Hotel Staycation Review: Goodwood Park Hotel – Colonial Charm & Rare Low-Rise Lodging Close to Orchard Road

One of Singapore’s heritage hotels, Goodwood Park Hotel is well-known for its fairytale-like facade owing to the building’s past as the Teutonia Club. The Tower Block of the hotel is considered one of Singapore’s national monuments and the property is very much a well-regarded institution in the city not just as a place of lodging but also for its famed food and beverage offerings. Food-related keywords – such as the Chinese restaurant Min Jiang or the hotel’s durian fiesta – are very much synonymous to Goodwood Park, sometimes even overshadowing the property’s room stay proposition.

Wandering around the hotel’s walkways, one can’t help but encounter plenty of history, from displays of old advertisements and cutleries to the vintage 1906 Fiat Brevetti displayed in the Tower Block’s driveway. As such, staying here is akin to a 3-in-1 deal. Along with a room stay, one gets to soak in all the charms of a national monument and also feast on some of the property’s culinary delights. 

Goodwood Park Hotel recently underwent a refurbishment which saw 5 of the room categories refreshed with a natural color palette. The look is in keeping with other recently refurbished areas, such as Min Jiang which unveiled its new look in late 2020. I stayed at the Poolside Suite, one of the renovated rooms in the hotel. 

Poolside Suite

Situated at the ground level, the Poolside Suite opens up next to the swimming pool area as its name suggests. The size ranges from 48 to 55 square meters. A quick glance through the hotel’s fire exit plan reveals that just 1 Poolside Suite is 55 square meters while the rest are 48 square meters in area, including the one I was staying in. The bigger one is situated at the corner so if it’s views you are after, the 48 square meter suites in the middle of the building would be a better option.

The Poolside Suite can be thought of as being equivalent to the Junior Suite in terms of size except that this room type has a better location. The suite has a living area and bed area with a semi-partition between the two parts. Guests can move between either section from two door-less openings. There are two TVs in the Poolside Suite. One is in the living area and the second is just opposite the bed. 

The overall decor here is very much understated. There are no garish elements whatsoever and the only decorative items noted are a couple of medium-sized paintings by the wall. Most of the walls here are plain white with the exception of one side of the main wall bordering the next room which has wooden fluted panels – a similar pattern as the bed’s headboard.

It is also worth noting that the window is situated closer to the living area and as such, the natural light emanates more towards that section with the bed relying on the residual sunlight that penetrates through the two openings. This is good for added privacy. That being said, there are multiple lighting options in the suite. The bed is flanked by two low-hanging lamps and there is plenty of ambient lighting scattered all about. My favorite ones are those situated just behind the bed’s headboard.

A welcome result of the renovation is that plenty of charging options can be found throughout the suite and that includes both sides of the bed. Other than the usual power outlets, there are also USB ports for folks who intend to travel light.

Interestingly enough, the minibar is situated just next to the bed, allowing one to easily prepare a cup of coffee or tea without having to stray too far. Coffee is from Nespresso while tea bags are from TWG. While I like the location of the minibar, I thought the shelving was rather low. It’s almost exactly the height of the Nepresso machine. You’ll have to bend it a bit or unplug and take out if you are replenishing the water supply or inserting capsules. 

The thing about poolside rooms is that some guests may feel conscious of prying eyes if they leave the curtains open. This can be thought of as a consequence of having any room right by the pool. However, this is easily solved by turning down the curtains and by relying on light fixtures instead of natural light. The vegetation from just outside the suite also helped to camouflage a bit. Personally, I love natural light and kept my curtains open all throughout my stay (except at night) and did not notice anyone staring back. When it is sunny, there is actually a reflective glow on the windows from outside so the folks by the pool will actually see their own reflection rather than what’s inside the poolside rooms.

For a suite that is 48 square meters in area, the bathroom is on the smaller side. That is not an issue for me. I spend most of the time in the bedroom so I definitely would prefer more space allocated to that. One of the reasons for the smaller bathroom configuration here is the lack of a bathtub. The decision to not install one may be due to the pool being located just next to the suite. This is my own guess as I noticed that even the lower category rooms have bathtubs.

The bathroom of the Poolside Suite has been renovated with dark marble panels. I also like that there is a small window here right be the shower area with glazed panels, allowing for some natural light to come in. 

Toiletries are from Etro. This is only my second time to encounter this brand in Singapore, the other being at The Vagabond Club.  

Goodwood Park Hotel can also be thought of as a tourist attraction rather than just as a hotel so it’s quite interesting to see other room types as well. The property has various wings which were built and refurbished in different periods so one glimpses differing styles from the various room categories. During my stay, I also managed to check out some of the other room types at Goodwood Park Hotel.

Deluxe Mayfair Room

The entry-level room at Goodwood Park Hotel is the Deluxe Mayfair Room, situated at the Mayfair Wing. Measuring between 31 to 44 square meters in area, the Deluxe Mayfair Room features a balcony with a floor-to-ceiling headboard featuring black and white images of Singapore shophouses as the centerpiece. 

Deluxe Premier Room

Also recently refurbished, the Deluxe Premier Room at Goodwood Park Hotel features a similar look as the Poolside Suite. The beds here are also flanked by low-hanging lamps on both sides. These rooms are relatively spacious, at 39 square meters, and offer quite good value, especially those that come with a view of the pool. This is one of the most popular room categories for staycations at Goodwood Park Hotel.

Parklane Split Level Suite & Studio Suite

Located at the hotel’s far end just next to sister hotel, York Hotel, is Parklane which offers apartment style living. Originally designed for long-stays, the Parklane Split Level Studio and Suite categories in this wing have dedicated kitchens, appliances and balconies. 

The rooms here have a strong apartment vibe, especially with the wooden flooring and the presence of stairs inside the suites. The beds here don’t have a headboard. A painting stands in its place.

Rose Marie Suite

The presidential suite in Goodwood Park Hotel is called the Rose Marie Suite and measures a good 260 square meters. Located at the hotel’s Tower Wing – that same castle-like structure one sees from the outside – the suite looks very much like what one would expect from a building dating back from the colonial era. 

The suite is situated within the building’s tower so it takes an octagonal shape. This makes for a rather dramatic living area, especially with the chandeliers, mirrors and elaborate plaster work dating back from the building’s original construction giving this suite a rather palatial feel. 

The same colonial vibe continues in the spacious study and bedroom, where the TVs are kept inside cupboards just like in the olden days.

Facilities

As a full-service hotel, Goodwood Park has plenty of facilities including a business center, 2 swimming pools and a gym. As I was staying in the Poolside Suite, most of these facilities were close by. My suite opened up to the hotel’s main pool while a smaller pool was situated at the Mayfair Wing.

Of the two pools, I would say the smaller one at the Mayfair Wing exudes more of a resort vibe with plenty of trees and even a couple of huts flanking it. 

Dining

The dining options at Goodwood Park Hotel probably need no introduction. All the dining outlets were brimming with people during my stay and I could not even get a table when I showed up unannounced in one of the restaurants.

Located at the hotel’s lobby is L’Espresso. The open-air lounge serves light bites and is known for its English Afternoon Tea. It is so popular that it starts serving them at 11AM on weekends, where there are 3 seatings throughout the afternoon. I tried it during my stay and thought the retro plates they used were quite cute. The food is also quite good and I enjoyed their scones and sandwiches. At the time of my visit, L’Espresso recently included local delights such as laksa into their afternoon tea offering.

The Coffee Lounge doubles as the breakfast area by day and the venue for the famous Taiwan Porridge at other times. It used to be the glamorous Arundel Room back in the 1960s when famous international celebrities came to the venue to perform. It was renamed into Cafe Allegro and finally to Coffee Lounge in 1977. I checked it out for dinner just when the restaurant had rolled out an updated menu. 

The Taiwan Porridge ala carte buffet at Coffee Lounge has two tiers – a Value Tier at S$33 per adult / S$19.80 per child and a Deluxe Tier for S$48 per adult / S$28.80 per child. Highlights here include the Crispy Baby Squid, Deep-fried Black Pomfret with Sambal and Chinchalok Dip as well as Wok-fried Beef with Black Pepper. 

Personally, I though the value tier, at just S$33++ per adult, was already great on its own and offered excellent value. The difference between the two tiers is the number of dishes available – 26 versus 36. Courses such as the 2 wok-fried beef dishes and Baby Squid were part of the Deluxe Tier. Diners who opt for the higher tier can also order White Pomfret rather than Black Pomfret for their meal.

Breakfast

Breakfast at Goodwood Park Hotel is served at Coffee Lounge. As I was staying over the weekend, I was advised to book a breakfast slot in advance. As I didn’t think I could wake up any earlier, I chose the 9 to 10am slot which happened to be the busiest timing as well. Do note that choosing a time slot does not mean you don’t have to queue at all. When I walked in, I spotted a number of people in line, presumably other folks who also booked the same timeslot. I suppose the line would have been even longer if they did not implement the advance booking system.

I was shown to my table pretty quickly. The restaurant had switched to buffet lines only recently with servers dishing out the food.

The breakfast buffet at Goodwood Park Hotel is quite modest – the buffet counter is a relatively short one but they do manage to pack in all the essentials like sausages, beans, eggs, bacon and potato wedges. For carbohydrates, there was your ubiquitous noodle soup and for something more local, mee siam. I was also told they carried oatmeal and cereals but these were presented upon request. That said, I have read plenty of pre-pandemic reviews mentioning how extensive the breakfast buffet was back then so this could be a change due to the current situation, in line with the slimmer breakfast offerings I also see in other hotels.

One of the more fascinating inclusions in Goodwood Park’s breakfast offerings is the pastry and fruit trolley. A server with a push cart would roam around the hall offering croissants, pain au chocolat and fruit cups to guests which I thought was a nice touch. It seems to take a page straight out of Min Jiang’s dimsum trolley service.

Juices are of the chilled type but I have to hand it to them for how they prepare the coffee here. Even the cafe latte that they made for me during the breakfast buffet was well layered. I guess it isn’t called Coffee Lounge for nothing.

Verdict

Reviewing a staycation like Goodwood Park Hotel is not as straightforward as my other hotel stays because this property is very much a tourist attraction as it is a place for lodging. In that sense, I take the retro aspects of the hotel as being an ingrained part of the experience. In my case, as I was staying in a renovated room, my experience was really a combination between the modern and the traditional. My Poolside Suite looked new but at the same time, I could soak in a bit of history wandering around the hallways and appreciating how a hotel that is merely 3-storeys high can still exist so near Orchard Road. When assessing a local hotel such as Goodwood Park, it is also important to distinguish it from international chain hotels where things might work differently. For instance, I noted how the employees here tend to multitask. The staff member who looked after me during breakfast at Coffee Lounge was found manning the floor at Min Jiang that same afternoon when I was ordering some dimsum for takeaways. Also, the manager who checked me in for the stay was found handling the breakfast queue the next day. That said, service was excellent all throughout.  

Thus, my Goodwood Park Hotel staycation can be summed up as a rejuvenating weekend with elements from both the past and present. I could imagine this property appealing to families with young children who could bask in the hotel’s two pools and roam with plenty of open spaces, more mature folks who will find joy and even nostalgia taking in the decades-old F&B offerings such as the durian desserts and Taiwan porridge during a staycation here or history buffs who find joy in revisiting Singapore’s past through a hotel stay.

Booking It

Goodwood Park Hotel has a myriad of staycation packages with rates going for as low as S$200 net. Higher-tier packages include perks such as dining credits and suite stays. You can book their packages here.