Located at the far end of the island of Sentosa, this hotel truly exudes vibes of an extravagant seaside resort getaway with its vast spaces and gorgeous sea views. Inherently iconic to the brand is its theme of eclectic and unabashed aesthetics (but this seems to have mellowed quite a bit after a recent refurbishment). Anyway, I was surprised to find a fairly decent price on Trip.com for a room here on a public holiday, and since my husband and I came away with a positive impression from our last stay, I thought to revisit this hotel again!
- Inclusions:
- 1-night stay in Fabulous Room (upgraded from Wonderful Room)
- Breakfast
- Spent: SGD$36.93 + $339.35 in Trip coins
Check-in
It was rather packed when we arrived to check in as that happened to be the period when many countries were opening up to travel after the easing of the covid situation. The staff here were warm and helpful, with some offering bottles of water to those waiting in line. The check-in process was smooth and quick, though we were informed that our room wasn’t ready yet. Alas, it became a two-hour wait before we finally received our key cards. Due to some hiccups we encountered during our previous stay, we were offered service recovery in the form of a room upgrade and complimentary breakfast this time, which we really appreciated (:
Room
Our assigned room was once again situated on the 6th floor (out of 7 floors) with a fantastic pool view. It was spacious, comfortable and clean for the most part. However, I did find a black hairpin and what looked like a SIM ejector pin at two separate locations on the carpet floor. In addition, there was black mould in the corners of the shower floor and crusted sediments on the rainshower head. Having said that, these issues were honestly much more bearable than having drain flies buzzing in the room as in our previous stay.
I put in a request for my usual firm pillow via the Marriott Bonvoy app earlier in the morning, so it was all ready and waiting when we entered the room, awesome! The bed was as soft as I remembered it to be (not my preferred) but I slept through the night anyway as I was completely spent from solving Reddot Hunt puzzles with my husband that evening. Turndown service is provided upon request, where housekeeping replenished most of our used items this time.
Interestingly, something really amusing happened during my shower. I attempted to adjust the water pressure by rotating the knob on the crusty shower head but that resulted in a part of the head popping out and making terrifying wheezing noises (the sort of thing that happens just before something explodes). I tried to pop it back in to no avail so I had to make do with a weaker water pressure than what I started off with ): In my mom’s words, “don’t itchy hands”.
Facilities
In my previous post about our stay here, I captured photos and detailed my thoughts about the pool, gym, complimentary spa facilities and dining options on the property, so do check that out if you need to!
We tried two dishes from their in-room dining menu this time as we were feeling peckish mid-afternoon. The sauce from the fusili beef bolognese dish ($26++) was quite decent, just that the fusili was al dente (great for some but I prefer mine softer). We were both impressed by the prosciutto pizza ($26++) though! Crisp dough with not-too-salty parma ham held together by decadently melted cheese, simply delicious. It was a pretty filling meal so we ended up having a smaller dinner at Sabio By The Sea later in the evening.
Breakfast was served at The Kitchen Table the next morning. This time, instead of being a purely a la carte buffet breakfast, it was a semi-buffet with an à la minute menu (certain items were limited to one per person). Despite the crowds that morning, we were seated almost immediately upon arriving.
I was a little bummed to find out that our favourite scrambled eggs with caviar had disappeared from the menu! No matter, they kept the eggs benedict with lump crab cake so we ordered that, along with a laksa. The spread was wide and wonderfully varied, on top of being nicely presented. Generally, most of the food was above average but somehow, I felt the standards were slightly higher the previous time we were here.
In terms of service, the staff were super welcoming and approachable, always with a smile on their faces when they interacted with us. They were also really attentive, clearing our empty plates soon after we were done and promptly topping up dwindling items on the buffet line. Plus points for having fresh juices too! The hot chocolate was bad though so I’d give that a miss.
My overall rating of the experience: 4 out of 5 stars. For the price we paid, this stay packed a whole lot of value indeed. Generous rooms, comprehensive facilities, great-tasting food, thoughtful service – it was an all-round impressive experience. The issues we faced mostly revolved around the state of our room. Certain fittings and furniture were already looking tired and worse, falling apart at the slightest provocation, like the crusty shower head in our bathroom. Housekeeping could’ve also been more thorough in cleaning the room such that we wouldn’t find sizeable items like a hairpin and a SIM ejector pin on the carpet. But the one thing I was very thankful for was that there were no pesky drain flies cohabiting with us this time. The rooms could definitely do with some refreshing, I’d love to be back to check it out when that happens!
If this post helped you in some way and you’d like to buy me a coffee, I’d be incredibly grateful (:
Dania Experiences 