There’s no getting around it – Singapore is pricey when it comes to accommodation. If you’re planning a visit to Singapore you can count on the cost of a hotel being your major expense. Luckily food and transportation are quite cheap. Since you know you’re going to have to spend a packet for even the pokiest little hotel room, it makes sense to see Singapore as a destination you splurge on accommodation for a short period of time. Luckily there are an abundance of really great hotels in Singapore… and I’m going to show you how to make it more affordable.
How to Save Money on Hotels in Singapore
Save up hotel reward points for more expensive destinations like Singapore. We used Hotels.com Welcome Reward points for our booking at the Carlton City Hotel. With Welcome Rewards you get one free night for every ten you book through Hotels.com. I love Paypal and the Hotels.com mobile app let’s you pay with Paypal which is a big bonus in my book. The value of the free night is the average then ten booked. We stayed three nights in Singapore but one was much more expensive than the other two so we used our points for the two cheaper nights and just paid the higher rate on the third.
Avoid major events. We ended up in Singapore during Formula One Grand Prix week. This meant, closer to race date, the cost of hotel rooms skyrocketed and availability was much more limited. Major events, Singapore sales or even Malaysian school holidays can send hotel rates soaring so be sure to Google for a Singapore events calendar before you arrive.
Look for a hotel further out but close to transport. Public transport in Singapore is top notch. The SMRT (Singapore Mass Rapid Transit) is efficient and inexpensive so be smart (get it?) and use it. While it might be nice to stay in Marina Bay or on Orchard Road, moving slightly out of these high end areas can save you $100 a night.
Split your stay between multiple hotels. Some hotels have higher occupancy at weekends and some during the week, so if you’re staying for more than three or four nights it might make sense to stay in more than one hotel.
Choose a new hotel. We booked the Carlton City Hotel which had only been open for six weeks. Hotels often open with cheaper rates so they can build up reviews online and get a customer base going. Our room literally felt like we were the first to sleep in it! The rates were significantly cheaper than the Amara Hotel we stayed in last time we were in Singapore which is right across the street and the same standard of hotel.
If you’re thinking about a trip to Singapore, take a walk with me through Chinatown in Singapore in this photo essay.
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Great tips on saving money on hotels. In fact, a lot of this advice is applicable in many places. Singapore is expensive and shopping around for cheaper hotels can save money.
We are looking at booking a trip there this spring. We couldn’t believe how expensive the accommodations were. Thanks for the tips.
This is great practical advice, Bethaney. And it will come in handy if we ever get round to visiting an old college friend who keeps on inviting us over. Unfortunately, the invite doesn’t extend to the flights.
We didn’t avoid major events last time we were there. We arrived at the culmination of the beginning of Ghost Month, Hari Raya (Eid al-Fitr/end of Ramadan), and Singapore National Day/NDP. We didn’t pre-book and ended up in town on Joo Chiat at one of the Fragrance Hotels (http://www.fragrancehotel.com/). It’s budget by Singapore standards but quite lovely and inexpensive ($88USD/night). No frills and WiFi not included but still worked out great for us.
what great advice! i esp like the new hotels angle. genius!
This is great advice!! Singapore is on my list of places to go….
The tip about the public transport system making it attractive to stay out of the major tourist areas with none of the drawbacks is very true. In fact, this applies well in Hong Kong, too (a trick I missed last time) and elsewhere (Tokyo, I’m looking at you next and this time I won’t forget!). It’s really worth checking out public transport in detail before you look into rooms.
Thanks for sharing your money-saving hotel tips.
Great advice that’s applicable to any big city. I love the idea of booking multiple hotels to hit low-price nights right. And new hotels? Sounds foolproof.
I love the tip about doing a Google search to see if any major events are happening. We’ve been traveling together for well over 12 years now and still forget sometimes. It’s definitely not fun to scramble to find a hotel room when a city’s almost booked out.
I love the tips about splitting your stay and choosing a brand new hotel. Splitting a stay is something I’m fond of because I like the variety of trying out a couple of different hotels.
Good points and very useful for costly city like Singapore. I really liked the idea of staying a little away from main attractions but close to the transport. As public transport is good in Singapore this should save a lot of money in hotels that one can use for eating out or even shopping… thanks
Great advice we were there last year and ended up staying in Johor Baru and taking the bus across to Singapore, it takes about an hour each way but saved us a fortune in hotel costs. He Hawker Centre’s are wonderful my favourite is Newton’s Circus they make really good Chilli Crab 🙂
Great tips, Bethaney! I will keep this in mind when I visit Singapore!