From fragrance to budget

Fragrance in 2018

Life has a funny way of repeating itself. Way back in November 2018, my wife and I went on a short break to Singapore, and I decided to book us into one of the Fragrance Hotels—Sunflower, in Geylang. Now, even mentioning the name Geylang might ring a few alarm bells and raise several red flags of all sizes for some, but I thought, “How bad could it be?” Plus, we were on a budget. So, there we were at 10 Lorong 10. Of course, as soon as we checked in, my wife had opinions, lots of opinions. The bed was acceptable—clean sheets, which was crucial—but the shower’s hot water wasn’t great, and to top it off, the floor was a bit sticky. Behind the bed was filthy, like it hadn’t seen a broom in months. Oh, and the phone didn’t work. I swore right then: never again.

Budget in 2021

That, as I mentioned earlier, happened in November 2018. Fast forward to today, and I’m heading back to Singapore, this time with a couple of chess mates, to watch the World Chess Championship match between China's defending champion, Ding Liren, and India's official challenger, Gukesh Dommaraju. I left it to one of my mates to handle the travel and hotel arrangements. Guess where we’re staying? He booked ourselves into one of the Ibis Budget hotels in Singapore, name of Ametrine. I thought, “Great! I’ve stayed at Ibis Styles in KL and Hong Kong before, and while I know Ibis Budget is, well, budget, it’s still got the Ibis name, okay?”

Being me, I wanted to know exactly where this hotel was, so I pulled up Google Maps, zoomed in on Streetview, and—wait a minute—something about this road looked way too familiar. Especially the buildings. I double-checked and had a good laugh when I realised: Ibis Budget Ametrine is at Lorong 10, Geylang. Yes, the very same road as that memorable Fragrance Hotel. And the building's number along the road? Confirmed number 10. Yup, the very same address: 10 Lorong 10.

Turns out, yes and no. After some digging, I found out that Accor bought up the Fragrance chain not long after my stay and rebranded them as Ibis Budget. They even tore down the old four-storey Sunflower building and replaced it with a brand-new six-storey structure on the very same spot, reopening in 2021. So, here I am, about to step back onto the same road with fresh hope that this time, my Geylang stay won’t let me down... Keeping my fingers crossed! 

PS. Not travelling with the wife this time. It's fully a chess-infused trip. Besides which, she says my activities in Singapore are too boring for her!