[STAYCATION] 2 Days 1 Night at M Social Singapore

Winner of #BeAllYouCanBe IG Story Contest by @frankbyocbc 

I was really lucky to be picked as 1 of the 10 winners for an instagram IG story contest organized by @frankbyocbc. The prize was an One Night Stay in the Alcove Cozy Room at M Social Singapore with a buffet breakfast for 1 person at Beast and Butterflies. Collected the voucher at their Orchard Gateway FRANK store only to find out that the voucher is expiring by the end of this year. Thus, I quickly make reservation via email. 

Managed to quickly confirm a reservation exactly one week after my first staycation at Andaz Singapore. It does feels good to be going to a different place to stay every week. I'm also quite lucky that this Friday falls on a work from home day making it easier to take leave. Upon a check online, we realised the room is not that big and since the breakfast is only for 1 pax, my hubby told me to go with my girl while he choose to stay at home. 

Discussed with my mom and she agreed to come along with my girl and I for the staycation. Also, asked my friend Lyn to join us to explore the place together. Not to be confused with Studio M Hotel which is just nearby, both M Social Singapore and Studio M Hotel which are under the Millennium Group takes on the concept of having Loft-Style Rooms but M Social Singapore takes it one step further to become a Designer Hotel with Philippe Starck, a famous French desinger being the man behind the design here.  

First Day - 11th December 2021

A very colourful and distinctive wall mural greeted us at the driveway when we get off our Grab ride. Registration starts outside the main entrance instead of in the lobby due to safe distancing measures. The outside was nicely decorated to welcome the Christmas festive season. 

After clearing the registration outside, we proceed to the lobby for our check-in keys. With a total of 10 storeys, we were allocated with a room on the 2nd floor. 

The Alcove Cozy Room does not comes with a second floor loft so all the amenities are packed in this one room. Interesting to find the basin with some toiletries neatly placed located just beside the metal rack. 

After putting down our things and scanning to see what is in the room, we on the television and saw the personalized message. Didn't watch any show as we decided to head up to the swimming pool at the 5th floor.

Usage of the swimming pool here is on a first come first serve basis, and do not need to pre-register. My girl played a little while in the water and tried to kick her legs but ended up chocking on the pool water and vomited a bit by the poolside. Good thing the shower room is just a door away and the staff cleared the mess up. 

Hubby came over to pick us all up for dinner at our favourite Teochew porridge stall in Henderson. Nothing beats having this comfort food. After that, he sent us back to the hotel again. Night time came, but I had a hard time falling asleep as it was quite cramp sharing the same bed with my mom and my girl. My girl even disallow me to off all the lights. I only managed to sleep a few short hours before waking up early to breakfast time. 

Second Day - 12th December 2021

We had our breakfast at the Beast & Butterflies which starts from 6.30am till 10am. Menu was very simple and divided into just 3 different section - Continental, American or Local. We wasn't very hungry so these were all that we've ordered. 

Overall, it was really a cozy room. I love the breakfast setting as well as the fact that swimming pool is on a first come first serve basis with no limit of usage time. The pool area is big and have a few beanbags for us to sit around by the pool to enjoy our own food. I brought some acai bowls and butter and got a few nice photo shoots here for product reviews. What I do not like is the bath area. The shower tap is very hard to turn when one's hand is soapy. Had to use a towel to turn it. The door to the bathroom is very hard to push open too. Initially, we thought the door was spoilt and even called the concierge to get someone to fix it, ended up it just needs more strength to open it. Rena played with the safe and was unable to unlock it as she couldn't remember the 4 numbers she pressed.  Location of the hotel is not accessible by public transport. Not child friendly too, I would say this hotel is more suitable for couples or young adults which is evident from what I saw during the check in queue. Nevertheless, I'm grateful for this staycation which mom rested well. She say finally she can sleep without thinking of doing housework. Thank you @frankbyocbc once again for organizing this contest. 

XOXO

[STAYCATION] 2 Days 1 Night at Andaz Singapore

My First Staycation Experience in Singapore! 

Due to the pandemic, instead of the annual dinner awards night, a Staycation voucher was issued to the qualifiers. One of the consultants had decided to bless me with this reward which I greatly appreciate. 

With this, I went for my first 2 Days 1 Night Staycation at Andaz Singapore with my family. Made the reservation the moment I received the voucher knowing that it would be hard to secure the dates I wanted. True enough, after several emails to and fro, there is finally a slot for me to check in on 4th December (Friday) and check out on 5th December (Saturday). 

First Day - 4th December 2020

We had to rely on public transport throughout as the car was sent for servicing. Alighted at Bugis Station and went through about 5 escalators and some walking before we finally reached Andaz Singapore. 

After some waiting at the reception for check-in, we made it to our room at level 32 at around 2pm as we were granted with early check-in at 1pm instead of the usual 3pm. Loving the awesome view and gigantic bed that greeted us but we were too hungry to stay and relax. 

After putting down our barang barang, we went opposite the street to have the famous Blanco Court Prawn Mee for our late lunch. 

Since we were with our girl, I had to plan an itinerary that suits her too. Decided to just cab down to City Square Mall to visit the Tayo bus Pop-up indoor playground as it was raining. It was a right choice as it was not as crowded being a Friday afternoon and she enjoyed playing inside and even had to extend for another hour. There is a side area for parents to just sit down and relax too. 

After visiting the Tayo Pop-Up Station, we also managed to go on self-guided Roaring Dino Hunt around City Square Mall by scanning the QR codes at the different activity stations scattered around the mall. My girl also took photo with the PAW Patrol pups standee and virtual Augmented Reality (AR) session. At the same time, we also learnt a bit of some interesting dinosaurs facts! Completed all 5 e-activities and went to level 3 to redeem for a PAW Patrol Dino Rescue gift set. 

We had Aston for dinner and my girl was already too exhausted so she fall asleep while we queued up for dinner. Managed to wake her up to eat her share of dinner. 

Some photos with the Christmas decorations here before taking the MRT back to the hotel with my girl as hubby went out to meet his friend who is near the area. Again, we had to go through the lots of escalator until my girl complained too. 

After washing up ourselves, we went to explore the bar at level 39. Nothing much since I'm not drinking with my girl so we went back to explore our hotel room. My friend Lyn who has been here before was constantly telling me what to look out for like where's the fridge, where's the torch light, etc. There is free mini bar and snacks provided in the hotel room and Rena ate the Kit Kat chocolate bar that was in the fridge.

Had a good night sleep on the gigantic bed which was big enough and still had space for turning even with the three of us sleeping on it. 

Second Day - 5th December 2020

The staycation voucher comes with a free breakfast for 2 at Alley on 25. We went down for our breakfast around 10am while the breakfast hours is from 7.30 am to 11am. We actually planned to go down much earlier but the curtain makes the whole room so dark, we overslept and I thought it was still night time. Their swimming pool was located at level 25 too but prior reservation is required to access the pool for a maximum of 1 hour per session and only 20 guests are allowed in the pool. We didn't managed to secure a reservation during our stay here so we could only take a photo of the pool. Gym access is on a first come first serve basis and is located at level 38 with a maximum of 5 guests allowed at any given time. There is also a Sunroom on the same level that is accessible to all in-house guests to enjoy complimentary coffee and tea from 7.30 am to 10.30 pm.  

This is the menu for breakfast on Alley on 25. We were shocked when we were told that each of us can only select ONE main breakfast dish but can have unlimited serving from the Continental selection. 

In the end, my hubby said he made the wrong choice of choosing the Kaya Toast Set and Auntie's laksa which was too oily and spicy. We don't understand why they had to impose this limit, isn't it supposed to be a buffet? 

Overall, it was a good recharge and experience. What I love about this hotel is that it's clean and spacious, accessible by public transport although we have to walk a bit and love the bed and complimentary mini bar inside. What disappoints me is that I'm not able to reserve a slot at their swimming pool and the limitation with their breakfast dish. Brought back nice memories as well as two pair of "Stolen from Andaz" slippers. 

XOXO