Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort

Stayed here at the Shangri-​La for a few nights and was surprised at the age and location of the property. Sentosa Island is a separate island from Singapore that imposes a charge each time you enter. With that said there are minimal non-​residents on the small island.
Singapore itself is very humid which makes any prolonged outdoor activity challenging.
Service was friendly by the staff although they were not accommodating to my request for an ocean-​front view. instead, my view were man-​made shrubs… less than 2 feet from my balcony…
The bed itself was very comfortable and the shower was good.
…in my opinion this resort did not meet the Shangri-​La standards!

I stayed here for a night or two some years ago. Rasa Sentosa is a beautiful place. Check-​in and check-​out sucked. Lousy front desk service. Our room faced the jungle and it tripped me out that monkeys came to the balcony — and during the Chinese New Year in the Year of the Monkey coincidentally. We took pictures of that. The breakfast buffet was nice and satisfying and the pool was lovely. There was nice flavored Boh tea in the room. Other than that though, I prefered The Mandarin Oriental in downtown S’pore. This island was beautiful, but at the time of my visit, there wasn’t much competition for accomodations, so this hotel underwhelmed me for the most part due to that lousy front desk service and it catering more to families with kids rather than something more romantic for couples.

This place was awesome and I had just left the world famous Marina Bay Sands hotel, this was better. Stayed 2 nights (3 of us including toddler). Very family friendly which was great, if you want to travel kid free this is not the place. Room beautiful, spacious. Bathroom nice with soaking tub, nice toiletries, shelves for my stuff (big plus!) usually makeup is falling in the sink. Over tub a clothesline for wet swimsuits very nice as you can put anything on balcony or monkeys will steal them :). Service 5 stars, felt personally cared for by everyone, like we were VIPs. Refrigerator stocked with complimentary sodas juice and water, unheard off. Pool beautiful, splash pad, slides for kids. Breakfast was included and was huge and high quality, enough to fill you through lunch. Only downside (hence 4 stars) was there was no real lounge or bar with atmosphere or music. I’m traveling with toddler but even he enjoys a good live band. Would have loved to sit by the pool and hear a band or in the bar for a nice drink. Drinks are $ 15 so you want to feel like you can really relax and enjoy it. Sat in the bubble bar for a drink on the patio but felt like we were sitting in the buffet, no atmosphere at all. Finally must say again service was awesome. We got stuck in major rainstorm down at their trapizza restaurant at the beach and they gave us an umbrella and sent a golf cart shuttle down to get us. Even at the casual pizza joint we felt like we were in a 5 star resort. Planning our next trip to Rasa Sentosa already, miss it!

A more than decent place to spend a day without fighting the daily grind of traffic and masses of people in this resort. Still can be busy like today.
Highlights for me were the Malaysian Street food, Candylicious, casino, and the beach. The rides, the iFly, cable car has been overdone but i’m sure it’s fun for those who appreciate it more. $ 26 for cable car pretty reasonable.
Appreciate the tram w/​its 4 stops, as it’s quite the vast property here.
Better to cab it here than to MRT to here, as you still have to pay the entrance fees to get in from Vivocity, but not by cab; tip given by my local friend here. And save time too, as long as it’s not rush hour to hail down a cab.

We were here January 2013 to go around Sentosa for 2 nights and 3 days. This is a humid country and people are straight forward. Do not expect greetings like we do here in the U.S. with warm smiles and pleasantness. They’re often mistaken as rude but this is just cultural. They’re nice, hard working people and very honest.
My daughter left her iPod after dinner at the hotel’s buffet area and we got it back.
The free breakfast is huge! Four restaurants were open for the buffet with Chinese, American, Spanish, Mexican choices.
It’s definitely kids friendly hotel. The pool is next to the beach. We got tired of the pool then we ran to the beach and ride the tram to different areas of the beach.
The hotel is next to the aquarium and there’s a free tram ride right outside the hotel. The location is great for many activities. The rooms are clean. We got 2 adjoining rooms.
Free icecream at the lobby.
Always close the windows or the veranda sliding door, monkeys may get in. We’re least bothered, we actually enjoyed looking at them.
Our airport taxi was prompt to pick us up from the hotel. Wish we can go back again and again.

Worst service that I ever received in Singapore.
Mr.Q and I were attending a friend’s party.
When we just arrived at the entrance, the bellhop opens the back trunk of our taxi instead of our taxi door. Before we get out of our cab, he starts to load the luggage into the taxi and his facial expression looks like he couldn’t get us out of the cab fast enough to let the Caucasian family in.
How will you feel being discriminated being an Asian in a Asian country by an Asian !
;(

I think the resort has just recently opened, mid 90’s, so this is obviously not a review for the current setup under Shangri-​La.
I just remember playing ping pong with my cousins and being what felt like the only people around. It was an interesting and fun experience.
Looking at it now, there’s been a lot of refurb. done and I am sure that it’s much busier.

I had the luxury of spending a night here after a work retreat, and with its recent facelift, Rasa is really a pretty swish place to stay in. The place is family-​oriented, and the work-​peoples’ kids ran themselves ragged all over the hotel, dunking themselves in pools, diving into ball pits and then some.
Our meeting rooms were functional, tea breaks all good, and the view was needless to say, awesome. Dinner was done buffet style on the beach, complete with separate drinks and barbecue counters, which made hanging around for discussions very leisurely. As we sat there shooting the breeze, the moon made its slow ascent. Perfect Kodak moment for a life is good ad.
The sleeping quarters were spacious, and had a nice view of the sea. No monkeys came by to ransack our room, thankfully. Amenities and furnishings were nice but ho hum, typical of all Shangri-​la hotels worldwide — down to the bedside clock and pithy quote on bookmark laid on your bedding. Still, the beachfront location is a major plus point, and I’d like to revisit some time soon.

The only time I actually stayed at Rasa Sentosa Resort was during my cousin’s wedding. What’s more, it’s a suite! Sweet? You bet!
Years has passed but I still remember the feeling when I was there. Even though it was just a couple of hours in the hotel, the view from the suite was amazing and breath-​taking.
If must, must, must enjoy the breeze and view from the balcony. I sat there with a drink, looking across the sea and beach. I never felt so relaxed in my life. Something I would want to go back and experience again.

All in all, the sea facing rooms have views that just robs your breath. But they also have monkeys from the coastal forest behind the hotel that tries to rob you too. You can’t miss them ’cause they come right up to visit you on your balcony even if you are on the highest floor! That was the end of any plans to relax and enjoy the view on the balcony.
Missus and I also stayed at what appears to be a family oriented room on the ground floor which has access from its own patio garden directly to the pool and beach! But for some reason that also means the floor is somewhat sandy and the room is definitely designed with families with kids in mind. the restaurants are great but exorbitant. Buffet breakfast is a good spread. There is free and seamless wifi access at every corner of the resort.
The hotel really reminds me of the summer camp in Dirty Dancing, complete with planned activities and free ice cream. The pool is amazing and the hotel even has a flying fox (not the animal). But to be honest, what is more amazing is the fact that one of the last natural cliff coastal forest and inter-​tidal shore complete with corals on Sentosa is right in front of the hotel. As long as they keep it like that, they get my thumbs up.