Review – Pan Pacific, Singapore – Harbour Studio

The long awaited night of the Singapore’s National Day Parade has arrived, I managed to book us into Pan Pacific’s Harbour Studio, and I must say, this night didn’t come cheap as it comes specifically with the national day celebration package which guarantees you to have a view of the Marina Bay to enjoy the fireworks that comes after the parade. When I first stepped into the room, I must say, I was really quite impressed by the deco. You know what it feels like? It is like stepping into a airport gold class lounge. Ok, maybe that wasn’t a very good analogy. I’ll break it down. Everything is very professional looking but with a touch of classiness. The room is bathed in a nice not-too-dark wooden trim which gives a solid feel and with almost gold-ish lighting. It does make me feel really important as if I’m the boss of some world leading casino tycoon… (ok, I know I suck at giving analogies, so look below for the pictures of the room!)

Pan Pacific – Harbour Studio – Hallway, its already looking quite glorious from here.

Pan Pacific – Harbour Studio – Bed

Pan Pacific – Harbour Studio – Bedroom/Studio

So what comes with the room? The no-need-for-further-explanation KING size bed, a chair with a footrest(which is probably not as comfortable as a lounge, but hey, its good enough!) a large working desk with all sorts of ports for you to connect to you laptop, an ergonomic chair, as most importantly of all a BAR with 2 bar stools! You know when hotels do their feature lists when you click into their page for room types and it says one of the feature is a minibar? usually, thats not a bar, its a mini fridge. THIS is what you call a minibar!!!! It’s so nicely placed by the full width half height window where you can sip away you coffee (or tea) and enjoy a nice calm morning or even a glass of champagne and enjoy the glistening Singapore skyline of singapore. This place doesn’t come with class, it is romantically classy!

Pan Pacific – Harbour Studio – Minibar with Nespresso!!

Pan Pacific – Harbour Studio – Minibar !

Pan Pacific – Harbour Studio – Those bright red and yellow cups feels so trendy!

Pan Pacific – Harbour Studio – Utensils and condiments in the drawer.

Pan Pacific – Harbour Studio -Large workdesk nicely trimmed with some leather.

Pan Pacific – Harbour Studio – All the different display ports you ever need.

Pan Pacific – Harbour Studio – Side Desk!

The TV is fixed to the wall, so I guess that keeps your concentration focused on your desk whenever you are working. So, moving on to the bathroom, there are probably less toiletries her as compared to the other 5 star hotels I stayed, but it does say in their information from their IPTV that you can request more if necessary, I didn’t try that. The bathroom is a classy marble finish with a huge tub that is right by a glass partition separating the bedroom. On the wall you can find a little ‘volume tuner’ know that adjusts the sound that comes from your tv into a speaker located on the ceiling on the bathroom so you can watch your favourite tv drama while enjoying a nice hot bath without having to miss what the lead actress is saying!! You do get raindrop type shower with this in their separate shower area and also a separate glass cubicle for the toilet area.

Pan Pacific – Harbour Studio – Bathtub

Pan Pacific – Harbour Studio – Trying to be artistic – bathroom

Pan Pacific – Harbour Studio – Aspiring Model to be!

Pan Pacific – Harbour Studio – The space!!

Pan Pacific – Harbour Studio – sink area

Pan Pacific – Harbour Studio – Classy!! never knew bathrooms can be so classy…

Pan Pacific – Harbour Studio – Shower Area, notice how everything is brightly lit??

Pan Pacific – Harbour Studio – Bathroom!

Moving on to the wardrobe, ample of space for all your clothes, two bathrobes, ironing facilities, safe, slippers, hair dryer and a place to place your luggage on. THe side desk/night table by the bed has all the switches to the lights. I like that they have a ‘night’ function which basically switches on a light at each of the side desk and below the sink, so you can find your way to the toilet at night without having to try each switch and waking your wife up. In addition the curtains can be drawn or open either by a remote control, or by manually pulling it a small distance and the actuator motor would kick in to draw the rest of the curtains for you.

Pan Pacific – Harbour Studio – remote controls to the curtain

Pan Pacific – Harbour Studio – Wardrobe

Pan Pacific – Harbour Studio – Bedside

Pan Pacific – Harbour Studio – Bed Side – Note the nice clock!

So, the view I’m paying for? I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

Pan Pacific – Harbour Studio – View

Pan Pacific – Harbour Studio – View

Overall, the room was nicely soundproof, we didn’t get much of a disturbance. In addition, the air conditioning is good, too bad the controls are by the hallway and it will require you to get out of your bed if you are too cold at night. I did stay here at one of the most busiest period, so their staff isn’t performing at their best, we did waited till 6.30 in the evening to be able to get a room change the following day and the desk+ reception+ IT was also a bit blur. Ignore all that , I had a pretty decent stay!

I’ll be reviewing one more room type from Pan Pacific Singapore in the future, so stay tuned!

Review – Swissotel, The Stamford Singapore – Classic Harbour View Room

Here comes another review. This time I’m taking a four day break during Singapore’s National Day & Hari Raya (Eid Mubarak) long weekend. The first two nights I will be spending it in Swissotel, The Stamford, which is right beside Fairmont Singapore, located at City Hall MRT station. So, I’ll spare you guys the yapping and go straight into the review.

Swissotel – Classic Harbour View Room

Swissotel – Classic Harbour View Room

What greeted me was the cozy environment of the room, lighting was sufficient and clean, it is sort of  a no nonsense type feeling. There was ample of space to move around in this room, a huge desk plus an ergonomic working chair to ensure  those who are here on a business trip here feel comfortable working. The table lamp though was slightly faulty, that took a bit of ‘gentle touch’ to get the light to stay on.  The huge space adjacent to the study desk however was slightly odd, it took me to their official website to find out that the space actually used for a chaise and a small coffee table. -_-

By the bed there was an electronic console to control your room lighting, I was hoping that there was a curtain control button and a privacy notification button on the console to at least keep me from needing to walk all the way to the door or window to have a private night’s sleep. There is something quite intriguing though, they have a pillow menu!

Swissotel – Classic Harbour View Room – Control Console

Swissotel – Classic Harbour View Room – Pillow Menu

Swissotel – Classic Harbour View Room – Side Table

Swissotel – Classic Harbour View Room – Study and TV

The TV is on top a swivel platform, enabling you to view from the study desk, the non existing lounge area =P, or the bed. In my room however, no matter where you swing the TV, it will always end up facing the non existent lounge area. So I guess no tv for me then…=P
Moving on to the bathroom, it is quite decently size. It is also brightly lit so you won’t have trouble finding that elusive toothbrush in the morning when you are half awake. In addition, the shower’s water pressure will be sure to wake you up, by far the best shower I had in any hotel!

Swissotel – Classic Harbour View Room – Toiletries that were provided.

Swissotel – Classic Harbour View Room – Bath/Shower

Swissotel – Classic Harbour View Room – Bathroom

Swissotel – Classic Harbour View Room – Bathroom

Minibar and the standard coffee and tea making facilities are provided as well, the cups and the teaspoons are cleverly hidden right beside the minibar.

Swissotel – Classic Harbour View Room – TWG Tea Selection and Coffee

Swissotel – Classic Harbour View Room – Minibar

In the wardrobe right beside the hall way you will find two bathrobes, slippers, as well as a safe to keep your valuables. In addition there are is also an iron and an ironing board if you need to iron your clothes. Swissotel also provides complimentary shoe shine service if you need one. You also get 2 additional pillows in the wardrobe to build your own pillow fortress!

Swissotel – Classic Harbour View Room – Wardrobe

Swissotel – Classic Harbour View Room – Hallway

Now, I’m quite sure by now you guys are asking” how is the view? this is a harbour view room, is it worth the premium?” I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves! these are taken from the balcony of the room.

Swissotel – Classic Harbour View Room – View

Swissotel – Classic Harbour View Room – View

Swissotel – Classic Harbour View Room – View

Last but not least, I was treated to a nice surprise when I return to my room in the evening. So overall, I had a quite a pleasant stay! If you are looking for a no fuss no glitter business hotel with an affordable price, this may be one of the better ones around.

Swissotel – Classic Harbour View Room – Surprise!

I’ll be reviewing two more room type from Pan Pacific Singapore in the future, so stay tuned!

Review – Kalima Resort & Spa, Phuket – Double Pool Honeymoon Suite

So~ Continuation from my previous post. After one night at their deluxe seaview room, we received a call sometime in the afternoon with an apology from the Manager as well as an email from their Reservation Manager. They told us that they will upgrade us to a double Pool Honeymoon Suite for our last night seeing that it is going to be our anniversary night. We swiftly accepted their proposal.

The room is situated one block in front of the block of standard honeymoon suites which is also a close walk away from the main pool and restaurant, hence it is pretty convenient. So, lets cut to the chase and show you some pictures!

Amazing Views!

Double Pool Access Honeymoon Suite – Full height glass window.. its like FULL HD WIDESCREEN but in real life!

Double Pool Honeymoon Access – OMG!! The view from the deck of the private pool!!!

Double Pool Access Honeymoon Suite – Lounge Area

Double Pool Access Honeymoon Suite – TV & Study Table

Double Pool Access Honeymoon Suite – Bedroom

Now working into the details, the study table you get is pretty much the standard ones that you get in all other rooms, the interior deco and lighting is done really well although slightly too dim for my tastes…then again, it might be a romantic ambience thingy~ The toiletries and bathrobe, accessories are the same as the ones they gave in their honeymoon suite. They also provided the bathsalts….which was weird… because we spend some time trying to search for the bathtub but there wasn’t one… -_-

The shower and the washbasin are decently size, much larger than the typical bathrooms you will get in Singapore condominiums. You get a raindrop type shower and plenty of space at the washbasin area to put all your toiletries. I especially like the mosaic tilling on the walls of the shower.

Double Pool Access Honeymoon Suite – Bathroom

Raindrop Shower with Mosaic Tiled Walls

This corner of the bathroom is a bit dark…

The room has plenty of perks too that is not really standard for other rooms, the love swan made up of towels are definitely bigger than the ones in the deluxe seaview room. rose petals scattered all over them too, we had fun playing with it! ( I know its a bit childish …but how often do you get to rain yourself in rose petals huh???!!) In addition the tea and coffee making facilities are definitely a scale up from the standard rooms, you get a nespresso machine and a standard minibar fridge in the room. Oh, did I also forget to mention that there is Vodka, Gin and Whiskey for your enjoyment as well?? Just a moderate amount =P

Nespresso, Vodka, Whisky and Gin

Double Pool Access Honeymoon Suite

Double Pool Access Honeymoon Suite Bedroom

Aroma Therapy, Mosquito Repellent and Emergency Torch

Swans!!!… i think..?

Study Desk

Minibar

Now comes the double pool access bit, the premium bit that not all people are willing to pay extra to get. The jacuzzi is quite big and can easily accommodate more than 2, though there are only 2 seating areas for the bubble jet to come out. They are pretty weak in giving us a massage feel and I would also say that they aren’t probably maintained frequently as they do look a bit run down. The architectural treatment of the vent pipe and finishings of the jacuzzi was probably an after thought as it is out of place and I would think that they could do better than that. The location of the jacuzzi is beside the wooden deck and as you can see from my pictures above there are two sunbed/ chair for your sunbathing needs. The private pool connects several units, the unit that they gave me is at a mid-corner which is larger than all the other units.

Vent pipe in plain sight… tiles…probably could have been better…

View from the huge wooden deck

vrrrrr……..aaaahhhhhh…….

jacuzzi looks connected to the private pool

view from the pool

infinity edge…shame that they installed the glass for safety reasons…

Finally, in the evening when we returned from dinner, there was a surprise waiting for us. We were really humbled by the gesture as the staff actually provided us with a bottle of iced champagne!! Now, that is what I call attention to detail!! In conclusion, there were ups and downs when I stayed here at Kalima Resort & Spa, but it was a pleasant stay and this definitely makes up for the downs that I experienced with them! Stay tuned for more hotel room reviews!!

A surprise bottle of champagne!

Evening view

Review – Kalima Resort & Spa, Phuket – Deluxe Seaview Room

So… Moving on… this is my second room after the encounter with their Royal Honeymoon Suite. We got to view the room before we decided to take it. In terms of room size, it is the same as their regular Honeymoon Suite, according to their explanation at the front desk, the only difference is that the building for the honeymoon suites are more private and away from the main road…

Deluxe Seaview Room

The decoration of the room is pretty simple, its modern and clean. You get a lounge area with a coffee table by your king size bed. In conclusion, there isn’t anything much I can say about this room so I’ll let the pictures do the talking =D

Bathroom

Shower

Bathroom

 

The bathroom is of decent size as well, you do get less ‘romantic’ touches as compared to the ones from the honeymoon suite. We were lack of a tube bathsalt, and also a pair of cotton slippers. I suppose those were part of the extras you pay for the ‘honeymoon’ version of this room. Somehow we didn’t get those towel thingies as seen the picture below in our Royal Honeymoon Suite either…but oh well… I’m not the person to complain about that…

Something we didn’t have in our Royal Honeymoon Suite

Desk – Nice and compact

View From Balcony – Seaview Plus Road

 

Things might get a bit noisy as the room was right beside the road. Their sound insulation wasn’t perfect so if you are a light sleeper…this might be a problem.

Deluxe Seaview Room -Tea & Coffee

 

So, in conclusion, this is a quite a straight forward room. Then again, Kalima being a 5 star hotel, you would expect their staff service to be a 5 star service as well. However, I do think that their staff lacks that 5 star hospitality after the trouble I went through with their Royal Honeymoons Suite. In addition, the turndown service that they claim they do for all rooms ? I’m pretty sure that is non existence and a bit misleading since I did have my “please clean up my room” light switched on for my stays in Kalima.

That being said, after all this the hotel management did compensate me with another room upgrade though. Of which surprisingly was really pleasant and kinda tip things back in their favour! I’ll update that in a separate post next time =)

Review – Kalima Resort & Spa, Phuket – Royal Honeymoon Suite

This isn’t exactly in Singapore… Welcome to Phuket Thailand!!! My girlfriend and I went on a deal.com trip during our  anniversary. On our first day of arrival we were upgraded from a Honeymoon Suite to a Royal Honeymoon Suite, hence we were quite excited to see how the room was. Since I only have my phone with me ( which to be honest doesn’t take the best pictures in the world combined with my questionable camera skills ) you’ll have to bear with some blurry pictures. Upon entering we were greeted with a large living area with a balcony access, there is a study table and a half sized fridge with the standard minibar items in it. The large red couch (presumably is the love couch since it is a honeymoon suite). A welcome fruit plate was placed on the naturally looking wood coffee table in front of a Samsung smart tv.

Living Room

On the study table is the standard coffee and tea making facilities.

Tea and Coffee

Living Room Couch

Living Room TV

Study

Living Room

The balcony of the living room opens to the Andaman Sea and there are two chairs and a small coffee table at your disposal should you want to relax the evening off. There is a small problem with the balcony view though, it overlooks the roof of the other block of the hotel. That being said, there seem to be some rectification works going on turfing the roof with artificial turf…

Balcony

The bathroom is another thing to behold… the space!!! what’s with this obsession for big bathrooms?? Then again, I have absolutely no problems with big bathrooms!! There is a separate shower and bathtub. The shower has a raindrop type shower and the bath is right by a huge glass window pane which looks into the bedroom…..OR…. the full height glass window of the bedroom looking out to the Andaman Sea.. which ever you prefer =P. There is a slight problem where the drain of the shower not draining the water away, this happened at 2 out of my 3 rooms I stayed at the Kalima Resort. Also, the water in Phuket is a bit yellowish so that becomes apparent when you use the tub. You get a full set of toiletries and two bottle of water as well as a bathrobes. The hotel also provided a separate set of towels and slippers for beach use and a set of indoor slippers. A safe is also provided.

A multi plug wall adapter is provided for those who forget a travel adapter.

BathTub

Bathroom

Sink

Safe

Bathtub

Shower

Bathrobes

Toiletries

Ceramic Bottles instead of those cheap plastic ones….

Finally, the bedroom, where all the magic happens.. =P   Here you are greeted with a King sized bed … although I’m pretty sure the bed is a SUPER King size bed… its enormous…! The room floor is timber which gives a warm cozy feeling unlike the tile floors in the living and bathroom, full height glass windows towards the Andaman Sea and lighting that is perfectly place to create a warm ambience. you have another Samsung Smart TV here in your bedroom and I would say the bed is one of the most comfortable I have slept on so far… ample of space. No more fighting for sleeping space =P On the side table there is a aroma diffuser with a emergency flash torch. They also provided a mosquito repellent to keep those buzzy little devils away!

Bedroom

Bedroom

The architecture and the interior deco is definitely well thought of, the lighting is however a bit too dim for my tastes, but maybe more suited towards creating a more romantic ambience… The workmanship of the furnitures and trimmings however is a bit lacking, and I do get a bit of trouble with the service of the staff when I return to my room the next day. When we returned the following day, there was a stench of sewerage in the room (of which I did get a headsup from browsing the reviews on tripadvisor so I wasn’t too surprise).The staff explained that it was due to a repair works of another rooom upstairs of the same block but we weren’t too sure. after 2 hours of trying to sort out the problem and some dissatisfaction with the staff we manage to request a switch of room to avoid the smell. So, I get to review another room type! more of that later on!

Review – Fairmont Singapore – Signature Room

I stayed at Fairmont Singapore for a 3 Night staycation. The Signature Room is one of Fairmont’s larger guest rooms before their suites selections. It is about 470~ sq ft.

So, lets get into the details…

Upon entering the room, a large king size bed awaits you. The ambience is cozy and gives off a warm classic feeling, the lighting itself is bright enough that you can see what you want and dim enough to give off a warm fuzzy feeling. The room is also pleasantly decorated, the trimmings and furnishing, albeit  a bit old does give you the classy yet warm feeling. Beside the bed are the control panels to almost every single thing to your room, be it lights, curtains, air conditioning etc.

Once you draw the curtain you get the FULL view of the singapore city skyline (well yeah, not the Marina Bay , its in the other direction facing Raffles -_- ). You get TWO balconies as well, which is also a rare feature in Singapore.

King Size Bed

The room is equipped with a BOSE entertainment system and a flatscreen TV with sufficient channels on it to not get bored, which came in handy when I decided to slack of and watch the documentary channels for the rest of the evening. On the other side of this long shaped room is the study area. The desk is huge… not even the desk in my office can match the size of this. There is a wired internet connection (of which you don’t have to pay if you sign up with their loyalty program) and also a wall plug for your laptop or other gadgets. In addition, if you do get the Executive Club access, you get a nice little letter inviting you to the club lounge for a evening drinks!

Study Area

Upon entering the hall way, the first thing you will notice is the tea/coffee making facilities to one side of the hall way. You get a Nespresso machine with 3 selection of coffee type, a minibar below and your standard tea making facilities. Two bottle of water were provided.

Tea or Coffee? ….mmm…

To the left of the hallway you will also find a walk-in wardrobe!! ( I know its nothing to get excited about but hey! in Singapore, walk in wardrobes are a luxury! The wardrobe is has a full ironing board and phillips steam iron, a safe, and a emergency torch should you need it.

Walk-in Wardrobe!!

Last but not least THE MAIN ATTRACTION!!! …

Just kidding… but woah was I surprise with the bathroom! I can literally open a club here and dance all I want! The bathroom is nicely decorated with a glass sink and full size bath tub. the white tiled marble flooring does make you feel like some sorta millionaire just walking in to the bathroom. They pamper you will all the toiletries they can think of – shower cap, toothbrush, nail file, a shower sponge, bath salts, a full suite of Le Labo shower gel, mouthwash…etc. You also get a nice thick fluffy bathrobes at your comfort!

The shower itself also has a raindrop type shower. However, it is a bit low pressure and makes quite a racket when you switch it to the that mode. Well… enough of the clap trap and I’ll let the pictures do the talking!!

Glass Sink!!

Marble Bath Tub

Separate Shower

Bathroom

In terms of service, the Fairmont team did a wonderful job, the evening turndown service was a nice plus. If you want to look for a five star hotel, be it a holiday or a business trip at a city location, this is definitely one of the best picks for a reasonable price.

Introduction

Hello out there, this will be a revamp of my old blog transforming it into reviews of hotels and staycations I have mostly in Singapore and some abroad. It was a random idea that I came out of nowhere and my purpose is to provide as much information I have for those who are intending to stay in those hotels that I have stayed before. Hope you guys enjoy it!