Staycation at Hard Rock Hotel Singapore at RWS - Part 2

During our short staycation at Hard Rock Singapore, we went and did the following things apart from just sleeping and slacking in the hotel. Heehee..

Day 1

Since half the day was already gone from travelling to the destination and checking in then resting in room, we had arranged to catch a movie at VivoCity. Our last movie was 4 months ago, X-men: Days of the Future Past. We do not watch alot of movies together even before we got married. We feel that watching movies minimises our interaction time. So we only go for those blockbuster once in a while (or when there are free or promotional tickets =P).

We caught the evening 7.25pm show for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Got a popcorn set and snacked while watching. Even though we just had dinner, we were able to finish the entire box of popcorn. Sighs.. Junk food. Haha..

The movie was great, with lots of funny bits. We laughed alot. They really are just kids. Young teenagers. Haha...

Day 2

After breakfast at the hotel, we headed to Universal Studios Singapore. Second secret planned for the staycation. It was our second time to the USS. The first trip was 3 years ago. And we skipped those shows and rides that we had no interest in. And we had loads of fun chasing after the characters for photo taking. Maybe, I was the one who had loads of fun.

This time round, we had no repeats for the characters photos and managed to catch Kungfu Panda to take a photo together. The Kungfu Panda, looks pretty.... dusty now. Haha.. Oops...

http://www.rwsentosa.com/language/en-US/Homepage/Attractions/UniversalStudiosSingapore

After the day at USS, we headed back to the hotel for a rest and a dip in the pool before heading to Ding Tai Fung 鼎泰豐 at The Forum, Level 1 to replenish our energy. It was around 6.30pm when we left our room, and I was still sure that even though the place will have a queue, it would not be that bad.

The waiter told us that we have to wait around 15 minutes for our table, which, I find it acceptable. But the wait extended to about 45 minutes. Our poor hungry grumbling tummies...

http://www.rwsentosa.com/language/en-US/Homepage/Restaurants/DinTaiFung

I suggested to watch the Crane Dance after dinner as I had never sat down and watch the performance before. I only saw it opposite the waters from Vivocity, which was quite small. The show was quite sweet in the beginning, with the lights and water display. But I got bored in the middle, with a predictable ending. The show ended with light fireworks. Woohoo~

http://www.rwsentosa.com/language/en-US/Homepage/Attractions/CraneDance

Day 3

After a long night rest on the comfortable King sized bed, we went down for our breakfast. There are lesser people than the day before. We saw a long queue at checkout though. We took our time eating and choosing what to eat. The food are the same as yesterday's. The pastry corner is still my favourite. And the fruits section.

As we were still early for checkout, we spent the rest of the 2 hours in room, watching TV and just enjoying the air condition. Checkout was quick. The hubby and I headed for the Sentosa Express back to Singapore mainland for lunch.

Lunch was at Poulet Vivocity. It took us quite some time to settle on where to lunch. We got a waiter who rolled his eyes when we ordered warm water which we have to pay. So, what's the deal with the rolling eyes. Dude.. when you are in the service line, learn to keep a poker face man. And what's wrong with ordering paid warm water. I do not want any caffeine drinks or any cold drinks, so... I can only take warm water.

Staycation at Hard Rock Hotel Singapore at RWS - Part 1

My secret staycation is finally here. I think I waited about 2 months since the day the hubby asked me to keep the 3 days free. Hint was a rock picture. And I guessed Hard Rock Hotel. Of course, no confirmation was given, so I had to wait patiently.

And I'm not dumb after all. I so smart! Haha...

After checking in, we took this bejeweled lift up to our room. We are staying on the highest level. By the way, the whole place looks dark. From the lobby, to the lifts and to the corridors. Reminded me of Hard Rock Hotel in Macau (though we did not stay there). I guess that's the image they wanna portray.

And here's our room! Looks nice and comfy. Though it's a little weird to have three other guys in the room with us. Love the feeling of the room. By the way, on the left side of the king sized bed, there is a pull out bed for a third person (that is chargeable for the stay).

The divider for the room and toilet is semi opaque. The lights are part of the dressing mirror. Good thing is, it's very stylo. Bad thing about the semi opaque divider is... In the middle of the night, when we go toilet and turn on the wrong light, that's it... Haha..

Love the side sofa area. Good setup for some photos indoors to get silhouette photos.

Personalised greeting. I guess this is very common nowadays. By the way, the TV is powered by Singtel. And it is soooooooooo laggy. Sighs. Flipping channels is a chore.

Minibar. Coffee, tea and water are free. The rest chargeable.

In the toilet. The stylo dressing table. Rock star style mirror and a guitar shaped necessity mini shelving. There is a chair to sit while you blow dry your hair or do your makeup.

Breakfast is complimentary at the Starz Restaurant. Amazed by the amount of people from all over the world. I seldom see queues to get a table for breakfast in a hotel. Lots of families stay in this hotel too.

Full house. The queue to get a table was long.

My favourite corner of the buffet spread. For our two days breakfast, we noticed the food choices, are the same. Some difference in the pastry counter, but the rest is the same.

The swimming pool is shared by the other hotel guests too. When we were queuing to get our towels, there were guests coming from Festive Hotel too. I wonder how many hotels are sharing this pool?

We spent some time soaking in this pool. The long straight pool, without much people.

There is a mini water slide for the kids too.

They have this mini beach at the swimming pool too. Great for young kids to play.

Hard Rock Hotel Singapore
http://www.rwsentosa.com/language/en-US/Homepage/HotelsAndSpa/HardRockHotel
Resorts World Sentosa - Hard Rock Hotel Singapore
8 Sentosa Gateway, Sentosa Island
Singapore 098269

Kaohsiung : Our accommodation : Royal Group Hotel

This is where we will be staying for the next 4 nights. Royal Group Hotel 高雄御宿商旅-站前館. They have alot of branches in Kaohsiung. And we chose this, the one nearest to a KRT. It is only 5-8 minutes walk from the Kaohsiung Station, depending on your speed (I walk too slowly). The left side of the KRT exit is under renovation, else the hotel is visible upon exiting the station.

Checking in. We booked the room without having to pay any deposit. But the rule is that we have to check in between 4pm to 11pm. By 11pm, they will release the room. Of course you can pay a deposit to secure the room, so that you don't have to worry about checking in after 11pm. Full payment is to be done at checking in.

We had reserved a standard King size bed room which costs NTD1700 per night. A standard Queen size bed room costs NTD1600 per night. The difference is only NTD100, which is about SGD4.30. I wonder why is the difference so small.

Our room is on the 12th floor. The highest is the 13th floor. The lift is a little slow, but it's alright with us, as long as it is stable. Hmmmm..

Here's our room. Huge king sized bed. Normal ordinary hotel room, with enough space for walking about.

The TV has lots of channels. Though we mostly only watched Taiwan variety shows, dramas (Currently showing 神雕侠侣 - 刘亦菲's version), and Doraemon. Our pre-breakfast, daytime break and before bedtime entertainment.

All the toiletries have the same packaging. I bet the cleaning staff also had problems putting them up, as on the first day, I got 4 shampoos and yet only ONE shower gel. They come to clean up everyday and changed everything. Not sure whether is good for hygiene or bad for troublesome and wasteful. I have to open up a new bar of soap everyday just to use it for that two three times.

Their restaurant is located at the basement. And it is not accessible by lift. We have to walk down and up the pretty steep stairs. Scary for me. The hotel provides 24 hours snacks here, provided that we only dine in and not bring back anything up to our room.

They have lots of baos, looks pretty but taste soso...

... icecream, drinks (hot and cold), popcorn...

... and tea leaves eggs.

Breakfast is included by the hotel. It is provided at the same restaurant located in the basement. The variety provided is a little hmm..

The following are our daily breakfast, for two person. We shared whatever that is in the photos. Can see that there are not much choices. And after two days, everything taste the same as the previous day. On our last day (no photo), we ate mostly toasts. Haha..

I am not too sure whether we will consider staying in this hotel again if we were to visit Kaohsiung again. Maybe there will be more accessible Minsu popping out in the future? We wanted to stay in a homestay, but they are not really accessible. Too far too walk for me. And for our current criteria, this hotel is the best choice.

Oh. One bad thing about the hotel room. The gap below the front door is really huge. When we sleep, with all lights turned off, the corridor lights shine in quite brightly. But the bathroom is located between our bed and the corridor, so most of the lights is blocked off. And also because of the gap, whenever we are at the corridor, outside our room, I can hear TV sound and laughters from the other rooms. Though I am unable to hear anything when we are inside our own room.


Royal Group Hotel 高雄御宿商旅-站前館 
807台灣高雄市三民區建國二路283號
http://www.royal-group.com.tw/index.aspx