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Third staycation
posted : Sunday, February 06, 2022
Third staycation!
(Which happened a good 4 months ago hahahaha) Parkroyal at Pickering had been on my radar too for a while. For record, my ultimate bucket list is Fullerton Bay haha but that’s another story for another day. PRP’s architecture from external appeals even to me so I was always quite keen to experience the interior, pictures looked quite good already. Booked this to utilize my SingapoRediscover vouchers. Ever since I get to know about the concept of club rooms/lounges in hotels I had wanted to try out for a staycation (really 贫穷限制了想象lol) so found a good rate off Traveloka during one of their sales, and after applying voucher it was even better so went ahead to book. This was originally going to be a birthday staycation too, but eventually got postponed because of Heightened Alert. So no birthday amenity too oh well. But at least it didn’t get postponed again, and situation stabilized (or we just really started to be at peace with it) such that I was able to have the full experience, somewhat. Even for breakfast. Again checked in on a Sunday and took one day off on a Monday, because that’s the only way to keep myself sane these days with well spaced breaks. No pre-arrival emails again so duly made my way down just past noon to see if I can score an early check in, which it worked out again. I think service was slightly better although I think I am not the kind that will make things difficult for people. Up in my room in no time. Pics to tell the story.
 Designated room door photo  Room overview  If I had any complaints, it's that the toilet is a bit narrow. And dark.   Bed  I actually loved this bay window seating  Desk/dresser  Empty mini bar but Nespresso machine seems to be the standard provision in every hotel now  Care pack with masks and wet wipes too Absolutely loved the room. Minimalistically modern (I don’t know if I am describing it right?) but big fan of the wood tones in general. View, well I didn’t make any special requests so it wasn’t great but passable la.  View from one side Again, not much activities for a hotel in the city so reported to gym and pool, and made sure to make time for afternoon tea session in the lounge in between. Which meant a lot of trips back and forth to the room and attire changes lol.  First order of business is gym  It's a good gym, but I still think Andaz's view is better. Not many people gymming at 2pm in the afternoon lol  Pool is right next to gym, photo taken earlier when it's not my slot  From the pool itself during my slot  Walked a bit in the herb garden The lounge was where I was initially appreciative of the service, because right off the bat they informed me that one of the tea items is beef and asked if I would be fine with it, to which they offered a swap of items when I told them I couldn’t. But other than that I didn’t feel that they were super proactive or anything.  Lounge entrance  Pretty consistent interior design throughout the hotel  View from lounge  High tea. Decent food, though nothing really stood out Returned for evening happy hour session. I think the food is decent actually, though for some reason I didn’t have much stomach for alcohol so I only ended up ordering one single cocktail and that’s it. I think the servers were a bit surprised and there was also a tinge of regret from my end for not milking my moneys worth, but oh well I am not one that enjoys alcohol anyway.  Had cheese plate. Which I regret a bit coz..I am not quite sure of the etiquette hahaha. And the other food items which I didnt take much photos of, including the desserts which I had later  Cocktail  Watching as day turns to night  Night at the lounge  Night views Bit of a soak in the bathtub and called it a night, which had became super stormy by then. Overslept the next morning and I think I was about 15minutes late for breakfast. Was offered to either have it in the lounge, but with fewer selection (they used to have champagne breakfast but have taken away the champagne I heard) or to have it down at the restaurant but it will be a full buffet. Easy choice. Because when was the last time I had a buffet breakfast?  From the buffet line - point and they serve.  Ordered pancakes Didn’t take too many photos of breakfast. But any resemblance of the old normal is something to cherish, and pre-covid I have had buffet at Lime a couple of times and enjoyed them. The breakfast was decent, in terms of spread. Service was so so. As usual tried to extend my stay for a bit and as usual didn’t quite work out - managed a 2 hour extension and that’s about it. Not that there are many things to do, so booked another pool slot, and just lazed in the room for a bit.  To be honest, neither pool sessions were particularly enjoyable coz too many kids.  Started out in good weather  And by the end of the hour the storm clouds were gathering  And full scale storm by the time I got back to my room Overall, a better stay as compared to the Oasia one, and one that I don’t mind returning to if price is right. Purely for the interior hahah.  Ok exterior is fine too. Labels: around singapore, holidays |
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Staycation 2
posted : Friday, October 08, 2021
Second staycation!
In the end, it was memorable only because I had to shift the dates, and got too tired to shift it a second time when it got affected by no dine-in rules.
Traveloka were running a lot of promotions on a weekly basis to catch people who still have not utilized their $100..which was a smart move. People rushing to meet the deadline (although it eventually got extended). But in the end what they didn’t see coming was the outbreak suddenly losing control and so they had a lot of work to do to handle all the reschedulings, refunds and what not, precisely because they attracted a lot of customers during this period. So I was one of those who got enticed by the low prices. On one fine day when I managed to secure a club room at Oasia Downtown for just over $80, without even needing to utilize the $100, I thought I had won. Then a couple of weeks before my stay…well. You read what I had written above. In my mind, when there’s already so limited things that can be done on a city hotel staycation, no dine in and closure of club lounges to be confined in the hotel room made no sense so I wanted to reschedule it. Granted, the terms for the promotion meant that there were to be no rescheduling or refund but the platforms made an exception, so it’s either a refund or receive a voucher to be used at the particular hotel. I cancelled, received the voucher, and duly used it to rebook 2 months down the road..pretty safe, I thought.
For a while it seemed so. Businesses reopened as planned, numbers came down…then suddenly another spike sent us back to P2HA, this time just one week before my planned stay. By then I got fed up and decided to just go for it because there doesn’t seem to be any guarantee that another reschedule won’t be met with similar issues. That, and me wanting a break.
Slightly different to the last staycation is that I chose to check in on a Sunday and check out on a Monday, so took one day of leave. Which I needed to clear anyway. Didn’t try asking for early check in this time but decided to just show up early at 1230pm to see if they will let me in, which they did. I imagine rooms were not full coz people would have been rescheduling left right center. Service was brisk at best. Didn’t feel any love sigh, not that I tried very hard (for instance asking for upgrades) to begin with. Was informed on the happy hour arrangements, bookings for club level pool, and also ordering the next morning’s breakfast. Half tried to ask for two servings (since it’s free breakfast for two) but was denied unfortunately, sigh y’all really can’t be bothered to get into customers good books. Then off to the room I go.  24th floor, which is already the second highest floor  Entranceway  Toilet on the left  The room  Mandatory photo of the coffee amenities  View from room  Another view from the room So I basically spent the whole afternoon lazing around in room, watching Olympics. Something I can easily do at home but let’s not go there hahaha. Until my pre-booked pool slot at 5pm. Pool rocks. First it’s an exclusive pool for club room guests only, then there’s only that many club room guests during this time so other than a couple (who left shortly after I came), I had the entire pool to myself. Not that I can swim but it’s still nice to splash around and try to float without having anybody around to judge lol.  Club pool  Chilling by the pool Back to room for happy hour. In normal times this would be in the club lounge with canapés served but now it’s a roving bar going room to room, and they will visit each room twice. Mine came at close to 7pm, which I snapped up snacks and their (very limited) assortment of hot food, and drinks of course.  Thought the sandwich and prawns are not bad though, even if it's something you can easily just whip up from a frozen package or sth  Sipping wine while watching Olympics  Evening views from room  Sunday night CBD  Passed by pool at night Next morning - breakfast was due to come in at 9am so got up earlier. Disappointment was the only way to describe the breakfast though. It came cold (despite them having advanced notice of the time to serve) and not even having that many guests. So much so that I left a feedback documenting my disappointment, but other than a standard reply I didn’t get anything else so yeah.  Waking up to the view  Breakfast Since pool will most likely be empty I decided to book another slot the night before for a post breakfast dip, and asked for late check out. Again, they couldn’t be bothered - just a token 1 hour extension to 打发 you. So after my post breakfast dip, just hung around in the room researching for lunch options and checked out when the time comes. I think you get the drift. Overall theme was disappointment, because they definitely could have done more for those who stuck with them during this period, but they chose not to. They knew it’s already a depleted experience with restrictions in place, but couldn’t be bothered to do more to help guests make the best out of it. It’s an opportunity lost, and not somewhere I will return. Labels: around singapore, holidays |
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Staycation
posted : Friday, November 20, 2020
So staycations are the current in thing now that overseas travel is still not quite possible. I did want to go for one back before CB even started, having watched maybe one too many of those luxury travel on a budget videos which got me all inspired to get into miles collection (though I would say I didn’t put in too much effort beyond what I have been doing). Now that hotels are reopening and there are deals left right center plus a major need to have something other than work to look forward to, it’s more of a question of where and when, and not if. Where - have my sights set on Andaz a long time ago. New, looks classy and modern and pretty affordable too - there’s a pretty good deal on Klook so snapped it up when it reopened for staycations (for some reason they were like a month behind most other hotels). Did it solo because no family around to do with me and no significant other either oh well. Did have some reservations on the awkwardness of it all but as usual it wasn’t really that big of an issue for me. And the unwillingness to take leave - amazingly I don’t have any that I need to clear - means I booked a weekend night on a higher price. The day arrived and for a start, you really do get a feel that you are going away for a holiday (I reflected later on and it felt maybe more like preparing for a weekend trip to JB or something) - packing essentials, securing house etc. Official check in time is at 3pm but given the situation, they do stagger check in timings but I think you have to ask in advance - and if you are lucky like me, you will get it - I ended up with a 11am check in timing which is more than what I bargained for so I didn’t request for late check out, too. Arrived on the dot and there’s very few people around so within 10 minutes I am up in my room ooh-ing and aah-ing.  Liking this door lock design  One of the first good impressions of the overall modern decor of the room.  All for myself hee  View from room, didn’t pay extra for the city view rooms. Low key annoyed by the dots tho.  Pantry area with nespresso machine  And the complimentary mini bar which of course I brought home everything lol Plan for the afternoon was to go the gym LOL. It being a hotel in the city meant there’s not much you can do as compared to say a resort in Sentosa. The only leisure facilities they have is a pool and gym, and also a lounge for all-day refreshments (used to include alcoholic drinks, but no longer offered during this period). So gamely decided to skip lunch and have a heavy breakfast instead, so that I would be able to exercise early afternoon while late afternoon was reserved for pool - more on that later. Lazed around in the room till gym time. It’s on a first come first serve basis, no more than 5 people per one hour slot. What’s slightly irritating is that you have to go down all the way to the lobby to collect a key card and towel for the gym, then go back up to level 38 where the gym is. Guess 2pm wasn’t an extremely popular slot for gym lol so no issues there, and throughout the hour I only had the company of a couple so it’s nice and peaceful. Only that I didn’t try out anything other than my usual treadmill and cycle because I didn’t want to embarrass myself in front of the seemingly seasoned couple heh.  Gym was quite well equipped, I mean this is just the second gym I ever worked out at besides my sad condo gym so everything is an improvement. Like the treadmill  And the view. 10/10 would work out to this kind of view everyday. Pool slot was at 4pm. Story is, each guest is entitled to an hour slot only, with 20 people per slot - and bookings open 72hours prior. Booked 4pm because I didn’t know my check in timing yet when the pool booking slots open, so figured that in a worst case scenario where I couldn’t get a early check in, 4pm should be quite safe. By the time I got my check in timing all the slots are full anyway. But this time Lady Luck or rather the rain gods are not by my side as it drizzled the entire afternoon sigh so pool plans are out of the window.  Not my day, then. With a bit of time to kill before my next scheduled activity at 630pm - decided to order room service for a pre-dinner snack hahah. One of the things included in the package is a $100 F&B credit which I thought I might have issues finishing since I am alone, so room service it is.  It’s a good bowl of laksa though. Headed down to the Sunroom for refreshments while waiting for my pre-dinner reservation. This is where I experienced I guess the only blip in service of the stay - service was almost non-existent here. Judging by reviews this is an anomaly, so guess I was just unlucky. Maybe they had their hands full because of the rainy weather and the guests from the rooftop bar were channeled indoors, I don’t know. But there was no host at the door, nobody bothered coming over to ask for orders, and if waiters appear they are always so busy that they miss your wild hands trying to catch their attention so I actually had to walk over to catch one that was heading away, to place an order. Well it could have been worse like my order didn’t arrive or something, but it did even though there’s nothing to shout about.  Iced lemonade Off to my pre-dinner activity - Mr Stork! Another venue to book in advance especially popular time slots like mine which is when you can catch great sunset views, on a rainless day sigh. I guess I should be thankful that the rain had stopped by now and it didn’t come back so they were able to sit guests in their usual outdoors venue - a staff called a couple of hours earlier to inform me that they may have to move us indoors (the indoor bar at level 25) if the rain continued and asked if I wanted to give up my reservation, which I declined of course. Turns out to be the right call. 1.5 hours per reservation because of current conditions and maybe because of its popularity, but that’s all right. A bit pricey though, but thank you F&B credits.  Baked portobello and a drink to go along  Night views  Looking towards the Bugis area Off to dinner! Initially wanted to dine at 665degreeF, but place is way too popular (think you have to reserve a month in advance) so couldn’t quite get a seat by the time I checked (only managed to get Mr Stork). The only other alternative is Alley on 25, which was surprisingly quite empty by the time I got there.  Lemon creme brûlée was good, not sure about the coconut tuille though. Still quite early by the time I finished dinner, so even though I paid for the room I decided to just hop on a quick train ride to my favorite spot in the city to hang out for a bit, before calling it a day.  Interesting architecture  The latest attraction in town Morning after - breakfast! Another activity I have been looking forward to. Self service buffets are out of the question these days and they are now replaced with alacarte buffets. Package includes breakfast for two and so I decided not to put the second portion to waste and invited a friend over for breakfast. Here’s where maybe there’s another blip in service even though it’s maybe more understandable - orders get mixed up and in some cases, completely forgotten. Maybe due to the scale of it all - the number of guests and the fact that most items are unlimited servings. But I guess I stuffed myself enough (it doesn’t take much these days) to not worry about those forgotten ones.  The waffles were decent  Breakfast buddy About 11am by the time we finished breakfast and not much time to do anything else, so headed up to room to chat, and pack up. And that’s the staycation! Pretty enjoyable and I filled it with enough activities to keep myself occupied and not coped up in the room all the time. It may be strange to even do one considering that I am living alone to begin with and everyday is almost like a solo staycation haha but like I said maybe it’s the process leading up to it and the looking forward to it that makes it different. And maybe we all really do miss the old normal so this is something that somewhat resembles it. Will I do it again? Maybe...there’s a $100 voucher coming up next :) and I do still have a couple of hotels on my bucket list. Labels: around singapore, holidays |
