I recently spent a night at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel when my flight from Singapore to Japan was cancelled. The airline provided the hotel and two meals in the hotel's restaurant for its stranded passengers.

Check in was very quick and efficient, especially considering the number of people the front desk staff had to deal with from the cancelled flight.

I was given a room on the 26th floor, which was jokingly referred to as an Executive Floor. My room was very small and had a double (yes a double) bed which was very low to the floor, two ratty old wicker chairs, a table and a desk chair. It was entirely too crowded and the decor felt like something from the 1970's.

The tiny bed had a nice cotton duvet, but the carpet was worn and stained, as were the chair cushions. The furniture was old and chipped and it was a bit depressing. I did like the soft lighting though - plenty of lamps, which always makes me happy. The AC was good and cold too, the way I like it.

But an Executive room??? I think not.

My room overlooked the river and a massive construction site. The walls were very thin and the hotel reminded me of my stay at the M Hotel in Singapore, which like the Copthorne, is part of the Millennium Group of hotels.

The decent sized bathroom was more contemporary, had good lighting and nice amenities.

The 26th floor hallway felt much like the room, stained, old and in need of refurbishment.

As sad as the room was, the buffet meals served in the hotel's restaurant were very good. I'm not generally a fan of buffets, but I was impressed with this one, particularly the assortment of fresh salads.

I had to call maintenace for a problem with the TV set and I was pleased with the prompt service - someone was at my door within five minutes of my call. I was also happy with the staff in general - everyone I dealt with was helpful and friendly.

Would I stay here again? Probably not. Too many better options in Singapore.

We were travelling with our 2 young sons (12 & 9) and our travel agent made a reservation for a room with at least 2 double beds to accomodate all 4 of us. Unfortunately this hotel does not apparently have rooms like this. Upon arrival we were warmly greeted and told that we had been given a complimentary upgrade to a Suite on the 25th floor. So far so good. Unfortunately we found the room only contained 1 x King bed plus 1 x fold away bed. At 2300 Hrs after a 9 hour flight from Sydney this is the last thing we needed. A return visit to Reception involved a protracted discussion over the fact that despite accepting our booking from our travel agent, the hotel did not have rooms for 4 persons and who would pay the $50 required for them to put a 2nd fold-away bed in the room. (us or our travel agent). A rather petty position for the hotel to adopt in my opinion but a very helpful Duty Manager accepted that this was the responsibility of our Travel Agent. Once this was resolved , the 2nd fold-away bed arrived very quickly and easily fitted into the Suite with a little re-arranging of the furniture. The room was nicely furnished and the bathroom was particularly well appointed with separate bath and large shower.

Our rate included Breakfast and this was good, with a wide selection available including, "Full English, Omelettes cooked to order, Continental and Asian options. In my opinion, apart from the view, this hotel was superior to the previous hotel on this trip,
the Shangri-la, Sydney.

Securing a discount rate, I expected that we would stay in the hotel's worst room.

Check in was quick and efficient considering we were first-time guests.

Perhaps Lady Luck or my guardian angel was smiling, but the room was terrific: quiet, good bed with crisp linen, a great bathroom and suffcient toiletries.

The swimming pool was first class, and pool towels readily available as were hot showers after the dip.

After a good sleep and an adequate if not outstanding breakfast, I departed lugging a suitcase along the river. This would be my only minor criticism: a bit far from the MRT but to be fair, there are nearby bus stops.

It's fine and clean but even with the exorbitant rates in Singapore, I don't think this should be classified as a 4-star hotel. The public areas are quite nice but the rooms need total upgrades. Stains on the walls, dingy, banged up furniture, dark bathrooms. Unfortunately, I landed in Singapore during a HUGE conference so most other hotels were booked and this was a high rate of $250 a night, not including breakfast. My one big complaint would be the breakfast - I don't know if it's to hurry people up, but seriously, the loudest piped in music I've ever heard. Gulped down coffee and got out of there quick!