Review Hotel Vagabond Singapore

Review Hotel Vagabond Singapore

Hotel Vagabond is one of Singapore’s newer hotels. It’s the island’s first 5 star boutique hotel!

Ofcourse I needed to check this out for myself, so I had a staycation there. Here is my review.

About Hotel Vagabond

The hotel is located in Little India, in the same street as the famous Mustafa-shopping center.

It is housed in a row of heritage Art Deco 1950’s shophouses.

The hotel is owned by and run by the Garcha family.

Both mr. Satinder Garcha and his wife mrs. Harpreet Bedi (as well as their eldest daughter Zara-just a teenager yet already responsible for the hotel’s Instagram-account) are actively involved and hands on regarding the hotel. The couple is responsible for every detail of it and in it!

Some examples of how passionate this couple is about their hotel and how involved they are:

Mrs. Bedi manages the hotel and is present most days. She interacts with each and every guest personally in a very warm and pleasant way. I’ve spoken with her and watched her doing her job and I’m in awe.

Another example: Mr. Garcha’s travel pictures decorate every guest room in the hotel. Amazing, such a personal approach and involvement!

Checking in

Let’s enter the hotel, shall we?

This is the front desk and check-in area:

Check in here, please:

Taking the elevator up to our room. It’s hard NOT to talk about ‘the elephant in the room’! Just kidding. Two resin elephants are ‘tied’ to the elevator shaft:

Our room at Hotel Vagabond

My husband and I stayed in a Classic Room, facing lively Syed Alwi Road.

This type of room is the hotel’s standard room.

What you’ll find on the desk in your room

1. personal, handwritten welcome note and postcards; a sweet gesture…
2. a Handy
   

   This is SO awesome! A handphone to be used for free and to be taken outside the hotel. The phone has calls and internet and is pre-filled with relevant, useful information for hotel guests. Kudos for Hotel Vagabond for this!

   

   The phone is stuffed with handy info like this.

3. three self-guided walking maps
   

   Three walks on pretty maps. Great initiative of Hotel Vagabond!

The good

1. the interior design is pretty, well put together and intimate
   

   Comfy on my hotelbed

2. the room is very crisp and clean
3. all the amenities work smooth and perfect
   

   Beautiful design on the sliding doors, leading to the toilet and bathroom.

4. the turn-down service at night: closing the curtains, putting the bedslippers next to the bed, placing a jug with fresh mint-water in the room
5. the Handy
6. the bed, sheets, pillows and so on are really comfortable and pleasant
7. the wifi works well

Points of attention

1. the standard Classic rooms are small. I would say this size of room is fine for one person and his or her luggage, but for two persons and both their luggages, it’s tight. We were there only for a staycation of 1 night with hardly any luggage, so we did not have a problem with it. But otherwise I would find it too small. Ofcourse the hotel has other categories of rooms, like DeLuxe Rooms and Suites. As a couple I would opt for any of these categories rather than go for a Classic Room.
2. the street noise. I have to admit that we are both light sleepers. That’s why we brought earplugs. Just to be on the safe side. We rarely ever need and use them, but this night we really needed them. Thanks to the earplugs I slept well, but my husband was troubled by the noise even while wearing his earplugs. So if you are a light sleeper, ask for a quiet room.

Points of improvement

1. I missed a magnifying mirror in the bathroom. Like many people at my age, my eyes are not that good, so I really need a magnifying mirror with good light to apply my make up.
   

   A magnifying mirror, please!

   2. there was hardly any place to put our things in the bathroom area. Suggestion: the space there has enough room for a narrow side table to be placed against the wall, which would give hotel guests ample space for their toiletries and stuff.

The scent in the rooms is nice, but I found it a bit strong. The hallways are dangerously dark; they need more light.

At the Vagabond they take you and your feedback seriously!

After giving my feedback to the hotel, I received the following response:

1. in all rooms magnifying mirrors with built-in light will be placed by the end of next week
2. a towel rail in the bathroom and more shelf-space will be added to the rooms by the end of the month
3. action is scheduled to investigate and improve the sound-insulation of the rooms

Wow! I’m so impressed, Vagabond Hotel! Kudos to you for the way you handle feedback, criticism and complaints.

The Vagabond Salon

The ground level of the hotel basically is one big space.

The interior design is done by the french interior designer Jacques Garcia and the atmosphere is supposed to resemble a Parisian salon. Mission accomplished, I would say.

Designer Jacques Garcia clearly is a more-is-more person. His total concept at the Vagabond Hotel is quite overwhelming, with it’s darkness on one hand and all the ‘gold tones’ and smack-in-your-face animals on the other hand. Wether you like it or not is ofcourse a matter of personal taste.

The Bar@the Salon

I would almost say: “it’s a jungle out there!”.

We already saw a Rhino and elephants ‘holding’ the elevator. The Bar has it’s own animal. A golden baboon nicknamed La Mona.

In front we see one of the gold-coloured Banyan trees that decorate the ceiling of the Salon.

The bartender made me a cocktail, based on my taste and preferences. He did it with a laugh, but also with serious dedication…and with some egg-white.

My cocktail was called Mad Hatter’s something something (forgot) and it was yum!

Cheers!

The food

Unfortunately, for the time being, the hotel’s restaurant is closed. Which means guests have to go out for lunch and dinner.

Breakfast is still served and it’s simple, but tasteful and enough. We had the Continental Breakfast. Suggestion: place a selection of fruits on the counter for guests who like fresh fruit with their breakfast.

AND….a delicious High Tea is served every day from 4.30 till 6.30. Even better: it’s complimentary!

The arts and the Artist in Residence program

The Garcha’s are pretty serious about The Arts.

I have spoken to both of them, visited the hotel four times now, spent one night there and attended two art events in the Salon, and I can assure you that the Vagabond’s strong focus on the arts is NOT a gimmick nor merely a commercial tool.

No, they both are really passionate about the arts. And they truly want to connect people with and through the arts.

Not only are there artworks to be found everywhere in the hotel, but the Vagabond also has an Artist in Residence program and organizes art events frequently.

Artist in Residence

Artists from all over the world can apply for a residency from a week to three months. They get their room for free and in return they interact with their art with the guests every evening in the Salon.

If you’re an artist I strongly recommend you to check this out. Have a look at their website here.

Art events

By closing the curtains and re-arranging the seats, the Salon is easily converted into a (movie-) theatre.

I have seen a very touching documentary there (:In the spirit of Laxmi)

I also attended an evening of portraiture with four young artists, members of UncannedArt Collective. A lively, engaging event.

Overall conclusion

What (some of the) the rooms lack in space and quietness, the hotel makes up for in character, style and articity.

Each and every one of the staff members is friendly, knowledgable and attentive. With mrs Bedi in the lead! You feel seen and appreciated as a hotel guest and that’s so nice when you are traveling and a stranger in town. Hotel Vagabond feels like a home away from home.

Their customer-service is awesome.

The Salon is beautiful and cosy.

The free use of a functioning Handy with relevant information on it is really an awesome service! I wish this would become common practice in hotels all over the world;-).

For art lovers I definitely recommend this hotel. Not only will they love all the art in the hotel, but they will also enjoy being part of the regular art events. The Salon and the events are also nice for local art lovers who are not staying in the hotel.

I think that the Artist in Residency activities and the art events are an essential ingredient for hotel guests of The Vagabond. Meaning that the hotel should try to always have an Artist in Residence.

The daily High Tea is nice; tasty, relaxed and informal.

Oh, and the hotel has an original London cab. I had the pleasure to be brought back home in this black taxi. How awesome!

What do you think of this hotel? Would you stay there?

Disclaimer: this is a sponsored post. Hotel Vagabond kindly offered me (and my husband) a free night plus breakfast in one of their Classic Rooms. They asked nothing in return; no terms and conditions were given. But ofcourse the intent (from both parties) was, that I would blog about the hotel. I made clear upfront that I would write a blogpost about it with my honest opinion, whatever that would be. The Hotel was fine with that.