Hotel 81 Changi

A decent, cheap place to stop over if you just need somewhere to sleep. The location works well for a layover. It’s a very basic hotel, though. The beds are on the firm side, the paint job looks like a landlord special, and they need to clean more and improve the bathroom ventilation.

The location was decent and the service was good. The rooms could use maintenance: my partner and I got locked in the bathroom because the door wouldn’t open from outside. Staff came to help pretty quickly, but only because we could reach them. Good thing we had a phone in there.

There isn’t much to do in the immediate area, so this is more convenient for a layover than a stay longer than one night. The rooms were fairly clean and quiet, the staff seemed reasonably friendly, and the beds were firm but comfortable, though quite small. There’s filtered water from a bathroom tap, and at least the small bathroom’s shower has a glass barrier. The AC is fixed at a bone-chilling 18C and controlled at the front desk. Each time you come back to the room, you have to call them to turn it off or reset the temperature. You can’t open the window if it gets too cold. It’s a seven-minute walk to the MRT and four stops from the airport. Take bus 32 or 135 south for Siglap center mall, or the MRT one stop east to Bedok mall and one stop west to Eunos for Joo Chiat district restaurants.

This is the dirtiest hotel I’ve stayed in. I asked every day for my room to be cleaned, but it always ended with a dirty bathroom and sheets that I don’t think had even been changed. Today I left a note asking for the bathroom to be cleaned, and as I write this it smells incredibly foul. I tried a hostel in Singapore that was cheaper and much cleaner. The photo shows my sheet after they cleaned the room.