Best Airport Hotel In The World? 18 Hours At Crowne Plaza Changi Airport

by joeheg

The Crowne Plaza at Singapore Changi Airport T3 is an 8-time winner of the World’s Best Airport Hotel Award from Skytrax. We’ve stayed at some nice airport hotels so when we had an overnight stop in Singapore, I booked a room at the Crowne Plaza.

Rooms at the hotel were going for over $200 a night or 38,000 points. I was able to use a free night certificate from my IHG Premier card.

a screenshot of a room

Once we landed in Singapore and cleared immigration, we followed the signs to the hotel. It was a short walk, as the Crowne Plaza is connected to T3. There are entrances on two levels of the terminal.

a building with escalators and a sign

a entrance to a building

CROWNE PLAZA CHANGI AIRPORT

Once in the hotel, you enter the lobby. The front desk had several stations working and it was a short wait to talk with an agent.

people standing in front of a reception desk

Sharon grabbed a seat in one of the chairs and was offered a bottle of water by the staff.

a large lobby with a large staircase and chairs

When I checked in, I was thanked for being an IHG Platinum member and told our room was ready, even though it was before check-in time. I asked about getting a late checkout the next day. They said the hotel was rather full so they could only extend by 2 hours. I could check back tomorrow morning to see if they might be able to provide anything more.

Early check-in and late checkout at an IHG hotel for being a Platinum member. Not bad.

We headed to our room for an afternoon nap as we had departed from Siem Reap very early that morning.

You can’t see from the exterior but the hotel is built around a series of courtyards and the walkways to the rooms are outside.

a tree in front of a building

I recommend keeping your room number somewhere you can find it, as all of the paths look the same and more than once we headed the wrong way to get to and from the elevator.

a hallway with a green sign

It’s difficult to explain but the building with the rooms is seemingly not connected to the front door and you enter onto a “bridge” from the walkway to the room.

a door next to a metal screen

The floor-to-ceiling window lets in an amazing amount of natural light, which is helpful if trying to get over jetlag. If you’re like us and need a nap, the blackout shades did a sufficient job of keeping the room dark, even in the middle of the afternoon.

I noticed that we received an upgrade from a deluxe room to a premier room.

a room with a bed and a desk and chair

The bed was very comfortable, with plenty of outlets and space on the nightstands. The strangest design element of the room was the flower wall with a glass look-through into the bathroom/tub area. I guess this is so you can look out of the window from the tub?

a room with a bed and a couch

A workspace and office chair was facing the windows. Most welcome for an airport hotel was a long bench along the wall, which was perfect for putting down a backpack or carry-on bag.

a room with a bed and a television

a room with a tv and a white robe on a rack

The design of the room was excellent and was functional for people who are traveling with luggage. There was also a coffee machine, fridge, ironing board and iron. There were also 2 more bottles of water.

a small refrigerator in a room

Slippers and the laundry bag were in a hidden drawer under the bench.

a wooden box with a pair of slippers and a white towelThe bathroom was large, with a tub and separate shower. The bathroom windows looked out onto the pathways to the rooms but since there’s a space because of the “bridge,” they also provided more natural light.

a bathroom with a shower and sink

There was a well-stocked amenity kit in the bathroom.

a box of personal hygiene items

We didn’t spend much time at the hotel, as we visited Jewel for meals and shopping. However, there are plenty of things to do at the Crowne Plaza.

There’s a pool area where you can order food and drinks from the hotel restaurant. From here, you’d think you’re at a resort hotel, not at the airport, except for the sound of the planes taking off and landing.

a pool with palm trees in front of a buildinga pool of water with palm trees in front of a building

There’s also a large-size fitness center.

a room with treadmills and exercise equipmenta room with exercise equipment

If you need somewhere to eat, there’s an all-day dining location called Azur.

a restaurant with a large kitchena restaurant with tables and chairs

There’s also the 70’s-inspired Bar ‘75.

a wall with a pattern on it

And there’s a lobby lounge which also serves as overflow seating.

a room with chairs and tables

Final Thought

We enjoyed our stay at the Crowne Plaza Changi Airport. It’s one of the nicest airport hotels we’ve visited and it has a great location, being connected to T3 and a short walk to Jewel.

A quick reminder that the hotel is past immigration so you need to enter Singapore to stay here. There are transit hotels at the airport if you can’t or don’t want to enter the country.

Is it the best airport hotel in the world? I can’t say. It’s a great place if you stay overnight in Singapore but don’t want to travel to the city and back. The service was pleasant and we did get extra perks for having IHG status. The pool area and stylish rooms lift it to the next level.

But there’s no reason to plan a visit if you weren’t already going to spend the night at Changi Airport.

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