The hotel is situated in what used to be a school. There are still some hallmarks of the old school with the way the hotel is laid out, but it is evident that the land was too small to remain a school and that’s why it has become a hotel. It explains why the hotel is away from most of the excitement of shops and entertainment and closer to residential areas in Tanjong Pagar.
The only real place to visit is east (on the map) towards Tanjong Pagar Road where all the restaurants, grocery stores and hawker food centers are located. If you want to travel further, you can head towards Outram Park Station which is an 8 minute walk or Tanjong Pagar Station which is a 10 minute walk but with much more things to see and pick up on the journey to and from the hotel. In fact, the journey to and from Tanjong Pagar Station allows you to pass several supermarkets, like Fair Price, shopping centers and plenty of restaurants and food centers. There seems to be quite a number of popular Japanese outlets and restaurants in Tanjong Pagar, including Don Don Donki and Mos Burger at the 100AM shopping complex.
Also within walking distance within 10 minutes is a large Shake Shack fast food restaurant and a Birds of Paradise ice-creamery. Plus, within 15 minutes you can walk to the Maxwell Food Centre where the famous Tian Tian Chicken restaurant can be found (but its closed Mondays) and Chinatown Street Markets and Temple. I found the Chinatown Point shopping centre a popular destination because it was a modern shopping complex with a number of nice restaurants and take-out joints, including The Koi (boba), Chateraise (bakery) and Song Fa (bak kut teh).
We booked a large room for 8 nights for around AUD$1,600. It was relatively affordable compared to other hotels and at least the rooms were a decent size. It’s not exactly baby friendly but we managed to have me, wife and 2 year old share the main bed. It offered just enough space. For a holiday home base, it does its job but could be better.
I found the television in the room next to useless because it didn’t have an antenna to watch ordinary Singapore television channels, but it did have internet connection to allow YouTube and Netflix to work.
The large room comes with a kitchen with the usual plus some extra handle utensils and a handy washer and dryer (for clothes). We just had to bring our own detergent. While the bathroom was tiny but offered enough soaps and shampoo.
The room was only cleaned two days a week.
In terms of amenities at the hotel, there is a large share area and kitchen at reception to rest and recuperate. I noticed lots of people using the space to set up desktops and office space. It also has a wellness center with almost no gym equipment and a small swimming pool (which I never bothered with).
Although the hotel is out of the way from most of the action, at least it is affordable, offers larger rooms, and is 10 minutes away from public transport (if you want to travel to Singapore’s best attractions).
Hmlet Cantonment is located at 150 Cantonment Road, Singapore:
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