Our first Staycation probably starts with our wedding night at Ritz Carlton hotel 11 years ago. From then on, we went back to the same hotel almost every year as we love its hospitality and the luxurious room and also the place is a reminisce of our special Big day. In between, we did check out Marriott Hotel, Royal Plaza on Scotts Hotel, Marina Bay Sands, and Festive Hotel. On most times, we chose staycation as an alternative to travelling out of Singapore and did mostly impromptu arrangements. I hardly blog about staycation unless it is family friendly. So as you can guess, how this post came about. We were invited by Far East Hospitality to try out the “Play and Stay” package at Village Hotel Changi and upon hearing what the package had in store for us, I knew we would be having a fun time as a family of 5.
What does the “Play and Stay” Package include?
- 2 days 1 night stay in Village Hotel Changi
- Buffet breakfast
- Complimentary bowling or
- Complimentary 1 hour cycling
- Complimentary Koi Feeding
- Complimentary Hop-on Hop-Off City Tour
- 2 hotel pools to have a dip in – Infinity pool and the Creek pool
- Free wireless
Price? My last check on the website shows SGD170 for a Superior Room 2 Single Bed and SGD190 for a Deluxe Room King Bed! Pretty good deal for all the fun we had!
The STAY
The Rooms
We had 2 adjoining rooms with a door in between. To be honest, this was the first time our family slept in 2 hotel rooms! You must be wondering how we slept in one room in all our previous Staycations! Well, we always arrange for a baby cot for the littlest one. Then, the older kids slept on the sofa coupled to our bed to prevent them from falling. On some occasions, they slept in between us with weird configurations, and on others, they slept on the floor with comforter and blankets. Now that they have grown up, indeed, they will need their own room which means more money spent for us from now on!
This wardrobe is a “walk in” wardrobe for kids, since it can accommodate Missy 10 inside 🙂
I like the view beside the writing desk. Most of the hotels that we went to, hardly have such an awesome nature view. I also like that the hotel room has a comfortable ergonomic business chair, a reading table lamp, a hanging lamp above and a big mirror in front.
More of the awesome view at the balcony
You can see the nearby sea and also watch the birds and aeroplanes by the balcony. As this hotel is so near Changi Airport, we saw planes fly past every 5 minutes.
Room Amenities
This greeted us on the table when we walked in our room 🙂
The bathroom has most of the things that you need and it even has a rain shower.
How about watching TV through the window pane as you relax in the tub?
After exploring the rooms, the kids could not wait to check out the pools! In all our staycations, the pool seems to be the best hangout place for the kids. And they can stay there for hours!
Infinity Pool at the rooftop
We were lucky that there was a solemnisation that day and it was held at the Infinity Pool at the rooftop. I think it is such a perfect and cosy private affair for the best occasion. Isn’t this so beautiful and romantic? 🙂
If you compare the infinity pool at Marina Bay Sands, then this pool is rather small by that standard. However, it is sufficient for the kids to spend hours in there. We were lucky that there was no haze on that 2 days that we had our Staycation! Lucky us!
Creek Pool at Level 1
The next day, the kids checked out the Creek Pool beside the breakfast area.
Isn’t this like a huge fish tank? Look at the “fishes” in there!
Buffet Breakfast at The Saltwater Cafe
This high wall of orchid plants is a lovely decoration piece at the breakfast area. Knowing it is a Far East Hospitality, any hotels under it will certainly have some good standards. Just look at the small details put into decoration and making guests comfortable, you will know.
The breakfast buffet is a fairly good spread of local taste. There is more variety than an executive lounge. I remembered my first executive lounge breakfast was really nothing more than a few pieces of bread and coffee during my business trip to Canada. And so was the time we had executive breakfast buffet in Macau recently. So this was really a bigger fanfare compared to that.
The PLAY
This staycation, being a Play and Stay package put together in one weekend, cramped all the activities that we could possibly do in the 2 days we were there! Thank goodness that we had 2 days of great hazeless weather!
Exploring the neighbourhood of Changi Village
The close proximity of Village Hotel Changi to the famous Changi Village Hawker Centre and Changi beach is a huge plus point for this hotel and for those who yearn for a staycation away from the bustle of city life.
On the first night, we checked out around the Village Hotel Changi. We crossed the road, passed the hawker centre which was a stone’s throw away, and reached Changi point where there were many boats bound for Pulau Ubin. If we had stayed for another night, we would have planned a day trip to Chek Jawa.
We crossed a small bridge and reached the playground near the Changi beach. I had never known of this playground prior. It is quite a huge playground.
A deserted raft on the sandy playground???
On our way back for dinner at Changi Village Hawker Centre, we saw a fisherman selling his catch of the day. The kids were curious and so were we. We stopped to see what he had caught and a passerby bought the entire box of crabs and fishes from him, all these for only $14!
Cycling at Changi Beach
The next morning, we went to the Changi Beach with our cycling coupons we had for the Play and Stay Package. The bicycle kiosk was next to the Changi Village Hawker Centre. It was a hardware shop with about 15 bicycles on rental. We chose one for me, 2 for the older kids and one child seat bicycle for Kel and Master 3. As the shop only had one bicycle that has a child seat on it, and it was out for rental that morning, we waited for about 15 minutes before that bicycle was returned to the shop. While waiting, we found a second playground nearby with tubular slides. Then we went cycling to the Changi beach and found a third playground with 4 swings!! I never knew there are so many playgrounds in Changi Village!!
Swimming at Changi Beach
We returned the bicycles after one hour of cycling along the beach. It was more than sufficient as Changi beach does not have as good a nature view as East Coast Park. It was a short cycling path even though we could have venture further. The kids had been asking to go to the beach to pick some seashells and we returned to the beach again. This time, all of us except me, went swimming in the sea.
The best part of it is that Village Hotel Changi is just a 5 minutes walk from the beach, so we had no qualms about getting all sandy and sticky. It had been some time since we swam in the sea and this was the first for Master 3 who was happy to taste the salty seawater!
Back to hotel – Koi feeding
There is a Koi pond in the hotel where the kids can feed the fishes. However, due to time constraint because the kids ran to the swimming pool again after washing up, we skipped this. If you are staying here, do check out this Koi pond.
Bowling at Changi Civil Service Clubhouse
If you are staying here, try to go for bowling on the first night. We could only book for the next day afternoon after the late check out from the hotel, as the bowling lanes were booked for a bowling tournament the previous night and the next morning. Anyhow, we had super great fun playing as a family! The Play and Stay package allows you to choose complimentary bowling or complimentary cycling. For us, the kind hotel receptionist gave us both because Master 8 wanted bowling and Missy 10 wanted cycling, both could not come to terms and hence, both got what they wanted. Well, good to bring kids around with you for bargaining isn’t it?
The bowling lanes had gutters for kids and we shared one bowling lane. We just had to tell the bowling staff who needed the gutters, and upon the kids’ turns, the gutters would automatically raise up and when it was the adult’s turn, the gutters would lower by itself. Hence, you could bowl as a family together 🙂
Hop-on and Hop-off city tour (Hippo bus)
After all the activities we had done in the 2 days of staycation, we had no time to go for the complimentary Hop-on and Hop-off bus to the city. The folks at Village Hotel Changi were very nice and told us that we could book through them at a later date. I am certainly looking forward to this for the Christmas Lightings at Orchard Road come November and December. We shall wait till the haze situation is better and I will be sure to update the below photo with ours!
Whoa! This staycation is full of fun and the Play part of the package truly enables us to have fun as a family. Even for the Stay part, we were busy dipping in pools and if not, bath tubs, and snacking in the rooms. We would not have arranged for so many things to do in 2 days by ourselves over the weekend if not for staying at this hotel in our home country.
With the affordable price for so much fun, why not book a “Play and Stay” staycation package with Far East Hospitality at Village Hotel Changi for one of the school holidays weekend? Do check out their website if you are interested!
Disclaimer: We were very honoured to be invited by Far East Hospitality and MSL for this Play and Stay staycation review at Village Hotel Changi. Thank you very much! All opinions are 100% from me and this post in non-obligatory! What kind folks these people are! But of course, with fun stay and fun play, how can I not blog about it to share another great deal with all my readers, right?!
This looks so fun!! I dread the day my kids are old enough to need their own room… But SGD170 is a pretty good deal with all the frills thrown in! Never knew there were so many things to play around Changi Village.. And there are actually fishermen selling their catch there? Cool… And the receptionist was so nice to be flexible enough to give you both cycling and bowling in the end. Must have totally made your day. 🙂
It is a good deal ya? Can be a good alternative to travelling out of Sin. We were indeed rather lucky, plus it was hazefree that 2 days we were there. Now, I am looking forward to hopping on that hippo bus that always pass by me at Orchard Road!
Ouch…..my tummy shows lol 🙂
Sorry, can’t do much. Next time I will try to do some editing. But will be better if you slim that tummy hehe!
That looks and sounds like fun! Christy, I like the way you seem to emphasise having time with your family.
Ps we always stay in one room too. Cosy and fun 😉
Vilmar, you are the expert in emphasizing family time! One room is really more fun and bonds the family better. When we had 2 rooms in this staycation, the kids were busy doing their own stuff and watching TV. I needed to pop in frequently to check on them, so it was a little tiring too. I know I will miss those times when the whole family slept together and snuggled up each other… how time flies…
Time indeed flies. I think in no time we’ll be begging for some attention from our teenagers… 😉
Yes, you both will soon be begging for time with a teenager! Lol, and it’s not fun to beg your kid to spend time with you, I’m just saying!!!
So it is true…
Looks like a blast! So many packages were for a family of four she I was growing up, and my parents had a family of five, so I love how they could accommodate!