Hotel 81 - Gold — Hotel in Singapore

This is the second and last time we will stay here, unfortunately.

Whilst our first visit was trouble free, this visit was not so.

Upon checking in and being given our room, I noticed that the tap in the sink was broken and when turned on would spurt water our of the basin and onto your clothes/feet etc. As we were there for 3 nights this was not going to be a workable compromise and I went down to reception to request a room change on this basis.

There were two members of staff present when we checked in, a gentleman who appeared to be the duty manager/assistant manager, who was professional and a fairly rude and indifferent female member of reception staff. I explained the issue to the female member of staff and she gave me another room key immediately without any apology or empathy for the situation. On checking the second room we were given, I found the toilet to be broken and it wouldn't flush.

After three more room changes (black mould in bathroom), (cigarette smoke smell in room), (another broken tap) the duty manager grabbed four room keys and came with me to check them all before we moved. They were all OK but were generally unclean with dust/dirt and hair on the floors.

We ended up back in our original room frustratingly as it was the best of a very bad bunch and the manager offered to give it a thorough going over while we waited in another room. This whole process took over an hour and wasn't the best start to our time in Singapore. While I appreciate the way the duty manager dealt with the issue in a professional way, the issues we faced simply should not have occurred in the first place to the extent they did. It was obvious the rooms weren't checked before allowing guests in and there shouldn't be a room smelling like a 1950's airplane in a non smoking hotel.

I just want to reiterate that I don't expect the Ritz and am fully aware this a cheap hotel in a destination where accomodation is broadly much more expensive BUT basic cleanliness and maintenance should apply regardless of the cost...

This used to be an inexpensive budget chain hotel for those looking for rooms with basic amenities for not too particular customers. Of course there are other details should i want to.

Over the years, they grew bigger and as of late, the attitudes of some of their sulky faced and arrogant front desks makes people wonder if it’s a mistake to continue making them a preferred option.

Based on aggregate, there indeed are professional and pleasant staff that built relations publicly. Similarly, there exists black sheeps who can destroy their branding based on several incidents as observed.

Apparently, some of them can be obnoxious to point that you have to tolerate their working styles. Was told no rooms due to change of shift as overheard. Message was repeated by a subordinate. A reply was left in disbelief upon exit and viola, suddenly a room was immediately available. Really?

With sullen and unhappy faces no less. And the guests that arrived after had no such problems booking their rooms and obviously the atmosphere was heated.

Made it clear that they were unappreciated with their as and when “they feel like it” service was unsatisfactory when they set out to pick and embarrass the guests.

A refund was unwillingly given and they squeaked so hypocritically when they were asked for their names trying to say they are just “such as such”. The audacity.

Obviously it’s preferential and biased treatment that was testing for reasons known only to themselves despite plenty of other simply nasty behaviour from others previously which i chose to be magnanimous about. They are not major shareholders, just people who don’t deserve this branding.

There is no excuse nor reason for their condescending and rude behaviour. They know who they are and their head of operations probably can’t be bothered to read and attend, to recover via customer service.

No apologies required and no thanks for such a lack lustre and humiliating episode. Please reflect and do not judge your guests....

Horrible and terrible experience. I’m a local booking this hotel to stay close to my office as I am having several back to back packed meetings and working days. Arrived at Hotel 81 Gold around 8:30pm. Exhausted, and have night work calls incoming.

The receptionist said must have physical passport or IC to check in. NO WHERE on Trip.com when I booked stated it needed physical passport or IC to check in, and that popular online identifications like Singpass won’t be allowed. On Hotel 81 website they stated to check in will need either “valid government issued identification or passport”. Singpass is a valid government issued identification. So, it is NOT clear (I have screenshot to prove).

The receptionist said this need for physical passport and IC to check in rule was enforced since LAST WEEK 29 March 2025, so no choice I won’t be able to check in. Only one week of enforcement, absolutely nowhere in Trip.com, the third party partners they use, stated this SUPER IMPORTANT information??? Even if the rules have changed, their third party partners AND website OUGHT to have clear instructions stated on the BOOKING PAGE when their customers have done the payment for the stay.

Then never mind. Receptionist asked me to speak to Trip.com to ask for modification or refund for this night that’s unused. Because there is nothing she can do. Took several hours just for Trip.com to come back and say Hotel 81 declined any modification or refund, despite their ultra LACK of communication across all platforms they receive customer bookings. Their hotel 81 customer service email isn’t even valid when I tried writing in. Just horrible terrible experience smacked on a crazy evening I...