Capella is an award-winning global brand known for its decadent properties and highly personalized levels of service. The one in Singapore is located on the island of Sentosa, nestled amidst verdant surroundings offering a great deal of privacy. My husband and I were utterly won over during our very first stay here and it became one of my absolute favourite hotels in the country. As such, when an opportunity for a return stay arose thanks to a Traveloka sale, we jumped on it without hesitation!
- Inclusions:
- 1-night stay in One-Bedroom Villa (upgraded from Premier Garden Room)
- Breakfast
- Spent: SGD$584.24
Check-in
Stepping through the doors into the reception area, a friendly staff stationed by the entrance was all ready to welcome and receive us. The staff then brought refreshing Capella Breeze welcome drinks and cold towels for us while we waited. The check-in process was swift and smooth, with the staff gladly informing us that we’d been upgraded to a One-Bedroom Villa (yay for GHA Discovery membership perks). We were then ushered to the driveway where a buggy was waiting to take us there. A splendid start indeed!
Room
Entering our villa, I was instantly blown away by how immense it was. A huge living room, a separate bedroom, a massive bathroom (with a cushioned seat in the centre no less) and our very own private pool (a first for us)! I liked how clean and modern the interiors looked, plus the furnishing and lighting made the spaces feel so cosy and inviting. There was even an outdoor tub and rainshower, though they weren’t entirely appealing to me as they were covered in fallen leaves, along with the rest of the outdoor spaces.
Alas, as much as I wanted to chill out in the pool and on the lounge chairs outside, spending barely five minutes there already drew the attention of a number of insects, including a big mosquito. I hurried indoors and proceeded to paste mosquito patches at just about every entryway in hopes they don’t come inside. No matter, hanging out in such a lovely space indoors while watching the trees gently sway and the rain lightly fall was equally alluring ❤
Generous welcome amenities were placed in our villa while we were out having lunch so we came back to a table full of goodies! Guests can also enjoy complimentary non-alcoholic mini-bar drinks from the fridge.
Turndown service came with pleasant surprises as well, such as a mindfulness colouring book and a petite colour pencil set, something totally different from what we received last time. Apparently, the housekeeping staff also drew us a rose petal bath outdoors but we only realized it the next morning unfortunately. Appreciate the effort nevertheless! The firm pillow I requested for at check-in was delivered very promptly. As for the bed, it was slightly softer than what I’d prefer, but we got to wake up to a fantastic view of the pool and greenery in the morning.
Facilities
The hotel has a whole host of facilities that include three epic swimming pools, a gym and Auriga Spa. As I’ve gone into more details about these facilities in my previous post, I shan’t rehash them here but do feel free to check that out (:
After we were done marvelling at our well-appointed abode, we headed to Cassia restaurant on level 4 for lunch. We dined here for dinner during our previous stay but this time, we wanted to try the dim sum that was only available during lunch.
Our order consisted of shredded chicken and century egg porridge ($10++ for 1 pax), wok-fried carrot cake with XO sauce ($14++ for 2 pax), steamed charcoal buns with black truffle and barbecued pork ($10++ for 2 pieces) and fried rice with preserved olive vegetables ($14++ for 1 pax). The flavours were generally subtle yet fragrant and refined, with nothing too oily or heavy, which was perfectly suited to my tastebuds. We also ordered the same standout cod fish dish with black garlic ($28++ for 1 pax) as we did the last time and it was as soft and flaky as I remember it to be.
For drinks, we had the white yin long tea ($6++ for 1 pax) and morning blossom pearl handcrafted tea ($9.80++ for 1 pax). The former felt lighter and more palate-cleansing while the latter had a stronger fragrance, both of which we enjoyed. The icing on the cake was having a $100 credit (as part of service recovery from the last stay) to offset our bill, incredibly grateful!
Right after lunch was the 20-minute Build Your Own Boba workshop that we’d been eagerly looking forward to! This one-of-a-kind bubble tea drink can’t be found elsewhere as the key ingredients (like the tea, homemade cream cheese and pearls) are only available here. We love the drink so much that we attended this workshop twice across both days of our stay (:
There are a lot more free-to-join workshops and activities for in-house guests (the options change every now and then) so do check out the catalogue from the hotel website or ask any of the staff from the culturist team. Since a few of these workshops were repeated from our previous stay, we didn’t sign up for anything else other than this one.
Next up was afternoon tea (inclusive for all staying guests) served between 3pm and 5pm at The Living Room. This is located right above the reception area that was once a venue for opulent social gatherings of the wives of British soldiers during the war. I always found it intriguing that the lounge at The Barracks Hotel also goes by this same name, a historical connection maybe? Anyway, the menu appears to be on a rotation basis as the items were completely different on the two consecutive days we visited.
Lamentably, the selection was smaller compared to the last time we were here. What remained the same was how unmemorable the food tasted, so if you can’t fit this into your itinerary, you wouldn’t really be missing much. It is a charming space to relax in though, plus they serve complimentary all-day refreshments comprising coffee, tea, juices, hot chocolate and local snacks.
The next morning, we had breakfast at Fiamma restaurant on level 1. It was as phenomenal as the previous time we were here! Guests are treated to a glorious buffet spread on top of an a la carte menu with really tantalizing choices. Some of the ones we found especially delicious were the truffle and smoked caviar eggs benedict, shrimp wonton noodles, laksa, as well as the onsen egg and kaya toast. Fresh juices, including coconuts, and smoothies were on the menu too!
The staff here were super nice and approachable. Some of them checked in with us from time to time whether we’d like to order anything else. Others were on the ball in clearing our empty plates, always doing so with a smile. Such great vibes dining here (:
My overall rating of the experience: 5 out of 5 stars. Another amazing and memorable stay for the books! Our villa was probably the largest we’d ever stayed in thus far and it even came with an outdoor private pool (though this is best enjoyed by those who aren’t too concerned about the presence of insects). Also, I love how thoughtful the team was in making sure we received unique welcome and turndown amenities that weren’t a repeat of what we got the last time. One aspect I believe they don’t get enough credit for is how beautiful the landscaped surroundings are, truly a sight to behold ❤ In terms of food, the afternoon tea is skippable but the breakfast here is easily one of my prime picks for hotel breakfasts in the country. To top it all off, the service staff never fail to make us feel superbly well taken care of (shout-out to Novelia, the duty manager, who made our stay so special!). With so much to offer at such excellent standards, it is no wonder Taylor Swift supposedly chose this hotel as her accommodation for the Singapore leg of her Eras Tour (: Dreaming of the next time we return for yet another stay, perhaps to check out their famed Constellation Room?
If this post helped you in some way and you’d like to buy me a coffee, I’d be incredibly grateful (:
Dania Experiences 