Staycation Archives - Kids 'R' Simple

Orchard Rendezvous Hotel Family Suite Review – Great for Big Families

Our favourite family-friendly hotel chain Far East Hospitality has once again wowed us, and this time, with their super huge Family Suite! For most hotels, a big hotel room can cater for a family of 4 comfortably. But what if you have 3 growing kids like us? The choices are not many if you wish to book only one hotel room. So far, we have been pretty creative in moving furniture around to fit the 5 of us because we wish to save the cost of a second hotel room and also we prefer to have all 5 of us together. I must say Orchard Rendezvous Hotel’s Family Suite solved our problems. Not only does it accommodate all 3 kids to a bed each, but the kids could also do a few cartwheels in the room too! Can you imagine the size of the room??!!

20181201_140423 — Orchard Rendezvous Hotel – I took this photo when our car passed the entrance with the tree right in the middle!

Where is Orchard Rendezvous Hotel???

If you are wondering where is Orchard Rendezvous Hotel, it is formerly known as Orchard Parade Hotel beside Forum Shopping Mall, located in the heart of Orchard Road. It is just a 5-minute short walk from the Orchard MRT station and Singapore Botanic Gardens. Since 19 September 2018, it has been refurbished and started its new journey as the second Rendezvous property in Singapore. Retaining its heritage, Orchard Rendezvous Hotel incorporates pepper plant motifs throughout the hotel interior. Drawing inspirations from the neighbouring Singapore Botanic Gardens, the hotel offers guests the chance to connect with nature and discover the Romance of the city, the culture and life.

20181201_145008 — Pepper plant motifs as part of interior decoration

One very special thing about Orchard Rendezvous Hotel is that it has a commissioned orchid on Level 6 at the Outdoor Swimming Pool area. Named Vanda Orchard Rendezvous, the orchid is a two-toned cross-hybrid of Vanda Pieces of Eight and Vanda Rasri Gold. Vanda Orchard Rendezvous is also the first orchid commissioned for a hotel in Singapore by OSSEA.

Now, let’s take a look at the hotel charm that blends heritage and nature!

Luxurious Bathroom with 2 wash basins – the hotel totally has big families in mind! No more fights over the wash basins!

This table doubles up as a vanity table with a slide out of the mirror piece. — This table doubles up as a vanity table with a slide out mirror piece.

Vanda Orchard Rendezvous and care kit with compliments from Orchard Rendezvous Hotel.

This is a smart TV with gaming remote control, the kids simply love it over the usual TV channels!

In most of our staycations, the kids would spend more time at the pool than the room, but not this time round! The luxurious and spacious suite had kept everyone in the room simply enjoying the comfy beds, smart TV, doing cartwheels, running around, enjoying bathtub, watching the Orchard Road passersby and admiring Christmas lightings from the balcony.

Let’s take a tour around the hotel facilities now!

Hotel Gym – not for kids though, we were allowed entry only for photo-taking opportunity. Obviously, the kids treated it as a playground!

Where for Breakfast?

You will be surprised that the hotel ties up with the famous and trusted household name restaurant, Modestos, for breakfast!

Just the night before, we had a really good dinner at Modestos. The food was really superb! Even the kids exclaimed that they have never tasted such good mushroom soup, delicious Carbonara, strawberry milkshake, pizza and desserts! I have a soft spot for strawberry milkshake, and I can tell you that I will certainly return frequently even if it is just for milkshake takeaways! And you may wonder what’s the big hoo ha about Carbonara. Well, you must really try it once to believe that Carbonara can be this good!

If you have young children, Orchard Rendezvous Hotel Family rooms will be a good option because they have bunk beds available as one of the bed configurations. And if you have 3 growing kids like us or travelling with grandparents and wish to stay in one room, Orchard Rendezvous Hotel Family Suite will be the one to book for your staycation or travel. During our stay, we were told that all the 30+ family rooms were full! It looks like Orchard Rendezvous Hotel family rooms are indeed popular! Perhaps the industry is really lacking in large family rooms and we are glad and honoured to be able to stay in one and share our experience with all of you!

As I am writing this, there is an on-going promotion for Orchard Rendezvous Hotel rooms. Check out this link to find out more!

More information:

Our hotel room type: Family Suite King and 2 Single Beds. We have a rolled away bed as our 3rd single bed.
Good to know: You can ask for a bunk bed configuration prior to stay.
Price: Family Rooms start from SGD217 per night for 2019 super sale rates, not valid at other travel websites.
Facilities and Room Amenities for Family Suite:
– Spacious interior with separate dining area
– One king-sized bed and two single beds – perfect for larger families
– Accessible balcony (subject to availability)
– Complimentary use of Handy Phone, with mobile Internet access and complimentary calls to 6 destinations
– Unlimited Wi-Fi access
– Air conditioning with remote control
– Cable TV
– Coffee/tea-making facilities
– In-room electronic safe
– Hair dryer
– Iron and ironing board
– International Direct Dial (IDD) telephone with voicemail facilities
– Electric Kettle
– Bath, Shampoo, Conditioner and Soap
For more information and bookings, visit https://www.rendezvoushotels.com.sg/en/hotels/orchard-rendezvous-hotel

Hotel Address:
1 Tanglin Road, Singapore 247905
Enquiry: info.orh@fareast.com.sg
Phone: +65 6737 1133 / Reservations: +65 6881 8888
Facebook: www.facebook.com/StayRendezvous
Instagram: www.instagram.com/StayRendezvous

Village Hotel Bugis Staycation in Kids’ Themed Room

As with all Village Hotel staycations, one thing we love is the good hospitality by their friendly staff. We have stayed in Village Hotel Changi (read here and here for our 2 times review on the Play and Stay package) and Village Hotel Katong (read here for the Kim Choo Peranakan Experience package) and both hotels have their unique charm. Both have great staff who served us well. Hence, we were full of expectations on our stay in Village Hotel Bugis which boasts their Kids’ Themed Room and I even had my mobile camera on video mode waiting to capture the kids’ excitement when they entered the room. Well, you will read our initial disappointment and how later on, the hotel staff saved the day and put the smiles back on to the kids’ face within an hour!

Village Hotel Bugis is located directly above the Golden Landmark shopping mall. Being situated at the crossroads of culture, it is a mere 5-minutes’ walk from Singapore’s Arab, Peranakan, and Indian heritage districts. Hence, if you stay in this hotel, you can Explore like a Local, especially if you are a foreigner, or even Singaporeans may find gems exploring along these streets!

DRIVING TO VILLAGE HOTEL BUGIS

If you are driving to the Village Hotel Bugis, you will see the Hotel’s entrance at the corner. I encourage you to park the your car on the 4th level carpark of the shopping mall for an extraordinary experience! Forgo the Basement carpark as your kids will be thrilled to take the car lift up to 4th level! I was thrilled too!

Hotel Amenities

The hotel lobby is on the 3rd level. If you are entering from the Hotel’s main entrance, take a long escalator up to the lobby. The check in was a breeze as usual for Village Hotels. The hotel’s lifts are kinda grand looking, except that they were super busy lifts with the hotel’s high occupancy rate. When we found our hotel room, my mobile video started recording, expecting the usual excitement from the kids. The room was, well clearly a Kids’ Themed Room with the lovely Marvels wall paper in baby blue. It has a king size bed, which looks luxurious, and a sofa bed at the side which we gathered that it must be one of the beds for the kids. We check out the bathroom. It has a bathtub which is a must-have for our staycation. Toiletries were placed neatly beside the sink and toothbrush and toothpaste were included (that’s important as we usually do not bring ours!) Everything was in place and looked good, except that it was missing any other signs of what should go into a Kids’ Themed Room except for the wall paper!

So what happened when our expectations do not go hand in hand with what we see? Mummy called the concierge to check if this was what was supposed to be a Kids’ Themed Room as she strongly believed there might be a mistake, and sent her kids to the swimming pool to start their staycation must-do activity, which is of course SWIMMING!

20170610_152546 — Interesting star-shaped swimming pool

KIDS’ THEMED ROOM

An hour later, the kids returned to the room with a totally transformed and lovely decorated opened sofa bed with 3 Pokemon cuddly toys, 2 cheerful cloud cushions and swans made of towels. We received some bath toys with kids’ shower set and toothbrush sets. It looked as if the superheroes did visit our room after all!

The very friendly staff, named Yeong, even taught my girl how to fold the towel to make a swan! His cheerful demeanour and his sincere apologies for not setting up the room prior to our arrival more than made up for our initial disappointment! We were even offered a family room upgrade which was newly decorated and more spacious than the Kids’ Room to compensate for the miscommunication. However, as the family room had no bathtub, we gladly stayed on in the cosy Kid’s Themed Room which by now, the kids had grown to love! Receiving great service can really turn mood around! So, we witnessed that!

Some of the things that we love in the room includes the hidden strip of light behind the bed frame that turns the room to a cosy ambience. The wall paper, simple as it looked, has subtle stars that glow in the dark!

You may be wondering how we slept as a family of 5. While this room is more suitable for 2 adults and 1-2 kids, we asked for a roll-away bed to have the 3 kids sleep more comfortably. You have to be a really accommodating person like our family to accept the narrow walkway after the roll-away bed is set up right in front of the TV! In order to save some money in some hotels that we stayed, we have done all sorts of sleeping arrangement to accommodate the growing kids! We had ever put blankets to sleep on the floor, arrange sofas beside the bed to create more space and safety while one kid sleeps, etc.

One thing I like in this staycation is that we all get to sleep in one room, so close to each other. I could talk to the kids without going to the next room. We could interact more within the same room. I will certainly miss such cosy nights after the kids grow up and we no longer can save some bucks by booking 1 hotel room.

This is how we slept as a family of 5 with an extra roll-away bed. 1 kid on Sofa bed, 1 kid on roll-away bed and 1 kid on the King bed with us.

Explore Like a Local

While this staycation does not include specific packages like the other 2 hotels that we have been to, it really doesn’t need any. It has so many places in the vicinity to check out!

You can uncover the culture of Singapore Malays when you pay a visit to Masjid Sultan – one of Singapore’s most impressive religious building. Its massive golden dome formed out of many glass bottles collected by devotees is a remarkable sight.

You can trace the history of the Singapore Malays and learn about their contributions towards nation-building at the Malay Heritage Centre. Located in the historic Kampong Glam precinct, your family can explore the artefacts, murals, and multimedia displays across nine galleries.

Both my elder kids have been to the above places with their school excursions, hence we skipped that and decided to take a leisurely stroll to our dinner place. On route, we finally walked to the building with the fascinating men holding a ball each – the Parkview Square, our Singapore’s very own ‘Gotham City’. To our excitement, we spotted many statues and beautiful sculptures on the ceiling, in a far corner, right in the middle and almost everywhere you turn your head to!

Best of all, it has recently opened a Parkview Museum featuring contemporary art and now showing an awesome exhibition on Sharks and Humanity. It was late when we passed it, but we will be back again to check it out before the exhibition ends on 9 Sept 2017!

EAT LIKE A LOCAL

We had dinner at one of the uncountable dining places around Bugis for Mala steamboat buffet. Village Hotels are usually situated right in the centre of delectable eating places. You will never never go hungry when you stay at Village Hotels. That’s one of the best attraction of staying with the hotel chain.

After dinner, we contemplated to watch a late night movie but it was hard to book a blockbuster on a Saturday night. Otherwise, it would be perfect to watch a movie and stroll back to the hotel just 5 minutes away. There are plenty of activities to do!

Breakfast Buffet at Mooi Chin Place

It was noticeable that the hotel has a high percentage of Indian tourists staying with them. It explains why the hotel has 2 breakfast places, with one on International + Indian cuisine on the 5th level in a restaurant called Landmark, and the other on International + Chinese cuisine on the 3rd level in Mooi Chin Place.

I shall let the food do the talking for a moment.

After breakfast, we explored the gym and found some interesting quotes to motivate the workout buffs!

For a family who loves staycation, we usually spend a great deal of time in the hotel room and its facilities. For a good part of the night, we watched X-Men: The Apocalypse on Fox movie channel while eating cup noodles and snacks for supper till midnight. The next morning, the kids spent an hour in the bathtub while the hub and I snugged in bed to watch TV. We decided that a staycation deserves more time to be spent in the hotel itself and we leave the exploration of the streets after we checked out.

BUT…

For the best hotel, I am sure there will be room for improvement for a better stay experience. It will be good to have the following in my honest opinion for a more interesting experience as part of the Kids’ Themed Room package:

Include Kids’ activity sets to engage the kids in the room for some quiet play and keep them busy.
The activity sets can include walk-about activities for the kids to explore the hotel premises or be a tourist together with the parents around the hotel’s vicinity.
Have more kids’ themed amenities in the room and around the hotel.
Include a kids’ stool in the bathroom to reach the sink.
Have kids’ play area in Dining area.

I realised that more and more hotels, including those that we have stayed before, are including kids’ friendly amenities and activities recently. With the start of the Kids’ Themed Room in Village Hotel Bugis, I am pretty positive that we will be seeing more kids’ friendly staycations down the road with Far East Hospitality!!

The Kids’ Themed Room includes:

• One night’s accommodation in Kids’ Themed Room
• Unlimited WiFi access
• Buffet breakfast for 2 adults, 1 child

Room Amenities:

• Individually Controlled Air Conditioning
• Hair Dryer
• In-Room safe box
• Iron and Ironing board
• Electric Kettle
• 40″ LCD TV with Cable TV Channels

Room rates and promotion:

Right now there is a mid-year Mega sale, with below rate for a weekend stay for Kids’ Themed Room:
Deluxe King Bed – SGD201.26 including tax

Click here to book for a staycation with Village Hotels!

For our previous Village Hotels staycation review, check out the below links:

Village Hotel Changi Staycation – Play and Stay

10 Things to Do While Staycationing at Village Hotel Changi

Village Hotel Katong Staycation + Kim Choo Peranakan Experience

Disclaimer: We were invited for a weekend staycation in Village Hotel Bugis for the purpose of this review. This is the 3rd hotel under Village Hotel Chain that we have reviewed and each experience is a unique and memorable one. Thanks to Far East Hospitality for the awesome service and great stay experience! 🙂

10 Things To Do While Staycationing at Village Hotel Changi

We are back for the second time to Village Hotel Changi! This time round, our youngest was old enough to enjoy the ‘Play and Stay’ package to the fullest! The first time we stayed in this hotel, Master 5 was only 3 and there were some things he could not do by himself. So, now, 2 years later, he is able to join us in all activities and yes, he has a bed for himself too.

We are back for the second time to Village Hotel Changi! This time round, our youngest was old enough to enjoy the ‘Play and Stay’ package to the fullest! The first time we stayed in this hotel, Master 5 was only 3 and there were some things he could not do by himself. So, now, 2 years later, he was able to join us in all activities and, he had a bed for himself too.

The check in was a breeze as it is with all Village Hotels Chain. If you do walk around the hotel premise, you will notice that this hotel has many conveniences for the guests in mind!

Booking machines for all cab companies / Luggage wrapping service for travellers / Shuttle Service to Town / Airport and Business Parks

Vending machine for Snacks on the go and Cup Noodles that do not break the bank / Vending machine for Hot soupy food, noodles and rice

I am impressed that the Hotel caters all these conveniences, even though there are so many choices at the nearby Changi Village hawker centre and numerous coffee shops.

A Tour of the Rooms

We had 2 connecting Deluxe Rooms. One room had a king size bed and a roll-away bed upon request and the other one had 2 single beds. Both rooms accommodated our family perfectly. Previously, Master 5 used to sleep in baby crib but now a roll-away bed is more comfortable for him. We put the bed side by side to our King Size Bed so that I could pat him to sleep and be near him.

One of the best thing about Village Hotel Changi rooms is that each room comes with a bathtub! Each bathtub has a window! We could watch out for the kids easily from the room if the blinds are up.

We have learnt that a bathtub is almost a MUST-HAVE for staycations! Why? Because on days when the pool is icy cold, the kids can still get their water fix in the tub! Also, after a cold swim, it is a heavenly treat to frolic in a warm tub. That is what a staycation is about: maximising the hotel room and amenities to the fullest!

Next, you will also want to know that each room comes with a handyphone just like the one we saw in Village Hotel Katong! This free network phone is for guests to use during their hotel stay. It is so handy to carry along without incurring hefty phone charges and data roaming charges. Best of all, you need not pay a single cent for using it!

This is the bedroom view overlooking the Koi Pond and the Infinity Pool is up there.

Considering this is more of a hotel for travellers with its proximity to the airport, the rooms have all the things needed for them.

Room amenities

– Individually Controlled Air Conditioning
– Hair dryer
– In-room safe box
– Iron and ironing board
– Electric Kettle
– 42″ LED TV
– Cable TV Channels
– Wireless Broadband Access
– Handy Phone
– Toiletries
– Towel
– Clothes hanging line
– Torchlight
– Fridge

Hotel services
Free Wifi
24 hour security
24 hour guest services
Concierge
Business services (faxing and photocopying)
Laundry services
Parking

What are nearby the hotel within walking distance:

Changi Ferry Terminal for those who wish to go to Pulau Ubin and Chek Jawa or even day trip to Desaru!
Changi Beach for a swim and beach play and Cycling
3 Playgrounds
Civil Service Club for Bowling
Changi Village Hawker Centre for food
Public Transport

Breakfast Spread at Saltwater

There is a decent variety for the breakfast buffet at Saltwater restaurant at Level 1. Most of the foods are local cuisine, like Otah, soup noodles, rice, porridge, etc. They have Western cuisine like pastries, chicken ham, chicken hotdogs, hashbrown, cereals, etc. Service was good and food is Halal. The glass doors at the side has the Swimming Pool view, hence, we could eat in peace while we were able to see our kids in full view when they ventured near the pool.

10 Things to Do during our Village Hotel Changi Staycation:

1) Eating Cup Noodles and eating snacks on the bed

Hey! This is one of the things that the kids very much look forward to! We hardly eat cup noodles at home and not allowed to eat snacks on the bed. Well, rules are certainly more relaxed when we stay in hotels!

2) Playing card games, Reading and Relaxing

We never fail to bring some cards, simple toys, bath toys, books and writing materials to our staycation. These can entertain the kids while the adults are busy unpacking stuff.

3) Swimming in 2 Swimming Pools!

The number one reason that we love Village Hotel Changi is because it has not one, but two swimming pools! One on the top level as an infinity pool with awesome view, and the other on the first level outside the dining area with a glass wall. You can watch your kids swim in the big ‘fish tank’ swimming pool at the leisure of having your breakfast!

4) Checking out the vicinity

Village Hotel Changi puts up this small handy booklet to introduce the places to check out within walking distance. We left the hotel earlier for dinner to have a leisurely walk over at the Changi beach area. As Changi Village is quite far out from the city, we hardly come to this place. Hence, staying at this hotel allows us to enjoy the beach and sight fishermen’s harvest for the day.

5) Bowling at Civil Service Club Changi

As part of the staycation package, we were given a game of bowling each at Civil Service Club which is directly opposite the Hotel. The bowling lanes have bumpers for kids. Just tell the staff which bowler needs a bumper, and when it is his/her turn, the bumper will be erected. The last time we came, the elder kids needed bumpers and the youngest was not old enough to bowl. This time round, the elder kids could bowl without the need for bumpers and there was a shoe size suitable for the youngest and hence, he could join us for the first time!

6) Cycling at Changi Village

Also as part of the Play and Stay package, we were given a coupon each for an hour of cycling. The bicycle shop, which is really a hardware shop with some rental bicycles, is located just directly facing the Changi Village Hawker Centre. I must say that the bicycles had seen better days and you may not find the best bicycles here to ride on. There was only 1 or 2 bicycles with child seat and not much choices for kids bicycles. We made use of the coupons anyway, and cycled along the Changi beach together, stopping to play at the playgrounds on the way.

7) 3 Playgrounds at Changi Village

There are 3 playgrounds at Changi Village if you do not already know! The one with the plastic tubular slides is located just beside the hawker centre while the other 2 are along the Changi Beach.

8) Soaking in Bathtub

This is a must-have as I had mentioned earlier! Love the window view beside the bathtub!

9) Koi Feeding

There is a Koi pond that your kids can feed the fishes in it. For both times that we stayed here, we skipped the complimentary feeding activity because we had too many things to do. Further, we have a mini koi pond in our house and that explains!

10) Play Snake and Ladder

There is a huge Snake and Ladder on Level 1 of the Hotel just beside the breakfast area in the chill out section. This is a good bonding activity with young and old.

Play and Stay Package

If you are bringing your kids or even parents to stay in Village Hotel Changi, you may want to book their Play and Stay Package which includes:
– One-night accommodation
– Complimentary buffet breakfast for two at Saltwater Café
– Complimentary two-hour bicycle ride OR
– 2 games of bowling per stay
– Complimentary koi feeding (first-come first-served basis, please enquire at front desk)
– Complimentary Changi Village cycling reference guide
– Complimentary parking

Superior Room – S$200.09 inclusive of all tax
Deluxe Room – S$223.63 inclusive of all tax
Club Room – S$258.94 inclusive of all tax

Room rates subject to availability and sometimes, there are super good deals that you could look out for!

I would say that this is pretty affordable to have a short staycation over a weekend for family bonding fun! Click here to check availability for the rooms!

Village Hotel Changi
1 Netheravon Road Singapore 508502
Email: info.vhc@fareast.com.sg
Hotel: +65 6379 7111 / Reservations: +65 6881 8888

Disclaimer: We were invited for a one night stay in Village Hotel Changi. We love the Far East Hospitality’s chain of hotels with its warm hospitality each time we checked in!

Village Hotel Katong Staycation + Kim Choo Peranakan Experience

I like Village Hotels by Far East Hospitality. Why? Because they package in family bonding activities with each family stay. Last year, we stayed in Village Hotel Changi and had a blast of a family bonding time cycling around Changi Village, Bowling, checking out 3 playgrounds, Swimming at the beach and walked back to our hotel room for a shower and then more swimming in the hotel’s 2 swimming pools. The Play and Stay was the package for Village Hotel Changi. So, what do they have this time at Village Hotel Katong staycation? We took up the Cultural Tour and Stay package. Beside the Peranakan theme you can spot everywhere in the hotel, they invite families who book with them to an interesting cultural experience in Kim Choo Kueh Chang to learn how to wrap Bak Chang (rice dumpling). You must read on to find out what is so interesting about this Peranakan shop!

I realize that the Village Hotels are located in places with great food choices! The entire stretch of East Coast Road has an uncountable number of restaurants and shops! Yes, “uncountable” is the right word for it. The shops lined both sides of the road and you will definitely not go hungry staying in this hotel. Just beside it, is the 112 Katong Shopping Mall and connecting to Village Hotel Katong is the Katong V Mall with Fairprice Finest supermarket. With supermarkets and 2 malls within the vicinity, there is no need to worry if you forget to bring a thing or two.

It was a little confusing to find the entrance of this hotel. We took some time to realize that the hotel entrance is right behind the Katong V Mall.

The check-in was a breeze and I love the Peranakan themed decorations everywhere we go.

We had a family room which could accomodate the 5 of us, but the kids were a little disappointed that there was no bath tub. I will certainly keep that in mind the next time I book a staycation. Bath tubs are the kids’ favourite and serve as an alternative when the swimming pool is icy cold on rainy days. There was some slight rain and it stopped when we arrived. The kids did not hesitate to jump into the swimming pool even though it was a very cool weather. Swimming Pools are a MUST-HAVE when you are bringing kids to a staycation, for this, I will not forget!

If we were to compare Village Hotel Katong (VHK) and Village Hotel Changi (VHC), I would say that VHK needs a bit of refurbishment. We can tell from the exterior and interior of the hotel that the hotel had seen better days and it would be good to do some renovations just like the VHC did a few years back.

Rooms
The family room was supposed to have 1 king bed + 1 queen bed. However, we requested for a baby cot and due to space constraint, they changed to 2 queen beds instead to accommodate the cot. My 4yo toddler can still fit into the baby cot. So, Missy 11 shared the bed with me and Master 9 with the hub. The room has a balcony attached overlooking the pool.

20161217_150432_002 — Jumping onto the bed is a customary thing to do!

Amenities
Village Hotel Katong has a gymnasium, outdoor swimming pool, and a Peranakan Club Lounge for Club members. The in-room amenities include:
Hair Dryer
In-room safe box
Iron and Ironing board
Electric Kettle
46″ LED TV
Cable TV Channels
Wireless Broadband Access
Handy Phone
Bar Fridge
Mineral water
Tea and coffee bags
Bath, Shampoo and Conditioner and Lotion
Standing Rain Shower

This is the first time I see a handy phone in a hotel room. It has 4G service and allows guests to bring it out when they go sight-seeing in Singapore to check out google maps, food, places to go, make international and local internet calls, enjoy discounts, etc just like your own handphone but totally Free-of-charge! Isn’t this so thoughtful and cool?

The Peranakan Lounge (for club members)

The Peranakan Lounge, located on Level 6, is only accessible for guests staying in the Club Room, Peranakan Club Room, Junior Suite and Suite. We were given complimentary access to the Club Lounge too but it was limited to adults and my kids were not allowed in. Since we could not leave the kids behind to enjoy the complimentary cocktail and light snacks, we only took some complimentary can drinks from the lounge bar to fill up our bar fridge as suggested by the reception lady.

Swimming Pool

The Swimming Pool is located on Level 4 and we need to pass by the Katong Kitchen, the restaurant for breakfast and meals, to reach the pool. The pool has one side of 1m depth and the other side of 1.8m depth. Even though there was nothing too fanciful about the pool, my kids had a great time as usual. They hardly needed any other features and they could frolic in the pool all day just with their goggles and water guns. Nevermind that the pool was cold, they moved about a great deal enough to keep themselves warm.

Kim Choo Kueh Chang

After checking out the amenities, and had an hour of swim, we head out to Kim Choo Kueh Chang which is just opposite the Katong V Mall (at the back of the hotel).

Kim Choo Kueh Chang shop was easy to find. It occupies 2 shop units and is accessible to their hidden gems on the second storey. They sell assorted Peranakan kuehs and bak changs at the front of the shop. We walked further in and behind a glass partition was Mr Edmond waiting for us to start a food cultural introduction on everything Peranakan.

All of us were served a tray of goodies: Otah, Nyonya Dumpling, Nine-layered Kueh and a pot of Butterfly Pea Flower tea or Blue Tea.

The friendly Mr Edmond gave us a brief introduction on each of the goodies on the tray. It was interesting to know that eating Nine-layer Kueh by peeling one layer by layer signifies living life as it is. He went on to explain how there are salty and sweet version of the dumpling and where Otah came from.

After we savored the delicious goodies, we were taught the correct way of wrapping bak chang. My Missy 11 was taught previously by her grandma and hence was pretty good in picking up the tips of wrapping a dumpling. My toddler helped but made a mess of the green beans which were used instead of the real meat and rice. Thank goodness it was only spilling of green beans.

Once we were done with it, we were invited to the second storey and it revealed a Peranakan Museum! Mr Edmond went on with his very interesting talk on the Peranakan culture on Kebayas and language. We were very impressed that the shop created a Peranakan inspired shawl for Michelle Obama! Mr Edmond shared that the Peranakan culture reached as far as to The Queen of England who had a Peranakan brooch designed in Singapore too, although it was not made in their shop! Now, we are really proud to be Singaporeans and happy that we have so many talents in this tiny island.

Antique sewing machine. My mum and MIL still have this in their houses!

Isn't this the antique love letters clamp? — Isn’t this the antique love letters clamp?

This was the storage cabinet in the earlier days when there was no fridge.

The next side of the second storey is where the customers can walk in for a tailor-made Kebaya. It probably has the widest selection of kebayas you can find. They are so pretty! It has been my wish from young to wear a Kebaya set. I told Missy 11 that I would custom-made a set of Kebaya to wear on her wedding day 🙂

After the Kim Choo Peranakan Experience, we walked along the long stretch of East Coast Road to eat Hokkien Mee for dinner and strolled back to the hotel. It was a rest and relax evening. Instead of heading out for shopping or squeezing through Orchard Road for lights viewing, we decided to have a game of cards and snuggle on the bed for movies and tidbits. After all, we were here to enjoy the hotel!

Buffet Breakfast at Katong Kitchen

The next morning, we had breakfast at Katong Kitchen at Level 4. The buffet breakfast is included in the staycation package. The breakfast is on Asian and Western cuisine. I would say the spread is decent and good for us. They have the usual buffet fanfare like Otah, Ham, waffle, hashbrown, Mee Tai Mak and Chinese dishes, Dim Sum, Salad, Cereals, Drinks, Fruits, Yogurt, Bread and Pastries, Cooking station for mee soup and scramble eggs and more. But if you are looking for a wide range of buffet spread, then it may not be for you.

20161218_092758 — Char Siew Bao and Glutinous Rice The kids love the glutinous rice!

20161218_093259 — They provide children’s cutlery set

After breakfast, we hop into the swimming pool again! We simply could not check out till we had spent another 2 hours in the pool playing with water guns and kicking the water.

The Cultural Tour and Stay Experience Package consists of:

Peranakan Couple Experience
For just S$195, enjoy:
• One night’s accommodation in Deluxe Room
• Unlimited WiFi access
• Buffet breakfast for two at Katong Kitchen
• FREE 2-hour Peranakan experience at Kim Choo
• Late check-out at 3pm (subject to availability)

Peranakan Family Experience
For just S$285, enjoy:
• One night’s accommodation in Family Room
• Unlimited WiFi access
• Buffet breakfast for 2 adults, 2 children at Katong Kitchen
• FREE 2-hour Peranakan experience at Kim Choo
• Late check-out at 3pm (subject to availability)

Book period : Now till 31 December 2017
Stay period: Now till 31 December 2017

Rates are exclusive of 10% Service Charge & 7% GST

Check here for more information and current promotions!!

Disclaimer: We were invited for a staycation during the December holidays. This is the 2nd time we stay in Far East Hospitality’s hotels and we really find both the ‘Play and Stay’ and ‘Cultural Tour and Stay’ packages very suitable for families 🙂 Do check out their website for more options!

Hotel Jen Puteri Harbour – great price, great food, great location

20151203_123617

If you are looking for an alternative to staying in Legoland Hotel, and simply want to stay near Legoland, Sanrio Hello Kitty Town or The Little Big Club, then Hotel Jen Puteri Harbour is a top recommendation for you.

Legoland is about a 5 min drive away from the hotel, and next to Hotel Jen are Hello Kitty Town and The Little Big Club.

With its proximity to Singapore, Hotel Jen is a 15-minute drive from the Malaysia-Singapore Second Link , i.e., without JAM!

Hotel Jen Puteri Harbour, being a 4 star hotel with good standard hotel rooms and great hotel facilities, plus an impressive breakfast spread, the price of Malaysian Ringgit $455 per night for a Deluxe Harbour View room (SGD150++) is super affordable! Continue reading “Hotel Jen Puteri Harbour – great price, great food, great location”