Booked our 5 night stay with great anxiety after reading about renovations and noise, etc. Thankfully was completely floored by the hotel. Renovations are on in the tower which is on the main road and we were completely unaffected with our room in the side tower. The room and bathroom looks brand new and is a luxurious size with all the comforts you can think of. The highlight was that you could shop away at all the malls on Orchard and come back to drop off your bags 10 times a day if you wanted to! We got a room for about $140USD without breakfast but inclusive of taxes, etc. Was totally worth the money and could travel around with great ease to Clarke Quay, etc by taxi, although the MRT is a few minutes walk away we didn't bother with it.

I cannot begin to describe what a pleasant experience it has been staying at the Meritus Mandarin. From the moment I was attended to at the Front Desk during check-in to the moment I stepped out of the premises after check-out, I felt I was completely in good hands. There are a few people I wish particularly to thank:

- Isabel Tan and Michelle Sam(?) from Front Desk; they were extremely quick and efficient and, despite the mob queuing up in the lobby, made checking in a painless process.

- Daisy Yew, Director of Guest Services, who met me in the lobby with the warmest and most cheerful smile, and who so kindly arranged for the birthday surprise exactly at 9pm

- Razali and the Room Service team, who gladly acceded to my requests for wine buckets, and my girlfriend’s request for having the food warmed up

- Housekeeping, for the vase of flowers they sent up, and without whom a clean room, comfortable bed, and clean linens would not have been possible

- Ee Jin, Andrea, and Grace, for being such an efficient and effective team, and for being such warm, hospitable people that they are

- Jimmy Yap from the club lounge, for being so gracious and friendly; we had a good laugh when he addressed my girlfriend as Mrs Leong

- Chef Shigeru, for the very enjoyable cake and little chocolate pieces he sent up for us

I have stayed at several hotels (and worked in one) before, both for work and leisure, and none have come as close to the kind of hospitality I have been shown at the Meritus Mandarin. The service is warm, prompt, and sincere, and some have indeed taken an extra mile to meet and exceed our expectations and demands (such as when Room Service returned our pot cleaned after warming the food up for us). Our friends were awed by the service, to say the least.

Truly, every staff is an ambassador of Asian grace, warmth and care. I’m greatly impressed and honoured to have experienced it firsthand, and look forward to sharing more moments with them, either for work, or for leisure.

On the whole this is a good hotel with clean and comfortable rooms. The staff is courteous and helpful, and the food is good. The location of course is perfect on Orchard road. However, there are too many rooms in this huge hotel, and hence constant overcrowding of the lobby and public places. Also because of this the hotel seems "understaffed" in a sense. Breakfast was average. For all of this, the rooms are definitely overpriced. Overall unnecessary hype about this hotel!

The Meritus was on renovation during our stay. Construction noise was heard even late at night and wee hours in the morning. Great location for shoppers as it was along Orchard Road and right beside Takashimaya. Easy transportation access but parking was limited. Everything was good except for the price you paid for the so called “Premier Room” where the internet access is for a fee and a small conventional TV. The booking was made thru the hotel website where it show SGD 240+++ for weekend plus packages but upon check-out; the total bill was SGD 307.48. We were explained by the duty manager that the weekend plus packages include a breakfast where we have to pay SGD 25+++ for it (even thought if don’t want!!!! – totally rid-off). For us, this is misleading and a lot of hidden cost where it doesn’t show or told during check-in. As we are checking out early in the morning to catch our next flight back home so we didn’t argue but would advice other traveller to check the price first before staying in this hotel.