Yotel Singapore Orchard Road is one of two Yotels in Singapore, the other being located at Changi Airport. The hotel opened in 2017 with 610 rooms spread over 30 floors, becoming the first Yotel to open in Asia. Yotel itself was founded as a novel concept to provide an upmarket feel in a compact space after its founder was inspired by an upgrade to First Class on British Airways. This inspiration extends to the hotel’s rooms, which are aptly referred to as cabins.

Booking Yotel Singapore Orchard Road

Given my short notice to travel to Singapore, I didn’t have much in terms of hotel choices with reasonable pricing. I eventually boiled down the choices to two options, either Yotel or the Villa Samadhi retreat for around SGD40 extra a night. Eventually, I settled on picking the Yotel, simply due to its location. I booked my stay at Yotel Singapore Orchard Road through agoda.com, which had the lowest rates for my dates after applying a discount code. However, do note that the Yotel website often offers the cheapest prices as they have a member-only rate. Regardless, I paid a nightly rate of IDR1,984,579 (~SGD180, £108), which I personally thought was on the high side for what it is.

Location

Yotel Singapore Orchard Road boasts a very strategic location smack bang in Singapore’s renowned shopping district. Located behind Shaw House on Orchard Road, the Yotel is within easy reach of an array of retail outlets, dining establishments, entertainment venues, and cultural attractions. In fact, the hotel is physically placed next to Singapore’s Isetan Department Store. The location also offers excellent accessibility. The hotel is well-connected to various transportation hubs, including the Orchard MRT station and many bus stops scattered within a five-minute walk.

From Orchard MRT Station, the hotel can be accessed via a covered walkway from the Shaw House, which itself is accessed through underground tunnels running from ion Orchard via Tang Plaza. In such a case, just follow signs at Orchard Station pointing to Scotts Rd. Bear in mind, however, that there are stairs and steps along the way, and may not be accessible to everybody. If coming by bus, stop at the Royal Thai Embassy bus stop, which is located just before Shaw House.

Arrival and Check-in

After my less-than-desirable Batik Air flight, I travelled to Orchard Station on the spectacular Singapore MRT system from Changi Airport. Whilst it was easy enough to find the Yotel from there, the hotel’s actual entrance felt a bit like an afterthought. It requires one to go up a very narrow flight of stairs or take a small lift capable of fitting one wheelchair. It was only after going past that would you find the hotel’s porte-cochère.

The reception area is playfully referred to as ‘Mission Control’, which I found to be quite amusing. There, there are five self-check-in booths, which the hotel expects guests to use. The process was as simple as putting down your last name and check-out date and having the computer take a scan of your passport. Should any problems arise, there was always a staff member to assist.

Since I arrived well past the check-in time, I was able to get my room assigned immediately upon arrival. Upon completion, the machine pops up a receipt with the room and hotel details. It took maybe a total of three minutes to complete the whole registration process, which I was quite impressed by. This sure looks like the future!

Premium Queen Cabin

On the 17th floor, the lifts opened up to a funkily-lit corridor with a combination of sleek lines and eclectic floor tiles. Due to the building’s simple design, reaching the room was as easy as walking down one direction from the lift lobby. Interestingly, the lighting in the corridor changes depending on the time of day, which I thought was very creative. For one, I was also very impressed with the high ceilings of the corridor.

The Cabin

The cabin, though compact in size (16 sqm), was ingeniously designed to maximize space efficiency without necessarily compromising on comfort or amenities. The layout made me feel as though I was on a sleek cruise ship, offering respite from the busy ambiance just outside.

There are various nooks that open to reveal a few amenities like an iron and ironing board, an umbrella, and an emergency torch light. A small portable stool also pulls out of the bedside minibar console, doubling as a small desk. All this is very creative in terms of design, though I can’t say it is particularly comfortable to work in. For one the space feels very tight and a chance of accidentally spilling hot water on a laptop never instills much confidence.

To the left of the bed is a small and open standalone wardrobe and a standalone sink. The former is completed with a few hangers and complemented by slippers and plastic laundry bags. There exists another compartment under the sink, which houses the hairdryer. Interestingly, Yotel gives out a hygiene care pack that includes two wet wipes and a bottle of hand sanitiser. Not bad!

The room’s centrepiece is definitely the bed, which reclines from a sofa-like position into a full queen-sized bed. The bed is decked in crisp linen, which I found to be very comfortable to sleep in. Despite that, I noticed that the bed didn’t really recline to be fully-flat, which though ultimately unnoticeable, felt quite awkward at first.

Bathroom

Behind the open wardrobe and sink is the bathroom, composed of a shower and toilet. The bathroom amenities came in large refillable bottles from Urban Jungle and were high quality. Apart from the nice toiletries, the setup is mostly no-frills, though I liked that the shower also has a rain shower head. I did find issue with the shower’s open design though, since the bath area becomes soaking wet after each shower.

Amenities

Pool and Gymnasium

Located on the 10th floor is the Yotel’s gymnasium and pool. The gym is accessible by keycard and looked quite nice for what it is, despite its understandably small size. It is complete with a few cardio machines and a full set of weights, and even has an erg.

To the left of the gym is a corridor leading to the Yotel’s outdoor pool. Like the gym, the pool is similarly small and features a grand total of six pool loungers. Whilst I appreciated the provision of a pool, it felt to be to small for any meaningful purpose and didn’t look especially inviting, either.

Komyuniti Restaurant

Also on the 10th floor is the Komyuniti restaurant and bar, which is the hotel’s solitary dining space. Whilst the restaurant looked quite nice, I didn’t feel compelled to eat there after briefly looking at their menu.

Vending Machine

There is a vending machine in the lobby (or Mission Control), which sells various packaged snacks. Obviously, the prices in the machine are inflated, so I don’t see much of an appeal using them over walking to the nearest convenience store.

Yotel Robots

The Yotel has two robots, named Yolanda and Yoshi, who would ‘hand-deliver’ requested amenities like extra water or towels. I was really curious as to how this would work. So I called ext. 30 and requested two bottles of water to be delivered to my cabin.

Around 15 minutes after calling, Yolanda appeared on my doorstep, signaling her arrival by an automated telephone call to the room. After confirming that I have taken the items, Yolanda started singing and wouldn’t leave before I closed the door. Very interesting…

Whilst this is definitely something rather novel in hotels, I could see how it could be very useful and efficient.

Service

Due to the mostly automated nature of the Yotel, I didn’t have many interactions with the hotel’s staff. Still, whenever I encountered a staff member, they were never shy to greet me, which was a nice touch. In any case, I felt that the staff members were friendly and helpful.

Overall

In conclusion, the Premium Queen Cabin at Yotel Singapore Orchard Road offers a relatively comfortable space of respite even at its small size. From its thoughtfully designed interiors to its prime location, the Yotel is a great choice for a quick overnight without compromising on location. For one, I don’t think the Yotel is appropriate for longer stays, but I’d be happy to return otherwise.

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