Okay so this place was very cheap and rated as a two star so my expectations weren't that high in the first place however they were certainly not exceeded. Thankfully I only was staying for one night as transferring through to London the next day, here was my experience.

The hotel is situtated right in the middle of the red light district overlooking brothels and prostiitutes hanging around the streets shouting and talking loudly all through the night. I was a woman on my own, white, blonde and was advised by the taxi driver not to leave the hotel as I would be mistaken for a european prostitute. Upon arrival two men in the lobby were staring at me the whole time I was checking in and I was afraid they would follow me up and see which room I was in.

The room: smelt, was damp and mouldy, pillows were so OLD and had yellow stains all over them which made my stomach turn. The sheets seems freshly laundered however had big greasy stains over them! There were hairs on the bed and there was only a top sheet with a revolting old brown bobbled blanket to put over you. The bathroom had no mini toiletries, just some old bright red liquid soap attached to the wall which was gross. The shower is stuck to the wall next to the toilet with no door or screen and so the water just goes all over the basin and toilet and everything in the bathroom gets wet.

I am certain that this hotel is used by the prostitutes that hang around the street outside so the rooms are used for unsavoury purposes!

No matter how cheap a hotel is, I don't mind if it is basic, all I ask is for a clean bed and pillows to sleep in and for the room to be clean.

I would certainly NOT reccommend this place to stay. I did not feel safe here on my own as a woman and got up and left as soon as I woke up.

NEVER AGAIN at the Hotel Fragrance Ruby!!

As of March 2008, I'd advise anybody booking to be careful. The area is great, lots of local color, and the hotel at first impression definitely delivers a lot of bang for the buck. The room service is great, staff is a bit cold but helpful, and the place looks well-kept. On day 3 of our 5 day stay however, we came home to find 3-5 baby cockroaches in our room. We had seen just one a day earlier and chose to ignore it, but this amount was ridiculous. We checked out immediately and were issued a refund through their Tokyo office promptly. It is a shame, and I hope they clean up their act a bit. The Geylang area is great, and far better than a tourist trap like Clarke Quay.

I choose this area to stay as arrived at Changi Airport at about 1AM without any Hotel reservation and knew that it was a short taxi ride away with a large number of budget Hotels. It served that purpose well but would not choose to stay here for any length of time unless on an absolute budget.
The rooms are small and basic but clean.
The area of the Hotel is very interesting, and whilst is the red light area it is so safe to walk around in busy streets at 3AM. The restaurants are incredibly busy even at that timeand this area has a good reputation for quality / local / budget food. MRT / Train to downtown or Changi airport is a shortish walk away but taxi costs are also moderate and trustworthy.
This is not a tourist really a tourist hotel.

As our travel agent had made a mistake we had to stay in Singapore for 24 hours. They offered us a hotel which had terrible reviews here, so we demanded a better one, and got this.
The rooms are tiny but clean, the staff are very friendly, the area is interesting. Although it's in the middle of the red light district, it is completely safe to walk there, even late at night, which we did with our children. Every Singaporean we met told us so, and we absolutely felt this was true. The good thing about this area is that the cheapest and best restaurants are found here, which we tested and had also heard from people living in Singapore. All in all, not a bad place to stay if you're on a budget. We did hear some noises in the corridor during the night and saw both school parties with really young children and prostitutes check in!