It can be really tiring to look after a baby, especially if you place the child in infant care because a baby falls sick really easily in infant care. And with only 6 days of child care leave, you can burn through your annual leave very fast because infant care centres are allowed to close 6 days a year (excluding PHs). Between a couple, there would only be 12 days of childcare leave and half is used up for those centre closures.
As such, my husband and I do not really take leave unless necessary, keeping it for the next time our son falls sick (touch wood!!). We only take leave during our birthdays and see it as a chance to relax and unwind without having the need to take care of our baby.
To indulge myself, I decided to take 2 days leave for my birthday, and my sister insisted on spending 1 day with me. She suggested going on a daycation, and kindly sponsored one at Fairmount Singapore. The daycation is $145++, total $170.66. Sounds like a hefty price for a room you can only have access to from 8 am – 7 pm, but for this daycation, it comes with $75 nett dining credit at selected restaurants. If you don’t like the restaurants, there’s the option of in-room dining too.
We checked in at about 9.30 am. We had to be early as I had a meeting to sit in from 10 am – 12 pm (what a bummer right, and it was supposed to be a day of enjoyment). The hotel is very easy to access – it is right above City Hall mrt station. Exit the station and go to Raffles Place and take the escalator up – you will see a sign that states ‘Fairmount Singapore’. Follow the directions and you will reach the hotel’s lobby easily.
Once my booking was confirmed, I received an email to do online check-in. I had to submit soft copies of mine and my sister’s NRIC for the online check-in, and once that was done, I was given a QR code. Upon arrival at the hotel lobby, all I had to do was show them the QR code, make a refundable deposit of $100 and I was then given my room keys.
We were given a room on the 13th floor. The room was spacious, with a small balcony that looked out to the swimming pool below. The only thing missing was a bathtub – they only had a rainforest shower.
Besides these, the room also offered slippers, bathrobe, safe box and they gave a care pack consisting of hand sanitizer, masks and alcohol wipes. While I sat on the study desk comfortably, having my meeting, my sister was lying on the bed watching TV. We ordered food earlier and arranged for it to come once my meeting ended – and oh my, we were really impressed with the food!
As mentioned, the daycation package comes with $75 nett dining credit. You can use the credit at Prego, Anti:Dote, Mikuni, The Eight or for in-room dining. After looking at their menus, we decided to order in-room dining because it seemed most worth it monetarily (Mikuni is too expensive!) and because we can control our timing, and potentially keep food for later consumption.
And boy, we were glad we took in-room dining! Mindful of the $75 dining credit, we made sure we kept to the budget and not overspend. Not wanting to eat too much as I was planning to swim, I looked at the kids menu only and decided to order fish with vegetables, and added in a fruit bowl. My sister went for a lamb main course. Seeing there was an additional $5 credit after ordering the above, I added in one chicken noodle soup (also kids menu) for $6. Since it was my birthday week, I ventured to ask for a birthday cake and they agreed to deliver one. We were really impressed with the food – scroll down for photos!
The above food came to about $77 including GST and service charge. With a dining credit of $75, it was only an extra top up of less than $3. The portions were big, even for the kid’s meals, and the food was really delicious. Everything was prepared perfectly.
I was really impressed with the room, food and service. What about the facilities? Watch out for my next post on my review of their spa facilities, Willow Stream Spa.