The Point About Four Points by Sheraton Singapore

Although it has opened its door for business for nearly 2 years, many people are not familiar with “Four Points by Sheraton Singapore” or “Four Points Singapore Riverview”. Little known was that it was a refurbished property, after Sheraton took over to open its 6th hotel in Singapore, under the Four Points branding.

Four Points by Sheraton, hotel in Singapore off Robertson Quay. Seen here is the building facade against the Singapore city skyline.

Coupled with its location at the Robertson Quay enclave (which was far from any MRT station), Four Points by Sheraton Singapore had been offering rather cheap rates that were almost equivalent to the budget line of SPG.

With seemingly good value-for-money, I decided to give it a try for a staycay over the Good Friday weekend.

Four Points by Sheraton, hotel in Singapore off Robertson Quay. Seen here is the corridor life lobby against the Singapore city skyline.

Service in Four Points by Sheraton Singapore

The reception was similar to Traders Hotel KL, with minimalistic counters that made it a little difficult to locate the reception and determine if they were not the concierge instead. However, the lady attending to me was friendly and professional, and she even upgraded me from Deluxe King Bed River View to Premium King Bed River View.

What’s the difference? Apparently, the latter is bigger and equipped with coffee making amenities. It wasn’t something to die for (considering you would get it if you’re willing to fork out an extra $20 or so per night), but it was a nice gesture.

The attentiveness of their staff was also apparent everywhere.

On one occasion, I went down to the lobby to pick up my Food Panda delivery. Upon stepping out of the lift, I was lost momentarily. A bellboy caught my fleeting glance and approached me to provide assistance. Similarly, when I went to look for the concierge to leave my baggage after I checked out, the staff noticed I went to the wrong counter and offered to help me.

Lastly, as a cleanliness freak, I actually dared to ask the chambermaid for extra towels and water bottles. The chambermaid had one of the brightest smiles I saw (I thought I saw some glitter in her eyes too!) and was friendly toward me. She even offered more toiletries for me!

Four Points by Sheraton, hotel in Singapore off Robertson Quay. Seen here is the queen size bed, with couch by bay window, bedside table and power points by the bed

Room

The room was sufficiently big; a couple of travellers with 76-inch suitcases should have no problem laying out their wares on the floor. That being said, I’m targeting staycayers today, so this is definitely a lot of space for a staycay!

Standard stuff like TV, work desk, bar fridge, ironing, hairdryers could all be found in the room. One added feature was a bay window couch (it looked fancy, but I could not find a good position on the couch to lounge and binge-watch Youtube). The wardrobe was small, but there was plenty of hangers for one to binge-hang your clothes! lol

Four Points by Sheraton, hotel in Singapore off Robertson Quay. Seen here is the queen size bed, with couch by bay window, bedside table, TV, study desk, bar fridge

The king sized bed was comfy, though I would not say the same for the pillows. There were 4 of them, 2 for me to lie on and 2 for hugging. However, I woke up every morning with a sore neck (not stiff, just sore neck that felt very uncomfortable).

The soundproofing of the room was slightly above average. When I found out my room was right beside the lift, I was like, “I’m gonna have a noisy night ahead!” Interestingly, I was wrong. The room was quiet most of the time, save for times when someone walked past my room talking at the top of their voices (for goodness sake, must they shout to each other??)

My other bug was the phone, which had so much interference that I had a hard time hearing the receptionist when I ordered my room service.

Bathroom

The bathroom was well-stocked and well-designed. There was plenty of space at the vanity area as well as in the shower area for personal toiletries. Other than the standard toiletries, they also provided mouth wash, toothbrush/toothpaste and a mini nail-care kit. It was so well-stocked that the only personal stuff you need to bring was facial cleanser!

I will side-track a bit to talk about their shampoo – it tend to dry the hair out (which can be mitigated by using the conditioner provided). I know some people are very particular about the shampoo they use, so do take note of this.

Four Points by Sheraton, hotel in Singapore off Robertson Quay. Seen here is the bathroom, with spacious shower area, space for toiletries, towels

Four Points by Sheraton, hotel in Singapore off Robertson Quay. Seen here is the room facing the bathroom, with its ironing facilities, in-room safe, wardrobe and bedside table.

When it comes to getting cleaned, well, this room fell short as it did not have a bathtub. Yep, no insta-worthy drop-the-bath-ball moment TT On the flip side, I loved how the hot water came on almost instantaneously! If you can’t get my drift, there were many hotels where the hot water would only start flowing about 1 minute later (and perhaps after a lot of adjusting of the mixer taps), which meant 1 minute in buff in the cold! I really appreciated their prompt hot water mechanism!

Seen here is the view from the gym, off the treadmill, looking out to the Singapore city skyline.

Amenities of Four Points by Sheraton Singapore

The gym, located on the 5th floor with the pool, was split into 2 rooms, with one containing treadmills and crosstrainer (for cardio) and the other for free weights, balls and bikes. Each room of Four Points by Sheraton Singapore faced the pool and was stocked up with towels and water cooler. The cardio room had an added view of the buildings across the river, though it had a strong stench (from too much sweat shed in the room?).

The leisure pool had plenty of sundecks around the pool and even had tables for people to lounge around with wine bought from the poolside bar (which was not opened when I was there).

Four Points by Sheraton, hotel in Singapore off Robertson Quay. Seen here is the view of the gym, 3 treadmills, bike, yoga mats, gym by the pool.

Four Points by Sheraton, hotel in Singapore off Robertson Quay. View of the pool against the Singapore River city skyline, condominiums, lounge chairs, verandah.

Four Points by Sheraton, hotel in Singapore off Robertson Quay. Seen here is the view of the gym, 3 treadmills, rowing machine, yoga mats, gym by the pool.

One aspect the Four Points pool had over M Hotel was that for the latter, the sun is only “available” between 10am – 1pm. Before that, the sun was blocked by the hotel’s building, and after, by a neighbouring skyscraper. Four Points being by a riverside mean the neighbouring building is further. Its own building did not block the sun due to its orientation. If you are looking for a good tan during your staycation, the pool at Four Points will be ideal!

Side-note: There were also coin-operated washing machines and dryers beside the pool for those looking to do their own laundry!

Another often overlooked facility is the lift. Despite having over 10 floors of rooms being served by 6 lifts, one never had to wait long for the lift, and most of the time, I need not share the lift with another person. Again, I’m writing this with M Hotel in mind… 😛

Four Points Eatery

The hotel has a Chinese restaurant (Imperial Restaurant), Japanese restaurant (Irodori), a bar (The Best Brew) and a restaurant for mass market dining (Four Points Eatery), which was also the place for buffet breakfast.

My package did not include breakfast, so I paid $27.16 just to try out their breakfast spread.

The variety was decent, covering Western, pastries and Asian – Unlike M Hotel which caters to Indian palette under their “Asian” segment, Four Points had a more Southeast Asian flavour.

Four Points by Sheraton, hotel in Singapore off Robertson Quay. Seen here is the dishes found at the Eatery, the dining place where one goes for the breakfast included in the room package. View of the food counter; seen here is the bakerycounter, seen here are the muffins, danish pastries, bread pudding

There was a self-service noodle bar which was a good alternative to congee (also served in the Eatery) for those who liked to “warm up” their tummy with their first meal of the day. However, be warned that the soup was literally “warm”, which I know would be too “cold” for many people (though just nice for me). The ingredient was also rather limited to shredded chicken and fried onions, with the choice of bee hoon or thick yellow noodles, or both, though one can always add-on the Fish Roe Ball from another part of the buffet.

Another unique SEA cuisine served was the Nasi Lemak – the rice was fragrant and the peanuts was stir-fried to the right degree of wok-hey. The chilli might be too sweet for some, but hey! I prefer something less stimulating for breakfast!

The rest of the spread was meh. The kimchi pancake had too much flour and was bland even after I added the chilli-soy sauce. The others, like scrambled egg/sunny side up, hash brown and teriyaki chicken was average-tasting.

The only item I liked the best was the handmade waffle – I picked the one that was most “chao tar” and I really liked the crispiness covering the milky goodness! Its good friend, handmade pancake also suffered the fate of being too starchy for my comfort… lol

Was the breakfast worth that extra ~$30? Well, I did not go for breakfast on my 2nd morning; with Food Panda, who needs hotel breakfast like that?

Security

For those concerned about security, note that there is card access to all floors with rooms, as well as amenities like gym and pool.

Seen here is the bridge over Singapore River that one of the rooms looks out to.

Neighbourhood ofFour Points by Sheraton Singapore

If you like M Social, Studio M or Intercontinental Hotel, you must have loved the enclave that was Robertson Quay. Therefore, Four Points by Sheraton would be a good choice too. Walking down Robertson Quay felt like walking down Canary Wharf (with the added humid weather, that is). There was also plenty of pubs and hipster cafes serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, which was also the reason why I thought there was no need to put up with the average hotel breakfast!

However, if you are like me, you most likely would want a grocery/supermarket nearby. The nearest place to buy mineral water and snacks would be the SPC petrol station across the road (there was also a 7-11 and a mama-shop across the river, which would be more convenient if you are having lunch there).

The nearest mall, however, was Great World City, which was 12 minute-walk away according to Google Maps, followed by Liang Court at a 15-minute walk away.

Room Service

What’s a staycay without in-room dining? I had “late dinners” on both nights. On the first night, I had Seafood Char Kway Teow and Thick Cut Fries. Skip the fries if you are not particularly hungry, though the Char Kway Teow is worth a try.

On my 2nd night, I tried its Seafood Fried Rice Istimerawa, paired with a glass of white wine. The wine was sweet and smooth to the palette. I really liked the fried rice; it was spicy, yet yummy – a rarity for me, I would say. It came with a drumstick (over-fried, with some parts of the meat smelly), crackers, achar (Southeast Asian salad) and otak-otak (thick and juicy). Again, this is something worth busting the calories for! 🙂

All in all, Four Points by Sheraton had its hits and misses. The friendly staff, spacious room, good location and yummy in-room dining made it a staycay-worthy place despite its other shortcomings. Do fork out time (and money) to come stay over for a weekend!

Four Points by Sheraton, hotel in Singapore off Robertson Quay. Seen here is room service, Fried Rice Nasi Goreng, with achar, fried omelette, otak otak, crackers, a glass of white wine and Xiong Xiong the teddy bear.

How to Get There

Four Points by Sheraton Singapore, Riverview

382 Havelock Rd, Singapore 169629
http://www.fourpointssingaporeriverview.com
+65 6732 9922

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