The Crowne Plaza at Changi Airport is located at Terminal 3, which is home to Singapore Airlines. It’s in easy walking distance to the terminal and, depending on the room type, offers some excellent views of the airport and the movements on the ramp. I am only spending the one night here. My flight from Paris arrived in the late afternoon, and my onward connection the day after will be leaving in the morning.

Location

Arrival in Singapore is quick and efficient. We land with a delay of 25 minutes, and within ten minutes of stepping off the plane, I’m already exiting through customs at Changi Terminal 1. I make a left turn to the escalators heading one floor up to the departures concourse and then follow the signs for the Skytrain station. There’s a train running every four minutes during peak times. The ride from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3 is a short one and takes about five minutes. It’s the next stop. The arrival station is located right next to the entrance to the Crowne Plaza if you’re coming from inside the terminal building.

Check-In & Staff

Reception is located on the ground floor. It’s rather busy when I arrive at the hotel. There are self-service kiosks that seem pretty self-explanatory. Even so, there’s a young man from the hotel standing by to assist. Although, I think the guy must be bored, because as soon as he sees me approaching the self-service kiosk, he offers to help and basically hijacks the entire process. Which suits me fine. He tells me that breakfast starts at 05h30 in the main restaurant, but with my status I’m also eligible to use the Club Lounge on the first floor, where breakfast opens at 06h30.

King Premium Room with Airport View

My room is on the eighth floor, which is the top floor of the hotel. As I enter the room, I have the bathroom on my right and the desk straight ahead. The desk conveniently looks straight out the window onto the apron of Terminals 3 and 1. It’s rather a nice, spacious room that feels comfortable and welcoming. The bed is a large King with a firm mattress and thick pillows that have just the right amount of firmness for my liking.

The bathroom features both a bath and a walk-in shower. If you’re sitting in the bath, you can roll up the blinds so that you may still watch the action on the apron while you soak away the labours of travel. The cosmetics are by a brand names Antipodes, which I don’t really like much. It’s a strange kind of smell that has an odd muddy undertone that isn’t exactly unpleasant but just weird. The Knight of Malta shower test puts this bathroom in the midrange. The pressure in the shower is very good. However, temperature control is not really that responsive, nor is it accurate, and there is considerable spillage despite my best efforts to keep the shower short.

The best feature of this room, of course, is the view of the apron. But it may not be for everyone. During my stay, the runway outside my window is in use for arrivals. Singapore doesn’t have a night curfew and there are also no limitations on the use of thrust reversers during nighttime operations. I’m wondering if perhaps the hotel only has single glazing windows, because every time an aircraft lands, the sound of the reversers is rather loud. Obviously, I don’t mind. I think it’s rather convenient, actually, because it alerts me that an aircraft will be passing by my window. But if you’re hoping to get some sleep, you may want to pick a different room type/location.

Amenities

The amenities are not bad. There’s a kettle with Dilmah teabags and Nescafé instant coffee, and there are even a few tubs of cream in the otherwise empty minibar. There are also slippers and bathrobes available, although both are a tad too small for me.

Club Lounge

The Club Lounge is located one floor up from reception. This lounge is a lot smaller than the original one they had, which was located on one of the higher floors when I last visited. In any case, there’s a happy hour at the Club Lounge from 17h00 to 19h00, during which they serve a very nice selection of salads, pizza slices and Asian snacks like samosa or spring rolls in sweet and sour sauce. Theoretically, it’s a buffet, but the staff at the lounge are just lovely and simply won’t let guests do anything except relax and eat.

Dining

I have breakfast in the main restaurant on the ground floor, simply because I’m starving, which is how I usually react to jet lag. In any case, the buffet at the restaurant is simply bombastic and basically represents all major types of cuisine. My main interest, of course, is with the Indian selection, which is quite extensive and absolutely divine. I start with idli with dhal and chana masala, adding a few chapatis to that as I go along. I also try making my own noodle soup, although I kind of fail because I use too many noodles, leaving hardly any space for the broth once I’ve added all the condiments to my steaming heap of noodles.

Conclusion

The Crowne Plaza Hotel is certainly one of the better airport hotels out there. Its proximity to Terminal 3 and the Skytrain station make it easily accessible from pretty much everywhere in the airport. The room is nice. It’s just a shame my flight arrived in the evening. As it is, I missed out on most of the spectacle of daytime arrivals. The only thing I find a bit odd is the noise. I just really can’t imagine everybody being like me and enjoying the sound of airplanes slowing down on the runway. Other than the views, as far as I’m concerned, the hotel’s second best feature is the buffet breakfast. It’s the best and the Indian selection is seriously addictive!