Let’s start by saying this – it’s true, first impression is the last impression! We booked a staycation at Amara Sanctuary Resort, Sentosa for a long weekend on the occasion of our wedding anniversary. We were disappointed! So disappointed that we walked out of the resort right after checking in! The reason that we booked the resort was the prime location and good views. Given the fact that this resort has been running since 1980s reassured us that it would be an amazing wedding anniversary celebration!
Nestled right at the heart of Sentosa, there is no doubt this resort has beautiful views and is significantly away from the hustle & bustle of the city! But for us, good customer service and quality is something we do expect from a stay that comes at a price tag of SGD 500 per night.
To our dismay, we just didn’t get the expected service levels. Probably, we raised our bar too high after staying at other amazing hotel chains in the city! So here’s what was the turn down for us within 1 hour of our check in that we asked for a cancellation & just walked off.
1. Review about Shutters :
Shutters is one of the restaurants at the resort. Again, full of good ‘resorty’ holiday vibes. We had some time for our room to be ready, so thought of grabbing lunch there. The service was pathetic. We waited for 30 minutes to just get a glass of water (which we had to ask for btw). We waited for forever for our food. The quantity and quality was decent, but definitely not value for money!
2. The check-in process:
Queuing up twice – once for check-in and then to collect the room key – with significant waiting time was a bit pissing off. There was no seating arrangement in the lobby or water for guests to just relax while waiting in the non-orderly queue. We got our room key almost 1 hour from check-in time, even though we had checked in quite early. All due to the delayed service in Shutters and at the time of collection of room key. Nevertheless, we were still excited for the staycation part, which was in fact the most disappointing.
3. Room with no view :
To be honest, we booked the resort mainly for the view from the room (we love the sea-view rooms). So let me share a pic of what we had booked.
. Source : AgodaThe room we were allotted literally had no view. From our French windows all we could see was a random garden, other rooms and few seating chairs.
When we entered the room, the used cutlery from the previous guests was still right outside the room! What a turn off! We were not even sure if they had cleaned and prepared the room well! We called the reception a million times from our room, no one answered.
We walked back to the lobby and the staff at the kiosk told us no other sea view rooms are available and they often get similar room view complaints from the guests. Clearly, they are aware of the guest feedback, but the hotel management chose not to do anything about it till date. Do take note that we had emailed asking for a sea view room and mentioned it was our anniversary.
There are ample of amazing hotels in Sentosa. If you look forward to a relaxing stay – we highly recommend to book other properties in the area!
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