Crowne Plaza Hotel Changi Airport – Combining Comfort with Convenience

I lay still in the quiet of the night with the distant sound of aircrafts taking off.  My legs, stretched out comfortably. The soft bed caressing my tired back and gently sucking out flight fatigue. I heaved a sigh of relief… Crowne Plaza Hotel was home for the night.

I had journeyed for more than ten hours before I could lie down on a flat bed. But my day had started much earlier as Joseph and I set out on our trip from Canberra to Singapore en route to China. And in the busy terminals of the fabulous Changi Airport, we found an oasis to rejuvenate ourselves.

Located at Terminal 3, our Crowne Plaza Hotel Deluxe Room on the third floor, had doors opening up to a palm tree lined pool. As the trees swayed in the night’s breeze I fell into a deep slumber after being awake throughout my three-hour bus ride and eight-hour flight to reach the garden city of Singapore.

“The direct flight by Singapore Airlines that will launch in September is going to make the journey more relaxing and whole lot easier”, I thought to myself as the alarm went off on my phone at 5.45 in the morning. I cruelly had to drag myself out of the cozy bed even though my body begged to lay in all that comfort and just hibernate. But you don’t always get what you want, do you? We had work to do, people to meet and a choice of two breakfast options to try.

With access to the Club Lounge, we could either have an intimate breakfast at the Club Lounge located on level three or we could have breakfast at Azur located on level two, which is known for its various cuisine options. When it comes to satisfying my tummy, I take great care in the decisions we need to make. If hobbits are entitled to second breakfasts, why not us?

Off to Azur we went. The spread was as expected… enormous! On the left, there were sausages, baked tomatoes, an egg station, bacon, baked beans and the works. The table curved to the left where an abundance of fresh fruit, fresh juice and yogurt are laid out. The middle section caters to the carbs, fresh rolls, a reasonable variety of breads, pastries and cereals. Five steps to the right and you find cured meats, salads, congee, soup, dim sum, fried rice, sautéed vegetables, biryani, dhal and papadoms! The only question that mattered was, where do you start?

“Could I please have fresh chilies on my sunny side up?” I asked. An obliging chef cooked it exactly the way I wanted it and served it with a smile. With a skillful lift, I placed my eggs on my toast and cut into it. As the yoke oozed all over, I knew it was the only way to start my morning. I then had the century egg and pork congee. Though there were six condiments to add to my congee, one was all I needed… finely slice ginger! The freshness it added to an already flavorful dish created an umami explosion in my mouth.

“We need to get a similar mattress for ourselves back home”, I muttered to Joseph. I was still thinking about how restful I felt. If I needed one reason to return to Crowne Plaza Changi Airport, that would be it. But honestly, there are other good reasons to choose the Crowne Plaza at Changi Airport.

To begin with, it is very convenient. It’s right inside the airport and a two-minute walk from the hotel gets you to the MRT station. Hop on a train and go straight to the city. You may have to change platforms and trains depending on where you want to go but hey, you have access to the whole of Singapore through its efficient train system. Above all, train-travel is affordable.

Don’t feel like heading to the city? There’s a load of shopping options right in the airport. I bought gifts for friends at the terminal, changed Australian Dollars to Chinese Reminbi, had some curry at Old Chang Kee and white coffee at Old Town Coffee.

Want to stay connected? You have a couple of options; the airport offers free Wi-Fi and also paid Wi-Fi service through dongles that can be rented at the Changi Recommends booth. This Wi-Fi router collection center is just a four-minute walk from the hotel. Did I mention that guests at the hotel get free high speed Wi-Fi?  With only a few hours to go to boarding our next flight, we did all our work from the hotel and the facilities at the airport itself. It’s very convenient indeed.

Having got our work done, we had time to check out the Club Lounge at the hotel which is the other dining option provided. The Club Lounge is personalized and welcoming. The food station is smaller but it is a great place to relax. All that running around made us hungry and we savoured some smoked salmon with capers and had a few mugs of cappuccino. After sending out a few emails we then just sank into the comfortable seats and relaxed.

There is nothing more unwinding than a nice soak in a large bathtub before a flight.  This is precisely what I did before leaving the hotel to catch our flight to Wuxi, China.

When we checked out, the hotel provided us an airport trolley for our luggage. It took us about five minutes to reach our terminal through the linkway bridge that connects the hotel to the terminals. This meant we only had to leave our hotel room ten minutes before our actual flight check-in time. This was way better than having to hop into a taxi and meander through traffic to get to the airport.

Considering travel time, cab fares, traffic conditions and stress, it is far more inexpensive and wiser to stay at the Crowne Plaza at Changi Airport if you are either in transit or on a short visit to Singapore. As for me, I would seriously consider staying there even on a slightly longer visit.

Soon Changi Airport will inaugurate its fourth terminal and a new mall and once both are operational, it will look like a mini city (frankly speaking, it already does) with more restaurants, shopping options, indoor gardens, banking and other facilities.

I am also looking forward to Crowne Plaza’s new wing, currently being constructed. It will have an additional 243 rooms. Their hotel extension is Singapore’s first private sector commercial project to use Prefabricated Pre-finished Volumetric Construction (PPVC) techniques. Rooms complete with finishes, fixtures and fittings were done in Shanghai, China before being shipped to Singapore to be installed on site. The other facilities at the hotel comprise of wellness and fitness, dining and business services.

Their new wing is going to be fabulous and when I stay there, I shall let you know what it was like.

Update: The 10-storey hotel extension is now open! It features 243 Business Rooms in addition to the existing 320 rooms in the hotel, specially designed to suit the needs of today’s busy travellers. With a total capacity of 563 rooms, they will be able to cater to an increasing number of visitors to Singapore as Changi Airport continues to grow as a key regional aviation hub with upcoming developments such as Terminal 4 and Jewel Changi Airport in the next few years. Here’s a sneak peak on how the rooms look like…

Crowne Plaza Changi Airport is located at 75 Airport Boulevard, Singapore 819664. For rates, visit their official website.

**We were guests of Crowne Plaza. All opinions are entirely our own.