Went on a staycation last month cos cannot travel right? So decided to make the most out of it by being a tourist in your own country. And since Singapore is so small, the only place that might make you feel like you are on a holiday is Sentosa. Decided to give Sofitel Sentosa a try (cos all other hotels are so expensive) and went to Coastes for brunch before checking in. Coastes is located a short walk from Beach station and thankfully for the good weather that day (because it had been so rainy that week), we didn’t have to go for Plan B.

The place was super crowded. They don’t take reservations and most of the tables were already taken up when we reached at 10-ish

A very open concept, just chilling by the beach and having brunch

Blue blue sky!

Iced Latte $7

The coffee didn’t taste as bad as I expected

Coastes Breakfast $23

Grilled Pork Sausages, Thick Cut Bacons, Baby Spinach, Roast Tomatoes, Scrambled Eggs, Sour Dough with Coffee

Pancakes Served with Maple Butter $15

Read somewhere they had fabulous brunch here. Erms. Honestly, brunch was very very average but to be fair, we don’t have much options for brunch in Sentosa so this was probably the best option you can get (other than breakfasts in hotels)

Coastes

50 Siloso Beach Walk #01-06, S(099000)

Went to the hotel to check-in and drop off our bags before heading out again cos the room wasn’t ready yet. And we decided to utilise the free Sentosa Fun Pass which every household is entitled to 2 x 10 tokens. So we made our way to..

Headrock VR Sentosa!

The tokens were enough for us to claim one ride each which we went for the Jungle Rafting that was also the most popular ride there

I was glad it was free. Spending money on this was a waste of money in my opinion. It didn’t feel real and I felt giddy after the experience. I think I rather have fun on a real roller coaster ride

Since we had time to kill, we went to queue for the cheap cable car rides (which only costs $3 round-trip). And everyone else probably had the same thought as us (plus it was Sunday so helpers off-day). We queued for 1.5 hours while having some frozen yoghurt on hand

Just a leisure scenic trip

And then the sky turned overcast very quickly so we made our way back to the hotel

We took some time to roam the compound which was very resort-like and of cos lots of photo taking moments

And finally, got back to our room – Prestige Suite

The Living Room

And a connecting hallway which leads to the bedroom

And finally the grand bathroom

We even found the resident peacock who decided to just chill at our balcony

I was all ready to enjoy the room and it had just began to pour then. Only to be welcomed by a surprising flood which honestly I don’t know how it happened. So the entire bedroom and bathroom was flooded – carpet included. The next 1+ hour was just spent waiting for them to switch us to a new room and I was completely exhausted by then. Told the friend this and she was like, they didn’t upgrade you?? Nope. How about free vouchers or something? Nope, nothing either. Omg, that’s poor customer service. Yeps, I completely agree

Sofitel Sentosa – I hope you can do better

As a result of the unexpected experience, we were late for dinner

Quayside Isle was really decorated. It felt so festive. Settled on Greenwood Fish Market and it was packed! They have a new Asian cuisine menu which expanded their already extensive selection and it was hard to decide what to order

Golden Mantle $4.50, Coffin Bay $4.95, Fine De Claire $4.95 & Ostra Regal $8.95

Love freshly shucked oysters. But we really didn’t like the Ostra Regal for its really unique iodine taste. Lets just say this was an acquired taste

Pan-Seared Crabcake $22.95

Stuffed with Crab Chunks, Japanese Potatoes and Rice. Served with Pepper Aioli

Honestly, I didn’t like this either. It felt pretty normal to me

Okra, Squid & Banana $24.95

Ooh, this was really good. The Tamarind Chilli Sauce made it so addictive. But it would be better if they have the banana as well (They ran out of it. I know. Banana?!)

Barramundi (Fillet) with Salad & Fries $32.95

And a decent piece of fish fillet with a nicely done crispy skin

Greenwood Fish Market @ Quayside Isle

31 Ocean Way, #01 – 04 / 05, S(098375)

Breakfast was paid for and dining was at the Kwee Zeen cafe. Wow, the hotel was really on full occupancy and the whole cafe was packed (amazing the number of people doing staycation). I guess the staffs were busy serving and clearing the tables they don’t even have time to explain to you how ordering works. They literally brought you to any empty table and that’s it! In any case, you scan the the QR code for the menu and then made your order (no, not online). It works like an ala-carte buffet style where you have 6 sets to choose from: American, Cantonese, Singapore Laksa, Malaysian, Indian & Healthy Breakfast and a separate menu for the kiddos

Malaysian Breakfast 

Nasi Lemak with Lemongrass Chicken Wing, Fish Otah, Cucumber,  Egg, Prawn Crackers, Peanuts & Ikan Billi

Honestly this whole plate was very meh. The rice lacked fragrance and the chicken wings don’t have that oily crispy texture. Sad

Singapore Laksa

The laksa fared a little better which tasted quite decent

Cantonese Congee with Assorted Dim Sum

Fish or Chicken Congee

Dim Sum: Char Siew Bao, Siew Mai and Hargao

The congee was not bad but the dim sum was rather forgettable

The wait time for your breakfast can take quite long to arrive (20 mins at least) due to high occupancy, so be prepared to wait..

By the time we were done, it was time to head out to Universal Studios cos we wanted to make it for the 12pm early entry meet-and-greet session. The weather was pretty gloomy that day and it poured just as we reached the park

Due to Covid, the staffs will not help you take photos but instead encourage selfies/wefies instead. So unless you have a wide angle camera, else you can just ask your friend/family member to take that photo instead

I think the only highlight that day was these 2 minions got scolded cos they were not standing 1m apart. LOL. In all honesty, the park felt quite dead. Only some attractions were opened and somehow, it lacked the liveliness and excitement of a theme park. Even though there were decorations to create some festive atmosphere, it still felt different. Probably made worse by the gloomy and eccentric weather. Oh, what has Covid done to us?

So we decided we had enough and made our way to Vivo city for steamboat and shopping before catching the free shuttle back to Sofitel to utilise our MyGlass pass. This pass entitles one adult to free-flow drinks and alcohol (6-9pm only) for the entire day at any of their restaurants

Chilling at LeBar which was surprisingly empty

And that’s the menu for MyGlass. On first glance I was like uh, that’s it? HA. Being typical Singaporean, we made sure to utilise the pass to the maximum. To my surprise, the drinks were pretty decent. The white was very easy to drink, the margarita and pina colada was very good and the whisky was so strong I couldn’t finish it

Well, you can try a hand at the piano too

(No, I’m just joking)

And that’s it for the day before we retired for the night

Called for room service the next day (which on hindsight is a good choice). Went for the American Breakfast and Congee this time round. Wanted Belgium Waffles as well but it was chargeable cos it was on the kids’ menu. In my head I was like pre-Covid days you don’t stop people from taking whatever they want on the buffet line right but now adults can only stay to the adults selection. Sighs, how I miss pre-Covid breakfast buffet. It’s okay, breakfast at Sofitel ain’t anything to shout about either

American Breakfast: Two Eggs any style with Bacon, Chicken Sausage, Hashbrown, Roasted Cherry Tomatoes served with Fresh Fruit Platter, Bircher Muesli, Assorted Bakery Basket

Rested for abit before heading to the pool for our pre-booked slot. Thankfully I booked a different time slot each day so at least I managed a dip in the pool even if wet weather fell on us

First one in! YAY

The staff at the entrance was like oh you are the one. I was like, oh am I the only one? To which he replied, yah, the earliest. HA

5 minutes later, people started strolling in. 15 minutes later, more people came. In my head I was like huh, I thought I was the only one??

The pool got quite crowded after awhile with many many kids (even though they were at the kids section). The friend asked me wasn’t it supposed to be controlled? I was like hmm, the pool honestly felt quite crowded to me. In any case, we stayed about an hour (booking for was 2 hours) before heading back up to shower, pack up and check out

Dropping by The Cliff to check it out cos it was supposed to sport a good mountain/cliff/scenic view

Well, the view is clearly debatable 

I’m glad I didn’t make plans to dine at the restaurant

Many people asked me how was the hotel? Well, the suite was nice (besides the unfortunate flooding) but I felt like this place is more suited for adults than family cos there was nothing to do for kids. There was no free in-house activities so the only thing you can do is the swimming pool, gym and spa (which was located in another property – how strange). The hotel is located in a corner of Sentosa Island and the only public transport to get around is Bus B which can be a little inconvenient to those that do not drive. Depending on how you look at, you can consider this place as very seclusive and a sanctuary on its own but definitely not one that is comprehensive and attentive. I say, you pay for what you get lah.. Perhaps I might try my second option the next time round, hopefully for a better experience