One of our regulars likes the YMCA (or is it a YWCA?) across the street from the Dhoby Ghat MRT. Check it out. Clean, simple, offers breakfast and a great location.

You'll have lots of choices. Take a look at www.agoda.com for good hotel prices. Typically the prices include tax and service and breakfast (but read the fine print).

Back in 2002 I stayed here: http://www.theinn.com.sg/ - in Chinatown - there's now a metro station very close. Well under your price limit, I think, if you book on the 'net, cute and comfy.

i think it is more, but i just stayed at the intercontinental and could not speak more highly about it.... its well located and the club services are to die for...

can you get a freinds and family rate?? i have a link to it...send me a request: rhkonthailand@msn.com
and i well send it to you...its worthwhile!!

RHK- you've got email!

Believe it or not, US$150 does not get you a whole lot in Singapore these days. Is your budget before tax? Hotel tax in S’pore is 7% and most hotels also then add a service charge of 10% or a bit more, for a total tax of 17%-20% depending on the hotel, so do ask. If the rate has “++" after the number, that means the taxes are not included. The YMCA mentioned above, for example, has standard rates which start at US$152 per night (with tax, which is not included in their quoted or published rates so you have to add it in yourself) for their smallest twin room; and they are pretty small. (Although you can stay in a dorm room for less.) You can make up for having to pay more for a hotel by feasting very cheaply and wonderfully on hawker and other food, of course.

It may be a bit early to be booking for Dec and Jan. You may also pay a bit of a premium for hotels over New Year’s Eve and the tale end of Christmas, which is a big travel time in Asia for locals and expats. Hard to say. Put in different dates in booking systems and see if that affects the prices. If it does and you can change your arrival date by a few days, you may want to. (Although I can see the philosophy behind arriving on New Year’s Eve and starting the new year in a new place. But don’t forget you have the new year starting in February with the Lunar New Year.) I think you should also check “main-line” international hotels just to make sure that there are no offers there during your dates. As business hotels like Marriott, Sheraton, etc are not going to be doing business over New Years, they may have offers. Also, I would try to book later if you can, as prices should come down.

I would try the Lonely Planet book and see their “top end” reccos. I would also try asiarooms.com and priceline.com if you are locked into that price. As Singapore is small and has excellent and inexpensive public transport, hotel location is not a big issue, IMO (the extensive bus system, and not just the MTR, should also be considered when choosing a hotel). Also staying someplace like Little India or Geylang, which is the Malay area, is more interesting, IMO, than the tourist ghetto which is Orchard Road. These areas have more budget accommodation and good inexpensive restaurants, so are a good choice from that standpoint.

The YMCA mentioned above has a hotel called the International House at One Orchard Road which is walkable to the MRT and some museums and is a good choice location-wise, IMO. See http://www.ymca.org.sg/ for info; there is another YMCA on Stevens Road, see http://www.mymca.org.sg and a YWCA in Fort Canning, see http://nof.ywca.org.sg. Stevens Road is a bit more residential, but certainly easy to get around from there. Fort Canning is a little bit of an odd location, while in town, it is in a park and is a bit of a walk out to anything. However, it is the cheapest of them all.

I like the Intercontinental a lot, they are showing rates for end December of about US$160 (before tax, with tax you are looking at close to US$190). However, this is in a good location for the ethnic neighborhoods and is again not just a boring Orchard Road hotel. It sits on top of the Bugis Street MTR (although I don’t think that proximity to an MTR is really all that necessary in Singapore if you are already in an interesting neighborhood.) See http://www.singapore.intercontinental.com/. You could look at smaller/less deluxe hotels in this same area, see the Lonely Planet guide for a start.

In Little India you might look at the Perak (http://www.peraklodge.com/), which may be the closest to a “charming B&B”. (Although I have not seen the rooms, the outside always looks interesting to me). They have standard rooms starting at about US$100 and superior and deluxe rooms at US$120 and $142 (before tax). It is in a nice location for Little India, Arab Street, etc. Not your typical boring Orchard Road hotel. (AND you get a discount at Apollo Banana Leaf curry house, which you will want to go to anyway…) Also in that area would be the Ibis, which is a budget hotel, see http://www.ibishotel.com/gb/hotel-6657-ibis-singapore-on-bencoolen/index.shtml. They are showing rates of US$88 (before tax). This would be the opposite of "charming" but probably acceptable I would think.

You could try the Berjaya Hotel (see http://www.berjayaresorts.com/beachresort_duxton.htm), I think it is a little worn, but location is very good for the Chinatown area. You could also try The Inn at Temple Street which is mentioned above (http://www.theinn.com.sg/) this gets some not so great reviews on tripadvisor.com, although there are some good ones too and the above poster seemed to enjoy her stay there 8 years ago.

Great info, all - thanks very much. Yes, clearly Singapore hotels are expensive and $150 doesn't buy all that much, so the specific recs are very helpful. My "limit" really isn't hard and fast - we could spend more - it's more that - by this point in life - we've enjoyed plenty of fancy hotels - and now they seem to offer diminishing returns ... many services that we don't actually end up availing ourselves of . .
and we often have more interesting experiences at the smaller lodgings ... I'll check out the ones mentioned above.

On my most recent visits to Singapore, I've stayed at the Ibis and the Bayview - both on Bencoolen Street - both located near MRT stations - both within walking distance of Orchard Road and Bugis market. Both clean and comfortable.
I'd stay at either again - rate for both were ~$180 SGD inclusive of taxes and breakfast (well under US $150.)

I've also stayed at the YMCA mentioned above (Metropolitan) and I would not stay there again. The YWCA is nearby (Fort Canning Lodge), but I've not tried it.

I have several detailed Singapore hotel reviews on Trip Advisor - I use the same screen name as here if you want to take a look.

Just to clarify the above post, the Metropolitan YMCA, which the above poster did not like, is the one on Stevens Road. The YMCA on Orchard Road is called International House. I have not stayed at International House in decades so can’t comment on current conditions, other than to say that rooms are small (which I don’t believe has changed).

Also, although you are going to be in Singapore during the rainy season, you may want to rethink whether or not you “need” a pool. It’s fairly warm and humid in Singapore all year long, and if you get a series of sunny days in Jan and Feb, you may welcome having a pool. They are very pleasant in the evening as well for a cool dip. Lots of budget hotels have pools so you aren’t necessarily out of the pool market. (There are also public pools, see something like see http://www.singaporeswimming.com/pools for a map and you can choose the nearest locations. Not sure of the requirements for non-residents using them, but it may be worth asking if you do end up choosing a hotel which does not have a pool.)