M HOTEL SINGAPORE

An upgrade to a Club Floor, the 27th. Sweet.

Dramatic view of the docks - more containers than you can count - from our room.

Peaceful, orderly lobby. Very Singaporean, indeed.

Nice pool on the "wet floor," the 11th.

The gay precinct (DYMK, Tantric, May Wong, Nirvana, etc) is just a 5-minute walk.

We finally arrived in M Hotel on Anson Road at close to midnight, Friday. Our flight was delayed over half an hour from Hong Kong. There were crying babies in front of me and behind me throughout almost four hours of hellish incubation in a Tiger Airways vessel. Nope, you don't get the peace and quiet of business class when you're flying budget.

My only consolation was - at least people start partying much later in Singapore than they do in Hong Kong. Chris and I could realistically still catch up with the gang, even if we step out at 1am.

Patricia, the receptionist who checked us in, had a sweet and musical intonation to her speech. I wasn't feeling particularly warm and fuzzy after the awful flight but Patricia put me right at ease.

"How's occupancy tonight?" I asked, just to make idle conversation whilst she typed away at her computer.

"We're very full," she replied, "that's why I'm upgrading you to a Club Floor. Are you okay with sharing one queen bed?"

GIRL!

I could have kissed her right there and then. I think she could tell we were homosexual husbands.

Our room was humongous. I swear I had a mini-orgasm as soon as I saw the executive table. I could blog to my heart's content. Internet was charged SGD20++ per day, but whatever. I need internet. I'd die otherwise.

***

Chris booked M Hotel through Agoda. He got a "Book 2 nights, get 1 night free" deal. Surprising, since I would have thought there'd be no such deals during the summer. We heart Agoda.

M Hotel was awarded Best Deluxe Hotel by Hospitality Asia in 2009. It shows. The facilities are terrific compared to other hotels. The 11th floor houses the spa, pool and gym. Chris and I even worked out together twice. Butch bonding with dumbbells and everything. We were lovingly refilling each others' water cup in between sets. So romantic.

The only real downer in the entire experience was my unfortunate decision to take my sister, Loren, to the Hokkaido Restaurant on the 9th floor. My youngest sister has been based in Singapore for almost a year now, teaching art to very young kids. We were meant to have lunch in Chinatown but since it was raining, I assumed it'd be better to just stay in the hotel.

We got to the restaurant at 2pm.

"We're taking last orders already," the lady snapped by way of greeting.

"That's fine," I replied. "We'll make our order quickly."

She pointed us towards a dark table, which wasn't really very welcoming.

"May we have a table closer to the windows so we can have a bit of light, please," I requested.

It took her about three seconds to say, "Of course," because clearly, she had already closed the area off. The restaurant was empty; we were the only guests there. She obviously wanted to go on her break immediately - who wouldn't?

I selected a pork set and asked to replace my rice with vegetables.

"No," she replied.

"What?" I said, blinking my hyperactive eyes.

"You can't just change the set. It's a set."

"You have the items in the kitchen, anyway. Just give me some cucumber sticks or sauteed mushrooms. I don't eat rice."

"Sorry, no."

"Don't you have any flexibility about dietary requirements? Isn't that what hospitality is about?"

"If you want to eat something else, you better order a la carte."

Yeah, except nothing in the a la carte menu caught my fancy. And by that time, I had lost my appetite anyway.

"What's your name?"

"Molly."

"Molly," I said, "I'm a room guest. I'm sad that you're not more hospitable. Goodbye."

My sister and I left.

We then had lunch at The Scarlet on Erskine Road, where the server didn't bat an eyelash when I requested to have my chips replaced with vegetables. She brought over a side of beautiful, steamed broccoli.



M Hotel 
81 Anson Road
Singapore
079908

T: + 65 6224 1133
W: millenniumhotels.com.sg