School holidays are round the corner! Have you started planning your family vacation? Or perhaps you are considering a family staycation at a kid-friendly hotel in Singapore?
Furama RiverFront Singapore has recently launched their Family Rooms and special #FuramaKids staycation bundles that are suitable for families with young children or even teenagers.
I was here to check out the Family Room last week.
The current promotion for the Family Room staycation is as follows:
Furama RiverFront Singapore
405 Havelock Road
Singapore 169633
Room rate
S$268Nett per room per night (weekdays)
S$288Nett per room per night (weekends)
Includes:
– Complimentary breakfast at The Square @ Furama
– Complimentary wifi
– Kids’ amenities
– Access to kids’ play room, PAWS
– 50% discount for lunch or dinner at The Square @ Furama and Kintamani Indonesian Restaurant
– Enrolment to FURAMA first program with Gold status
Book Period
Now till 31 December 2016
Stay Period
Now till 31 March 2017
Reservations/Enquiries
Visit furama.com/riverfront/
Email reservations.riverfront@furama.com or call 6739 6464
Hotel lobby and reception
Friendly staff at the front desk made checking-in easy but the whole process which still involved manual paper work did take quite a while.
Up to our room on the 10th floor. Lift lobby was super spacious.
And so was the corridor space which was a plus point for families with prams and also guests on wheelchairs.
We stayed in room 1018 which looked like this.
Vibrantly coloured wallpaper with 3D effect. Looked kinda cool.
There were 2 queen size beds meant for 2 adults and 2 children or 4 adults.
I was pleasantly surprised to see these old-school snacks (rice crackers, gem biscuits, peanut candy or kong tng & peanut brittle) that were individually wrapped and labelled. Most hotels would probably just give a complimentary fruit platter and chocolates or macarons but these biscuits were definitely a rare find. The kids would sure love munching on them while listening to their parents reminiscing about their childhood memories and stories.
A personalised welcome card
The writing desk area
USB outlet for convenient charging of your tech gadgets
Available TV channels
4 bottles of drinking water were given free
There was also a selection of instant coffee, tea bags and 3-in-1 Milo
Loved the provision of big and small cups with colourful spoons. Nice to enjoy a cuppa with the kids while watching TV together in the evening. Family bonding time while on staycation. 😉
Upon checking-in, each child would also receive a surprise goodie bag containing an assortment of items to keep themselves busy.
In the mini fridge, there were complimentary soft drinks and surprisingly, packet milk too. The milk would be perfect for the kids to drink before bedtime.
There were adult-sized and child-sized bathrobes in the cupboard. Also, a safe to keep your valuables in, a full sized ironing board and iron.
Even the slippers came in adult and child sizing too.
Plenty of storage space for your luggages and shopping bags.
The bathroom was of a decent size.
A stool was provided underneath the sink for the kids to stand on so they could have easier access to the tap.
The kids would definitely enjoy a little splash in the bathtub which came equipped with a cute alligator anti-slip mat. Parents might just want to bring along some bubble bath for a bubbling good time.
Bath towels came in lovely baby pink and blue colours. The folded ones on top were large-sized towels meant for adults and the hanging towels below which were smaller in size were meant for the kids.
Amenities for both adults and kids were also provided. Really a very thoughtful move. Besides the usual stuffs, there were also head-to-toe wash, toothbrushes and strawberry-flavoured toothpaste for the kids.
Didn’t see a hairdryer in the bathroom? Well, it could be found in the drawer of the writing desk. There was also a sewing kit for those emergency moments when you needed to mend something.
View from the room window
This rounded annex on the left foreground used to house high-end KTV lounges and night clubs (Tiananmen KTV & Lounge, Club Infinitude and Golden Million) but they had moved out from the premise last year. Now, the newly renovated annex is home to Hive by Wala Wala (Singapore’s largest restaurant & bar), Mondo Vantaggio (a luxury fashion boutique) and MapleBear Preschool.
Hive by Wala Wala
Let’s now explore the rest of the hotel.
At level 5, turn to your right from the lift lobby and grab your towels from here before heading to the pool.
A pretty big swimming pool – nice to have a dip in especially when the weather was so hot and humid
Just another angle of the swimming pool. That was Copthorne King’s Hotel in the background.
Spotted a papaya tree while walking around the swimming pool area. Great opportunity to do a little mini educational nature tour with the kids. There was also a vegetable corner.
The main swimming pool area had a separate section for families, including this inflatable waterslide. While parents can choose to rejuvenate with a refreshing dip in the pool, the kids can enjoy a fun-filled time with selected pool toys or head to this children’s waterslide for hours of fun water play.
Near to the waterslide was this mini putting green for the kids to try their hands on golf.
At Level 1, there was PAWS, a playroom for juniors aged 5-11 years old. This is available everyday from 9am to 9pm.
Kids get to jump on the mini trampoline, build their dream castles with LEGO blocks or show off their artistic/creative side on the drawing board. Cartoon screenings are also available here.
Parents who wish to have a little quiet couple time can also engage the hotel’s babysitting service which is available at a minimal cost and can be arranged with one day’s notice.
For lunch, you can enjoy a buffet spread of traditional Indonesian fare at Kintamani Indonesian Restaurant on Level 3. Read my review here.
For dinner, you can indulge in a buffet spread of international cuisine at The Square @ Furama. Kids aged 4 years and below could dine for free when ordering from their special a la carte kid’s menu.
I did check out the dinner buffet when I was there but I shall share my experience on a separate blog post tomorrow as there are just too much to talk about, lol.
At the restaurant, you can see Tykes @ The Square which is quite a big play area for kids so parents can leave their kids there and dine in peace. The play area is quite centralised at the main dining room so you can easily watch over your kids while they are playing.
The next day’s breakfast was also at The Square. Came around 9am and the restaurant was really busy.
The spread consisted of the usual hotel breakfast fare that included American, English, Continental and Asian favourites.
Not a bad selection of food though taste wise, it was a bit hit and miss. I did like the omelette (freshly made at the egg station) that was very well seasoned, the hash browns that were crispy, not soggy or overly oily, seafood soup noodles and croissant. The fried bee hoon with vegetable curry and dhal curry were tasty too.
There were also 6 types of cereals with fresh milk, hard-boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, oatmeal, fried rice, cheeses, cold cuts and toasts.
As for beverages, there were apple, pineapple and orange juices, soy milk and coffee/tea.
Even though this staycation in the Family Room seems to be only suitable for couples with young children because of how the hotel has created a family-friendly environment and has also provided child-friendly amenities, it is actually not just restricted to a nuclear family. Couples with teenager children are also welcome. Ladies could also consider this venue for a girls’ night out. And of course, tourists coming to Singapore can also stay in the Family Room if you have 4 persons in your travelling party.
At the current room rate, it is a very value-for-money stay in view that the room can accommodate up to 4 persons with breakfasts provided. Also, guests can enjoy 50% off dining (even though credit card promotion offers the same) and little kids get to eat for free.
If you are celebrating a special occasion (birthday or wedding anniversary), the hotel can also surprise the birthday boy or girl with a piece of cake and/or balloons for the little ones. Just need to inform the front desk in advance and they will be more than happy to make this special arrangement for you.
Furama RiverFront may not be near a MRT station but the hotel provides daily shuttle services to Orchard Road and Clarke Quay which is really convenient. It is near to Chinatown and shopping malls like Great World City, Tiong Bahru Plaza, Clarke Quay Central & Liang Court. Food options are also aplenty – there are the cafes & eateries in the Tiong Bahru neighbourhood, Tiong Bahru market, Jalan Kukoh Food Centre, Zion Road Food Centre, restaurants along Robertson Quay & Robertson Walk and so much more – all within walking distance. Also, we are just steps away from nightlife spots in the city.
All in all, my staycation experience was a relaxing getaway.
However, the only drawback that I encountered while staying here was that the ‘complimentary wifi’ had a daily 2GB limit. I brought my Chromecast and started streaming some travel vlogs from YouTube to the TV and it didn’t take me very long to hit that limit (anything beyond that was chargeable). I really didn’t expect the hotel to set such a limit because while on staycations, I like to just chill in the room and stream videos or movies for entertainment rather than heading out so it was quite disappointing that I couldn’t do that here. But for those who just need wifi for some light surfing, research or replying of emails, then I guess the daily limit is probably more than enough.
Disclaimer: This was a hosted staycation, courtesy of Furama RiverFront Singapore. All opinions expressed here are solely my own personal views.