Singapore offers a lot of choice when it comes to accommodation. There are a range of wheelchair accessible hotels in Singapore to choose from depending on your budget, area of Singapore to stay in, and amenities.
Read on for my tips on choosing an accessible hotel in Singapore, as well as my reviews of several Singapore wheelchair friendly hotels.
For detail on which areas of Singapore to stay in, check out my guide on choosing which neighbourhood to stay in when visiting Singapore.
What type of accommodation is there in Singapore?
There are a couple of laws that mandate the type of accommodation available:
- Hotels must have one accessible room per 200 rooms in the building. Therefore the larger chain hotels will have an accessible room.
- AirB&B and vacation rental companies are regulated with a minimum 3 month rental period. That is, they cannot do short-stay rentals of under 3 months, and it must be the same person who stays for the 3 months. This pretty much rules out any vacation home and apartment accomodation options in Singpore.
This basically gives you a choice between budget, midrange, or luxury hotels/resorts.
There was a lot of variation in the size of accessible rooms, depending on the price of the hotel. Most hotels I looked at had a pool, air conditioning, restaurants, and were close to public transport.
Overall, we found Singapore to be on the pricier side for accommodation. Especially, when we had to book 2 rooms (one for me and my carer, and another for my parents).
How to find accessible accommodation in Singapore
If you search for Singapore accommodation in Google, you’ll find over 1000 hotels.
I recommend using either Google or a booking website that has search filters. Once I get a list of potentially suitable hotels, I tend to go to the hotel website itself to get more info.
Just like anywhere in the world, many hotel websites often don’t have detailed information about their accessible rooms or amenities. Singapore I found particularly difficult, with very few listing accessible rooms on their website.
I found the IHG Hotel group to be the best in terms of providing accessibility information on websites, with details about room accessibility features. These even allowed you to book the accessible rooms online. TIP – It’s worth joining up as a member as well for the member discounts on room bookings.
Other hotel chains’ websites were harder to navigate. Some mentioned accessible rooms, but you had to contact the hotel directly to book or to find out details.
Singapore hotel reviews
We have now visited Singapore 4 times, and stayed in 3 different hotels with accessible rooms.
Below are my reviews of these hotels, which might help you with your own decision in selecting an accessible hotel.
The good news is, I would recommend all 3.
Voco Orchard hotel
The Voco Orchard hotel is a mid-range IHG brand hotel.
A big reason why we chose this hotel was that we were able to book an accessible room directly from the website, without needing to contact the hotel.
What I loved about this hotel was that several days before our stay, we received an email confirming our accessibility requirements and arrival time.
Location
This hotel is located on Orchard Road, right in the middle of the city’s main shopping district. Check out my blog on areas to stay in Singapore to find more about this area.
This hotel had a great location, with the MRT station less than 500 m away. This MRT is an interchange station for 2 lines, so you are well connected to most areas of Singapore.
There are a couple of convenience stores next door as well as a few fast-food outlets (Starbucks and Shake Shack) close by. There’s also several high-rise and underground shopping centres with food courts and restaurants surrounding the hotel.
Hotel accessibility
The hotel has a driveway/entry off the main road, with room to unload luggage and the wheelchair from the vehicle. There is a small ramp onto the curb, and then a steeper ramp up into the main reception area, with automatic doors at the entrance.
The reception area has some comfortable seating, a patisserie with some enticing cakes, and a mid-price restaurant, as you head towards the elevators. The elevators were reasonable in size, fitting my wheelchair, and the 4 of us easily.
The hotel has a rooftop pool, which you can access via the elevator followed by a small ramp to the rooftop. The door to the rooftop is not automatic and has a code, so I had to have someone let me in and out.
The rooftop has a lovely view of the city skyline.
There is plenty of pavement to park your wheelchair beside the pool. The pool does not have a pool hoist or ramp for accessibility access.
Next to the pool area, there are some poolside lounges at pool level, but no shade for a wheelchair to sit in other than the shade of the building at certain times of the day. There are some raised undercover areas with tables and chairs, but these were up several steps and inaccessible for the wheelchair.
Accessible room
We had a twin accessible room for my carer and I, and premium king room next door for my parents.
The accessible room was 37 m² which is on the larger side of hotel rooms.
The beds were on the soft side and very comfortable. We did need to use our bed lifters underneath the bed to get the Hoyer lift under the bed.
Typical of many hotel rooms, the room was over furnished, with a large desk and several seats cluttering the room. To give me enough room to manoeuvre my wheelchair and the Hoyer lift around the beds, we pushed the beds across the room a bit and stacked the furniture in a corner. The rest of our luggage was stored in my parents’ room.
The bathroom was quite roomy. We had a roll-in shower with shower hose that fitted my shower commode easily. The bathroom also had a toilet with grab rails and vanity.
Our room was on the 7th floor. We had a nice view of Orchard Road, looking across to another building. Given that accessible rooms often have no views (or views of the bin, car park, or brick wall), this was quite nice. The room was quiet with no road noise.
Ratings (Voco Orchard hotel)
Overall, we found the rooms to be clean, comfortable, and meeting our accessibility requirements. The staff were friendly, welcoming, and helpful. For the ease of online booking, comfort of the rooms, friendly service, and location, I would highly recommend this as accessible accommodation.
Wow factor: 3/5 Comfortable, great service, and excellent location.
Barrier free barometer: 4/5 Mostly accessible. Less clutter, accessible pool facilities, and space under the beds would improve rating.
Crowne Plaza hotel Changi airport
We loved this hotel. It was a little bit more expensive than some other options, but still in the mid-budget price range. However factoring in the cost of wheelchair accessible airport transfers to other hotels, it was worth paying a little more for the convenience.
It was also a beautiful hotel, with great amenities, and extremely friendly staff. So, we felt we were getting value for money.
Location
The Crowne Plaza hotel is located inside Terminal 3 of Singapore’s Changi airport.
This is extremely convenient for short stopovers or if your flight gets in late. For us, we arrived just before midnight, so it was nice to go straight to our hotel with all our luggage, without even having to leave the building.
In addition to being close to airport arrival and departure gates, the Crowne Plaza is close to the Jewel entertainment complex. Here, you have access to shopping, restaurants, entertainment, and even an indoor waterfall.
Check out my full guide on Changi Airport things to do, accommodation, and transport here.
Although the airport is a little bit outside the centre, you are still well-connected. Underneath terminal 3 is the airport MRT station, which gets you into the city in under 30 minutes.
For us, this was very convenient, as it saved stress and cost of getting an airport transfer for us and our luggage into the city for a hotel, especially with late-night and early-morning flight. Instead, we were able to stay at the airport, and do day trips into the city.
Hotel amenities
The single level reception area is large, with separate bar and buffet restaurant areas.
There were lots of staff floating around who were always offering to help and provide suggestions for what to do on your Singapore visit.
I highly recommend buffet breakfast – egg chef, DIY noodle bar, huge cooked and continental sections with everything from cheese, cereal, smoked meats, fresh fruit, to a range of Western, Indian, and Chinese inspired dishes. My favourite was the yam and lotus dumplings… OMG delicious! There is also a separate gluten-free section.
The hotel has a stunning outdoor pool area. The pool looks more like a water feature, with shallow water, surrounding plant boxes with palm trees. There is a flat timber boardwalk around the pool, with plenty of areas to sit.
The other main hotel amenity is the Club Lounge. This is a separate, smaller lounge area that has a self-serve bar and snack area. There are some TVs and lounges for relaxing.
Accessible rooms
We had an accessible room with a king bed and rollaway, as well as an adjoining room next door for my parents.
The accessible room was quite spacious, although with a rollaway bed became quite tight for the wheelchair. There was lots of shelving and cupboard space for our luggage. There was still a little bit of excess furniture with a desk and coffee table (which had a lovely bowl of fresh fruit for us).
The bathroom was massive! It had a huge wet room shower area with shower hose, rails, and seating area. There was plenty of room around the toilet.
Being an airport hotel, we had a view out onto the tarmac so could see the planes taking off and landing. Surprisingly though, you couldn’t hear much, if any noise, from the airport.
The room had comfortable air-conditioning and seemed quite modern. All of the rooms are off undercover breezeways, with nice greenery hanging over the balconies.
Ratings (Crowne Plaza Changi Airport)
Helpful staff, convenient location, and beautiful hotel. I would highly recommend staying here if you have a short stopover.
Wow factor: 4/5 It’s not just an airport hotel. It is beautifully decorated and has a luxurious feel.
Barrier free barometer: 5/5 The room is big, although a little tighter with a rollaway bed included. All of the amenities are accessible, with excellent access to the airport and city.
Grand Mercure Hotel Roxy, Katong
The Grand Mercure Roxy hotel is located in a neighbourhood between the airport and city, along the East Coast. It was one of the cheaper hotels I found.
Location
This hotel is located along the east coast in an older neighbourhood, Katong. For more information on this area check out my guide on unique places to visit in Singapore.
There is an MRT station right outside the front door, giving you convenient access to other areas of Singapore.
There is a small shopping centre (Roxy… Hence the name) right next door. This has a little supermarket and some smaller service-style shops e.g., hairdressers. You will find some bigger shopping centres with food courts and shops within a 10 minute stroll. There are flat foot paths and road crossings to these.
It is also easy access to East Coast Park which is only a few hundred metres away.
Hotel amenities
There is accessible parking at the entrance and a small ramp into the reception area of the hotel.
The hotel has a café in the reception area, as well as several restaurants upstairs.
There is an accessible outdoor pool area with a few tables, lounge chairs, and shaded areas to sit under. At the main entrance, there are stairs up onto the pool deck. However if you follow the interior corridor past the bar and fitness centre, you will find a ramp to the deck.
Accessible room
We booked an accessible Twin room, with an adjoining room with king-size bed. Our room looked over the pool area and neighbourhood.
The rooms were a little bit older and average-sized. We needed to move some excess furniture out of the road, and needed our bed lifters for the hoist under the bed.
The bathroom was an okay size, with enough room to get around. It had a shower hose, shower chair, and some railing near the toilet.
Ratings (Grand Mercure Roxy)
Older, but still nice. Great if you want to explore a different neighbourhood away from the big city skyscrapers. Good value for money and budget friendly.
Wow factor: 2/5 Not the prettiest or the biggest, but it does the job.
Barrier free barometer: 4/5 Reception and hotel amenities all accessible; rooms are accessible but could be a little bit bigger and less cluttered.
Want more?
For more information on accessible accommodation in Singapore, check out the accessible Singapore website.
You can also check out my other posts on accessible Singapore:
How to see Singapore highlights in a wheelchair in a Wheelchair
Getting around Singapore in a Wheelchair
Gardens by the Bay In a Wheelchair
Hidden Singapore: unique accessible outdoor activities
Singapore Changi Airport guide
Finding the best neighbourhood to stay in Singapore
Singapore hawker centre guide: where to eat in Singapore
Disclaimer
All opinions expressed in this blog are my own and all reviews are non-solicited. I understand that every disability is different, and what works for me may not work for everyone – it’s important to do your own research on any destination or accommodation to make sure that it meets your accessibility requirements.
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