Singapore Accommodation

In each of my three visits to Singapore accommodation at a cheap rate has been a priority. Never needing to stay more than a couple of nights, I scoured a list of cheap hotels every time. Although Singapore is a small city, it is really organized, and its construction has been planned very carefully, keeping in mind the need to accommodate for growth in limited space. It has impressive skyscrapers and multilevel roads. Besides, the city is very cosmopolitan, with a diverse population and high percentage of foreigners.

While flying from Jakarta to Singapore, we were surprised to see people taking crates of water along. Our surprise vanished when we discovered that a 500 ml bottle of water cost 4 SGD in Singapore. This was more than what a bottle of soft drink cost! It was an indicator of the high cost of living in this small city. You can imagine how difficult it must be to find cheap Singapore accommodation in such circumstances.

You should expect to pay between USD 40-80 for budget Singapore accommodation, and the areas where you can find such rates include Joo Chiat Road, city center, Orchard Road, Little Idia, and Geylang. Hotel 81 is one of the most popular budget hotels, with 20 branches in the city. The rates here start at USD 50, although they vary according to the season and location.

There are other cheap hotels such as Fragrance Hotel, The Inn at Temple Street Hotel, Broadway, and Park View. Although the rooms are not too spacious, they are reasonably comfortable, and the streets on which most budget hotels are located are quite ethnic and crowded during the weekends.

The Mono Rail Transport makes getting around in Singapore very easy, no matter where you are staying. There was a time when, for SGD 107, we stayed at The Claremont Hotel for a night. It is opposite the Mustafa Shopping center in Little India.

It happened to be a SUnday, and at night, the place came to life with lights and shoppers everywhere. Cigarette smoke stuffed the hotel, no help was available at the reception, room service was unavailable and we could not slep all night. I guess we chose the wrong day - however, the stay was really cheap!

Next time round we stayed at the Hotel Re in China Town. This was cheap Singapore accommodation too, at SGD 120, and offered great value for money. It was done up in the 70s style, in a quiet neighborhood, the rooms were comfortable and a shuttle service was available.

When you are looking for the cheapest hotel in Singapore, think in terms of the combination of decent comfort and reasonable cost rather than dirt cheap rates and very poor facilities.