St Regis

Picked this for a luxurious weekend stayacation with a close girl friend – to relax and chill out despite not getting out of the country.

The difference hits you when you enter the lobby via the main entrance, greeted by a few chorus of ‘good afternoon’s. The check-in counters are not typical – it’s a few sit down counters for one-to-one service instead of standing front desks. Check in was quick and efficient; we were also escorted to the lift which I felt was a nice touch. I appreciated the complimentary upgrade to a Lady Astor room too.

The distinction with St Regis is its butler service. Coffee and tea are ordered with the butler and they bring it to your room. There are almost 10 choices of tea, along with coffee, cappuccino, hot chocolate, as well as an extensive pillow menu to pick from, although the bed itself comes with plenty of them already.

The Lady Astor room itself is big – 56sqm: 2 oversized single beds, a huge bathroom with a bathtub, 2 separate sinks, a makeup table, a shower, and a toilet. Plus a C-shaped couch and a coffee table. Cleanliness is excellent; nothing to fault.

Some of the spa facilities are complimentary for in-house guests: steam chambers, Jacuzzi, hydro massage pool, and sauna (non in-house guests have to pay SGD85 to use them) – they were all quite good.

The variety at breakfast was not as extensive as I thought, and quality honestly was just average for me. There’s also a complimentary daily wine appreciation for all in-house guests from 5:30pm – 6:30pm at the Decanter on level 1, which was a unique touch.

There was indeed a difference throughout my stay because its St Regis – there were more smiley faces and plenty of good mornings and afternoons. We felt more looked after and very welcomed anywhere in the hotel.

But as with all things, there are things to be improved:

1. Butler service – when we checked in, we were told that the butler will be at the room soon, so we waited. After half an hour, we called and the operator sounded a bit confused and asked what we need the butler for. We were in fact waiting for the butler to start our stay by telling us what his / her services are! The butler services was listed in a book set on the table, but I thought what they should have done is to get the butler to inform the guests what is available upon check in; otherwise the people who missed the book will not know that there is complimentary pressing of items upon arrival etc.

There were also 2 occasions where 2 different butlers came into the room without pressing the doorbell – they probably used the master key and entered while we were still in the room. It is unacceptable, especially so for St Regis – it is only basic courtesy to ring the doorbell when entering an occupied room. Admittedly they were delivering tea etc on the 2 occassions but if their hands were fully occupied, what they should have done is to place the tray on the floor to free their hands for pressing the doorbell. It would have been a disaster if we were in the middle of changing our clothes or worse, a couple engaging in some acts of affection.

2. Turn down service – the 1st night I was there, a lady rang my doorbell and tried to explain in English what she was there for - the turn down service. But she couldn’t, and eventually had to explain in Mandarin instead which I understood. But I thought the staff should be trained to at least be able to inform in English the purpose of them appearing at the door – what happened if it was a hotel guest who could not understand Mandarin (and given the clientele of the hotel; very likely). The turn down service also included a bar of chocolates – nice touch.

3. Breakfast – during one of my 2 breakfasts, I encountered a very strange aftertaste in my orange juice – suspiciously like soap. I alerted one of the staff who nodded her head and took it back into the kitchen, but the issue was never addressed thereafter.

4. Spa garden – The spa garden is a outdoor Jacuzzi in the spa which I tried for both days – but on the 2nd day, the water looked obviously more murky than previously, which made me wonder if the water needs to be changed / cleaned more frequently.

Outside of the above issues, my staycation was excellent. I’ll be back if I have the budget again of course.