The fellow just turned and walked away.
So all in, quite mixed feelings for this stay. The location is fantastic, and the rates attractive. The size and amenity limitations of the room I can also accept given the type of hotel this is, and that check-in requires a good level of agility as you navigate through the cafe. But the cafe staff attitude at breakfast was cold: it costs nothing to be polite. So, I’ll recommend NuVe Heritage Hotel if you care about location, the rates, and are agreeable that this won’t be a luxury stay – and can live with everything else.
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