Singapore Hotels Offer Extras
Non-smoking Rooms, Free Wifi, and now Free Mini Bars.
With the news that British Carrier Virgin Atlantic is to bypass Asian hubs on its direct flight from UK to Australia, hotel extras are welcomed by the tourist trade.
Once again the city-state of Singapore is in the forefront with new ideas. The five star Royal Plaza Hotel on popular Scotts Road is offering unique features for the visitor/tourist, features which they think are not found elsewhere in the world. It is the first hotel in the city-state to have all 511 of its rooms and suites smoke-free, plus, it is also offering free broadband both wireless and wired, in each room!
That’s not all. This five-star establishment is even offering a free mini-bar in every room, but with less items than usual. Each day the mini-bar is replenished with two beers, two mineral waters, two juices and two soft drinks. Mind you, the luxurious Kempinski Hotels in Estepona in Spain was offering this when it opened its doors for the first time a few years ago, and I presume the custom continues.
Many hotels in Thailand leave two or four bottles of water per room for their guests. The Dusit Resort Hotel in Hua Hin, Thailand actually distributes free bottled water morning and afternoon to its guests around the pool because, as the General Manager, Victor Sukseree, explained, “de-hydration is a problem in Thailand's heat and we’d rather give water away than have our guests become ill from heat exhaustion“.
Another hotel in Singapore is making news. The Furama River Front Hotel now boasts 596 rooms after its five-month renovation and refurbishment. There are swish new executive rooms and the hotel’s carpark has been transformed into a ballroom - the Mercury Ballroom - to accommodate weddings and seminars for up to 340 banquet guests.
This, it is hoped, is the first step for the Furama Hotel International Group bid for growth. Plans are afoot for expansion into Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam over the coming years.
The extras offered in all the city state Hotels will be an added incentive for people to stop off in Singapore. This will be especially welcome, in view of the news that British carrier Virgin Atlantic has just announced it is to introduce non-stop services between London and Australia. Its new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft will be used on the direct flights between Perth, Australia, and London, England. This will take approximately 16 hours and is expected to become a popular flight. Less good news the for Asian and Middle East hubs is that this could lead to the end of the traditional two-three night stopovers in places like Singapore, Bangkok and Dubai.
