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I am in Singapore and visiting the world-famous airport hotel, Crowne Plaza Changi Airport Singapore. Why is it world-known? It is quite simply the best! Supported by eight straight Skytrax Awards for the best airport hotel. I will meet Bruno Cristol, the Area General Manager for IHG in Singapore, to learn more. He is French / Italian, so I’m unsure whether to greet him with “bonjour” or “bongiorno.” Bruno is a hotel man through and through. He has 20 years of experience in the Asia-Pacific region and is well-versed in the IHG group and all aspects of Singapore. The city you operate in often benefits from having such a hotel, and vice versa.

I met in the lobby of Crowne Plaza Changi Airport, Bruno Crustal, the General Manager, to discuss the hotel accomplishments and very notably the renovations that will be rolled out in 2023 / 2024. Bruno is the epitome of the hospitality professional that operates in that part of the world. One of Bruno’s steps along the hospitality ladder was as food and beverage manager at the Carlton Hotel Cannes.

Listening to an enthusiastic hotel executive relate their journey and lay out their plans for the hotel’s future is always enjoyable.

He is very enthusiastic about his role, the hotel and the IHG Group. Bruno explains to me the factors driving the success and growth of this beautiful airport hotel. Bruno talks about the Changi Hotel USP’s. Unique selling points. I learnt from my sales days that if you have them, you can count on them and then talk about them. So, we do.

I learned that the Unique points of the hotel are “The Jewel,” good people, room sizes, meeting spaces, wedding possibilities, direct connection to airport terminals, close proximity to T1 and T3, the population living around the hotel, in particular Changi villages, and the prospect of T5. A terminal that will be equal in size to all current terminals! Singapore keeps ahead of the rest, Changi Airport and the lovely hotel. It all seems like a joint effort of excellence.

Mr. Cristol continued to brief me enthusiastically on the hotel. The hotel attracts long-stay businesspeople who use it as a home base and travel around Asia. There are family suites for short to mid-stays—pool Access Rooms of 36 sqm and Runway View Rooms of thirty-six sqm. Plus, the Day Use Room to relax and refresh at reasonable rates.

Jewel Changi Airport is a nature-themed entertainment and retail complex surrounded by and linked to one of Changi Airport’s passenger terminals. He tells me how the Jewel.

Shopping Malls and attractions have become destinations for transit passengers, locals, and hotel guests. When staying at an airport hotel, you may think you must travel far to the nearest shopping mall. No, it is a 10-minute walk from the Crowne Plaza Changi airport. This mall will entertain and satisfy all culinary tastes. We were amazed by the spectacular Rain Vortex, the world’s tallest indoor waterfall, and enjoyed the stunning sound and light show from nightfall. Housing over 280 shops, Jewel takes the retail experience to a new level.

Of course, during our stay, we visited some Singapore attractions such as Maxwell Food Centre and its famous Ah Tai Hainanese Chicken Rice, Marina Bay Sands, Chinatown, Botanical Gardens, etc. All wonderful visits, but we were not expecting that part of our trip would be a day at Changi Airport and The Jewel. Well worth it.

For further information, visit us at https://changiairport.crowneplaza.com/ or https://www.jewelchangiairport.com/en.html.