Village Katong Hotel, Singapore

“One of the very best in Singapore”

“Definitely the TOP hotel outside CBD”

Village Katong is a one-year old hotel, located into the Peranankan enclave of Katong. The hotel sits on top of a 3-storey mall. There is another mall Katong112 right round the corner from it as well as another mall Parkway Parade opposite it.

Located in a Peranankan enclave, the hotel takes its design inspiration from the neighbourhood. There are Peranankan motifs everywhere. The flower pots in the lobby feature Peranankan designs.

In my Premier room, you see the Peranankan motif on the bathroom wall, on the luggage bench and on the carpet.

Many of the dishes they use in the club lounge are colourful Peranankan porcelain.

In my Premier room, they have also added an air of rusticness as well. For example, the coffee tables beside the bed are wooden chests.

Also, the lights in the room have bird-cage like things around them which add to the sense of nostalgia.

When one steps into a Premier room, one is immediately struck by how spacious it is. The room is huge, at least 50 sqm. The sense of spaciousness is further heightened by the use of light-coloured wood. The light wood is juxtaposed with selective touches of striking colour such as on the pillows and on the carpet.

There is a huge shower stall—— you can easily fit 5 or 6 people into the shower stall.

On top of that, there is a white gleaming bathtub right in the middle of the room. Woohoo! That means you can watch TV while soaking in the tub. Love it! There are 20+ channels on the TV, including 6 local channels.

What I love mostly about the room is the more than abundant luggage space. They have a long luggage bench, decorated with the cyan Peranankan motif. Underneath the luggage bench is a lot of space for you to tuck your shoes away so you don’t trip over them.

Right beside the luggage bench is a huge cabinet in which you can fit in another luggage. There is a long table that stretches down the length of the room, which means plenty of space to put your stuff. There is definitely more than enough space for 2 people to work on their laptops simultaneously.

I love the attention to detail. There is a silicon thingie on the edge of the shower room stall door so that when you close the door, it will close softly and the glass won’t crack. Another detail is that they have bedside reading lamps. You might think that is a small thing but it brings a lot of convenience to couples who travel together and not all hotels have that.

Staying in a Premier room, you get access to the Club Lounge. You can chose to have breakfast in the Club Lounge, but there are only 4 hot dishes.

After breakfast is over, you can go to the Club Lounge at any time to help yourself to juices, soda, coffee, tea, crisps and local flavour cookies.

From 6pm – 8.30pm, there is a simple cocktail spread. There are some or d’oeurves, cheeses, fruit, red and white wine. There is also beer and you can ask for your choice of cocktail to be prepared for you.

The hotel sits on top of a 3-storey mall. There is a supermarket, a pharmacy, a wine shop, a dry cleaning shop, a salon as well as many, many schools for children.

Behind the hotel is the neighbourhood of Katong. Katong is known as a good food enclave. You can find delicious local food such as Laksa, Nasi Padang, Nasi Bryani and many others all within walking distance. There are also western style pubs and cafes. Also, within walking distance from the hotel is a row of colourful, Peranankan houses.

To walk from Village Katong to East Coast Park (the beach) is just a 10-15 min walk. There are no subway stations near the hotel. There are several buses running outside the hotel such as Bus 43, 76 and 135 which take you to the nearest subway station (Paya Lebar station). The journey takes 15 minutes in off peak hours.

The staff here are well trained and they go about doing their job industriously and without attitude. They speak good English. They even greet you as you walk through the lobby. This is one of the few hotels where the staff has the manners to let the guests to step out of elevators first.