The lobby is grand with its symmetrical winding staircase to and fro the ballrooms and function halls on the second floor. Being awarded as The Best Independent Hotel for more than ten consecutive years, they boast and bask in this glory by having a wall of fame right in their lobby. However, there was limited seating for guests especially during the peak hours of breakfast, dinner, check-in and check out.
We arrived in the afternoon, checked in, inspected our rooms and shortly after, met at the Club Lounge for some refreshments.
THE CLUB ROOM. All of our rooms are located on the 14th storey. We got two rooms connected by interior doors and another room one-hotel-room-away. Our view was that of Far East Plaza along Scotts Road. Our room looks clean, compact but luxurious. It is wallpapered, the floor has wall-to-wall carpeting, a Barcelona Chair to lounge in the corner and a desk in the other. There are beveled mirrors here and there. The mini-fridge is tucked neatly and strategically under the desk and all goodies inside are free of charge. There was a Nespresso machine with six capsules (which is generous compared to other hotels) and TWG teas. Carousel, their in-house resto also provided some Veggie chips as a treat. Try them, it's good!
THE FITNESS AREA. After refreshments, the kids had their swim time. The Fitness Area Lobby was casual but impressive. There's also a gym and a lap pool. For families with young kids, note that the shallowest part of the pool is 1.5m, so have your kids' arm floaters and swim vests ready if you plan to take them for a dip. Among all the facilities of the hotel that we have been to, we think that the pool area would benefit from a refresh, a nice renovation perhaps?
THE ROYAL CLUB. Refreshments at the Club Lounge are free for guests staying in the Club Rooms up to two persons. They serve coffees, teas, and pastries for High Tea and wine, cheese and hors d’ oeuvres during the Cocktail Hours. We had our fill here before our party. Note that children are not allowed in the lounge in the evening.
Me&MyGirls as a family went with a Midnight Blue color theme. Jane wore a rhinestone-studded dress with a pattern reminiscent of the Art Deco era. I wore a simple knitted shirt and a newsboy cap. Ashrie and Lia, on the contrary, donned their sequined dresses. Their H&M dresses almost look identical but Lia's dress is covered with a mesh to protect her from the sharp sequin's edge. Both have this "dancing" oil slick colored sequins that are very cool to look at and both wear dark blue shiny beads as a necklace for Lia and bracelet for Ate. For the headdresses, Jane wore a replica of what Daisy wore on The Great Gatsby movie, Ate had black peacock feathers on hers and Lia had white.
You know a party wouldn't be complete without decorations so even in the hotel room, we have managed to hang black and gold garlands. It gave a more festive ambiance and looks great as a photo backdrop too!
We exchange gifts and we had our Gift Exchange. Yup, you've read it right. Then we had fun games. Good thing the neighboring rooms did not bother to report us because I'm pretty sure we were noisy. As they say here in SG, "Apologies for any inconvenience caused." It was indeed a fun party, especially for the kids.
BUFFET BREAKFAST AT CAROUSEL. Club guests can have breakfast away from the rest of the hotel crowd at The Royal Club but we opted to have ours at Carousel. We were spoilt for choice. Their offerings include Western, Chinese, and Malay cuisine. And of course, the breakfast staples like omelets, yogurts, bread, and pastries, and tropical fruits. The restaurant, however, is Halal-certified so expect no bacon here, there's no turkey bacon even when we're there. We had a table for six and ended up with six bigger tummies ready for another busy day ahead.
Cons: (These were minor but worth mentioning.) All the supplies came in pairs but there's only one pair of slippers available in our closet. And the biggest bummer was when we called for a staff to fixed the locked doors to connect the two adjacent rooms, waiting time took about two hours before any help came.
All in all, the hotel staycation and the kick-off party was a success. We had a memorable event with our family away from family here in Singapore and we hope that this is just a beginning of more adventures to come both here and who knows where.
Again, Happy New Year from all of us!
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