The secret suites of Marina Bay Sands

Marina Bay Sands hotel in Singapore has some very secretive rooms and suites that are not bookable to the general public. This has led to my curiosity raging.

The 3 towers, each 57 stories high, are topped with an infinity swimming pool that hangs over the edge and look down on the city below. It is certainly my favourite hotel and I have been fortunate enough to stay on more than a few occasions. But let’s take a closer look.

Marina Bay Sands at night, as seen through the Helix Bridge

The full range of suites at Marina Bay Sands in order of expense is as follows: Orchid Suite, Marina Suite, Bay Suite, Sands Suite, Singapura Suite, Straits Suite, Istana Suite, Merlion Suite, Presidential Suite, and Chairman Suite. As far as I can see, only the entry-level Orchid Suites (of which there are many) and the slightly more prestigious Marina and Sands Suites can be booked online. How you can experience the rest of them is anyone’s guess!

The living room of the Chairman Suite

Unusually, at Marina Bay Sands, the Chairman Suite is considered a step up from even a Presidential Suite. I believe there are 2 Presidential Suites, and a sole Chairman Suite. Of course, no normal person can ever afford these prestigious suites, but I am interested to learn a bit more about them.

The entry-level Orchid Suites are each 97sqm. The Sands Suite is 145sqm and can be booked with city or garden view, and also comes equipped with either a pool table or media room, whereas the Marina Suite is 196sqm, situated on the 50th floor and above, and comes with your own Jacuzzi bathtub overlooking the Gardens by the Bay.

Presidential Suite

The baby grand of the Presidential Suite

The Presidential Suite at Marina Bay Sands is a whopping 509sqm and comes with 3 bedrooms, 2 living areas, a furnished balcony, a dry bar and pantry, as well as a media room, a study, and a baby grand piano!

The Marina Bay Sands Chairman Suite is a gargantuan 629sqm and features 4 bedrooms (each with their own furnished balconies, powder rooms, walk-in closets, and Jacuzzis), two living rooms, a dry bar and pantry, an exercise room with dedicated areas for massage and sauna(!), plus a media room, a study, and a grand piano!

I once emailed Marina Bay Sands prior to my stay with them and enquired about the specifications of the “secret” suites that are not listed on their website. They wished me well for my stay and answered my other questions but didn’t mention anything about the “secret” suites. I am talking specifically about the Bay Suite, the Singapura Suite, the Straits Suite, the Istana Suite, and Merlion Suite.

The Master Bedroom in the Straits Suite

The Karaoke Room in the Straits Suite

From my research, I can find that the Straits Suite is around 330sqm in size and is situated on the 52nd floor. This makes it over twice the size of the Sands Suite and it also includes its own baby grand piano, just like the Presidential Suite. I am also reliably informed that a night in this Straits Suite will set you back S$7000 per night (that’s roughly £3500)! But how is it possible to pay for this suite when Marina Bay Sands do not even list it on their website? Seems a bit strange to me.

More research has led me to these figures for the private suites of Marina Bay Sands: Bay Suites are 138sqm, Singapura Suites are 142sqm, Istana Suites are 213sqm, Merlion Suites are 387sqm, and they all each have 2 bedrooms. I am not totally sure of the exact amenities inside these suites, as I cannot find any detail anywhere online. It seems they really are private!

So many millionaires down there playing baccarat

The secret suites?

I guess with a casino hotel, like MBS is, there will be a lot of high-rollers who are in town simply to gamble away their millions on a few steamy nights in the casino, and it is clientele of such identity that MBS will want to keep ‘suite’ by offering them some amazing deals. All of the suites at MBS that cannot be booked online – I call them “secret” suites – are accessed by a private piazza elevator taking them to a hidden floor (or floors), but I am not sure which floors exactly these are. I doubt we will ever hear any more about these rooms and suites unless we are privileged enough to inherit a fortune!