Where to stay in Singapore, and what the two plus signs cost you
Kampong Glam, Chinatown, Tiong Bahru or Marina Bay. The areas ranked, plus the service charge and GST that add 19.9 per cent to a quoted rate.
Photo · Christian Alemu · Pexels
Singapore is small, superbly connected, and the neighbourhood question matters less than it does almost anywhere else, because nothing is far from anything. Kampong Glam and Bugis for most trips. Chinatown and Tanjong Pagar if you are here to eat. Tiong Bahru for quiet and good coffee. Marina Bay for the view, at the price.
The thing that actually catches people out is not the area. It is that the rate you are quoted is not the rate you pay, and the gap is 19.9 per cent.
Singapore dollar. Convert any figure on this page into your own currency at today's published rate.
Open the currency converter →The two plus signs, and the arithmetic behind them
Singapore prices are often shown followed by ++. It means two charges are still to come: a 10 per cent service charge and 9 per cent GST.
They do not add up to 19, because the GST is charged on the total after the service charge has been added.
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| Quoted room rate | 100.00 |
| Plus 10% service charge | 110.00 |
| Plus 9% GST on 110.00 | 119.90 |
So the real multiplier is 1.199, not 1.19. On a five-night stay at a quoted 250 a night that is a difference of about 12 between the sum most people do in their head and the number on the folio, and on the whole stay it is nearly 250 of tax and service that never appeared in the search results.
This applies to restaurants as well as hotels, which is why a hawker centre and a restaurant with the same headline price are not the same price: hawker stalls do not levy a service charge, and most are below the GST registration threshold, so the number on the sign is the number you hand over. Singapore's tax authority sets out the rule for hotels and food and beverage.
A note on what this page can and cannot show you
Singapore is not a city in our catalogue, so this guide carries no live room shelf and no bookable activity shelf, the way our Bangkok or Ubud guides do. Rather than show you rooms for a different city and call it Singapore, we have left the shelves off and written the areas out properly instead. When Singapore lands in the catalogue this page gets its shelf.
How the island actually works
Everything below is within about half an hour of everything else on the MRT.
The Singapore River cuts through the middle. South of it is the Central Business District, Chinatown and Tanjong Pagar. East of the mouth is Marina Bay, the reclaimed showpiece. North of the river is the Civic District, then Bugis and Kampong Glam, then Little India. Orchard Road runs north-west from the Civic District. Tiong Bahru sits just west of Chinatown, and Katong and Joo Chiat are out east towards the airport.
Get around by tapping a contactless bank card at the gate. You do not need to buy anything: no EZ-Link card, no deposit, no ticket office. A ride across town is around two dollars, and Changi to a central station is about two to two and a half, checked September 2026. The transport authority publishes the fare rules.
Trains stop around midnight and start about 5.30am. That is the one piece of Singapore infrastructure that is not open when you want it, and it is worth checking against your arrival time.
The areas
Kampong Glam and Bugis, the answer for most trips
The old Malay and Arab quarter, north-east of the river. Two-storey shophouses in strong colours, the Sultan Mosque at the end of Bussorah Street, textile shops on Arab Street, and Haji Lane, which is a single narrow alley of independent shops and bars and is the most photographed street in the city.
Who it is for: almost everyone. It is central, it sits on two MRT lines at Bugis, and it holds a wider range of prices than any other central district, from hostel dorms up to good four-stars.
The catch: Haji Lane and the streets around it are loud on Friday and Saturday nights, and the area around Bugis Junction is a shopping mall district rather than a charming one.
Chinatown and Tanjong Pagar, for the eating
South of the river. Chinatown proper is temples, shophouses and the Maxwell Food Centre; Tanjong Pagar behind it is the restaurant and bar strip along Duxton and Keong Saik, and is where a lot of Singapore's serious cooking is.
Who it is for: anyone whose trip is mostly food, anyone who wants to walk home from dinner, business travellers who want the CBD without staying in it.
The catch: Chinatown's main tourist lanes are souvenir stalls, and the difference between a good street here and a poor one is one block. Book around Duxton Hill or Keong Saik rather than Pagoda Street.
Tiong Bahru, for quiet and a neighbourhood
Just west of Chinatown, and the oldest public housing estate in Singapore: curved, low-rise, art deco blocks from the 1930s that are now the most sought-after addresses in the centre. A famous market and hawker centre, a well-known bakery, independent bookshops.
Who it is for: second visits, longer stays, anyone who wants to be somewhere people actually live.
The catch: it has very few hotels. It is easier to find an apartment here than a room, and it is a quiet residential district by 10pm.
Marina Bay, for the view
The reclaimed waterfront: Marina Bay Sands, Gardens by the Bay, the ArtScience Museum, the light show over the water.
Who it is for: a short first visit where the skyline is the point, and anyone who has specifically decided they want the infinity pool.
The catch: it is the most expensive district in the city and it is a purpose-built showpiece rather than a neighbourhood. There is nowhere to get breakfast that is not a hotel.
Little India, for value
North of Bugis. Loud, dense, cheap, and the best-value eating in central Singapore. Rooms here are consistently below the rest of the centre for comparable quality.
Who it is for: budget travellers, anyone on a long stay, anyone who wants Singapore at its least sanded down.
The catch: it is genuinely busy and it is at its busiest on Sunday, which is the day off for a large share of the city's migrant workforce and the day the district is fullest.
Orchard, and why it is not our pick
The shopping strip. Malls end to end for two kilometres, a lot of hotel rooms, excellent MRT access.
If you are here to shop, stay here. If you are not, it is a district with one function, and the good streets are twenty minutes away by train. It is a perfectly comfortable place to sleep and a slightly wasted one.
Katong and Joo Chiat, for Peranakan Singapore
East, towards the airport. Pastel Peranakan shophouses, laksa that people argue about, and a slower, older feel than anywhere central.
Who it is for: repeat visitors, anyone with a long layover who wants something other than the centre.
The catch: it is twenty-five to thirty minutes from the middle and the hotel choice is thin.
Short tourist stays only. Checked 21 Aug 2026; rules change without notice and the government page is the source of truth.
Check your own passport →Checked 21 Aug 2026.
Everything we check for Singapore →What to skip
The Singapore Tourist Pass, for most trips. Do the arithmetic: a single ride is around two dollars, the one-day pass is seventeen, so it needs eight or nine journeys in a day to pay for itself. Most visitors make four to six. Tap a contactless card instead. If your day genuinely involves that much travel, the two and three-day passes at twenty-four and twenty-nine are a closer call, but they are still a bet on a very busy itinerary.
Sentosa, as a base, unless the trip is mostly Sentosa. It is a good resort island and a poor address for a city holiday.
Orchard Road, if you are not shopping.
Assuming a rate is final. The whole first section. Read for the plus signs, or for the word "nett".
A late arrival with no plan. The MRT stops around midnight. A 1am landing means a taxi from Changi, which is fine and which is a different budget from two dollars.
Before you book
Singapore is at its best as one leg of a longer trip rather than as the whole of it. Two weeks in Thailand and where to stay in Bangkok cover the obvious next stop, where to stay in Bali covers the other direction, and the best islands in Thailand is the beach half of the region. Bali or Thailand is the comparison people usually make after a Singapore stopover, and the best digital nomad cities for 2027 explains why Singapore appears on those lists as a base rather than a bargain.
The Singapore country guide has the practicalities, and there are more area breakdowns in the where to stay hub. Rooms across the region are in the hotels search.
Tax rates, fares and pass prices checked September 2026. GST and the service charge convention are set nationally and the fare tables move, so Singapore's own tourism board and the two government sites linked above are better sources than any guide, this one included. Here is how we research and re-check guides.
