I stayed at The Capitol Kempinski Hotel Singapore for a single night on an overnight stop between flights. I had booked through American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts, arriving at the hotel at around 9pm and leaving again at about 11am the following morning.
The Capitol Kempinski Hotel Singapore occupies part of the historic Capitol complex.
I’d chosen the Kempinski from four Singapore FHR options, with the US$125 food and beverage credit as one of the things that had pushed it ahead. That translated to roughly S$165, and 15 Stamford looked like somewhere I’d actually want to have dinner as opposed to somewhere I’d be eating simply to use a hotel credit. Breakfast for two was also included. It was a short stay, but long enough to experience plenty from the hotel.
Arrival and Check-In
The Capitol Kempinski occupies part of Singapore’s historic Capitol complex, and the exterior distinguishes it from the high-rise luxury hotels found elsewhere around the city. The long façade, columns and covered entrance have been retained, while the hotel continues through several interconnected sections of the old buildings.
The curved corner and columns are among the building’s most distinctive exterior features.
Inside, there is plenty of marble and polished stone, but also dark timber, patterned screens, brass detailing and orchids throughout the public areas.
The lobby mixes pale stone and marble with darker timber and orchids.
Even the corridors have some individuality to them. Signs identifying the Capitol Building and Arcade Theatre are reminders that these weren’t originally designed as anonymous hotel hallways.
The hotel’s history remains visible even in the corridors.
Check-in was welcoming. I was offered a glass of bubbles while the receptionist went through my FHR benefits and told me I’d received a room upgrade. I’d also supplied my GHA DISCOVERY number when making the FHR booking, but the hotel had no record of it. I gave it to them again at the desk and they added it manually.
I mentioned that I wanted to use my FHR food and beverage credit at dinner that evening. Staff offered to take my bags directly to the room so I could head straight to the restaurant, but I preferred to drop them off myself and freshen up first. The receptionist said she’d let 15 Stamford know that I was coming, and popped off into the restaurant as I headed upstairs. That was a small thing, but a useful one when arriving late. At 9:30pm, I was sitting down for dinner.
The Room
The upgraded room was spacious, with an interesting layout.
My upgraded room at the Capitol Kempinski.
The main bedroom had a large bed with four substantial pillows, extensive dark-wood cabinetry, illuminated display shelves and plenty of storage. Patterned screens and panels appeared throughout the room, echoing some of the design used elsewhere in the hotel.
Beyond the bedroom was a separate enclosed conservatory area containing the desk and seating. The retained window and door structure between the two spaces made this a genuine additional room rather than an extension of the bedroom. The coffee machine was out there as well, which would become relevant rather earlier the following morning than I might have preferred.
The separate conservatory contained a desk and seating, with the coffee machine off to the left.
The bathroom was also large. A freestanding bathtub sat beside a substantial vanity, with the shower and toilet in separate compartments. The finishes were predominantly marble, with brass fixtures and large mirrors. The photographs probably describe the space better than a long inventory of bathroom fittings could.
The large marble bathroom included a freestanding tub, separate shower and double vanity.
There was a generous welcome setup waiting in the room, including fruit, sweets and chocolates in a red presentation box and a handwritten note. And the bed was very comfortable. Traveling alone, I also got all four of those big pillows to myself.
The welcome amenity included fruit, sweets and chocolates, along with a handwritten note.
Dinner at 15 Stamford
At 9:30pm on a Wednesday, 15 Stamford was clearly approaching the end of its evening. It’s an impressive room, with dark timber, illuminated wall panels and an intricate ceiling above the main dining area. There were only two other occupied tables when I arrived, and initially I was given only the à la carte menu.
15 Stamford at dinner, with its elaborate ceiling closed over the dining room.
I’d specifically been interested in the tasting menu, so I asked about it. The waiter checked with a colleague, there were a few quiet conversations, and the tasting menu duly appeared. Everyone was perfectly pleasant, although I couldn’t entirely shake the feeling that the last diner of the evening asking about a multi-course tasting menu might be threatening to extend everyone’s Wednesday night.
The 15 Stamford tasting menu which I considered before switching back to à la carte.
After having both menus explained, I changed direction anyway. The tasting menu consisted of several smaller dishes but didn’t offer quite the range I’d hoped for. More interestingly, some of the dishes identified with the Capitol Kempinski itself were on the main menu.
I started with the miniature tuna tortilla shells and foie gras toast, the restaurant’s in-house signature dishes, accompanied by a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.
The miniature tuna tortilla shells, one of 15 Stamford’s signature dishes.
Foie gras toast, the second of the two signature appetizers I ordered.
I then ordered the Wagyu hanger steak with green beans and garlic and a peppercorn-based sauce, this time with an Australian Shiraz.
Wagyu hanger steak with green beans, garlic and peppercorn-based sauce.
The food was good. I’d also ordered too much of it. By the time I’d finished both appetizers and, importantly, all my green beans, I left roughly a third of the steak. Had I been there with my wife, splitting the appetizers and then having the steak would probably have been about right.
My final bill came in a little above the S$165 FHR food and beverage credit, which was still a good application of it. Meanwhile, the other diners had gone and the staff were resetting the surrounding tables for breakfast. Spanish dining hours these were not.
The Bar at 15 Stamford
Before going back upstairs, I stopped at the adjoining bar and ordered a beer. The room itself is lovely. There’s a long brass bar, patterned tilework, dark cabinetry and enough seating that I could imagine it working very well when busy.
The adjoining bar at 15 Stamford was attractive, even if very quiet by the time I got there.
At about 10:30pm on this particular Wednesday, it wasn’t. There were guests at two tables along the back wall, but otherwise the place felt very quiet. I had my beer and left. Had I arrived too late for dinner and still had the entire FHR credit to use, my likely solution would have been a half-bottle of good Australian red to take upstairs while I got some work done.
As far as hotel bars go, I’d give it a thumbs up. On this particular night, however, there just wasn’t much happening in it.
The 4am Lighting Problem
I slept well, but woke at around 4am. This wasn’t itself particularly unusual for me while traveling. The problem was that I wanted coffee and couldn’t figure out how to turn on the lights in the conservatory where the coffee machine was located.
The conservatory. Getting enough light in here to make coffee became the 4am challenge.
I called the front desk who told me that there was a button underneath the desk. There certainly was, but it didn’t work.
The hotel sent a maintenance person upstairs remarkably quickly. I was actually impressed that there was someone working an overnight maintenance shift who could appear in my room at that hour. He managed to deal with one of the lights but said he would need to return to fix the other one. That wasn’t necessary. I now had enough light to operate the coffee machine, which at 4am was the important objective, so I asked him to leave the remaining repair until after I’d gone.
There was one other room defect. The safe wasn’t working at all. I could presumably have summoned someone to deal with that too, but for a one-night stay I didn’t bother. Neither problem was disastrous, but two things in the room not working isn’t ideal at this level. The response to the lighting problem, on the other hand, was excellent. There is something reassuring about discovering at 4am that the hotel really does have someone available to fix a light.
Coffee, Then Breakfast
I finished all three of the non-decaf coffee pods, ate some of the fruit from the welcome amenity and got some work done before eventually heading downstairs.
Later, when I passed reception, I asked whether they could send some more regular coffee pods to the room. They sent six: that was perfect.
Breakfast was back at 15 Stamford, but the room I’d left the previous evening had changed considerably. The adjoining bar was now being used for much of the cold breakfast selection, including juices, bakery items and cold cuts. More strikingly, the intricate ceiling I’d been looking at during dinner had been pulled back, revealing two mezzanine levels above it and opening up the restaurant considerably.
By breakfast, the ceiling above 15 Stamford had been pulled back to reveal the levels above.
The adjoining bar became part of the breakfast buffet in the morning.
Then I started ordering.
Chilli-Crab Omelette, Laksa and a Rather Ambitious Breakfast
The breakfast menu included a chilli-crab omelette. Are you kidding me? Of course I was having that. I ordered it along with Singapore laksa, then wandered next door for some juice and to take a few photographs. By the time I returned a couple of minutes later, both dishes were already sitting at the table.
Chilli-crab omelette and Singapore laksa: the first two breakfast orders, and the best two.
The turnaround was remarkable. I assume both dishes were on some sort of breakfast fast-track in the kitchen because neither was enormous, but both were very good. The chilli-crab omelette was the standout. I would come back for that. The laksa was good too. I should probably have stopped there.
Instead, partly because breakfast for two was included even though I was traveling alone, and mostly because I was curious about the local dishes, I ordered another two items. One was prata/roti with fish curry, which was good but didn’t reach the level of the first two dishes. The other was a rice dish accompanied by chicken wings and what appeared to be shrimp paste.
Prata with fish curry was good, although the omelette and laksa had set a high bar.
I didn’t eat that one. The chicken was still visibly pink/red at the bone. There may well have been a preparation method behind that, and I’m aware that color alone doesn’t necessarily establish whether chicken is safely cooked. But I have a fairly straightforward personal rule here. Pink chicken: not for me.
The final breakfast order: rice with chicken wings. The visible pink/red color at the bone was enough for me to send the chicken back.
I sent it back. Everything else I’d eaten at breakfast had been very good, so it didn’t become a larger issue, but it’s part of what happened and worth recording.
An Unexpected Souvenir
Back upstairs, there was one final hotel discovery. Inside the wardrobe were two Kempinski tote bags, each with a silk scarf, one red and one blue. I sent a WhatsApp message to my wife, who was confident that my mother and sister, whom I was on my way to meet, would like them.
Two Kempinski tote-and-scarf sets from the room wardrobe, destined to become gifts.
I called the front desk and had both added to the bill. At S$36 each, they struck me as unusually good hotel-shop gifts. I don’t know whether they would have qualified for the FHR property credit. In my case it didn’t matter because dinner had already used the entire credit and then some.
FHR and Minor DISCOVERY
The FHR benefits worked well here. Breakfast was included, I received an upgrade, and the US$125 food and beverage credit was easily put to use at 15 Stamford.
GHA DISCOVERY required a little more attention. Despite having supplied my membership number with the FHR reservation, it hadn’t reached the hotel, so I had it added again at check-in. The stay subsequently appeared correctly in my DISCOVERY account, including D$20 and the qualifying brand stay. For anyone combining FHR with GHA DISCOVERY, that’s a useful outcome. I wouldn’t assume the loyalty number has followed the booking, though. It’s worth checking at reception.
Checkout
I checked out at around 11am. A Grab arrived about five minutes after I ordered it for the trip back to Changi, and somehow the fare was even cheaper than the already inexpensive ride I’d taken from the airport the previous evening. Years of paying US and UK taxi prices have apparently left me very easy to impress on this subject.
One last look along the Capitol Kempinski’s covered colonnade before leaving for Changi.
Overall
The building gives it something many luxury hotels don’t have, and the photographs probably demonstrate that better than any attempt to describe every marble surface and decorative screen. The room was spacious and unusual, particularly the separate conservatory area, while the large bathroom and generous welcome amenity reinforced that this was a proper luxury-hotel stay rather than just somewhere I’d chosen for its FHR benefits.
15 Stamford was also a significant part of the experience. Dinner was good enough that I was glad I’d abandoned the tasting menu for the signature dishes, and breakfast was much more interesting than a generic luxury-hotel buffet. The chilli-crab omelette was probably my favorite thing I ate at the hotel.
The room wasn’t perfect. The safe didn’t work, and needing maintenance to visit at 4am because I couldn’t get any light in the room containing the coffee machine is not something I’d expect in this tier. But the way the staff handled those issues was also part of the experience: somebody appeared quickly at 4am, and when I later asked for a few more coffee pods, six arrived.
I’d happily stay again. Not because every detail was flawless, because it wasn’t, but because there was enough here that was distinctive and enough that was done well that the flaws didn’t define the stay.
And next time, I’m ordering the chilli-crab omelette again.