Singapore (SIN) Stopover Tips

[AFF Editor]

This thread is a place to share tips and recommendations for stopovers at Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) in Singapore. You can discuss things like:

• How to get from the airport to the city
• Things to do (both near the airport and in the city)
• Where to stay/hotel recommendations (both near the airport and in the city)
• Your favourite SIN airport lounges
• Airport facilities such as luggage storage and showers
  
• Any other destination-specific tips or "hidden gems" you've discovered that could be useful for someone stopping over

Do you have a great tip that other travellers might find useful when stopping over in Singapore? Add your suggestions to this thread.

Read the AFF article here: The Ultimate Singapore Stopover Guide

 

[James Shann]

I'm not trying to push the hotel, but, we always stay at the Carlton Hotel since it is very conveniently located.
They have introduced a "Handy" mobile phone which is free to hotel guests and allows you to make free calls to anywhere in the world. Also, it has free roaming, so that you can check E-mails etc. wherever you are, in Singapore.
It allows you to download apps, such as "Grab" so that you can phone for a taxi. Also, you can download any app of your choosing.
When you check out, all traces of your usage is deleted so that no one can use your details.
Don't know whether other hotels do this, but, it certainly is "handy".

 

[perthjay85]

I'm not trying to push the hotel, but, we always stay at the Carlton Hotel since it is very conveniently located.
They have introduced a "Handy" mobile phone which is free to hotel guests and allows you to make free calls to anywhere in the world. Also, it has free roaming, so that you can check E-mails etc. wherever you are, in Singapore.
It allows you to download apps, such as "Grab" so that you can phone for a taxi. Also, you can download any app of your choosing.
When you check out, all traces of your usage is deleted so that no one can use your details.
Don't know whether other hotels do this, but, it certainly is "handy".

A few hotels have adopted this that I know of in Singapore.
Marina Bay sands
Beach villas on Sentosa Island
Rendezvous Hotel

We didn't use them as we had singtel Simcards. But they are a very good idea for people that can't be bothered getting a simcard.

 

[BlinkJet]

A few hotels have adopted this that I know of in Singapore.
Marina Bay sands
Beach villas on Sentosa Island
Rendezvous Hotel

We didn't use them as we had singtel Simcards. But they are a very good idea for people that can't be bothered getting a simcard.

Hotel guests to get a more Handy smartphone to discover Singapore

Due to the MOU, quite a number of hotel chains (eg. Holiday Inn) have Handy in their rooms.


In the case of a short stopover, nearest hawker centers include Changi Village & Blk 85 Bedok for you to satisfy your food cravings.

 

[philelltt]

The Hilton Garden Inn in Little India doesn't cost many points ,though overnight prices can be high after tax is added. It is close to the MRT. You can get there with only one change of train. We used it for an early morning arrival,late evening departure on the same day. They were OK about that, so it made a very economical all day stay. There is a nice pool to use while they get your room ready. We were in the room by 10.30 am.

 

[busker]

Looking for a good cheap freshly made meal in Changi?
Changi Airport Staff Canteen is the place.
You will find these in both T1 & T2.
The following is for T1 Staff Canteen
Located city side departure hall @ level 2
First Check-in your luggage.
Then DO NOT proceed to passport control.
Instead head for the area behind check-in row 13
There you will find lifts to B1.
There it is! You’ll see the staff canteen as soon as you come out from the lift.
Just follow the staff.
The staff canteen is setup like a Hawkers Market with multiple vendors.
It is good food and it is cheap.
Price for the public is about S$1 above staff price.
That is about S$5 for a good tasty meal.
Counting chairs, the seating capacity is about 700.
Suitable for a single traveller / family with kids.
It is an experience.
Opening hours varies - 6am to 11pm. for some vendors.
Search YouTube for a short <less than 2 min video
key this Singapore Changi Airport Staff Canteen at Terminal 1 (2017)
This video shows you how to find the hidden Staff Canteen in Terminal 1, Changi Airport, Singapore.
Bon appétit

 

[Anna]

The Museum of Asian Civilisation is fascinating if you like museums and/or it's too hot or wet outside. It's walking distance from City Hall MRT station / Raffles / Fairmont / Swissotel. (Not sure if City Hall is technically the closest MRT stop).

If you are an active person and will be able to shower somewhere afterwards before getting on your flight, then the Tree Top Walk and suspension bridge on the MacRitchie Nature Trail is great. Take water with you.

 

[NZflygirl]

Free Singapore Tour

There's the free transit tour of Singapore also.

Edit: Changi Transit Programme

There are the Changi airport dollars as well which you can only redeem if transiting. $20 pp. It's best if you've printed your e-ticket out and hand that in to the kiosk (which I didn't find that easy to find). But we used them to buy a bottle of bubbles for our trip.

 

[Mr_Gimlet]

Eating is my Singapore hobby. East Coast Seafood is half way from the city to the airport and so is a good stopoff for chilli or black pepper crab in either direction. And in Changi Village is the Little Island Brewing Co which also does BBQ. Again, a convenient place to hang out before a flight.

 

[jb747]

Nuclear chicken and black pepper prawns at Fatties.

 

[moa999]

Note the Changi Dollars for transit is now for a far smaller selection of airlines and routes than when initially launched
Changi Transit Programme

 

[Captain Halliday]

I’ve mentioned in other threads the Grand Mercure Roxy Square as a good place to stay.

It has the handy phone mentioned above but also offers a free shuttle to & from Changi on an hourly schedule from around 0630-2200. From next year there will be an MRT station right out front.

As a stopover hotel there’s two things I like about it. 1. They offer 30% their restaurants for in-house guests which is great when you arrive tied and can’t be bother to go out for food. It brings the price down below the SIN average.

Secondly it’s the hotel used by several airlines for crew accommodation which I find means rooms are available early and late checkouts can also be accommodated. Plus it’s usually fairly quiet inside because the crews are sleeping (or trying to).

 

[Bad Seed]

Two must sees are The Changi (prison) Museum, a sombre experience, you need to get there by bus and the Battlebox Museum (book ahead, limited number of places) -the underground bunker where the surrender of Singapore was negotiated - the lifestyle diorama recreations are fantastic. I also love the Far East Plaza for shopping - its a quirky, older style plaza with no big name stores just lots of booth-style shops - great for the teens and for something different from the glitzy places. I always stay at the Hyatt next door so its my favourite place to go.

 

[Mattg]

Two must sees are The Changi (prison) Museum, a sombre experience, you need to get there by bus...

I tried going to the Changi Museum earlier this year, only to find it was closed for refurbishment until 2020.

 

[bakerbj]

Re Singapore stopovers, We always look for the Changi dollars and in the past have applied them to a short break in the airport hotels, making a sleep and a shower even cheaper. I think the last time, we had about 7 hours to kill between flights and got the transit room for $80 of which $40 was the Changi dollars, hard to beat that!

The other recent experience was flying with Korean air. Our travel agent recommended it as we would get a free night in a hotel in Seoul as long as there was a significant break between our flight in and our on-flight out. The hotel, and included meals, etc, was great. Unfortunately, the downside is that Korean is a small airline and the flight out of Brisbane was at 8:25 which meant staying overnight in Brisbane to get to the airport in time for an international checkin, etc. so we still ended up paying for an overnighter anyhow.

With our destination as Amsterdam, flights are limited to one a day so the journey home was horrendous. We came off the MS Koningsdam about 8:30 local time, did a 3 hour "transfer tour" and were dropped off at Schiphol at midday. We then sat around with our cases until Korean opened their checkin at 18:10 for our flight at 21:20 local time and after another long transit wait at Seoul (no hotel this time) eventually got to Brisbane then drove home, arriving about midday on the following Tuesday, a typical Australian / European flight experience, I suppose, but not one I appreciated.

With the benefit of hindsight, the specific feedback here is, ALWAYS think hard about travelling with a small airline, it is often better to pay a bit more and go with the flights that minimise waiting times and shorten the journey as much as possible.

 

[Daver6]

Hopefully its ok to ask questions here too? If not, please remove.

Is the night zoo worth doing? Any recent feedback appreciated.

 

[Snowmoo]

Hi

Asking on behalf of a friend who has a 8 hr stop over in Singapore airport. They are not a member of any lounges, but will want to sleep.

Apart from roughing it on a chair for 8 hours, what would her options be? Do they have sleeping rooms/pods at the airport?

 

[Denali]

They have snooze areas, with longer bench seats but that depends on if they are free.

Transit hotel airside, T1 (which I prefer) has the pool.

T1 Aerotel | Airport Transit Hotel | Home

T2 & T3: http://www.harilelahospitality.com/terminal-2

Im not a fan of T3 as the 3 times we've stayed there, I found I could hear beeping golf carts and announcements during the night/interrupted sleep but not everyone has had this experience.

 

[trooper]

At least 2 Airside Transit hotels.... Ambassador and Aerotel (IIRC) Used on some years ago and thought it was reasonable value... I think both have a basic booking of 6 hours..with extensions by the hour at extra cost?

 

[whughes3]

Based on recent experience, I can report that the transit hotel (T2 in my case) is quite OK...