90 Robertson Quay
https://www.millenniumhotels.com/en/singapore/m-social-singapore/
This was an invited sponsored media review. I did not pay for anything during the free hosted stay-cation.
Intriguing, Modern Boutique Hotel With Comfortable Rooms
(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 8
Visited: Apr-2020
Ambience & Setting: 8
Food & Beverage: 8
Service: 7
Value for Money: 8
Budget about SGD $610 per person.
- $570 Accomodation 3D2N
- $40 Room Service
Hotel Facilities: Business Centre, Free Wi-Fi, 1 Restaurants (Beast & Butterflies), Gymnasium, Swimming Pool, Cable TV, Shuttle Service, Laundry Service, Self-Service Laundromat, Meeting Rooms, Snooker Table, Currency Exchange Service
Hotel Activities: Work Out, Internet Surfing, Swimming, Tours, Meetings, Snooker
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Introduction
Located about 30 minutes drive away from the Changi international airport in Singapore, the M Social Singapore hotel is a trendy, modern, 4-star designer boutique hotel. Aimed at the young, millenial, and hipster crowd, M Social Singapore offers the epitome of get-away vacays / staycays - comfortable but tiny studio loft living, secluded away from the bustle of city life.
Ambience
Ambience at M Social Singapore is chic, vibrant, and eclectic. Famed French designer Philippe Starck sought to showcase an explosion of creative energy in the design of the place, including warm lighting, quirky patterned floor tiles, sleek solid coloured surfaces, artistic drawings and word scribbles as decor, smooth concrete walls, and even the soft glow of neon lights. There are cleverly positioned photogenic areas, perfect for selfies. Technology is brought to the fore, with self-service kiosks, robotic servers (Aura! Ausca!), automated sensors on doors, and charging cables along the walls.
Room
Rooms at M Social Singapore are clean, comfortable, but cramped. I stayed at the Loft Terrace room, which is among the more spacious options here. The comfortable and large queen bed occupies most of the space on the ground floor, flanked by the small washing up area (with Grohe sink) and clothing rack, and the small toilet and bathroom shower, which is decently stocked with sufficient toiletries. On the loft above, the tiny living area has a comfortable sofa with a study desk, but the odd angles make it slightly awkward to watch the television, which has a small range of cable channels. The in-room wifi connectivity is fast and stable.
Food
Food at M Social Singapore is provided by their all-day dining restaurant, Beast & Butterflies. Having previously visited several times, I can safely say this is among the best hotel restaurants around. While they don't do buffets, their modern fusion menu has an interesting variety of dishes, most of which are consistently well executed by Chef Shahnaaz Russell Wong. Fresh ingredients and smart combination of flavours abound, but note that room service functions more like a takeaway here, where you order from the room, then self-collect from the restaurant when it's ready.
Service
Service at M Social Singapore is friendly and helpful, and I note that staff speak a good variety of languages. While the emphasis is on self-service, staff are always ready to assist. They fulfill promises to call back when busy, and carry out requests efficiently. I was impressed staff remembered me from prior visits too. As my 2020 staycation coincided with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, I noted that staff were diligent in monitoring temperatures of all people who entered the premises, and they ensured a high level of cleanliness throughout the day, with regular cleaning performed on high-contact surfaces.
Facilities & Activities
The facilities and activities at M Social Singapore are sufficient. The small but decently equipped gymnasium allows for short workouts but can quickly get crowded. I like the length of the swimming pool, though the width is narrow, only allowing a couple of people side-by-side at a time. The self-service laundromat allows for easy laundry. There aren't many meeting rooms, but the few here are brightly lit and well-equipped with modern presentation technology, and have their own tea-break sections as well. In terms of location, M Social Singapore is fairly secluded, though the nearby Robertson Quay offers good dining options. Fortunately, they have a shuttle service to places of interest.
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Always a pleasure to visit Beast & Butterflies, the all-day dining restaurant of M Social Singapore. As with our prior visits, the ambience remains elegant whimsical with stylish touches, the service is still polite and efficient with personalised attention accorded to returning guests, and the food quality is as good as before with consistently delicious flavours and well-executed textures. Prices are comparable to other mid-range restaurants.
Created by Mixologist Vlad Yesepiv to be an enticing tropical tipple, the Cocktail Social #4 (SGD $21) features a blend of gin, Triple Sec orange liqueur, citrus lemonade, lychee juice, and pandan / screwpine leaf essence, garnished with a juicy fruity sweet lychee and crisp herbal basil leaves. This cocktail has bold fruity sweet sour tangy zesty floral flavours, nice.
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| Cocktail Social #4 (SGD $21) |
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| Cocktail Social #4 |
Created by Mixologist Vlad Yesepiv to tell a story of how relationships work, the Cocktail Social #15 (SGD $21) features a blend of tequila, vermouth, and bitters, infused with hickory wood smoke, covered with a piece of caramelised sugar crust. Like an icebreaker, break the thin fragile caramelised sugar crust, which causes the pieces to fall into the cocktail for flavouring, and simultaneously releases the fragrant aroma of the hickory wood smoke, akin to a relationship warming up. This cocktail has smooth woody herbal bitter earthy sweet flavours, with a full rounded body, which is supposed to represent a kiss. Highly recommended!
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| Cocktail Social #15 (SGD $21) |
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| Cocktail Social #15 |
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| Cocktail Social #15 |
The Boneless Wings (SGD $12) features 3 pieces of chicken wings which have been deboned, leaving just the tender moist chicken meat on the tips. It's marinated in Chinese 5-spice and oyster sauce, then deep-fried with a grainy crumb batter. With a crisp crunchy texture and bold savoury spice flavour, the comforting Asian taste of the chicken wings is addictive. Paired with a thick tomato ketchup for a touch of vegetal sweet flavour. Worth ordering!
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| Boneless Wings (SGD $12) |
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| Boneless Wings |
The fragrant Mala Fried Rice (SGD $16) seems to be tweaked for most palates, as it has sharp spice notes but isn't overpoweringly spicy or numbing. The firm grains of fried rice are tossed with crunchy asparagus, tender diced chicken, crisp fried kai-lan / Chinese kale / Chinese broccoli, Sichuan / Szechuan mala peppercorns, and a soft fried egg. Has bold savoury salty vegetal sweet eggy spice flavours. I like that the egg yolk is still semi-runny. Good!
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| Mala Fried Rice (SGD $16) |
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| Mala Fried Rice |
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