Singapore's newest airport hotel, the Crowne Plaza Hotel at Terminal 3 (T3), has been open for only a few weeks but it is already taking off as not just a haven for jet-lagged travellers, but a place for Singaporeans to visit.
The upmarket 320-room resort-style hotel is attracting greenie hipsters who like its eco-friendly design, which includes a huge, stunning mesh screen that shades the building and so cuts down on the use of aircon.
It's also proving to be a draw for Singaporeans looking for a new dining experience and those seeking a getaway stay without having to actually "get away".
Bathed in complementing shades of beige, grey and white, the hotel rooms offer a view of the control tower or runway.
The contemporary and sleek-looking Crowne Plaza Changi Airport Hotel, to give its full name, covers 6,032 sq m and cost $84 million to build. It had its soft opening on May 28, five months after T3 opened.
Visitors and guests can access it from the terminal via a covered walkway.
It received an extra fillip recently when it was awarded the Building and Construction Authority's BCA Green Mark, which honours buildings that meet a benchmark of environmentally friendly features. These features include a design that uses lots of natural light, even in the bathrooms.
The building's exterior screen - the eye-catching motif is the tropical orchid - is made of carbon fibre and shades 60 per cent of the entire hotel.
POOL VIEW: Lush and tall palm tress stand guard as guests take a dip in the pool.
Even heat from the water chillers at the back of the hotel is recycled and used in other parts of the hotel.
The hotel also boasts "secret gardens" - private gardens of tropical shrubs that add to its feel of being a resort oasis amid bustling airport surrounds. The gardens can hold small outdoor events such as cocktail parties.
Deliberately, there is no air-conditioning in the corridors - something that guests such as husband and wife Michelle Yeo, 24, and Jordan Ong, 28, appreciate.
Mr Ong said: "I like the hotel because it is very green. The corridors are not air-conditioned so it's eco-friendly."
The couple stayed a weekend for their one-month wedding anniversary getaway, spending most of the time by the landscaped 30m lap pool getting a tan and relaxing.
Ms Yeo added: "We like this place. It's quiet, away from the bustling town areas."
Mr Ong said: "When I go to other hotels, they're like any other hotel but this one is different. Our room has the airport runway view, and we kept looking out of our window to see if there are planes landing and taking off."
The hotel management is unable to say for sure how much the eco-features will cut power bills but public relations manager Jonathan Chan said the hotel is incurring lower costs than conventional hotels.
At Azur, the hotel's in-house restaurant - which serves both Western and Asian cuisines - retiree Susan Low, 56, told Life! that she had dined there three times since its opening. She planned to visit it again with her daughter Serene Gan, 32, that week.
ALL NATURAL: Husband and wife Jordan Ong and Michelle Yeo like the fact that the hotel corridors are not air-conditioned. They spent a weekend there to mark their one-month wedding anniversary.
When Life! called in, she was there with three friends.
One, Ms Cassandra How, 44, a senior manager of corporate affairs and communication, said: "We all live in the east and it's a five-minute drive to get here. On a Saturday, instead of going to town, we'll be coming here for food."
Self-professed seasoned buffet eaters Daniel Teng and Rong Jing Xiang, both 29, said they have lost count of the number of dishes they have sampled.
Mr Teng said: "The spread is varied and the food is fresh. We come here to try something new and the food is good."
Mr Rong added: "We'll definitely come back for more - maybe once a month or so."
Azur's breakfast buffet costs $28 a person, while the lunch buffet is $38. The restaurant plans to start a dinner buffet some time next month.
The hotel's sales and marketing director, Mr Bryan Gabriel, 40, told Life! he has noticed many curious locals venturing from T3 to check out the hotel's stylish interior.
"They like what they see and want to see more of the place," he said, adding that staff will take visitors on a tour if they wish.
The other hotels at Changi Airport are the Ambassador Transit Hotels in Terminals 1, 2 and 3. As they are transit hotels, guests cannot leave the vicinity of the airport, unlike the Crowne Plaza, designed by prestigious international architects WOHA.
The Crowne Plaza is also proving to be popular with Singaporeans wanting a weekend stopover that's different, yet close to home.
Marketing executive Chan Liwah, 49, together with daughter Sheryll Chan, 18, surprised her husband Ronald, 55, with a weekend stay last week as a belated Father's Day treat.
The delighted dad, who is managing director of a software company, said: "I was just told to pack up because we were going on a short trip. On the way here, I saw that we were approaching the airport so I really thought that we were going overseas, but we stopped at the hotel. The trip was really short, from Newton to Changi."
BELATED FATHER'S DAY: Mr Ronald Chan was treated to a weekend stay by wife Liwah and daughter Sheryll.
Mrs Chan: "We couldn't celebrate Father's Day this year because of our busy schedules and we wanted to give him a surprise. We thought that staying at the hotel would be the closest semblance of a vacation. I also thought that it would be nice to try out the new hotel."
» Room rates for Crowne Plaza Hotel at Terminal 3 start from $280.
This article was first published in Life!, The Straits Times on June 28, 2008.
