This the overall summary of the places we eventually visited (by order):
1. Marriott Tang
2. Pan Pacific Hai Tien Lo
3. Grand Hyatt
4. Regent Hotel
5. Sheraton Towers
6. Hilton
Marriott Tang
We were actually very excited to visit this hotel because of the menu we saw as well as the attractive price point. While the perks weren’t great, we were nonetheless looking forward to our first site viewing.
Let’s review it based on the 7 criteria we’ve set for ourselves:
1. Price – 5/5 stars
Within our budget
2. Capacity - 3/5 stars
Only able to accommodate up to 90 pax even with relaxation of Covid measure. TBH, I’m not very sure because I couldn’t really understand what she was saying (see point 7).
3. Food - 4/5 stars
Seems great! The menu looks appetizing.
4. Layout – 3/5 stars
L- shaped room and able to provide a private room for tea ceremony. Enclosed area with one wedding on that floor only. Hence we wouldn’t be afraid that there would be random people in our wedding haha. However due to the L shape design, guests seated at the end of the ‘L’ would not be able to see me march in because it would be blocked. Otherwise we are very pleased with the decoration and the overall ambience of the hotel.
5. Location – 5/5 stars
Fantastic! Right outside Orchard Mrt station and road idiots like me would be able to find the hotel easily :) It is also right beside Tangs so guests could always hang out at Orchard after the wedding ends. I guess parking would be relatively easy to find since it is in town area too!
6. Miscellaneous perks - 3/5 stars
Provides a one-night stay in the Deluxe room with complimentary breakfast (T is just concerned about the morning breakfast. It’s more important to him than the banquet LOL). Free flower arrangements and wedding favours to guests.
7. Communication - 2/5 stars
Hmmmmm. We started with email correspondence and we liked how it was rather efficient. Available dates/waitlisted dates were clearly communicated via the email so we were looking forward to meeting her face to face. In person communication was really not fantastic and we really expected more from a 5 star hotel. That being said, the sales manager could be just having a bad day. But overall, we did not really feel welcome and we had a hard time understanding the banquet arrangements because she was rattling off. I think I still don’t understand how many people could fit into the room. We decided against this hotel because of this factor 😞
Overall stars: 3.5/5 stars. Failed because of communication
Pan Pacific Hai Tien Lo
*didn't take a photo so this photo is taken off google images*
Before I review this hotel, let me tell you how dumb I was. SO I was 100% sure that Pan Pacific Hotel was located at Arab street and behind Park Royal Beach Road. I happily planned the day with T and had a great dinner at Bugis. We headed down to Pan Pacific around the appointment time and was wondering why the hotel had such a weird entrance. We then enquired with the front desk staff and was told that it was the service suites/apartment and not the hotel itself zzzzzz ._____________________. The staff said the hotel is at marina square TT and it was already near our appointment time.
Luckily T didn’t get angry, maybe cos just used to me being blur. And also I had $5 grab voucher from my AIA vitality so the grab trip down to Pan Pac Hotel from Park Royal was only $1 ✌
1. Price – 3/5 stars
Slightly above our budget after GST and service charge but considering the food, we thought it was worth a go!
2. Capacity – 5/5 stars
Able to accommodate a small wedding of around 100 pax. However, we were told that should COVID persists and measures cannot be relaxed, 100 pax means that we have to utilize the entire restaurant. On normal days, the function room is able to accommodate even up to 120 pax.
3. Food – 5/5 stars
HTL is famous for their food! The manager says that the quality of the food is guaranteed because the chef would personally cook all the dishes and won’t let his kar kia do it. Sounds great! Another plus point is that the kitchen is in the restaurant unlike ballrooms and this means that guests would be served with piping hot food! Think all the oldies would love that.
4. Layout – 2/5 stars
I really like the oriental design to the restaurant. The entrance has a statue that looks really oriental and I love it! They also have those ancient Chinese chairs as a decoration, but you won’t be able to use it as it is only for display. The manager of the restaurant arranged the meeting so that we could see a live wedding – didn’t take photos as it would be rude. It looked rather crammed even though it was running below its normal capacity due to COVID. Assuming COVID persists and we have to utilize the entire restaurant, guests outside of the main function room wouldn’t be able to see what’s happening inside. To mitigate this issue, we had to top up $3k for 2 projector screens to be arranged. Furthermore, we also felt that the lighting isn’t great due to the lack of natural light.
5. Location – 5/5 stars
5-10 minutes walk from Esplanade Station or Marina Square shopping mall. Road idiots able to see the hotel from far so very unlikely to get lost. Plenty of parking lots be it in Marina Square or the hotel itself.
6. Miscellaneous perks – 4/5 stars
Deluxe room is provided for the basic menu and if we want to enjoy a bridal suite, we will have to go for a more premium menu. Generally similar perks compared to the other hotels we went for but at this price, I think other hotel packages might stand out more.
7. Communication – 5/5 stars
William was great 💪. He was responsive, understanding and eager to help us. As this was our second viewing, T was almost ready to jump and book the venue already due to William’s hospitality. If not for the layout, I think we would have gone for this venue.
Overall stars – 3.4/5 stars. Failed due to layout 😕
Grand Hyatt
We went to Grand Hyatt the next day after visiting Marriott and Pan Pac. This was when it struck us that “eh this one haven’t add in 1.17% leh”…
1. Price - 3/5 stars
Same issue. We forgot to calculate the GST and service charge so it is slightly off our budget. We exceeded by about $100 ++ per pax.
2. Capacity – 5/5 stars
Able to accommodate 100 pax with additional perks! Aunty love perks!
3. Food – 5/5 stars
Menu looks tasty at a glance. Unable to give further comments on this until and unless I actually go for food tasting unfortunately.
4. Layout – 4/5 stars
For the size of our intimate wedding, we could choose residence 5 and 6 as our wedding venue. The reception area looks posh and the parquet wood flooring is so shiny! There are lounges for guests to chill while waiting for the wedding to start and cocktail reception can be held at this area. However, this area may be shared should there be a concurrent wedding next door.
The actual layout of the room is rather boxy but with windows. This allows natural light to come in and makes the room less claustrophobic. The march in would be from the back entrance and it would be a rather straight forward march in without much meandering for the bride (read less chance of falling down). However, there would be pillars at the side of the room, but the consultant reassured us that with 10 tables (10 pax per table assuming covid is over), guests are unlikely to be blocked by the pillars. Overall, I like the ambience of the place. It feels serene, posh and yet not over the top☺
5. Location – 4.5/5 stars
It takes about 5-10 minute’s walk from Orchard Mrt. Parking may be a bit difficult according to my dad but I’m not too sure about that. I gave 4.5 for this is because the walk from the entrance of the mrt to the hotel lobby is not sheltered. It just so happened it rained when we for viewing and thus I thought this might be a small point to consider. But aiya, just get a bigger umbrella, it’s fine.
6. Miscellaneous perks – 5/5 stars
With a minimum of 100 pax, we are given free flow of beer/wine and another night stay at the hotel. We could either use it together with the bridal suit or we could use it for our anniversary. Not bad! We would also be given room credit as well. Oh the best thing about this place is that they are able to customize your flowers for you!!! For the rest of the hotels we visited, they had fixed themes where you could choose from. However, Grand Hyatt stood out from the rest because they promised Bespoke theme. We are able to choose the type of flowers we like and customize the theme if we felt that we didn’t like the proposed idea. If you atas and use seasonal flowers, then you have to top up. Thus this place would be good if you are really into flowers and want to be customize. The wedding favors offered
weren’t too bad too – macaroons! TBH I would rather receive food than to receive my 1000000th piece of coaster.
7. Communication – 5/5 stars
Both email and in person correspondence was great! We felt that the consultant was genuinely interested in helping us understand more about the banquet and the place etc. She even gave some practical advice as she has seen many couples plan their weddings.
Overall stars: 4.5/5 stars. This is one of our top 3.
Since this is one of our top 3 choices, we decided to try to negotiate for better price or more perks. Price is fixed and the perks are only limited to the honey moon perks (which are the standard inclusion). TBH, the perks are really good with the current price when we compared to previous year's packages. BUT as we didn't feel like they were open for negotiation for other perks unlike Hilton and Regent, and also lack of the WOW factor, we decided not to choose Hyatt :(
Will post another separate post on the rest!
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