Condo units turned hotels

Some entrepreneurial owners of condominium units are renting out and marketing their properties as hotel rooms, going against regulations set by the Urban Redevelopment Authority. The Straits Times knows of at least four condominium developments with units being rented out on a daily basis.

Marketed as “condotels”, “holiday apartments”, or “hotel-style apartment room accommodation”, the rooms are advertised freely on hostel directories online and personal websites. One website, claiming “award-winning service”, even indicated check-in and check-out times, a $70 key deposit and free wireless internet.

Advertised as the Soho 188 condotel, it is actually known as the Soho 188 condominium development in Race Course Road, near Little India. Other accommodations can be found at Parkview Condotel, officially known as Parkview apartments in Bukit Batok; Braddell Road’s Bradell Regalia and Serangoon’s Avon Park. These rooms are being rented out at between $40 and $150 a day and are popular with students, people here for medical treatment and vegetarian business travelers from Bangladesh who want a kitchen to cook their own food. These lodgers typically rent for a few days, although it can go up to a month.

Owners of this units, like Mr Roger Pay, said they did not know they were doing anything wrong. The owner of four units at Avon Park started renting out his 20 rooms half a year ago when he “received calls from people saying they wanted daily or weekly stay”. The 41-year-old, who told the Strait Times that all but two rooms are currently occupied, charges about $50 to $90 per room each day and has seen “increased popularity over time.” It is the same story for a 75-year-old owner who did not want to be named. He has been renting out units to lodgers who fork out $70 daily.

Mr. Surendra Kumar Sinha, who is in Singapore for colon cancer treatment, rents rooms at a condo unit in Soho 188. He and his wife, both from Bangladesh, pay $130 a night.

“It is rather expensive for us, but it is still cheaper than hotels and other studio apartments,” said the 59-year-old, who arrived in Singapore earlier this month.

For Miss Crystal Deleon, who is on a 13-day trip to visit her Singaporean boyfriend, her condotel room brings her many benefits.

“It’s cheaper than a hotel and near my boyfriend’s house, so he can send me back after work,” said the Philippine national, who pays about $70 daily for a room in Braddell Regalia.

The URA is still currently investigating the matter.


By Kristine Lenneth Ranola


The Strait Times

April 18, 2009