Reviews Tom Otley
PAN PACIFIC Singapore
7 Raffles Boulevard, Marina Square / Tel +65 6336 8111
www.panpacific.com
Jenny Southan
SHERATON INCHEON Songdo, South Korea
UNVEILED IN 2009, the Sheraton Incheon was one of the first hotels to open in South Korea’s ambitious new aerotropolis of Songdo, which is built on reclaimed land in Incheon’s Free Economic Zone and connected to the airport by a 12km bridge. The hotel is a 20-minute drive from Incheon airport and about 30km from Seoul. The 5,000-capacity Convensia Convention Centre is next door.
THE PAN PACIFIC is one of the most established five-star hotels in Singapore, and has been a feature of the skyline for some 25 years. Last year it completed a £41 million renovation, closing for nearly five months in the process. The hotel is a 20-minute drive from Changi airport, traffic permitting, and five minutes by taxi from the Central Business District in Marina Bay. The hotel is close to Suntec International Convention and Exhibition Centre – which reopens in May – and has a walkway through to the Marine Shopping Mall.
THE ROOM: All the 790 rooms and suites have been refurbished with thick carpets, marble bathrooms with premium Hansgrohe fittings (including showers with both power and rain showerheads), and work desks with ergonomic Herman Miller chairs. The 441 entry-level Deluxe rooms are 38sq m and, as you’d expect, there’s plenty of new technology, including free wifi, Internet Protocol (IP) telephony and television, and sockets for linking mobile devices to the TV. There are 201 rooms with balconies, and these are the only ones for smokers. Views are of Marina Bay or the cityscape behind. RESTAURANTS & BARS: All of these have been refreshed – or completely reimagined in the case of the hotel’s well-known Hai Tien Lo Cantonese restaurant, which has moved from the 38th floor to the third floor. Also on level three is Edge, an all-day buffet restaurant serving varied cuisine including Western, Japanese,
Malay, Singaporean and Chinese, and where at lunchtime it is easy to eat far too much, with even the chocolates, pastries and ice cream included in the set buffet price of S$48 (£25). On the lobby level, a 22m-long bar is the centrepiece of the Atrium, where a wide selection of craft beers is offered. BUSINESS FACILITIES: The hotel has extensive function space on the first and second floors, with a total of 27 meeting rooms, including two ballrooms – the Pacific and the Ocean, the largest of which (the Pacific) is capable of seating 650 people for a banquet. LEISURE FACILITIES: On the fourth floor there is a gym and an outdoor pool. St Gregory spa is accessed from the pool area and has seven treatment rooms. VERDICT: This is a demonstration of how to get a renovation right – adding everything that guests want, but not messing with what made the hotel a favourite.
ROOM FACILITIES: 321 rooms and suites start from 37sq m. All have 3.2m-high ceilings, neutral decor and floor-to- ceiling windows facing the city. Standard amenities include 32in LCD TVs, air-conditioning, separate baths and walk-in showers, safes, coffee and tea- making facilities, 24-hour room service, minibars, irons/ironing boards, work desks and wired/ wifi internet access priced at 20,000 won (£12) per day. Guests staying in Club rooms and those with SPG platinum status can access the 22nd-floor lounge, which serves breakfast and evening cocktails. RESTAURANTS & BARS: A lobby bar with terrace and four restaurants – Miyabi for Japanese cuisine, Bene for Italian and Sunday brunch, Yue for Cantonese, and Feast for international à la carte and an all-day buffet. In a bid to encourage solo business travellers to meet one another, Connexions bar offers a ‘social hour’ in the early evening, with wine tasting for 18,000 won (£11).
BUSINESS FACILITIES: As there is a convention centre next door, the hotel didn’t build a huge on-site ballroom, but it does offer a 400-capacity space on the third floor (without natural light), and seven other meetings spaces for up to 110 people theatre- style. There is also a business centre with three PCs. LEISURE FACILITIES: The spa has five treatment rooms, an 18m pool with natural light, and a gym with Life Fitness machines. There’s also a yoga room and instructions for a ‘jet-lag buster’ workout, which I thought was a helpful touch. Members of the public have access to the fitness centre and pool, so it doesn’t have a very exclusive feel, and the locker rooms could have been cleaner. VERDICT: A comfortable Sheraton hotel in the heart of an emerging business hub. The rooms are well equipped and the range of dining options is good, especially as there isn’t a wide choice of places to eat in Songdo yet.
6-9 Songdo-Dong, Yeonsu-Gu, Incheon / Tel +82 32 835 1000
www.starwoodhotels.com
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www.buyingbusinesstravel.com
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