Staycation Review: Orchard Rendezvous Hotel – Family Rooms & Free Minibar

Orchard Rendezvous Hotel was officially launched in September 2018 as part of a rebranding exercise of the former Orchard Parade Hotel that underwent phases of renovations between 2015 to 2018. As one of the more recognizable landmarks in the Orchard Road stretch, the newly refurbished hotel now carries a palpable botanic theme, taking inspiration from the site’s past as a pepper plantation. The hotel even had an orchid specially bred for its launch – the Vanda Orchard Rendezvous.

I have stayed at the hotel twice to experience the revamped rooms and facilities. First time was right after they renovated and second time was during Phase 2 when the property was among those open to local residents for staycations. If you are looking for an affordable hotel in Orchard Road, this is probably one of your best bets. Depending on the day, the Orchard Rendezvous Hotel can rival the Yotel Singapore as the cheapest hotel along Singapore’s main shopping stretch, with more spacious rooms to boot!

Room

For this particular occasion, I stayed in one of the refurbished club rooms. The property has plenty of room types and even boasts of family rooms (more about that later). At 30 square meters, the room is of modest size and comes with a balcony. I like how the interiors are painted in a soothing white which goes nicely with the arched windows and the leaf patterns on the carpet. There’s little here in the way of clutter.

One of the highlights of the club room is the complimentary minibar. As far as I know, the Orchard Rendezvous Hotel is one of the few hotels in Singapore to actually have a free minibar (another hotel nearby that has a complimenary minibar is the Novotel Singapore Stevens). There are a variety of drinks inside, such as cold teas, beer and softdrinks. There are no snacks included though club room staying guests get to have access to the lounge which provides refreshments.

The bathroom is on the small side but carries the same clean and soothing design. Many of the containers used here, such as the tissue box and amenities case are made of wood and won’t look out of place in hipster digs.

A key selling points of the hotel are its family rooms. One that particularly attracted a number of inquiries when I was featuring some snaps from a hotel tour was the room that came with bunk beds. It is quite true that despite marketing itself as a family-friendly destination, there is a dearth of rooms in the Singapore that can fit more than 2 people and it is only recently that a handful of hotels have caught on the need. Orchard Rendezvous Hotel is one of those places that can comfortably fit up to 4 people with its spacious family rooms.

Club Lounge

My stay in the club room gave me access to the club lounge of the Orchard Rendezvous Hotel. For everyone’s convenience, here are the benefits:

• Breakfast buffet from 7AM to 10:30AM
• All-day refreshments from 11AM to 5PM
• Premium courtesy bar from 6PM to 8PM
• Complimentary laundry (2pieces daily, non-accumulative)
• Complimentary high speed internet access
• Complimentary local calls
• Complimentary minibar
• Guaranteed early check-in at 10AM or late check-out at 4PM

Update: During my second stay at the property in late-2020, I found that the club lounge now has reduced hours – opening for breakfast from 7AM to 10:30AM and for afternoon tea cum cocktails from 4:30PM to 6:30PM. This is due to the situation under Phase 2. The meal presentation formats have changed as well. Everything is on an ala carte basis rather than buffet due to the restrictions in offering buffets under phase 2.

The club lounge here is probably one of my favorite parts of the hotel. Looks-wise, it is one of the more impressive hotel club lounges I have seen in Singapore. It’s not particularly large either but during my stay there, I never really saw it crowded, not even during evening cocktails.

I dropped by the club lounge for some snacks during evening cocktails. The buffet spread is set against a nice centerpiece accentuated by florals and hanging lamps. There are a few hot items such as chicken wings and pizza while the cheese spread is rather good and befitting western tastes.

Another thing I love about the lounge is the proliferation of reading materials. While many hotels these days have done away with magazines and physical news, Orchard Rendezvous Hotel still provides them which makes it easier to catch up with current events.

Christmas Light-Up Tour

As part of the festive rendezvous staycation package in late November and December, my stay also came with a 45-minute ride on an open-top bus to survey the Christmas light-up in Orchard Road. The bus made two rounds – first from Orchard Rendezvous stretch up to Plaza Singapura and the second from Tanglin Mall up to Orchard Central. Those whose stay did not originally come with the tour could also sign up for the tour and pay S$19.90 per adult, though seats are not guaranteed for walk-ins.

There are two departures per day, at 7:30PM and again at 8:30PM. Do note that if you intend to stay at Orchard Rendezvous Hotel to join this tour, bus departures only occur on Fridays, Saturdays as well as eve and day of public holidays.

Facilities

The hotel’s facilities are also quite popular with staycationers and families. The swimming pool was renovated recently and carries a Mediterranean theme. There is also a modest fitness center equipped with a sufficient number of exercise machines.

The hotel does not have any inhouse food outlets except for the lobby bar. There are a number of tenants such as Brewerkz, Akanoya Robatayaki and TungLok Signatures. I went to check out the latter for dinner. Highlights of my dinner included the Steamed Sliced Soon Hock in Traditional Sauce and the Deep-fried Conpoy with Salted Egg Yolk and Fresh Fruits.

Verdict

The Orchard Rendezvous Hotel manages to fulfill a gap among hotels in the Orchard stretch. Those looking for a place that’s affordable without having to stick to shoebox-type of rooms and prefer to be near all the action are hard-pressed to name another hotel that’s as compelling in this price range. Moreover, the hotel is fitting for families as evidenced by the spacious family rooms.

Booking It

Orchard Rendezvous Hotel is running an 11.11 promotion if you book from 19th Nov to 21st November with rates going for as low as S$238 net for 2 nights! You can check out their staycation packages here.