We explore the newly launched family rooms at Paradox Singapore! Here's our staycation story + discount code

Paradox Singapore offers a vibrant location, newly launched family rooms and enjoyable facilities that give any staycation the best mix of comfort, food and fun.

We just returned from a fun-filled staycation at Paradox Singapore! It was a really special staycation because if you've been following my blog, you'll know we rarely go for hotel staycays as my teen girls are now considered “adults” at most hotels, which makes it tricky to find a room that accommodates four adults together. So you can imagine my excitement when I discovered the newly launched family-friendly rooms at Paradox Singapore!

The Premier Two Queen and Premier Two Queen with Balcony are brand-new room categories at Paradox Singapore. As the categories suggest, you have two queen beds in a room, which makes them perfect for bigger families and those with older kids like ours! While you can book them individually, we went for the hotel’s ongoing Family Escape with Breakfast package which includes complimentary buffet breakfast for up to four guests and a welcome gift for the family.

Happy to report that we had so much fun over the weekend! So, here’s our review and a peek into what we got up to during our 3D2N staycation at Paradox Singapore!

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Hubs and I arrived at Paradox Singapore at 3pm promptly for check-in and unfortunately it was without our girls as they were still in school. We figured we might as well arrive before them and make the most of the facilities first!

BTW for those less familiar with local hotels, Paradox Singapore is previously known as Swissôtel Merchant Court before its rebranding. Does the photo below look familiar? 😉The hotel has been here for many years and I have fond memories of the buffets at its Ellenborough Market Café.

Despite being around for quite some time, I was pleasantly surprised to see very few signs of age at the hotel. The lobby and corridors all looked fresh and well maintained, which made a great first impression. After a swift check-in, we arrived at our Premier Two Queen with Balcony room!

The first thing that struck me was how spacious the room felt for one with two queen beds!

And the next thing that caught my eye: the welcome gift consisting of a pretty tingkat, longans and snacks awaiting at the desk.

Let's check out what's inside the tingkat!

Ta da! Hubs and I enjoyed the delicious kueh and we kept the rest for our girls. And let me tell you, they were delicious! But I expected nothing less as Paradox Singapore’s Ellenborough Market Café is well known for its Peranakan cuisine 😉

Another thing that struck me is how bright and fresh the room felt with all the natural light coming in from the balcony.

Here's the lovely view from the balcony. It overlooks the hotel’s free-form pool, and part of Clarke Quay and the Singapore River.

View from our balcony

Definitely a good spot to relax with a book and a cup of tea!

Speaking of tea, the room came with complimentary coffee and TWG tea, and of course. it's equipped with a kettle.

The bathroom is spacious too...

...and equipped with standard amenities like toothbrushes, toothpaste, shower gel, shampoo and conditioner.

BTW the room doesn’t have complimentary bottled water like most hotels. Instead, there’s a separate tap in the bathroom that dispenses clean, filtered drinking water. This is really environmentally friendly and convenient, since we didn’t have to keep boiling water.

After unpacking, hubs and I headed out for a tea break as we were feeling peckish and the good thing is we didn’t have to go far as Clarke Quay Central is right next door to Paradox Singapore. We settled at Huggs for coffee, pastries and some quiet reading while waiting for the girls.

By the time they arrived, it was dinner time and that's where you really come to appreciate Paradox Singapore’s location. Besides being next to Clarke Quay Central, it’s also right across from Clarke Quay, so dining options are endless. We finally decided on Ippudo for dinner.

After dinner, we took an evening stroll at Clarke Quay, enjoying the beautiful sights and sounds of Clarke Quay and Singapore River.

And there's our hotel. Just cross the bridge and you're at Clarke Quay. It's that near!

It had been a long day for the girls, so we decided to call it a night and headed back to our room to rest. We spent the evening watching TV, and they were delighted to find the macarons and cakes from the welcome gift that we had saved for them 😄

We all slept well on the comfy beds, each with two pillows. But alas...

...the next morning greeted us with rain 😅

We had originally planned to visit Fort Canning Park, which is conveniently close to the hotel, but the weather meant we had to change our plans. Regardless, breakfast first!

Buffet breakfast was included in our stay, served at Ellenborough Market Café. The cafe has a strong reputation for excellent Peranakan cuisine, so our expectations for breakfast were high.

I'm glad to say that we were not disappointed!

I always look forward to live stations at buffets, and the char siew and shrimp dumpling noodles served on our first morning were superb.

Another detail I really appreciated at the cafe was the effort put into the décor which really added to the overall dining experience.

Unfortunately, it was still raining after breakfast, so the pool and Fort Canning Park were out of the question. Other than Clarke Quay Central, which has a sheltered linkway to the hotel, most nearby places required walking outdoors. But we had a brilliant idea: since the hotel connects directly to Clarke Quay Central, we could access the MRT from the mall! So we took the MRT to City Hall - just two stops away from Clarke Quay - to check out the the relatively new Kinokuniya bookstore at Raffles City we hadn’t visited yet.

Made it to Kinokuniya Raffles City!

Besides browsing books, we did some shopping in the mall and walked to Funan via the underground linkways, sheltered the entire way.

Made it to Mr Lemonade at Raffles City!

Funan was as far as we could go without stepping outdoors, but thankfully the rain had eased to a drizzle by then. With breakfast fully digested (yes, we were so full from breakfast, we had skipped lunch!), it was time to explore the gym. My girls were especially excited as they had never been to a proper exercise gym before😆

Paradox Singapore’s gym turned out to be quite impressive. I’m not much of a gym-goer, but with two levels, it does looked very well equipped. Plus, it’s open 24 hours, so you can work out anytime.

Some of the treadmills and bikes even face the pool and river, so you get a view while exercising.

After an hour of exercise, we were ready for the pool. There was still a slight drizzle but we didn’t want to leave without enjoying the pool. And in a way, the drizzle was a blessing: we had the entire pool to ourselves! 😆

The pool was huge, with a slide and waterfall features.

We had such a fun time at the pool, especially the slide! It looked pretty short but the slide down was actually much faster than expected 😆

There’s also a children’s pool with its own slide.

And a jacuzzi overlooking Clarke Quay and the river.

After all that activity, we were ready for dinner. On our way out, we noticed that the table at the lobby that usually serves lemon-infused water had cakes and snacks. We couldn't resist getting some and I must say, the upside down pineapple cake was so delicious! This was such a welcoming touch by the hotel 😊

With the rain gone, we had plenty of choices for dinner and we eventually settled on Ajumma at Funan.

Dinner at Ajumma

We even had room for soft serve at Tsujiri back at Clarke Quay Central! It was so nice to just chill there, watching the world go with bustling Clarke Quay in the distance.

Staycation tip: If you’re sharing a room and want to save time, check if your hotel gym has shower facilities. Many of the hotels we had been to overseas have them and they are usually quite well equipped. Paradox Singapore’s gym also has excellent shower rooms, complete with towels, hair dryers and even a steam room. We let the girls use the room’s bathroom while hubs and I used the gym's. I even snuck in a ten-minute break in the steam room. It almost felt like I was vacationing in Bali! So if you don't want to 'queue' for the toilet in your room, do make use of your hotel's gym's shower facilities if they are available!

And here's a shot of the gorgeous night view from our balcony before we turned in for the night 🥰

The weather was much better on our last day with sunny skies at last! We had another very enjoyable buffet breakfast and this time the live station was serving prawn noodles. The prawns were fresh and the broth so good (though a tad too spicy for me 😅).

Thereafter, we headed to Fort Canning Park, just a 5-10 minute walk from the hotel. If you cycle, there are rental bikes near the hotel and further down the river towards Eu Tong Sen Street. It’s really lovely to cycle by the river early in the day when it’s cooler and less crowded.

This was my girls’ first time at Fort Canning Park, and they loved exploring the huge park!

I also visited the Fort Canning Heritage Gallery for the first time. It's interesting, beautiful and free! 😁 The air-con in the gallery was also much appreciated on a hot day.

We even spotted a paradise tree snake during our walk!

If you're at Paradox Singapore for a staycation, Fort Canning Park is definitely worth checking out for its beautiful greens and historical artefacts.

It was actually impossible to cover everything the huge park has to offer within the hour we had. If we had more time, we would have love to cover more of the park. Other attractions worth checking out in the vicinity include the Civil Defence Heritage Gallery and Central Fire Station, which are also a short walk from Paradox Singapore. The Central Fire Station has guided tours on Saturdays, and both are definitely worth adding to your staycation itinerary!

After an hour of exploring Fort Canning Park, we headed back to check out at 12pm, which is already better than the usual 11am check-out at many hotels. We lingered a little longer at Clarke Quay Central, enjoying cold drinks and dessert at Starbucks before wrapping up our staycation.

By now, you might be wondering about prices. Hotel room rates, of course, vary depending on peak periods - whether it’s weekdays, weekends, or public holidays - as well as how early you book. At the time of writing, a quick check on Paradox Singapore’s website for an upcoming weekend in June shows a Premier Two Queen room only at around S$390 per night (after tax and service charge), while that of a Premier Two Queen with Balcony which we stayed at is about S$410 per night.

The Family Escape with Breakfast offer we chose, which includes breakfast and a welcome gift, is priced at around S$590 (after tax and service charge) for a Premier Two Queen room, and about S$630 for the Premier Two Queen with Balcony room. This package is available for booking from 2 March to 30 June 2026, with stays valid from 2 March to 31 December 2026. Of course, there are other offers you can explore on their website too!

If you have a smaller family, you can also opt for one of the smaller rooms like the Premier King room (with maximum occupancy of 3) which costs around S$240 per night after tax and service charge. But do note that children aged 12 and above are considered adults at the hotel.

And here’s some good news! I have a discount code to share with my readers🎉 Use code: VIVIANTEO5 to enjoy an additional 5% off all rate plans. This discount is valid across all room types for bookings made up to 30 June 2026, with stays valid until 31 December 2026. To redeem, simply enter the promo code at the top of the booking page like this:

All in all, we had such a fun staycation at Paradox Singapore. The room was comfortable for a family of four and we thoroughly enjoyed the hotel breakfast, pool and gym. The vibrant Clarke Quay area, with endless dining options and easy access to malls and Fort Canning Park, made Paradox Singapore a fantastic choice for a family staycation.

Ah that's the life.

For more pics and vids, do see my Instagram post and IG Stories in my IGS highlights at VivianTeoWriter!

Thank you, Paradox Singapore, for having us! Paradox Singapore is located 20 Merchant Road, Singapore 058281. Tel.: +65 6337 2288.

Disclaimer: This review was made possible by Paradox Singapore through a media invite. As always, all opinions expressed are our own.

©Vivian Teo. All content and photos are copyrighted to Vivian Teo unless otherwise specified.