Travel, Itineraries & Guides, Hotel Reviews
The all day dining restaurant at Hotel Jen Tanglin, J65, has revamped their dinner buffet by launching J65’s Eat Through the Week. The revamp puts a new twist in the usual buffet lineup by offering something different each day of the week.
This is J65’s buffet line-up for “Eat Through the Week”
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Boasting a distinct Spanish style, the Casa del Mar boutique resort in Langkawi’s Cenang Beach is perhaps one of the coziest accommodation options in the Malaysian resort island. With only a couple of dozen rooms, there is an air of exclusivity in this adults-only resort. As one enters, staff members are quick to greet “welcome home” and indeed, the terra-cotta colored structure does exude the look and feel akin to a large house with none of the formal vibe one finds in other upscale accommodations.
lobby at casa del mar
my welcome drink
I arrived in Langkawi at around noon with a staff member at the airport’s arrival hall carrying a placard with my name. The drive was a short one. In ten minutes I was already at the entrance of the resort waiting to be checked in. With a warm welcome greeting, I was given a refreshing glass of lemongrass tea and given a key to my room.
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This year marks a decade since I’ve first stepped foot in Singapore. In these ten years, I have stayed in 56 hotels within the borders of the republic. While that may seem a lot, this number is still only a fraction compared to the 300-odd hotels in the country. Of the 56 hotels I’ve stayed in so far, there were a few good ones. Some were bad. Others were okay but forgettable. I also have my own favorites – memorable stay experiences which I’ve not forgotten to this day.
So what exactly makes for an excellent hotel stay? When I looked back on all the nights I spent in a hotel in Singapore, I did not focus on any particular theme but assessed the hotels holistically based on the following criteria – room quality, design, service, food and facilities. Many of these hotels also qualify for family staycations as they do very well in offering staycations for couples so versatility is another factor.
Without further ado, here are my personal picks for the best hotels to have a staycation in Singapore. Note that they are not are arranged in any particular order
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The Line at Shangri-La Singapore has recently enhanced their dinner buffet offerings in time for Singapore’s 51st National Day. Traditional hawker food takes center stage with items such as Singapore Laksa, Oyster Omelette, Satay and Nasi Lemak as well as creative interpretations of evergreen hawker fare like Chicken Rice Maki Roll and Chili Crab Brioche lining the buffet spread. I distinctly remember dining at The Line exactly a year ago when I sampled the Golden Jubilee buffet which also had a number of unique snippets of Singapore dishes. While the theme last year was based on the culinary team’s vision of the future of Singaporean cuisine, this year’s theme puts a strong emphasis on the past with dishes that have long disappeared from Singapore’s food courts and bakeries.
I was amazed to find The Line almost full despite it being a Tuesday evening. As usual, I started by going to the Japanese section. While it had all the typical sashimi and maki, I was astounded by the Chicken Rice Maki Roll. At first glance it looks like your typical sushi roll but look closely and instead of seaweed, you’ll see chicken skin lining the rice.
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Edge at Pan Pacific Singapore has recently revamped their Tuesday dinner buffets, replacing the Cuts @ Edge promotion that ran on Tuesday nights. Diners can now get the best of both seafood and meat with the new Surf & Turf buffet, a carefully curated offering that punches above its weight in terms of variety for a weekday hotel dinner buffet.
I was recently invited for a tasting session to check out exactly what the Surf & Turf buffet spread had to offer. I was immediately thrown off by what I saw. Buckets of fresh prawns, clams, scallops and Alaskan crab greeted me as I entered Edge. For a minute there, I thought that I had stepped into another Sunday brunch due to the premium seafood available.
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La Rose Suites is the latest property in what is starting to become a chain of successful boutique hotels in downtown Phnom Penh. If you recall, I had stayed at La Rose Boutique Hotel and Spa some 3 years back. Their second property, La Rose Suites opened in late 2014 boasting more facilities such as a swimming pool and larger room types on top of their signature spa proposition. As Phnom Penh is one of my favorite cities in Southeast Asia, I decided to pay a return visit during one recent weekend and checked out this property.
The property is situated just a short walk away from Phnom Penh’s Independence Monument which makes it really convenient to visit. I arrived at the hotel with the brand’s trademark carved male and female door handles greeting me as I entered what seemed to be a pathway of vines. This led to the lobby and immediately I was filled with a sense of familiarity – and tranquility – as a staff member offered me drinks and gave me a hot towel to freshen up. The décor, similar to their sister property a few blocks down, evokes that of a spa. Think – white walls, subtle flower arrangements made of lotus and water lilies as well as traditional Khmer artworks.
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Artemis Grill, the contemporary Mediterranean rooftop grill in the heart of Singapore’s Raffles Place has recently revamped their bar menu. With new bar manager Rico Deang joining recently from CUT by Wolfgang Puck, the new cocktail menu prominently features a fine mix of European and tropical-themed cocktails. Ingredients such as passion fruit and kaffir lime leaves are used alongside rosemary and citric-based components. Last week, I was invited for the media launch of the new menu and aside from the new drinks, I also got to sample Artemis’ small bites.
While Artemis is not the first rooftop bar that I’ve been to in Singapore, I was pleased to note that the bar was well-ventilated given its outdoor setting. One surprisingly gets the feeling of being in an air-conditioned area which contrasts with the heat and humidity I experience elsewhere.
Update: I returned to Artemis Bar & Grill to check out their dinner menu. You can read my review here.
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Qatar Airways can now add another feather in its cap. The 5-star airline just won three awards at the 2016 Skytrax World Airline Awards including the prestigious World’s Best Business Class Award. The other awards it won were Best Business Class Airline Lounge and Best Airline Staff in the Middle East respectively.
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