PARKROYAL on Pickering, Singapore – Hotel Review

There’s no way you can miss this outstanding hotel when you’re walking around Clarke Quay or Chinatown – the amazing façade and vertical greenery stands out from the other buildings around it.

I’d been wanting to check out the premises since I first noticed it, and I finally got the chance to experience it as a staycation in Singapore one fine day.

Checking in to PARKROYAL on Pickering, Singapore

Check in reception

Stepping into the high-ceilinged reception of PARKROYAL on Pickering at 2pm to check in, we already found a long line of people queueing at the counter.

Seeing that we are here to do a weekend staycation in Singapore, coupled with it being such an iconic hotel, that was to be expected.

What we didn’t expect was how we had to wait 2.5 hours to get our room key! It didn’t help that there was priority check-ins for Orchid Club room guests. The long wait made for an unpleasant first impression of PARKROYAL on Pickering, especially since I see this hotel in such high regard.

That aside, one can’t help but admire the uniquely designed hotel interior – wooden brown contours that look like waves make for the lobby ceiling and walls, a design that resemble that of rice field terraces.

As you venture further in towards the lift lobby, egg chairs face an indoor pond while overlooking the floor-to-ceiling windows, with high plant creepers covering the wall on the other, evocative of the urban garden that PARKROYAL on Pickering is so known for.

PARKROYAL on Pickering’s Room

Orchid Club Deluxe Room

PARKROYAL on Pickering has room categories spanning 10 types:

1. Superior Room
2. Deluxe Room
3. Premier Room
4. Junior Suite
5. Orchid Club Room
6. Orchid Club Deluxe Room
7. Orchid Club Premier Room
8. Orchid Club Junior Suite
9. Executive Suite
10. Presidential Suite

Prices start from SGD316 to SGD690.

Check prices on HotelsCombined, Agoda and Booking.com

After a long wait, our staycation anticipation was finally met when we got our keys at 4.30pm.

It was refreshing to find that the corridors to our Orchid Club Deluxe Room are open air, and surrounded by natural elements such as plant creepers and water. Even the door was made of real, heavy wood, making the space reminiscent of garden spaces.

True to the hotel’s hotel-in-a-garden design concept, even our room is surrounded by plants beyond our windows. Elemental wood and stone finishes lend an organic feel while soft colour hues and floor-to-ceiling windows create a light and airy ambience.

Read: Oasia Hotel Downtown, Singapore; Hotel Review

Complete with a king-sized bed, a 40-inch LCD television with cable TV, a big bathtub, and a work table with sofas and chairs, the room has all the amenities to make your stay a pleasant and relaxing one.

What’s worth mentioning is that motion sensors are installed within the light switch. There are cool wall switches all over the room that controls basically everything in it – the lights, the curtains, and even the air-conditioning.

A sliding door leads to the spacious bathroom. What’s unique is that the bathtub has an inclined back rest, offering the ultimate relaxation while you soak in it. You don’t have to worry about spilling over water, as it’s built to allow excess water to run off the edge into the recesses.

With bath salts included, you can be sure to spend the evening overlooking the view of downtown Singapore in complete relaxation.

While most hotels overlook this detail, I liked how solid and strong their Tefal hair dryer is, a detail every girl would appreciate.

Read: Oasia Hotel Novena, Singapore; Hotel Review

PARKROYAL on Pickering’s Amenities

Orchid Club Lounge

As part of the Orchid Club Room staycation package, we got an exclusive access to the Orchid Club Lounge, which is situated on the 16th floor. The lounge is characterised by wood and geometry, as can be seen on their shelf displays.

Its design emulate a comfortable home space, with assorted seating arrangements. There was a large communal table, window seating and sofa seats.

Other Orchid Club Lounge privileges include:

• Complimentary welcome drink (non-alcoholic)
• All-day refreshments (non-alcoholic)
• Champagne breakfast from 6:30am to 10:30am
• Afternoon tea from 2:00pm to 4:00pm
• Evening cocktails from 6:00pm to 8:00pm

While waiting for our check in, we were sipping hot teas and taking in the view of Clarke Quay and downtown Singapore here. In fact, while you’re at it, you can grab a magazine or watch television. Not bad for a relaxing Singapore staycation.

Breakfast at the Orchid Club Lounge consists of a limited selection of food, including the standard cereals, pastries, fried rice, hash browns, sausages and omelettes.

Whatever time of the day, you can expect to be pampered by the attentive staff who are readily available at your service at PARKROYAL on Pickering.

Swimming Pool

Located on the 5^th floor, the pool is made to look like an infinity pool, with views that overlook Hong Lim Park and beyond. Instead of a conventional swimming pool size, the pool is sandwiched between little bird cages, which are actually cabanas for you to grab a book and chill in.

Despite the entire level being sheltered, its high ceilings mean the evening sun still streams in, granting you the Vitamin C we all need on sunny days, without fear of getting wet when it pours in tropical Singapore.

This is also the floor where you can find the best view of the vertical greenery standing so flamboyantly against the façade of PARKROYAL on Pickering. This is one of the most picturesque hotels you can find in Singapore with its unique architecture!

Speaking of these cabanas, these colourful hideouts transform into a magical world on its own come night, with the overhanging cabanas glowing in its own colour, giving it a majestic look in the backdrop of the sky garden.

Gym

The gym is located on the same level as the pool, too, and is one of the more comprehensive hotel gyms I’ve seen so far. There are machines and equipment to work out every part of your body.

Another feature of this gym is that you have assisted machines commonly found in many private gyms, including a massive multi-purpose gym machine with a pull up bar installed. To top it off, it overlooks the pool through the glass windows!

Find PARKROYAL on Pickering's best value on HotelsCombined, Agoda and Booking.com

Dining at PARKROYAL on Pickering, Singapore

Dinner Buffet

To make up for our impossibly late check-in, we were treated to a dinner buffet at Lime Restaurant during our staycation weekend. The open-kitchen-concept restaurant occupies almost half of the ground floor and has a large seating occupancy. We were led to our reserved bar seats, and so came the time to splurge!

Even with every single cuisine offered at the buffet, there was a smorgasbord of different food styles. The local corner includes classic favourites such as Rojak, Kueh Pie Tee, Laksa, Yong Tau Foo, Dim Sum, Beef Briyani, Nasi Lemak.

The seafood selection consists of mussels, clam, lobster and oysters. I naturally made a beeline for the oysters at first look.

There was also Japanese and Western curations, such as sashimi, Rack Lamb, mini hamburgers, Eggplant & Minced Pork Lasagna, and Truffle Mashed Potatoes.

Pastries and desserts were not left out either. You can find all sorts of croissants, breads, and Danish, while the desserts array had more choices than you can count.

As a sweet-loving girl, the best part of the buffet was the Matcha Fondue. I’ve never come across chocolate fondue made of matcha! You can imagine how I delightfully joined the little kids in the restaurant to dip my marshmallows with the thick Matcha goodness.

The array of food was endless. We had to take multiple breaks during the meal to make room for more.

Dinner is served from 6:30pm to 10:30pm, and the dinner buffet is valued at $65/$72++ per adult.

Spiced Dust Mushroom Fritters and Tea-Smoked Soft Yolk Egg

As part of their CSR initiative this year, the chefs of Pan Pacific and PARKROYAL have come together to create special dishes that support sustainable eating. These dishes will be available during the dinner buffets of the hotels Pan Pacific Singapore, Pan Pacific Orchard, Singapore, PARKROYAL on Pickering, PARKROYAL on Beach Road and PARKROYAL on Kitchener Road.

Made from ingredients sourced locally, 1% of the proceeds from the dinner buffet at will be donated to The Food Bank Singapore for the purchase of food parcels for low-income households.

If you’d been to any of their hotel for dinner, you might have tasted some of their unique creations – Spiced Dust Mushroom Fritters, Light Veloute Hairy Gourd Soup, Tea-Smoked Soft Yolk Egg, Baked Tilapia Fillet in Carta Fata, Baked Barramundi Fish Fillet, and Steamed Seabream Fillet.

My personal favourite is the Tea-Smoked Soft Yolk Egg, though the Spiced Dust Mushroom Fritters give mushrooms a twist with the crispiness.

Champagne breakfast buffet

Having champagne at breakfast is definitely a first out of all the staycations I’ve had in Singapore. Compared to Orchid Club Lounge’s breakfast selection, the choices at Lime Restaurant definitely will spoil you. I was pleased to find that the Matcha Fondue is also available at breakfast. 😉

No doubt PARKROYAL on Pickering’s urban garden design speaks for itself with the presence of ample greens throughout the property. I did wish there was a better view of the vertical greenery from within the hotel though.

In the midst of serving such a large occupancy, the personal touch and service seems lost on the hotel chain. That said, it’s becoming a rarity for hotel rooms to occupy such a large room size, and I appreciate the space the room offers.

The bottomline is, this is worth a unique Singapore staycation experience!

PARKROYAL on Pickering
3 Upper Pickering Street, Singapore 058289
enquiry.prsps@parkroyalhotels.com

Special thanks to PARKROYAL on Pickering for making this stay possible! All opinions remain my own.