Short business trip of four days from UK so I needed a good nights sleep to start with. The curt person on check in was very firm with me. I had just arrived but got: When are you leaving? What time? I said I had a flight out at midnight on Thursday so would be grateful if I could keep the room a bit longer than normal check out. 1pm! Any later and I had to pay S$200. OK I will leave at one - worn out I shower and sleep. At 7am I hear my second mistake BANG!BANG!BANG! - they are building a high rise and right outside my window at the very same height they are banging away all day every day and early morning - clearly I had made a great choice. AND the check in agent had sent me to the worst possible room in the hotel. I am now on day three and there has been no let up. The room is beautifully appointed but sleep almost impossible.

It gets better. Loud noise is a feature of this place. On day one I made the mistake of going to breakfast in the restaurant. I was guided to a table under a blaring loudspeaker which was yelling out animal noises. I asked for them to please turn the racket down and they looked at me as if I had gone mad. How dare I ask for such a thing. Eventually a guy in a suit came over and asked if I wanted the music turning down - I lip read and nodded, some peace finally arrived. I then ran the gauntlet of the breakfast buffet which was a big mistake - why am I so stupid? The scrambled egg resembled industrial gloop and the rest of the ensemble was worse - the bacon shattered on the plate. There was a guy with a chefs hat on standing at the back with a menacing expression on his face - 'dare you to order an omelette'. I gulped the orange, drank the tepid tea and ran. This was and likely still is, plain awful and they charge you S$40+ for this misery.

Having worked non stop all day and much of the night by the end of day two I needed a drink. I braved 'The Bar'. There were hardly any people there and as I arrived a young lady approached me. It started off quite brightly with a polite 'good evening' and an indication I could sit anywhere I liked. I read that wrong. I had mistakenly opted for a nice sofa with some light on it as most of the rest of the pace was gloomy. As I moved toward my goal I was asked whether I was expecting more guests. I stopped dead. The import was obvious, that even in this empty bar, if I were alone, I could sit at a small table. Readying my absolute surrender to the abuse this place routinely hands out, I sat meekly at the table allotted, ordered a Tiger beer, bolted it down, paid S$25 and ran away - again.

I doubt anyone could engineer a more miserable experience. This was amplified by the fact that I have visited Singapore many times and absolutely love the place to bits. The culture and the friendly people are always a source of great joy. The room maids reflected this and are great and run the extra mile so familiar in other hotels I have stayed in here. Most of the rest is grim. If you are offered a great room deal here, take it but eat and drink in Tanglin Mall behind where customers are treated well and the pricing is sane.

All of this was after having read on the Regent (A Four Seasons Hotel) web site that this is the 'Best Hotel in Singapore'. It most certainly is not, nowhere near. This was grim, never again. I check out tomorrow allegedly at 1pm - I bet I get chased out the place well before then - likely they would be doing me a favour.

rather pricey due to the good location, walking distance from the great shopping stretch of orchard road. excellent high tea buffet served during weekends as well. comfortable beds but not a good choice of hotel if you're on a tight budget.

Excellent service is what stands out for this hotel. From the front desk clerks, bell service, restaurant wait staff, room service staff - all delivered outstanding services throughout our 4-night stay. There was a beautiful plate of cookies delivered to the room in the afternoon on Christmas Day and that was a really nice touch. The hotel is located on a quiet street and conveniently within walking distance of the very busy Orchard Road.

This property is a little dated, so the rooms are not comparable to newer Four Seasons properties. However the service is what you would expect from a Four Seasons-managed property. This hotel is known in Singapore for its excellent food. Breakfast is by far the best in Singapore, the hotel serves very good Western and Cantonese cuisine. There is also a very good deli downstairs which makes for a good lunch takeaway if you happen to work in the area. Overall this hotel is excellent for business travellers or those not expecting to be in the hotel other than for sleeping and breakfast. It is connected to Tanglin Mall and is near the botanical gardens and Orchard Road. I would choose it any day over more basic business hotels such as Traders which charge similar rates but come nowhere close in terms of class of service, as well as over other upmarket properties such as Shangri-La, Mandarin Oriental, or St Regis, which do have more facilities, but not necessarily better service though they charge far more than Regent.

There are some interesting restaurants nearby in Tanglin Shopping Centre (not to be confused with Tanglin Mall) such as the Okinawan one and one of the oldest Indonesian restaurants in Singapore. It is very close to Orchard Road but not directly on it, so you get the best of both worlds in terms of central location but less pedestrian and traffic congestion.