Tried & Tested

Hotel review: Yotelair Changi Airport

25 May 2019 by Tom Otley
YOTELAIR_Entrance_2

Background

The Yotel brand is on a roll at the moment. It has a core brand – Yotel, then an extended stay brand called Yotelpad.

Extended stay brand Yotelpad to make European debut in Switzerland

And then there is the  Yotelair brand which are in or near airports, both landside (before security) and airside (after security). New Yotelair properties recently opened not only at Changi the Jewel and also both landside and airside at the new Istanbul Airport, to add to properties at London Gatwick, London Heathrow, Amsterdam Schiphol and Paris CDG, as well as five city hotels in New York, Boston, San Francisco, Washington DC and Singapore.

Yotel opens Istanbul airport properties

New hotels are also coming in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Geneva, Amsterdam, Miami, Dubai, Mammoth, Park City, Porto and New York Long Island City.

Yotel’s major shareholders include a controlled affiliate of Starwood Capital Group, the Talal Jassim Al-Bahar Group, United Investment Portugal and Kuwait Real Estate Company (AQARAT).  Yotel was created by YO! founder Simon Woodroffe OBE.

Jewel Changi Airport - View of Jewel from the outside

First impressions

Check-in is via automatic kiosks which are easy to use, although seeing that I was well past millennial age, a member of staff came over and walked me through the process. It takes a scan of your passport or identity card and of course you swipe your credit card, then you generate your own keys on a pad and are ready to go. The reception is one Level 4 and most of the rooms (called cabins) are on level 4M one floor up.

Staff are very helpful. The only thing to bear in mind is that there are no storage facilities, so when you check out you’ll need to go down one level and pay for baggage storage at the Jewel facility should you need this – it’s about S$25 (Singapore Dollars) per day for a checked bag size.

You can also use the showers here (and not stay). The current price for this is S$20.

And you can stay at the hotel in four hour increments – check the website for the current rates.

Jewel Changi Airport - HSBC Rain Vortex 2

Where is it?

On level 4 of the Jewel building. To reach it take the link bridge from Terminal 3 and then go up one level either via the escalator or lift (the lifts get very busy, so if your bags aren’t too large, take the escalators). You’ll see the entrance for the hotel on the right. If you are coming in from Terminal 4 (for instance) bear in mind you’d have to use the free hotel shuttle bus to get here.

YOTELAIR_Premium-Queen

Rooms

The 130 rooms all have adjustable mood lighting which can be controlled through four separate switches. All the rooms are en suite with two showerheads (power shower and rain shower, and the beds are like hospital ones, so you can raise the upper half up and watch the large screen television, or recline and sleep on them.

I was in an entry level Premium Queen Cabins (10 sqm) which the site says can cater for two people – I’m sure it could, though it would be a tight fit but was fine for one, and there are larger Family Cabins (21 sqm) sleeping up to four. There are also fully accessible cabins.

To make the most of the space available you can push your bag under the beds, and there are hangers on the wall (two, though I’m sure they’d give you some more if required). The bed was comfortable and sound proofing was very good. There are also lots of power points and USB sockets for charging all my electrical items thing.

Jewel Changi Airport - YotelAir in-room workstation

There are curtains and a sliding door for the divider between the bathroom and the bedroom for privacy if there’s two of you. Provided in the room are two small bottles of water and a couple of tooth brushing kits. There are some useful shelves in the wall by the door, and hooks for hanging items in the bathroom. It’s all been carefully thought out.

Wifi is free and very fast, and you can stream your own content from your device onto these large TVs in the room. The rooms can be booked for a minimum of four hours, and if you want a late check out beyond 1200 then it’s around S$25 for every two hours past this point.

Seating-area-Yotelair-Changi

Outside in the corridor it’s possible to sit if you are with a larger group or just getting a little claustrophobic in your room. This is the upper level of the two storey cafe (see below). I walked around the Jewel exploring and then paid S$80 for a foot, shoulder and back massage at a place opposite the hotel, which was a good way of unwinding after a week’s work travelling.

YotelAir-Jewel-cafe

Food and drink

There is a good little self-serve café called Komyuniti (all in capitals the way they do it) on the lobby level which has a great view out into the Jewel from an open balcony. In fact the Rain Vortex – the world’s tallest indoor waterfall and the iconic feature of the Jewel can be seen from here, so you can sit and watch the evening light show from the café. In the morning the waterfall starts at 0800 on a weekday. It gave me quite a shock when I was quietly working in the cafe and it suddenly began.

View-from-the-YotelAir-cafe-

Free coffee, tea and water is served here all day, and the breakfast in the morning is exceptional value for money – S$10 when I was staying, which considering the Jewel is very high end means you’d struggle to get a coffee and pastry for that in most of the outlets.

If you want to eat in the evening, go down to the second basement level of the Jewel and head into Five Spice which has lots of Asian and Western options. I had a three-course meal there for S$12.50 and it was delicious.

YotelAir-fitness-centre

Leisure facilities

Other than the Jewel, there is a small but well equipped fitness centre on site.

Verdict

This is an excellent option for a one-night stay and access to the Jewel. The rooms are comfortable and it’s worth trying one of these Yotels just for the experience, I think. I would certainly stay in another if it was in the right location and for the right price.

Fact box

  • Best for A ringside view of the Jewel and comfortable and affordable stay in Singapore
  • Don’t miss Having a free coffee in the evening and watching the light show on the central waterfall
  • Contact Yotelair, Level 4, Lobby H, Jewel Changi Airport, yotel.com
Yotelair Changi
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