You arrive in Singapore from an overnight long-haul flight. It’s 9am. What you really need is shower and maybe a couple of hours sleep in a proper bed. You have a hotel room booked in the city so…
“Why would I need an arrivals lounge?”
Well the check-in time for your hotel is 2pm. Even as a status holder – Singapore’s hotel sector is busy and competitive. You call and they say the room isn’t ready and probably won’t be until check-in time. You’ve got 5 hours to burn, your clothes smell of “Eau d’Boeing” and the jetlag is just starting to kick in.
You have two choices – head into town, walk around and make the best of it, or head to the ‘The Haven’, have a shower, 3 hours sleep, then a coffee and a late breakfast. Arrive at your hotel refreshed and ready to enjoy the rest of the day. You choose!
This is why arrivals lounges are so popular, except in Singapore. So far this is the only such facility at Changi. Sure there are airside lounges for pre-departure, there are even transit hotels for passengers with an onward journey – but nothing to help you if you are terminating in Singapore – strange.
Traveller Tip: Some passengers have reported that airside third-party departure lounges have allowed access to arriving passengers who are terminating in Singapore. This is specifically against the policy of all third-party lounges we have reviewed. It appears to be allowed on a case-by-case basis.
We have always enjoyed arriving on Cathay Pacific First Class in the morning at London Heathrow, and heading to the American Airlines Arrivals Lounge for a shower, proper coffee, good breakfast and a quick read of the newspapers before heading to the hotel (which in central London, inevitably won’t be ready early). We’ll do a full review of this lounge in July – it is one of the best out there.
The Haven by JetQuay
JetQuay is a premium services provider based at Changi Airport. They are best known for their ‘JetQuay CIP terminal’ in Singapore. If you hold any of the premium credit cards you will probably have been offered a voucher to experience it. It’s effectively a separate terminal where they can chauffer you in, check you in, allow you to relax in private facilities and then chauffeur you to your gate. No matter what class or airline (as long as it isn’t budget).
We’ve tried it before and we didn’t really rate it. A nice one-off experience but for the amount that is usually charged – probably not worth it. We are planning a full review soon so watch out for that. However, they are experienced in the field of offering premium passenger products so we felt this new arrivals lounge should be good.
If you’re wondering what “CIP” means – you aren’t alone. Commercially Important Person i.e. you’ve got money to burn and want to feel special!
Lounge Facts
Location: Landside, Terminal 3, Level 1, after Customs
Showers: Yes (13)
Nap Rooms: Yes (18)
Alcohol: Yes – extra charge
Food: Yes
Wi-Fi: Yes plus 4 computer terminals
Power Sockets: G-type (UK-style) only. No USB charging.
Access
Paid Rates:
Priority Pass, LoungeKey, LoungePass and DragonPass all get 3 hours access, including access to shower facilities, but not the nap rooms.
Priority Pass will get 20% off nap room rates (others vary, call for more information).
Nap rooms are also available via online travel agents but the prices vary and may not allow you to select the correct arrival time (as shown above on the pricelist) so be careful. If in doubt, book direct.
Traveller Tip: Access is allowed to both departing and arriving passengers but they will ask to see your boarding card in either case so keep it handy.
Location
The Haven is situated on Level 1 (arrivals) at Singapore Changi Terminal 3.
If you arriving on a flight into terminal 3, proceed through immigration, baggage collection and customs. Once in the public arrivals area walk right until you see the signs ‘Pay-per-use Lounge’.
If you arrive at Terminal 1 or 2 you can use the SkyTrain to get to Terminal 3, which only takes 5-10 minutes. For Terminal 4 arrivals, you will need to take the bus to Terminal 2 and then the SkyTrain. All are relatively easy access.
Main Area
The Haven isn’t a very large lounge. Just to the left of the entrance is the seating area. There is a mix of comfortable armchairs all with nearby G-type sockets (bring your adapters if you aren’t using that type).
There is a small kid play area with TVs on most walls.
A small business centre is equipped with iMacs and PCs, plus a printer and a wide selection of international newspapers and magazines.
It was quiet when were there at around 6pm on a weekday with only 2 other guests in the lounge. This seems fairly typical looking at other reviews.
Wi-Fi
Very fast indeed – most likely due to the fact the lounge was basically empty.
Download: 9.3 Mbps
Upload: 9.6 Mbps
Ping: 4 ms
Food and Beverages
Beyond the main seating area, there is a dining area with a selection of bread, soft drinks and a coffee machine. A small selection of alcohol is available at extra cost.
Instead of the usual buffet style, hot food is available from an a la carte menu. It appeared to be the usual lounge fare, but relatively tasty and at least freshly prepared.
Showers
13 shower rooms are available. All are new, clean and equipped with “relaxing rain shower” heads. Towels, shower gel, shampoo and conditioner are all provided and there is a built-in hairdryer in each room.
These are actually some of the cleanest shower facilities we’ve seen at Changi.
Nap Rooms
18 nap rooms are available. They consist of a small single bed, desk area and a wall mounted TV. Toilet facilities are separate and shared. The bed was comfortable and soft and the linen appeared to be of good quality. The staff were careful to make sure the corridor outside was kept quiet.
If you just book a nap room then you will also receive a meal, shower and lounge access.
Note: Singapore Airlines allows all passengers to check-in 48 hours before their flight. This means you can access the airside area, lounges, transit hotel and more. This may be a better option for you, depending on your class of travel.
Alternative
The main competition to this lounge would be the nearby Changi Airport Crowne Plaza. We reviewed it recently and we liked it a lot. It’s probably our favourite airport hotel in the world (and we’ve tried quite a few!).
The Crowne Plaza Changi Airport offers day rooms at a $180 rate for an 8-hour period falling between 8am and 8pm so you could do 8am-4pm or 12pm-8pm, or something in between. For the full 12-hour period 8am-8pm, it’s $200 (not bad – 4 hours extra for $20 more).
Obviously it’s quite a lot more expensive but you can expect a full-size room, private bathroom and all the usual hotel facilities including a pool, gym, restaurants and room service.
If you need to stay for more than 5-6 hours then we think you should be looking here instead.
Traveller Tip: If you’re a Singapore Airlines PPS Solitaire member, you may also use any SilverKris first class lounge immediately after travel on a Singapore Airlines or SilkAir flight, regardless of travel class (no guest permitted).
We’ve received reports of passengers travelling on Singapore Airlines in first or suites class having been granted access on arrival to ‘The Private Room’ in Terminal 3, however this appears to be on a case-by-case basis and is not the stated policy.
Summary
A nice, new, underutilised lounge. The rates for the nap rooms are very reasonable (especially if you can take advantage of the 20% Priority Pass discount). Shower facilities are super clean. Food options are above average. Given that it is the only arrivals lounge in Singapore it’s hard to be critical – something is certainly better than nothing.
We would like to see complimentary alcohol options and universal / USB power sockets, but it’s certainly a pleasant and comfortable place to while away a few hours before your slick city hotel room is ready or before the check-in opens for your flight.
Visited November 2017