Member Update - as of 3 December 2010

I have not had a chance to get to the club recently as we just came back from a holiday. One member did update us. Here's what Keith wrote last week:

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Hi all

Let me just put in my 2 cents worth here.

What is usable today:

Swimming pool

Gym

Toilets

Changing room

Members lounge

Card room (mahjong)

Car Park

What is not convenient:

Members must walk from the changing room to pool via the entrance of the club at the basement car park, take a lift to the mezzanine floor and walk from there to the pool – it’s a long walk to go to the pool because the glass house isn’t ready. When the glass house is ready, there will be direct access from the changing room to the pool via the glass house.

What puts me off:

The whole club now looks like a German war bunker, with corridors upon corridors, it feels like a bomb shelter, or a scene from a first person shooter like Doom (if you’ve played Doom, you’ll understand). It feels unfinished, unpolished, and a real slap in the face for members who have supported the club. If this is how the management treats its members, I don’t wanna know how it’s treating its staff, suppliers, or hotel guests. I definitely won’t recommend anyone else to join this club or even stay as a hotel guest.

As a social club – it’s not ready for prime time. But if you want to have a workout or a swim, or free parking for 3 hours, it’s OK. Is it worth the monthly fee? Probably, if you use the pool and gym on a regular basis. Oh, and by the way, you need to climb a flight of stairs to reach the gym from the changing room – so it’s extra exercise right there.

The floor looks like it hasn’t dried out, and the signs on the wall (Toilet, changing room) are basically pieces of A4 paper pasted on the wall with sellotape. If you want to impress somebody, bring this person to the hotel lobby and say that this ‘used’ to be the club area which you’re a member of. Don’t bring this person to the actual club area (bunker), because it’s not impressive, in fact it’s depressing. No sunshine, no internal décor, no flash.

Oh, and there’s a dilapidated pool table covered with an ugly tarpaulin right smack in the member’s lounge. Why is it covered? Because the table is in a shite condition. I’m surprised it’s even there.

I met a member there who doesn’t want to bring his kids to the club right now because there is still construction work going on. So if you wanna swim, consider bringing a hard hat along.

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Recent Comments by Visitors to this site...

Anonymous said on November 16, 2010 9:06 AM ...

"Thanks for the details. I wonder if we will be paying full monthly membership subscription fees from now....."

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Chris said on November 14, 2010 8:26 PM ...

"We have been quiet observers for the past 2 years, choosing to leave things in the good hands of the management.

Were there yesterday. Didnt expect a pool table and ktv room, we had lowered our expectation to only a one gym club so we're happy, in an ironic way though.

I think the management should provide members more info like a club layout so we know what's installed. It is common sense management politics, goes a long way.

The furnishings can be perfect but that's not our concern now, reflecting at the no. of chances the management had to improve it's handling of members worries us."

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Anonymous said on November 1, 2010 8:22 PM ...

"Thanks for the update. The new place looks good, except The Hotel Guests Only thingy is...........(maybe hotel guests and members only will be more friendly). Was all ready to go for the gym today and was told over the phone that it will not be ready till 12th Nov. Disappointed. Had terminated membership with other gym. Now will be gym-less for next 11 days. This is madness, why am I still paying the monthly subscription. Should have ask Nov 2010 or Nov 2011."

Legends Fort Canning Update: 14 November

Hi Folks,

I did not make it on the 12th. The family and I did manage to make it on the evening of the 14th though. Here are the pics...

The new Members' "Club Entrance" on B1. Note that their are about 5 "Members Parking" spaces near this door (past the Elevator). So do go all the way in...

Upon entering, there is a Reception counter on the right and this hall way up ahead. At the end of the hallway, there is a wall. Apparently this is temporary and will be gone as this area will open up into a lift lobby. This lift will take us up to the "Glass House".

BTW, Just behind Reception is the Playroom. It is not yet ready for play, though my kids wanted to get all over the arcade games that were not plugged in.

So at the end of that Hallway, a left turn leads to this wet area (I don't think it is supposed to be wet). These are the locker and shower rooms on the right side. The left side is that temporary Lift Lobby area that is still under construction.

After passing the Men's Lockers, here is the Men's Dipping Pool and Sauna on the left. There might be a Steam Bath on the left.

Lady's Locker Room - (the only time I will be in here, I promise).

Lady's Dipping Pool and Sauna on the right. Definitely Steam Bath on the left.

Pass the whole locker area and around a bunch of dizzying hallways, we get to the Member's Lounge. Not sure if this is a temporary thing or what until the Glass House gets finished, but my wife was asking "How can we put 1,000 members in here?"

The Gym has been changed around a bit. The area that was the Studio has been opened up and the cardio machines are there. I guess this is so that runners and cyclists can watch the greenery and people watch the path.

The Studio has been moved towards the end of the Gym. All walls and pillars are glass. I got confused when I saw five of me looking at me. I will dub this the "Hall of Mirrors".

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Well, that's it for now. I guess you can say it's "Open" since they have a staff sitting at reception, but it is not "Open for business" as there is not much you can do there as a Member. On the 13th, 17 members signed in to the Guest Book and on the 14th, 23 members did so.

And so we wait...

Legends Fort Canning Club - NOT READY

After the mail/email by the Club in mid October, I was pretty excited about the opening on 1st November. Last night, I asked my wife if we should go work out at Legends instead of Seletar Country Club where we have been social members since we became Legends-In-Exile. My wife said "What if the club was not ready? Where would we go to change and get dressed for work? Better not." Damn, I hate it when she is right...

I went to the Club before work today at around 9:30 and here are the pics...

The carpark is more or less the same.

I was getting excited. "The Glass House"

The Stairs have been done up. Black carpet ahead...

The Lobby area is now a bar.

The Hotel Lobby is nice and cozy.

Though somewhat forbidding...

Ground floor rooms get a little outside sitting area...

The Pool is nice and inviting....

Wait! What's this? The Glass House is still wrapped up like a present!

Putting on a borrowed hard-hat, I went on a little exploration...

I don't think the Glass House will be ready on 12 November as per the email from the Club today. But other parts may be ready, so I also took a wander through the area underneath the Glass House (formerly known as the Tennis Court)...

Members Entrance from Basement 1 Carpark

The New Members Lounge

The New Playroom. Lots of space for my kids.

The New Techno Gym Gym. The View is not as pretty as the last Gym. It is in the basement after all. Good looking equipment though.

The Fitness Room has a view of the greenery on the outside. You can also people watch people on the walking path outside.

The Card Rooms are all set.

Men's Lockers

Men's Showers. There's a dipping pool behind me - no water there yet.

View of Glass House from Below.

That concludes The Tour my friends. The carpark system has not been registered so you have to ask the Front Desk for a complimentary ticket. The Hotel Staff was very nice. They offered me a coffee in the Hotel Lobby, but I declined. "Hotel Guests Only" you know...

Well, I will update you on the 12th of November. Bright and early with my gym gear!

Latest Updates: 28 August 2010

I stopped by the Club on Friday to check out what has been done- following the mail last month.

Here are the latest pics (click the images to see larger version in more detail!):

Not much has changed at first look. The glass on the hotel rooms are in. They must be doing the fitout inside.

Looking down the front, we see some changes. We see that it is no longer an open area; there seems to be some steps outside of the Cafe....

Closer inspection shows a series of room-like structure(?). Perhaps they are going to be small private seating areas? Private Dining room? Massage rooms? I don't recall these structures in the drawing we were shown here. and more recently here. Hmm....... I wonder if they will "belong" to the members' 51% or is it the public's 49%.

Ah Hah! That damn "Grand Marquee" is gone. The circus has left the building... That bit of revenue is gone.


Looking on the other side, we see that construction on the Glass building has begun...

Closer inspection reveals "the entire Glass Block steel structure has been completed and the concrete floors have been put in" as per the Club email on 30 July. That email also mentions that they "expect the Club to be fully open in the last quarter of the year, barring any unforeseen circumstances..." Holding my breath... NOT!

Other status updates emails from the Club earlier are here:
18 June 2010
31 May 2010
26 April 2010

Interestingly, in all these updates, there was no mention that the club has hired a new General Manager: Anthony O'Neill. Anthony is a veteran hotelier and has been GM at many properties around Asia. He has already updated his LinkedIn profile as "General Manager Hotel Fort Canning & Legends Club".

Me thinks we would like to hear from Anthony on these Club updates rather from "the Management".

Discussion Archive - 2009-06-15

The Discussion Forum deletes older posts... So I am keeping an archive and posting it up:

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May 8 2009, 9:03 PM
Anonymous (guest): i thimk what the management is doing is very unfair to its members, we have no idea how long there will be a delay. We can't use the local club and most of us may not even want to go to the JB Club

May 8 2009, 9:04 PM
Anonymous (guest): there appears to be no progress in the renovation at all

May 9 2009, 3:15 AM
Linda (guest): yup, no renovation at all. guess our monthly fees goes to the club for them to use in other investments

May 9 2009, 3:18 AM
Linda (guest): imagine with the amount of money we give for the monthly fees to them and when club re-opens, I bet the fees will be double...but what can we say???

May 9 2009, 10:12 PM
Anonymous (guest): Just received the club bill, bingo...$85. Never used the club in Malaysia and probably never will, nice charge. Love the comment of Mr Oh in the Straits Times about a club providing service with its members in mind. With Herbert Hofer gone there is no club manager so I guess our concerns need to be directed to the club CEO, Mr Oh. After all he is also the Managing Director of the Malaysia branch that is charging us with the Arnold Palmer golf course.

May 9 2009, 10:56 PM
Anonymous (guest): Think we should organised a members' meeting with the MD....at least most of our concern and doubts can be clarify direct from the horses mouth...

May 10 2009, 2:53 PM
Anonymous (guest): I definitely agree that we should ask for a meeting with the Mr Oh. What we are asking is transparency and information on what is happening. We are paying club fees to a club that is closed, we are invonvinienced by paying gym memberships, the club membership we paid for provides zero services in Singapore. If the club owner would like to run a 5 star hotel where the club is that is fine with me but we need our club facilities back. I hope that Mr Oh will understand this.

May 10 2009, 3:23 PM
Anonymous (guest): Quote from Mr Oh in The Straits Times: 'We may be a proprietary club but we are still committed to providing good service and running a good club'. Dear Mr Oh, if you, your staff or lawyers are reading this blog: how can this be when the club is closed and and there is zero service towards its members apart from a monthly bill? Please be transparent and let us know what is happening. Silence on the matter breeds dissatisfaction and makes matters worse. Please communicate with the members.

May 10 2009, 11:16 PM
Jerry (guest): I am afraid that I had these guys pegged all along. Poor Herbert was the fall guy for these characters. He had enough integrity so get fed up and walk. It wasn't easy for Herbert, as he feels that he is abandoning his staff, and that he let us members down. In the end, he had to put his family and personal integrity first. I, for one, was very hard on Herbert. Now, we need to channel our venom towards Mr. Oh as in the number "0". I suggest that us members start bombarding him with e-mails ASAP!

May 18 2009, 12:17 AM
Anonymous (guest): According to Herbert's March letter the club is to receive approval from the URA in May this year. It is May 18th I guess the URA reply should be in soon. Since Herbert is no longer with the club let's see whether the club onwers will be communicating with us soon.

May 27 2009, 2:34 AM
Jerry (guest): Still no news from the club. I am going to call over there this week and speak to the PR lady. I am sure that we will not get any kind of definitive information, just the normal stonewalling, but I will make the call anyways. I am also going to take a drive over there so see if they have done any construction pertaining to us members. I will fill everyone in on what I find out, if anything.

Jun 3 2009, 4:34 PM
Jerry (guest): At last, some good news to report. I spoke to Amy, the PR Manager at the Legends today. The club is on schedule to open in November or December. The new restaurants will open in September or October. The real big news is, they have finally started building the foundation for the new clubhouse (the glass house). I went by to check it our myself. Next time I will take some photos. So, for the time being, it looks like we will be back in action. Evidently, the URA approved the new construction plans.

Jun 5 2009, 2:31 PM
Anonymous (guest): Great to hear it!

Jun 6 2009, 1:10 AM
Anonymous (guest): Great news, hopefully the club management will officially update us this month. If the club opens in November/December it would be good, it would be good to get reduced membership or other benefits linked to the one year closure.

Jun 8 2009, 6:30 PM
Jerry (guest): Reduced membership? From Mr. Oh and his gang? You have a better chance of going to New York City and getting a French Kiss from the Statue of Liberty. I will be happy just to see the place open up again, and a good club to frequent.

Jun 8 2009, 8:59 PM
linda (guest): I was there on Sun afterday, yesterday and the tennis court still is standing there without a trace of construction. Both the pool is filled with green dirty water. Best of all - I saw staff getting ready for dinner/wedding function. Joe took some pictures and probably will upload them this week for all to view. Jerry hope you are right that they will start the clubhouse reno soon

Jun 11 2009, 1:23 AM
Anonymous (guest): No point hearing it from the PR lady....

Jun 11 2009, 1:26 AM
Anonymous (guest): No point hearing it from PR lady....as she is from the same "herd"...if the tennis court is still around, chances are, don't think they can make it in Nov/Dec. Think we should ask for latest update from the management since the last time we gotten the mail...shit!

Jun 13 2009, 1:52 PM
Jerry (guest): I may not have been clear in my report on the construction. My fault. Under the tennis court, there is a hollow storage area, or an old open room. They are shoring up the base underneath, including the pylons and the base, to support the foundation for the new clubhouse. If they do not strenghten the support as they are doing now, then the area around the tennis court will not support the foundation and the new structure. If the area at the tennis court was solid underneath, then this wouldn't be neede

Jun 13 2009, 1:54 PM
Jerry (guest): I did witness this contruction myself under the tennis court, so it is actually happenning. They should be able to get it done by the end of the year, as long as there are no further delays.