Kid's water playground, kid's indoor playground, swimming and painting with Olivia. Great (for our daughter), ain't it.
This is our fourth staycation during this period, with the rest being Equarius Hotel, Andaz, Marina Bay Sands, so we do have certain expectations.
Check-in
Awesome check-in experience because it was literally empty. Briefed us through the necessities and handed us some sanitary freebies. Then there was this nice lady who came by to give little Olivia a pack of goodies containing some DIY 3D castle, coloring materials and an activity book (basically to keep her entertained during the stay). Little gestures like this are HUGE plus points to parents like us.
The SHOPHOUSE bakery was still open, so you can get some quick bites here if needed.
The Garden Wing Room
Apparently they have various wings, like the Tower, Valley and Garden wing. Lady M got the garden wing with perks like.. a lot of greenery.
But it's located on a low floor so we didn't get the awesome city view like Andaz (that was 30+ stories high). It has all the necessities you would need, nice, comfortable king-size bed that Olivia jumped right on it at first chance. The toilet was nice and huge with two bathing areas.
Now, we booked indicating that it was my birthday and they were so nice to surprise us with a Chocolate mousse cake, a card and some birthday decoration! Services like this are worth applauding for.
Splash Zone
Since the weather looks great, we decided to head to Splash Zone soon after we checked in. This is a must-go outdoor water playground for kids (and even adults). They have different areas, with slides, water guns, and those containers that unloads huge buckets of water on you. unfortunately, Olivia can't enter the 4-12 year old area (which has two really fun-looking slides). Because of the limited operating capacity, all slots have to be reserved beforehand.
In-room Dinner
We got the staycation deal from Klook which includes a $50 dining credit. Just before they announced the Heighted Alert Phase, I really wanted to visit Waterfall Ristorante Italiano for a nice birthday dinner.. and just in time, all restaurants were ordered to close down except for takeaways. Looking at the in-room menu, it has a nice selection of cuisine. Since I was craving curry chicken, I got the spicy Butter Chicken (S$24), Lady M got the Lobster Laksa (high recommended, S$26), and a Wanton Noodle for Olivia. Verdict? One of the best hotel in-room dining.
Oh, not to mention, we ended off with a dessert and birthday song. They were afraid we would burn down the building with a candle, so we made do with an app.
And... Morning came.
Mattress and pillows were comfy. Sleep was great except for the fact that Olivia never sleep well during staycays (she cried non-stop and finally slept at 2.30pm). But again what can you do when she smiles like this in the morning?
Breakfast had a nice selection too, since we get to choose three sets, we pretty much got everything else other than the granola cereal bowl. Let's see what we've got here: omelette, baked beans, sauteed mushrooms, sausages, kaya toasts, more eggs, bread basket, pancakes, waffles, roti prata (awesome btw), hashbrowns, fruits, coffee, tea, orange juice, milk.. Yup, definitely enough.
Buds
For kids, one of the main highlights for a Shangri-La stay is definitely their indoor playground. Due to capacity limitation, Buds is currently limited to hotel guests and with pre-booking. We were lucky enough to have only one other family, so Olivia had plenty of activity space. Besides the playground, there's a music room.
.. and even a painting room where children (and adults) can unleash their imagination. Aprons and paints provided, so your kid doesn't end up with stains on the clothes!
I supposed the only downside to this was the insufficient time (1 hour) that we are allowed there, considering the many areas the children can explore.
Swimming time
Olivia loves the water, that's why we knew we gotta bring her for a swimming session. They have different pool sizes from 0.5m to 2.5m (if I can remember correctly). Definitely perfect for a nice afternoon swim before lunch and nap.
Endnotes
For parents with kids, this is the ultimate staycay place to utilise your remaining Singapore ReDiscover vouchers. There is so much things you could do to keep your little one busy within your stay, such as swimming, indoor and outdoor parks. Shangri-la is not exactly near (walkable) to any shopping spots, so you couldn't expect a "city-staycay" like Andaz. But for parents with us, this staycay hits all the right spot. Highly recommended for the service and overall experience.