The Pacuanderers : September 2014

View from across the street. 7-11 right below the hotel!

Hotel Fragrance - Selegie
183 Selegie Rd, Singapore 188329
+65 6337 7888

At P3,000.00 (around $70 USD) I wouldn't consider Fragrance Hotel - Selegie a budget hotel. But since I was in Singapore, that may be as good as it can get! At this price, one can get a bigger and better room in Thailand, Vietnam, or the Philippines.

Reception Desk

Fragrance is a budget hotel chain in Singapore (http://www.fragrancehotel.com), the one in Selegie is just one of many Fragrance Hotels. I found this hotel through TripAdvisor, and by filtering the search results from cheapest to highest! Selegie was one of the cheaper hotels with a convenient location, since I had to transfer to a nearby hotel for business.

I booked the hotel through www.booking.com, where I had to pay in advance. The site said no refunds for cancellation. Unfortunately, I had to reschedule my trip and was ready to face the consequences of forfeiting my payment .. but the Fragrance Hotel management and the Booking.com staff were kind enough to reschedule my stay, without additional charges! :-) Good job guys!

Getting to Hotel Selegie from the airport was easy enough. As it was my 3rd time in Singapore, I didn't have any qualms about public transportation. Two MRT stops and one bus ride later, I thanked the bus driver for bringing me to Selegie Road. What a surprise ... the bus stop was right smack in front of the hotel!

Bed and then Door

The room was small but clean. In Singapore, you will be out exploring anyway, so a bed and bath is all you need :) There's cable TV, free WiFi, basic toiletries, coffee, and a hair dryer! The lobby was good enough to accommodate a steady stream of visitors, who looked to be mostly tour groups.

My favorite part about the hotel is the location. Aside from being right at the bus stop, there are several restaurants around the area, and a 7-11 below the hotel. It is also just a block (or two?) from the busy part of Little India. You can also walk from the hotel to Sim Lim Square, a gadget-lover's paradise.

I definitely recommend this hotel for budget travelers. The area is not what you see in promotional ads about Singapore (it is far from the touristy places), but I am confident about the overall safety in all of Singapore so I didn't mind :). I will definitely stay again at Hotel Fragrance - Selegie, and won't hesitate to bring the rest of the Pacuanderers next time!