Our 2020 Staycation in Marina Bay Sands Hotel Singapore

Kpo Kia Papa ran out of ideas on my birthday present since I am too blessed. Thus, he decided to gift me a memorable birthday and a luxury experience for my birthday.

I wasn’t told beforehand on where we will be heading, in fact, Kpo Kia Papa only told me that we will be heading for a staycation a few days before my birthday. The only hints he had given me are:

• he will not be going to the hotel gym as ‘most likely there’s none available’
• there will be a lot of walking

Usually, I will start packing a week, or the latest 3 days before a trip (Yes! Even for a staycation!), this round, we only started packing the day before our staycation! Guess COVID had either really weaken my ‘warrior spirit’, or help me relax too much and get my inner peace =.=”

Heading for our first trip in 2020!

I was really looking forward to our yearly trip and had planned to go to Taiwan with the family this year. However, I had given up hope on my long-awaited holiday since COVID turned into a pandemic. So I was overjoyed when I thought I can bring out my luggage again~

Kpo Kia papa is a believer of ‘travel light’, so he forbid me from bringing out my luggage, 2 big bags are all he allowed for the family to bring along.

I was busy chatting with Kpo Kia and I wasn’t even aware when we turned into the car park, and I was surprised when I saw the words ‘Marina Bay Sands’ at the top of the beams.

Although there were just 2-3 batches of guests before us, it took us quite a while before we can get our room keys. This might be due to the additional processes that are put in place during the Phase 2 period, which the hotel staff needs to brief us.

Our room

When we go into our room, Kpo Kia was like ‘WOW!~~ Where is the oven?’ LOL!!! She was used to seeing microwaves in our hotels/Airbnb room during our previous trips and it somehow set an expectation on her.

Nevertheless, we started busy taking photos of the room and view out of the windows, before we prepare for the next activity – tour at the Sky Park!

MBS during Phase 2

The hotel staffs are friendly and cheerful and it makes our ‘checked-in-everywhere’ experience less painful (Yes, even within the hotel, we need to do a Singpass Check-in/out for every section). We love the views but felt a bit wet-blanketed as there are too many safety structures around that obstructed us from taking decent family photos with the wonderful view as the background.

Apparently, we need to book the time slots in advance to get into the infinity pool, not sure if this is to address the ‘social distancing’ in the pool area. Since each slot only has up to an hour, we rushed back to our room to change into our swimwear. Just as we were about to leave for the swimming pool, the doorbell rang and I got a pleasant surprise!

Since it was the actual day for my birthday, the hotel gave us a complimentary birthday cake. As we were rushing out, we quickly grabbed the cake into the room and took a few photos before we head over to the pool. Side story: It was only when we wanted to eat the cake, then we realized we were given a candle without anything to light the candle. Haha! I guess the staff meant to light it up for me in the room but we ‘chased her off’ unintentionally. Probably the hotel can check against the guest booking timing for the hotel facilities before they surprise the guest? Thank you to MBS for the little thoughtful cake!

Brought us back the memory of our babymoon – which coincide with Kpo Kia Papa’s birthday. We got a surprise cake from the resort back then, after we had a heavy dinner!! LOL!

The legendary infinity pool

Before we get into the pool, Kpo Kia papa needs to show the staff his booking number for verification. Since we were early and the staff is still disinfecting the pool for the next batch of guests, we casually asked the staff some questions. Noted that we cannot bring the towels issued to us in the pool back to our room, we quickly went back to the room and get a spare towel for Kpo Kia.

Once again, we are amazed by the view. Since Kpo Kia can’t swim, Kpo Kia Papa and I had to ‘carry’ her around from one end of the pool to the other end. As guests from Tower 3, we are not allowed to go over to the other part of the pools. Not sure if this is another Phase 2 practice put in place to ensure social distancing, or it’s always one of the house rules?

1 hour passed by in a blink of eyes, the staff politely and yet firmly remind us to leave the pool; as they will need to proceed with the disinfection in welcoming the next batch of guests.

We went back to our room, washed up, and enjoy the complimentary Birthday cake.

Changes, Changes

As our dinner booking is 9.30pm, Kpo Kia Papa suggested us to take a walk around MBS. It’s been a long time since we last came here (to catch pokemon!), and there are a lot of changes to the shops. Wanted to grab some snack before our dinner but we can’t find our cold storage or 7-11 anymore. After some walk, we finally found Jason Deli (by cold storage), but it’s almost time to head out again. =.=”

Sky Garden Night View

Kpo Kia Papa wanted us to catch the night view of the city, so we went over to the Sky Park for more photo-taking again. There are more people with cooling weather, but it adds on to the challenges of our photos-taking. How I wish MBS have a conveyer belt those in the sushi store and we can get a 360 view of the city sitting on the belt like a piece of sushi. *Wild thought again*

We were busy looking down… till we were requested to leave the Sky Park by the hotel staff since it closed at 9pm. =.=”

LAVO

We waited for almost 15 minutes before we finally got to our table, while seated at the waiting area, Kpo Kia was busy asking us to take photos.

Once seated, our server – Sarah, served us some warm water, before she leaves us alone to decide on our orders. After taking our orders, she referred us to put our mask into the mask holder, which we thought are ‘envelopes’, on our table. I personally like these little gestures, and wish that this type of service can be more common in the F&B industry.

I was in the mood for a drink in the bar, but can’t make up which cocktail to choose, so we seek her recommendation. After understanding my taste preference, she recommended me ‘Trouble Maker’. Was joking to Kpo Kia Papa that I had 2 trouble makers for the night – one was the drink, the other is Kpo Kia’. The troublemaker is sweet and refreshing, I thought it’s a bit strong (but later realized it’s because I didn’t stir properly and the drink didn’t mix well!), LOL!

Since our pasta needs some time to prepare, we were served a few slices of bread, with tomato paste and Olive oil while waiting. Luckily, before we can finish the bread, our dinner is served; else we will really be behaving like hungry ghosts on Hungry Ghost Festival (happens it’s Lunar 15th July). We are glad that unlike what we anticipated, we were not served the ‘fine dining portion’ for our orders.

Customers who had their birthday celebration here will get to enjoy complimentary Gelato. Kpo Kia Papa also researched and read that the restaurant will also write a birthday message on any dessert for the birthday guest upon request.

Our dinner finished almost quite late at 11pm. We went back to the room immediately to clean up since we need to wake up early the next morning for another swimming session.

Day 2

I had a nightmare (dreamt that I was in a massacre scene @_@), and wake up early. So I get to enjoy my moments of me-time while Kpo Kia and Papa are sleeping soundly.

But since our next swimming slot is 9.30am, we can’t slack too late. The pool is really a great motivator, Kpo Kia was very cooperative from brushing teeth to putting on her swimming suit, haha!

Although Kpo Kia Papa managed to extend the check out time to noon (standard check-out time is 11am), there’s actually not much time in the morning. After our swim (actually, only Kpo Kia papa swam, Kpo Kia and I were just playing with water), we quickly rush back to the hotel room to clean up. Managed to catch a cup of coffee, before we started packing and check-out!

Final thoughts

Kpo Kia Papa and I find that our 2-days 1-night staycation is a bit too rush, especially since the COVID safety measures indirectly took up quite a fair bit of our time. The service and cleanliness level is definitely up to standard, and the bed is very comfortable~~ While Kpo Kia can’t get enough of the Infinity Pool, I can’t get enough of the TV channels. Kpo Kia papa loves the Sky Park/Infinity Pool awesome view, but we both agree that the Sky Park view is a bit limited than expected.

Will we be back for a staycation again? Probably if there is a good promotion. And shall we stay there again, we will stay back for 2 nights.

P/S: Pardon me for the lack of photos of the hotel and facilities. But since this trip is all about experiences, the moments I captured are mainly in my brain. As for the pictures in my camera, those are what we treasured dearly to our hearts.