Bitan Hotel

Booking with the hotel was easy, with all the information available, but one has to really scrutinize it, not because they are negative points in the information, but the character of the hotel might not fit one's needs. Before our travel, I informed the hotel that we were arriving around 3am, to set the expectations since we booked the room covering the previous day already so that we already would be accommodated once we arrive. They responded promptly, but in Mandarin. Unsure of what the answer was, I had to reiterate that I don't speak their language, and that I need confirmation in English. After a while, I received the confirmation in English. When we arrived past 3am, the room was ready. The check-in process went smoothly, under 5mins, including the payments processing. During breakfast, since it was a Friday, food is plated and there is no buffet. Buffet is available only on weekends. I was asked by the lady restaurant manager in very broken English what I would like to have. 2 choices were offered, and I only understood the second one having the word "Chinese", so, I ordered that one." There were some food already available for consumption, that for us the "not so particular with breakfast as long as there is coffee" type of people, would already be enough. There was unlimited congee, white bread, varying steam buns, spreads of butter and jams. There was also unlimited coffee, tea, choco, and juice. And these are all available until 10am. My breakfast plate arrived, and if you are someone who is picky with food and has no experience with this type, you would not want to have it. I finished almost all of them, but probably still left around 5%, though my usual is I finish everything. It was not a preferred food, but it was not something that I would not like. When my wife and son was ready for breakfast, it was almost 10am, but the lady manager, knowing that we just arrived early in the morning, still accommodated us. During weekends they do buffet, with good Western and Chinese selections. The room was good, well ventilated, neat, with good control of the temperature. And lastly, but the best experience of all is the customer service. I must applaud them for this, they are all doing a good job, especially the restaurant manager. The lady in charge of the restaurant was very warm and accommodating, with a very pleasant smile though she had a challenge with English. But, aside from the good things about the hotel, here are some that I believe they need to work out: 1. They should have more personnel who can speak English if they want a wider international reach. 2. The room was obviously very old already and could use some renovations, that even though it is clean, it does not look like one because of the wall stains and some fixes that were not cleaned up (see photos). Some challenges that we had: 1. Though it says in the description that the hotel is only around 700m away from an MRT station, please consider how far this is, especially when it's raining, carrying heavy stuffs, or when tired. Also, the path to the MRT crosses a suspension bridge, crossing it is some condition is really cumbersome, especially when bringing kids. 2. The location is at the end of the green line MRT. Though there is an MRT and it is in an area with an attraction, it is still far from areas of main interests. I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND this for those who are not so much into night life, looking for a silent/ peaceful or laid-back area, into soul searching, into nature tripping, for staycation, and into water activities since there are nearby activities for it. It is also in a river bunk where there are trails for running. I would not recommend this for children, physically challenged - be it disabled or injured, highly urbanized and into night life person, has medical conditions, and into shopping spree.