Hotel Hunting

We searched high and low, did our research and went for several site inspections. Our hopes were raised and dashed, and finally, we are now this close to signing the contract with the hotel of our choice.

From the very start, I compiled a list of over 20 hotels from Singapore Brides forum, with their package's perks and table prices, as well as other misc information. Our first choices were shortlisted by name - hotels we recognized and liked, or had some history with.

Swissotel Merchant Court caught our eye and was a very bright star especially since they had a very attractive package without need to bargain for much else. They also had the most *gorgeous* Bridal Suite with a great view of Clark Quay (or Ministry of Manpower, depending on which window you looked out of). Unfortunately, they had very few available dates, and since it was the first hotel we viewed, we decided to take it easy and see what the rest had to offer first.

Grand Hyatt, smelled of opulence (actually it smelled like cigarettes), was always crowded and brought many fond memories of my CJ days here visiting the marbled toilets after school. Unfortunately, we came away with a very cheap feeling after our site inspection here. Imagine this, the coordinator actually gave us Hyatt-branded water from plastic bottles to drink. Wow. Of course, they also withheld a lot of perks that we had to almost beg for and still not get. No thank you (to make matters worse, the coordinator took 2 weeks to get back to me on available dates, even after a reminder...)

Goodwood Park hotel was a very cosy colonial hotel that put stars in Shermaine's eyes. We were very enchanted with the idea of holding a wedding lunch here, and not bothering about a dinner, but unfortunately, this notion was met with a lot of resistance from my parents. They just didn't think that a wedding should end on a lunch. And that was our dreams of a colonial wedding dashed, since we really couldn't afford to host a weekend dinner here (it was nearly S$1500/table nett).

Fairmont was our next site inspection, which was also Swissotel The Stamford located at Raffles City. The ballrooms were at the 4th floor of the Raffles City shopping area, and both hotels shared the same Manager of Romance, who showed us 4 really opulent ballrooms with awesome technology, high ceilings, decor and mega-top tables. However, the idea of having a wedding in a convention centre-like venue was the big negative factor for us. That and the package costing a little more than our top choice then, Merchant Court, gave rise to our hesitance. They did however have our ideal date available.

Hotel Fort Canning (previously The Legends Country Club) was a recently done up ballroom with a large reception area and garishly gold chandeliers. Our impression of this place was clouded mainly by our entry. The exterior of the venue is very very lovely - historic colonial structure with lion statues and waterfalls, set amidst lush greenery. It won us over. Until we saw the ballroom. It really did feel like an upgraded country club, and it didn't help that their decorative themes seemed a little lacking. I'm sure once Hotel Fort Canning is up and running that the package and price they command will make a lot more sense. However, we're risk averse and decided not to proceed with our initial booking here.



Which leads us to the long-awaited Grand Park City Hall. This hotel was a last minute find, and was not on my initial list at all. I chanced upon it when searching for "colonial wedding" on Google. The building won a prestigious Architectural Heritage Award, and initial pictures online painted an art deco look that was akin to Batman's Gotham City but white-washed (I'm a comic fan and it really really appealed to me). Furthermore, the ends of the ballroom had this huge calligraphy tapestry on the walls, and that got my attention as well as I felt it lent the venue a nice oriental touch! It did take 2 weeks to arrange a meet-up with the coordinator, during which, a few of our initial choice dates were taken right under our noses. This led to me making a tentative booking for our last option, the 4th Dec 2011, even before our site inspection.

Shermaine and I actually went to GPCH on a weekend by ourselves to walk around and get a feel of the hotel first. We sat in the reception area to peruse their wedding packages and what we saw really enticed us and we just couldn't wait for the formal meeting. The day eventually came and to my surprise, the ballroom was not what I remembered from the pics! Christopher, the coordinator, then informed me that the ballroom had just been renovated 3 weeks earlier. So the art deco style is gone, as are the calligraphy tapestries. In place are more grand-looking chandeliers and stylishly patterned red walls. Shermaine says the look is less rigid this way, allowing couples to make the ballroom "theirs" with a little custom decoration. Ok, admittedly, I was a little disappointed but looking at it objectively, the changes didn't make the ballroom look worse, it was definitely nicer than many places we saw previously. Then came the package discussion.

The package was very similar to Merchant Court's and the only issue we had was with the beer which we couldn't get free-flow, but we did manage to get 4 barrels of 30 litres each, which should be sufficient. We could get a few special entitlements if we signed up for the Gold membership with Park Hotels. Food-wise, we knew the food here was good, coming from Park Palace restaurant, and reviewed by Keropok Man (one of Sherm's fave food blogs). Service-wise, I got the impression from forums that the service staff here would take very good care of us. The issue we had was with the coordinator, Christopher, whom I did not have a good impression of, as he made us wait 25 mins for him (after which I had to force an apology out of him too!). However, he had been prompt in his emails, albeit curt, and the staff were busy as they were holding a wedding show on 2nd Oct. Furthermore, they were not actually allowing tentative bookings due to the upcoming show but he made us an exception. So I forgive him. =)

Since Merchant Court's 9th Oct 2011 date had been confirmed following a corporate booking, we had no choice but to go with GPCH's date. It wasn't quite "settling", though they weren't our 1st choice. Admittedly, the difference in comparison aren't very great, and in the end, I'm actually quite comfortable and happy to have gotten the date and booking settled.

Besides, they have some really nice Bridal Suites too!

Ok, this post has gone on for far too long, and is probably more detailed than anyone cares for. Thanks for reading, feel free to drop us a note in the comments section!