WEEKEND STAYCATION AT CROWNE PLAZA
Crowne Plaza Hotel Changi is one of the must-go places for spotters in Singapore and abroad alike. Located along Terminal 3 of Changi Airport, the hotel offers an incredible view of runway 20R/ 02L, as well as planes parked at Gates B4- B9 if you book the Runway Facing rooms. Cost of a room varies dependent on season and demand, but so far I have not paid over $250SGD per night for the room.
About The Room
Comparing with other airport hotels overseas, The Crowne Plaza Changi is one well-furbished hotel, with a lovely light tan and green colour scheme, a comfortable king-size bed, work table with power points, sofa & Television set. The bathroom comes with both a shower and bathtub, along with full complimentary body wash, shampoo, conditioner, hand soap etc.
Spotting at the Hotel
Now, this is the important part for us plane spotters, conducting our hobbies at the hotel. It is recommended that you do your plane spotting within the room of the hotel. Do not venture outside into the corridor areas to take photos of aircraft as security would ask you to leave. Apparently, photography is not allowed outside at the corridors facing the runway due to security concerns. Shooting from within the room is doable but it does limit your angle of shots due to massive glass distortions. Also, due to the tint on the glass, slight colour corrections are needed in post-processing, as well as exposure compensation while shooting as the glass tint reduces the amount of light picked up by your camera sensor. When booking, remember to select "KING PREMIER RUNWAY VIEW", though you can only request for a higher room floor while at Check-In. From my experience, any room between Levels 7-9 can give you quite a view of the runway. Level 6 rooms are a bit too low for my liking. Lastly, if you plan to do regular staycations + spottings at the hotel, I would recommend you sign up as an IHG member. You could accumulate points and benefit from member perks over the long run. Also, IHG has a wide brand of hotels overseas, and if you are a traveller, that will come in handy as well.
Below are some samples of the angles you can get from the rooms, taken from Room No 908 and 912.
So, if you are an avid spotter, or just looking for a different kind of local getaway, do try the Crowne Plaza Changi, you won't be disappointed. For more info, please visit:
Crowne Plaza Changi Website changiairport.crowneplaza.com
IHG Website