What It’s Like Staying at YOTELAIR Singapore Changi: A Smart Airport Hotel for Short Stays

The Yotelair franchise has a very unique product concept. It’s hard to grasp what it’s all about without experiencing it first hand, however, I’ll do my best to give you an inside view on what such an experience offers. So here’s what it’s like staying at the Yotelair in Singapore Changi Airport.

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Why I Booked a YOTELAIR at Changi Airport

I hadn’t originally planned on staying at the Yotelair in Singapore Changi Airport. This was part of a trip I had planned to take with my wife and 2 year-old son hopping from Rome to South Korea via: UAE, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

We spent 2 nights in each country using the flight on the third night as a flying hotel. However, during our trip we soon realized how complicated it would be to keep our son going from 12pm/1pm (checkout time at most hotels) until our late night flights. That’s when we resorted to solutions like Yotelair’s to get some rest in the afternoon. In the UAE we were able to get a very late checkout at a good price, while in Hong Kong we used a different service (Dayuse, I’ll cover that in another post).

Location: Inside Jewel, Minutes From Terminal 1

In Singapore Changi the Yotelair is located in the Jewel, right next to terminal 1. It’s a fantastic location, because you can also grab a bite to eat there as there are many restaurants giving you a great selection to choose from.

Inside the Jewel, Singapore Changi’s Yotelair is situated on the last floor. All terminals are connected to the Jewel:

• Terminals 1-2-3 are connected via a internal airport people mover.
• Terminal 4 is connected by a bus link (the ride is approximately 10 mins long)

That also means that this is a land-side and not an air-side hotel. Therefore you’ll have to clear immigration to get to the hotel, it is not in the international transit area.

Room Experience: Compact, Smart, and Efficient

The room is what makes the Yotelair experience unique. You get:

• A bed that folds into a sofa
• TV
• A bathroom located behind the bed
• Free Wi-Fi

That’s about it. The room we got had a Premium Queen Cabin, which was 10 square meters (or 107 square feet).

The room was illuminated with the signature Yotelair violet, and had no windows, so it can feel a bit closed in.

With such a tiny floor space there is very little space to move around when you have 3 people, albeit with a 2 year-old, and a large suitcase.

All that aside, the bed itself and the bedding were very cozy and we all got some quality sleep. When you wake up though there isn’t much to do in the room so you’re better off exploring the Jewel.

Booking by the Hour: How It Works and What It Costs

We only needed the room for several hours and not for the entire night stay. Yotelair offers such a service during the day, however, your can’t book it autonomously online. You will need to contact the facility via email or phone to check for availability and make the reservation.

Rooms are available for hire by hour from 7AM to 10PM daily. If your stay prolongs beyond 10PM that will be considered an overnight stay. Also rooms can be booked for a minimum of 4 hours, in our case we took it for 5 hours.

The location in the airport comes at a premium, rooms (or cabins) are not exactly cheap. My reservation was for:

• 2 adults and a 2 year-old child
• for 5 hours, from 4PM to 9PM

The total cost of our stay was 161 Singapore Dollars, or approximately 105 Euro.

When you reach out to the Yotelair front desk they will then send you a link to settle the payment upfront. You’re then set to checkin at the hotel itself.

The checkin was rather clunky. They had to manually input all our passport information and take pictures on their iPad app and it took about 10 minutes. So show up early not to waste any of the time you hired the room for.

Additionally, you can’t leave suitcases at the Yotelair after checking out. Therefore, if you wish to eat without your suitcase, wake up early and leave it in your room before checkout time, then come back and pick it up.

Who It’s Perfect For

There are two user profiles I think could find the service offered by Yotelair very helpful and useful:

1. Those who have a very long connection at Singapore Changi airport and can clear immigration with or without their suitcase.
2. If you have a very late night departure, all the more if traveling in economy class, and need some rest before the flight.

Again, it’s not the cheapest option but it came in at a lower price point than getting a checkout at the hotel we were staying at (Swissotel The Stamford), which would have cost us almost twice the price of our stay at the Changi Yotelair.

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