Location
This is my 2nd review for Amara Sanctuary Resort on Sentosa Island. This time I stayed in their Larkhill Terrace. The resort is sandwiched between the Integrated Resorts where one can find the casino and theme park and the beach area. The central location of the resort makes heading towards the beach or the integrated resorts a breeze. However as with the other hotels on Sentosa, to access mainland Singapore, one will have to take the island’s subway system out of the island and change to the transport on Singapore. It is rather far away from the main shopping district in Singapore.
The Suite
The suite felt a little small (Well at least for the air-conned part of the room) compared to suites in other hotels. However if one were to take into consideration the outdoor parts of the room, it is rather huge. As the weather was rather hot, my friend and I spent most of the time in the air-con part of the room.
Sleeping Area
Upon entering the room, a huge king-sized bed greeted patrons staying in this class of the room. The centre of attraction in this part of the room gotta be the bed. Everything in this suite looks functional, there are little deco or unnecessary stuff inside the room. The bed is very comfortable and large enough to sleep 3 comfortably. The air con inside the room is just nice, not too hot and not too cold. There is a small study table by the side of the main door. Opposite the bed is a LED TV. The downside is there isn’t any direct connection for iPods, HDMI Cables for the TV. Connection to the TV has to be made directly onto the TV, unlike some other 5 star hotels. Having said that, there are a lot of PowerPoint outlets for patrons to power up their electronic devices around the room. 2 Wardrobes are available in the room, however only one can be used to store clothing, the other one houses the Nespresso machine, mini bar, and the glasses, hot water flask. Well, hidden and interesting way of making the room less cluttered.
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| Bedroom of the suite |
Bathroom
After the 2 wardrobes are the toilet and walk-in shower. The walk-in shower feature a rainshower a normal showerhead. The walk-in shower is rather large. Opposite the walk-in shower is the toilet, which has a small sink in it. At first, I thought this is rather weird, as my time inside the room progresses, I found to cater another sink inside the toilet does make functional sense. As the other sinks are outside, having a sink here means patrons do not need to go outdoors just to wash hands.
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| Walk-in shower |
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| Toilet in the suite |
Outdoor Patio
After the toilet and the walk-in shower, one would find another set of glass doors leading to the outdoor patio. Here is where one would find a huge bathtub as the centrepiece of the area. On the sides are 2 sinks, so people would not resort to fighting over the sink. Rather thoughtful design. After the bathtub is a day bed, under a retractable canvas where one can laze the day away. The day bed faces the back door, where patrons can access to a jacuzzi and an infinite pool.
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| Outdoor bathtub |
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| Outdoor Bathtub |
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| Outdoor Sink |
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| Outdoor daybed |
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| Outdoor Daybed |
The room is designed with thoughtfulness and functionality. it is very comfortable on both the indoor bed and the day bed, perfect for one to snooze on both beds. However, as with any other outdoor rooms in this part of the world, insects would be invited at night due to the warmth from the lighting outdoors. I thought the hotel should have foreseen this and perhaps provide some electronic devices to get rid of the bugs and lizards.
Swimming Pool
The rear of the suite opens up to a swimming pool that is for the exclusive use of guests staying at the Larkhill Terrace. The lap pool is tranquil and does feel exclusive. There is a jacuzzi separated from the infinity lap pool found at the backyard of Larkhill Terrace Suite.
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| Swimming pool |
Service
Check-in was prompt with the staff at the reception recognising me as a returning patron. Very personalised and warm service. I was taken aback despite the last time I stayed here was some 7 months back in their 2 bedroom villa. Check-in was very fast and we were finding our way in a very short time.
I stayed at this property during my birthday. My friend arranged for a birthday surprise prior to our arrival at the hotel. At around 7 pm on the day of our check-in, a caked was delivered to our room. The cake arrived 2 days before my birthday. Puzzled, my friend told the staff that the cake was delivered 2 days early. The staff called his manager and returned to us 5 mins later, insisting that we accept the cake. We understood that he is probably acting on his manager’s instructions. Later in the evening, we raise this issue at the reception while en route to dinner. The staff at the reception told us there was some mistake on the system and the date was keyed in wrongly. There wasn’t any mention by the receptionist to have another cake delivered on the actual day, and the response we have gotten from her is there is nothing much she can do about it. My friend called the customer service manager the next day to register our displeasure. The manager arranged for another cake to be delivered on the actual day.
Other than that the service provided by the staff were excellent, from the staff at shutters restaurant, where we had rather sumptuous breakfasts, to the gardener watering the plants near the terrace. The housekeeping staff, Noor, was exceptionally good. On the first day, we requested for housekeeping at 1 pm and returned at 4 pm to see that our room had not been tidied. When we were about to call housekeeping to get them to have our room made up, Noor rang on our doorbell and apologised for being late. As we had bought food back and told her that we planned to dine in our room, she offered to come back later after we had our food. However, we told her to proceed with our room and we will walk around and return at a later timing. We spent around 45 mins walking around and thought that our room might not be ready. To our pleasant surprised our room was perfect. Despite the short timing, Noor did not cut corners and kept our room clean! We called up housekeeping to request for extra bathing amenities, Noor came with the amount we requested. The next day when she made up our room, we found additional bathing amenities as we requested the day before! Such thoughtfulness and attention in detail were displayed by Noor! Well done Noor!
Overall
Overall the stay was pleasant, though some areas in terms of service could be done better. The hotel did deliver tranquility and exclusivity regarding the pool at the Larkhill Terrace, and the star throughout our stay gotta be Noor! The rest of the staff should look up to her and display the same attention to detail and thoughtfulness as she had.
