Accommodations

There are plenty of accommodation options in Singapore. However, there are 2 things to bear in mind – firstly, most of the high-end hotels in Singapore are very expensive. Looking to stay at the Marina Bay Sands or a hotel that overlooks the Singapore river or skyline? It is likely going to cost you a couple of hundred Singapore dollars a night, even more so during the holiday season or during the Formula One period OR even during periods where a popular artiste or group like Black Pink, Taylor Swift is scheduled to perform.

Next, AirBnb hosting is illegal in Singapore, so if you see listings on the platform, please bear in mind the risk when you book with it.

However, not all accommodation options in Singapore are all that bad, there are several hotel and hostel options available throughout the island and the good thing is that while they might not be part of the core part of the city, they are located nearby enough so it will not be as inconvenient for you to travel back and forth everyday back to the place of stay. Some of the more popular budget friendly accommodations are located at Bencoolen, Chinatown and even Balestier which to me is not the best location, but you get what you pay for. These budget options are typically no frills so please do not expect much. However, they offer an alternate option to backpackers or those that do not want to break the bank while visiting Singapore.

What about Coachsurfing?

I personally do not know of people that coach-surf in Singapore so I am not able to comment. However, unless you are so cash-strapped, I would personally not recommend as I have heard horror stories of people that coach-surf overseas.

Many of the popular hotel pages will have the list of hotels that you can stay at. I would personally recommend avoiding Geylang as it is a well-known red light district (unless you are into that kind of “culture”) but otherwise the location matters less since Singapore is pretty well connected by public transport. Some of the more budget hotel chains also have a reputation for being more sleezy but I will not comment as I have not stayed in them before.

Here are a list of areas that are popular as well as their budget:

Marina Bay Sands area - $$$$$
Orchard area - $$$$
City Hall area
Tanjong Pagar area - $$$
Chinatown - $$
Bencoolen - $$
Geylang - $
Balestier - $

Of course this is just a sample based on the recent search I did. However, bear in mind that not all accommodations will fit the above grading but it is just a general statement on the accommodations in such locations.

How to choose where to stay?

Pick one nearest to the MRT

To be honest, if you are on a budget and not fussy about where to stay, I would recommend a place where it is walkable to the MRT line. The MRT will ultimately be the best mode of transport to get around Singapore. Even though Singapore has a robust bus network, it is often tricky to navigate unless you have some sort of familiarity with it or have extensive data to keep track of where to board and get off.

Avoid Geylang or Balestier if you don’t like run down places

Nothing against these 2 districts but Geylang and Balestier are more run down than most parts of Singapore, with the former being known to be a red-light district. I would not recommend these areas because your perception of Singapore might be ‘negatively’ impacted. Of course this is a generalization and there might be some decent places around these areas, but do your due diligence because choosing a place to stay.

What about luxury places?

Of course if budget is not a problem, it opens the door to a lot more expensive brand name chain hotels along Orchard, Marina Bay and city area. Some of these hotels do even offer airport limousine services and have concierges that can assist you with a variety of matters (restaurant reservations, directions, itineraries etc). I personally like the City Hall or Esplanade area as a base because it offers a good network of the MRT system in case you need to head to anywhere.

Can you rank the best locations?

In my opinion, the best locations (accessibility being my primary factor) are as follows:
City Hall area
Tanjong Pagar area
Orchard area
Marina Bay Sands area
Chinatown
Bencoolen
Balestier
Geylang

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