Was It Worth Staying At The Fullerton in Singapore?

In 2024 we took a mum and son trip home to the UK from Australia. Flights from Cairns, our nearest airport, are very limited, we have to fly via Bali or Singapore to head back to Europe. This time we opted for Singapore and a bucket-list hotel, The Fullerton. Was it worth staying at (and paying for) this beautiful heritage hotel and what did we think? It’s in this review post!

This was not a sponsored stay. We get those sometimes, as travel bloggers. I never ask for them but we are approached sometimes. This all came out of my own pocket, but it is tax-deductible, thankfully. We stayed at The Fullerton for 2 nights before flying on to London for a family wedding.

If you have the chance of a layover in Singapore, even for a few hours, grab it. Singapore is spectacular, even if you only see The Jewel at the airport.

Why Did We Choose The Fullerton?

I wanted to stay at Raffles, but Raffles is way too expensive, about double the cost of the Fullerton. Many would choose Marina Bay Sands as the “dream” hotel in Singapore. It’s a stunning building, one of the icons of Singapore, but I prefer old hotels every time. The Fullerton had our name on it!

The Fullerton also had twin rooms with 2 single beds. I tend not to share a bed with the kids any more, now they’re shaving and driving cars. Not all hotels have this, but it’s easy to search in Booking.com, you can select for twin rooms only.

The location of this hotel is perfect for a stay near the bay. I think next time we’ll stay in Chinatown, we fell in love with this area on this trip.

At the time of our booking, The Fullerton had a $200 meal voucher included in the reservation. This was through Agoda, as Agoda are Singapore-based. They had the best deal. We took full advantage of that and had a ball using room service.

I also liked the look of the gym at The Fullerton, I was running quite seriously at that point, training for a marathon. Just after this trip I had a fall on a run and this year’s marathon dreams were crushed, but maybe next year! Both mum and son used the gym each day. It was fun!

The Fullerton also has an incredible whisky bar. Neither of us drinks whisky, but my Dad would have loved it!

There are Two Fullerton Hotels in Singapore

The second Fullerton Hotel Singapore is directly on the bay, just footsteps away from the original Fullerton. It’s more expensive, and more modern (but still old). Guests at either hotel can use some of the shared dining facilities.

A Little Bit of Fullerton History

The building that is the Fullerton Hotel today was built in 1928 and was the biggest building in Singapore at that time. It housed the post office, Singapore Club, The Exchange and the Chamber of Commerce.

The northern end of the hotel stands on the spot previously occupied by Fort Fullerton, built to defend the river in 1829.

The building was opened as a hotel in 2001.

So who was Mr. Fullerton? He was a governor of Singapore, the first governor of the Straights Settlement, Sir Robert Fullerton (1773-1831). He was a Scot, from Edinburgh, and had a sister who was married to a director of the East India Company. Hence his appointment.

If you want to learn more about the history of The Fullerton in Singapore, go here. It’s interesting!

There are more Fullerton Hotels around the world, including Sydney and Hong Kong. I believe the Sydney Fullerton was also a post office. I need to do more digging into this. My family were postmasters, maybe that was leading me to this hotel. I didn’t know until we stayed there. There is still a post box in the beautiful lobby today.

Next trip to Sydney, we’ll check out that one. Our last hotel in Sydney was horrible!

Was it Worth Staying at The Fullerton?

Yes, we loved it! I don’t get much value from luxury or 5 star hotels. I’m very happy in cute budget guesthouses. This was a treat, something different and I see these old hotels as destination attractions in themselves.

That said, I have stayed in a lot of 5-star hotels. My husband’s career as a chef took me to them. Staff get free stays. So I do know a bit about the top end of the market, along with ultra-budget family travel.

I really wanted to stay at this property, so my value was in my want. I’ve done it, I won’t do it again, but it was worth the cost to know what the experience was like.

Walking up the grand steps, past the liveried doorman carrying our scruffy backpacks was kind of a vibe! It was fun.

The front desk lady was taken aback at our lack of luggage. We had carry-on only and carried our own bags to our room. I bet that’s rare at hotels this posh!

What Was In The Room?

There was nothing in the room that was particularly exceptional. We had a coffee machine and a kettle and a good selection of teas and coffees. But there was no Earl Grey! That was disappointing as its the only tea I drink normally.

Everything was clean and comfortable. There were huge wardrobes, a luggage rack, an armchair, a desk and TV.

The bathroom was good, with a bath, shower and high-quality fittings. It was all nice, quite grand, but nothing I haven’t seen at dozens of lower-cost hotels.

I think what you’re paying for at The Fullerton is the gorgeous old building, the orchid displays, the history and the service. The food we tried seemed very good, but we’re not experts on Singaporean food and honestly, it’s not our favourite cuisine. But it was good.

At check-in in we paid extra for a room with a view of The Singapore River. We felt this was a money grab. Surely if they had two twin rooms available, one with a river view, one with a city view, they should have given us the better room to create a better impression? But no, they charged us an extra $60 for that. It’s not worth paying for. We spent about 10 seconds looking out of the window.

But still, we paid happily, had we not I would have regretted it. If the view had been of Marina Bay Sands I probably would have been more impressed.

Hotel Facilities

As I said we used the gym. It wasn’t a fabulous gym, there was no bench press or squat rack, but it had good running machines and modern weights gear.

It did have clean towels, flavoured water and fruit. So that gave it a bit of a top-end feel.

There was a spa next door but we didn’t use it.

We also used the rooftop pool, which was lovely. The pool was small and quite crowded, but the views over the Singapore River were perfect.

Dining at The Fullerton

We did not use the dining rooms at The Fullerton and we did not try their buffet breakfasts, we ordered from their room-service menu and enjoyed in-room dining.

My younger son would be horrified that we didn’t buy the buffet breakfast. A hotel buffet breakfast is his favourite thing in the world. We don’t normally eat until about 10 am at home, and we didn’t want to spoil our appetites for all the Singapore food we were there to try. We were out of the door and exploring at first light. On the second day we ordered a late in-room breakfast/brunch before we headed to the airport.

What we ordered from room service was very good and the service was exceptional. The staff can’t do enough for you here.

Worldschooling and Staying in Luxury Hotels in Singapore

Most worldschooling families do not stay in luxury hotels. Had the whole family been on this trip, we wouldn’t have stayed. A twin room was much more affordable than a family room, or two double rooms, so we took this opportunity to splurge.

Is there anything to be learned from a trip like this? Yes, we learned everything that is in this post. We learned about Singapore. During our explorations, we learned a lot more too. This is how we learn, and continue to learn, well into adulthood.

This was our third stay in Singapore, our first time was for a Christmas treat. We combined a budget hostel (expensive shoebox) with a 4-star stay on Sentosa Island. Sentosa is the entertainment hub, where you’ll find Universal Studios and the aquarium. We first visited with quite small kids, today we visit with adult children. We learn a little more every time we visit.

Did you already know everything that was on this page or in our previous post about food in Singapore? If not, you’re learning too.

Could we afford this stay? Not really, but travel is a priority. We do without other things to travel more. As I said in my last email, there was one day recently when I made just $3 in a whole day. But maybe there are better days ahead.

Have a great day and I hope you get to live your dreams too. Any questions? Stick them in the comments.

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