I have stayed at this hotel when it was called New Park Hotel and also stayed there after it was refurbished and now called Park Royal Hotel. Let me tell you there is a lot of difference in the quality of rooms. The rooms are now really high class which was not the case before. With the LCD TV, excellent furniture and an exceptional bathroom it really has a class look. The location is good for tourists, it is just walking distance from Mustafa shopping center and little India where most people shop. It is now an ideal place for people to stay.

First up, we booked our stay through a travel agent who used some sort of QANTAS holidays booking process to get us rooms at a rate considerably cheaper than some other reviewers describe. I'd recommend doing this.

You will either love or loathe the hotel's location in the Little India district. We loved it. Little India was an interesting cultural surprise and as vegetarians we delighted in the many cheap and interesting Indian vegetarian food options around. It is a quick walk to the MRT station so getting around was not problematic. However, if you are coming to Singapore for the shopping rather than the food, or if you are easily offended by unusual food smells or poorly maintained footpaths, you may be better off finding a more central hotel.

Our biggest gripe about this hotel was having booked a double room and then being given a twin instead. Annoying - and I see at least one other reviewer on this site had a similar experience.

Having said that, otherwise the hotel was fine. Comfortable rooms, very polite staff, etc. I would stay there again if in Singapore.

After two weeks at this hotel, I expect I will have some issues that others will not.

Overall, first impressions? Very nice, classy contemporary decor, nice staff, nice room.

The location is slightly away from the middle of things, but the MRT and buses are right next door, so getting around is no problem. I stayed here, as I had no need to be closer into town, so was seeking better value.

Negatives on my trip? Housekeeping calling me on the phone,'because your do not disturb sign is on', to ask if I wanted laundry delivered. Coming back one night to find Housekeeping had left the security bar flipped over on my door, and the room open. Housekeeping calling on a Sunday morning to ask if I had laundry to drop off. Checking in to realise that the room had no desk chair, and the room safe had been locked open by the previous guest. Rather a meagre breakfast for the price of hotel. In two weeks, they only went beyond melon cubes for fresh fruit on two occasions (once pineapple, the other time dragon-fruit), this in a country where tropical fruit is so abundant and cheap. Enquiring if they had any cheese, I was told that it would be charged as an extra. You did get something of a feeling that they provided nothing that you could walk out with. Compare what was on offer with say the Prince Hotel in KL.

I was told that if I checked out early, I would pay one nights room-rate as a penalty. On re-checking this, I was told that this was not so, and offered the managers card in case I had further issues.

I had a good stay, but not sure I'd choose to spend two weeks in this location again. As others have said, I'll add that the cost of hotels in SG is now totally horrendous. After add-ons I was paying over US$200 a night, which even a year ago would have got you something really special.

Good luck to anyone trying to find a hotel during the Singapore grand prix.

p.s. Mustaffa Centre is a must, ended up buying a fridge and washing machine there - definitely good value!

I would not recommend this hotel to anyone. We stayed at this hotel on the way back from Australia. I am so glad it was for less than 24 hours! Immediately on arrival it became apparent that this hotel was very dated and the reception area had quite a depressing look about it with paint work chipped and tired looking. On booking in, there was confusion about whether breakfast had been paid for, for our children (which it had) and this took a while to sort out. We again had this query when we went for breakfast the following morning, but this time it was if any of us had breakfast included! The family room was two adjoining rooms and was dated and tired looking, with wood work chipped and dirty. The curtains were filthy and the sheets had a hole in. The whole presentation was dark, dingy and depressing. One of the robes provided had a stain on the back. The only ok thing about the hotel was the breakfast which the children enjoyed as they could have pancakes freshly cooked. However the ceiling of the restaurant looked like it belonged in a factory with all the pipework exposed. The pool area was ok but all the tables were full of dirty crockery when we arrived for a swim. Overall very disappointing. All of this I will be feeding back to our travel agent.