Thanks to my uncle’s generosity, I’ve now spent the night in Singapore’s most famous building, Marina Bay Sands Hotel. We were lucky to have VIP Tower 1. The hotel had 57 floors, with the top floor being the Infinity Pool, the world’s largest rooftop pool which is 150-metre long. The hotel has three towels (I mean towers, whoops) and the top is in the shape of a boat, so it is a unique building to look at.
The whole Marina Bay Sands complex is not just the hotel. It was designed by Moshe Safdie who also worked on many Las Vegas hotels. There is a shopping mall as well, although calling it shopping is charitable. Most of the “shops” were jewellery shops. There was a posh casino which looks like somewhere James Bond would love (seriously, why has Singapore not been used in a Bond film yet?) I also need to stop bringing up James Bond in these Singapore posts.
The mall was nice to look at though, as there was an indoor moat and a fountain. I feel that the whole shopping area, which is called the Shoppes (whut?), is designed for people with a lot of money to spend and for people who want accessories.
So what’s the actual hotel room like? Well, the curtains open automatically and there is a bath AND a shower separately! This is the first hotel I’ve been to with both of them. The wi-fi is also very fast (exxxxcellent).
The Infinity Pool was very crowded, with no one really swimming. They were just there taking photos, mostly selfies and using selfie sticks (what is the point of a selfie?). The majority of the people there were tourists, understandably. We didn’t go there the first day, as we were waiting till morning when it was less crowded. The view from the top floor was stunning. I think the whole of Singapore could be seen. The amount of skyscrapers in the city is huge, and it’s great that there are plenty of green areas too. Looking at the skyline is a prime example of how far Singapore has gone since the 50 years.
Swimming in the pool was good once we went there in the morning, however, the pool was quite murky and not clear. Thankfully there weren’t many children around (well, I technically count, but I’m referring to young children).
The only problem is that the lifts take a long time to reach the top, probably due to the amount of people.
The hotel is a short walk from Gardens by the Bay, which I talked about in Part 2. The view from my hotel room had views of the Singapore River and the Merlion.
Ben Williams' World 
The hotel looks fabulous and the infinity pool absolutely fantastic. I would be a little worried about using it because I do not think I would have the patience to wait for one of the three towels to become available.
is it just how the photo looks, or is there a sheer drop to the ground from the edge of the pool? I would be tempted to splash water onto pedestrians walking below. The bit on the top looks a bit odd in the daylight picture – as if a space ship has clumsily landed there – but does look spectacular in the night time illumination.
I agree with you that selfies have little point.
Wow! You lucky thing Ben. Marina Bay Sands didn’t exist when I was there, and I worked just around the corner at Marina View. I would love to swim in that pool.
I’m torn on the subject of selfies and selfies sticks. On one hand, I can see that people want photographs of themselves at interesting places. When I used to travel alone, I would ask people to take a picture of me in front of buildings and landmarks. However, some of the pictures are a little blurry and out of focus, because the people I asked didn’t always know how to use my camera. It would have been easier if I could have taken a ‘selfie’ instead. I would definitely want a picture of myself in that infinity pool…your mum was able to take your picture, but if you were alone you would have had to choose between no picture or a selfie!
However, I think selfies are also a sad reflection of the narcissistic society that social media has nurtured. As with everything, there’s a good and a bad side.
I am not sure about the selfie necessarily being narcissistic, but it is certainly a case of ‘if I haven’t got a photograph with me in it, then I haven’t been there’. It is a sad fact that people increasingly view life through a lens rather than use their eyes to appreciate the whole picture. I have just walked through the magnificent Dubrovnik castle and Old Town and have spent a lot of the time dodging the 6000 cruise ship passengers with their selfie sticks.