Singapore Airlines ranked number 2 among the World’s Best Business Class Airlines 2024 by Skytrax. It ranked number 4 in Best Business Class Airline Seats, number 2 in Best Business Class Airline Lounges, number 3 in Best Business Class Onboard Catering, number 3 in Best Business Class Airline Lounge Catering, number 5 in Best Business Class Amenities and overall number 1 Best Business Class in Asia.

My recent business trip allowed me to relook at what I felt about the Business Class route from Manila to Singapore (and back) in this review.

Lounge in Manila

I’d give it a decent rating of good. It wasn’t crowded because it was exclusive for Singapore Air passengers and the food was fairly alright for a lounge in Manila. The WiFi was horrible when the lounge was at 75% capacity.

On time?

Not a chance. Our flight from Manila to Singapore on SQ 917 was delayed due to the late arrival of the aircraft. The original 210pm flight departed past 3pm. They rushed us to the plane and in the mad rush, the service on Business Class was compromised. Not even a towel or water was offered as I tried to get settled in.

Seats, amenities and more

The seats are nice. Lie flat and just light up the panel for the controls. That winged portion the left side of the chair was useless and had a difficult time drawing down the shade.

The entertainment was good as you had solid choices. No amenity kits but you could ask for a sock or slippers (I asked for slippers) and the toilet was stocked (although not too well). There are two toilets at the mid back and one in front. But that’s not good considering business class had 42 seats with two business class sections divided by the toilets in the middle. So yes, the toilets were busy all the time.

I loved the fact that WiFi was free on BizClass at 30,000 feet! It was great for texting and doing some email work.

Food from Manila to Singapore

There wasn’t much choice as half were Filipino dishes. Seriously!

The appetizer was better than the main course. I couldn’t understand the flavor of the pork and noodles (which was way too salty).

After getting into Changi Airport, one needed to take the train from Terminal 3 to the arrival area. And wow, their hassle free immigration point was superb.

You just needed to fill out myICA form 3 days before your trip and all you needed to do was scan your passport, have a photo taken and your thumbprint at the automatic “immigration” gates! In less than 60secs, you’re out!

It’s the same process on the return trip.

Compare our immigration lines in Manila with that of Singapore in the photos below.

Yes, I’m envious. Embrace technology and make it a tool to enable the bureaucratic process of the ailing Philippines. This process alone will improve our tourism industry.

The lounge of SQ in Singapore had food galore. It offered a good mix of choices and the food was better tasting than the bland choices in Manila.

The return flight

Never fly during a storm. So I couldn’t fault the airline for such a delayed and turbulent return flight. While we pushed back at exactly 930am, we were super delayed returning because of typhoon Carina. Circling the air for more than an hour and being number 10 on queue to land was awful. Not the airline’s fault as Mother Nature had her way.

Book the cook

Because I didn’t want to get disappointed with my food choice (again), I booked the cook. And they offer this only on flights out of Singapore or long hauls.

And yes, who says you can’t have lobster thermidor for breakfast? The food was okay, and not great but better than the food out of Manila.

The verdict

So what’s my rating on a scale of 1-5 (5 being the best)?

For a regional flight on Singapore Airline, I would give SQ a 4 for seat comfort, 5 for entertainment choice, 2 for amenities, 4 for overall service, 3 for food and 4 for lounge.

This short review is on the Jen Hotel (a Shangrila Hotel) on Orchard Gateway.

Got a club room for this two night stay for a meeting in this beautiful country Singapore. The club room provides access to the lounge and gym.

When you get to Orchard Gateway, you need to take the lift to the 10th floor to check in. Oh, the lift is horribly slow.

The mobile check is on the extreme right. Unfortunately, the girl didn’t know what to do when I showed her my mobile phone and the app that showed that I have checked in. It took quite a bit of time to get my room key because she had to ask the other attendant on what to do.

Finally, when I got my room key, I was off to my room. And the next set of lift was another wait as the lifts in this hotel are awfully slowwwww.

It’s a small room. No frills and the shower had no hot water. I didn’t bother to inform them anymore as I was tired and wouldn’t want to be changing rooms at this point.

Dinner was a quick one at the rooftop restaurant Trippi. The hamburger and mocktail was a decent one. The breeze was fine. The pool looked inviting. The view was stunning.

Breakfast starts at 7am. And the choices in the lounge area aren’t much but decent enough. It’s self service but even service wasn’t up to expectation for a Shangrila brand.

You’d expect that at the club floor or room, you’d get a bit of perks for the room. But that doesn’t apply here. All rooms have nothing in the room ref. If you wanted something to munch on or something to drink, they had a vending machine near the elevator for you. Talk about scrimping.

My final verdict? I’m wondering how it even got tagged as a 4 star hotel. Plain and simple – it’s 3 stars.