Hi. Will have 18 month old with us. Looking for suggestions on whether to stay at Sentosa Island (Shangri La Rasa) or in City (Park Royal Beach Road, Hotel Rendevous or similar priced - S$250-300 per night with b%26#39;fast).
Want to hang around the pool a bit (therefore city hotel must have one) but mainly spend time doing the touristy stuff like Zoo, Orchard Road, East Coast Park, Wild wild wet, Escape theme park, Dolphin Lagoon, ';Song of the Sea';, Underwater world etc. (I think most of this stuff is on Sentosa, is that right?).
For what we want to do is it better to stay on the island or stay in the city and just day trip a couple of times to the island? Once on the island are you limited to eating mainly at the resort/s or is it easy to move around the island to the various other eateries (are they open at night??) and is it easy/cheap to head back over to the city (for example just for dinner, 1-2 hours), then return back to resort?
Going late April (had booked to Penang but changed mind and like the look of Singapore better. Also have 2 nights in KL on way home).
Really appreciate everyones time and replies.
(first timers to Singapore)
Cheers, Nathan
5 nights stay in Singapore - City or Sentosa?
with a babe that age, I would go with Sentosa. Dont worry about food, u can easily travel around the island for it. If not, take the free shuttle to Vivocity and enjoy LOTS (movie theatres, restaurants, shopping etc), Vivocity had a huge playground, kids love it.
And with the complimentary shuttle from the Shang, u can travel to their sister property on the main island. If not, u can also take the Senotsa shuttle to Vivocity to the MRT and go wherever u wish.
With Vivocity, u really dont need to go to town area. Besides, there are also food court and other dining establishment on Sentosa.
Good Luck
5 nights stay in Singapore - City or Sentosa?
I%26#39;d definately stay in the City. All the sites on sentosa you mentioned can be done in half a day. With a 18month old to push around you are probably not going to be interested in the other attractions. I wouldn%26#39;t really call Sentosa a resort in the same way your would term Resorts in other parts of the world. Staying on sentosa is no different to staying anywhere else. Singapore is pretty small and well connected, the only real differance is there is little else accessible by foot in Sentosa- 15min in a taxi and your in the middle of the city.
That budget will get you into quite a few 5* hotels in Singapore these days.
The city without a doubt. As our friend Manster says, Sentosa is not an Island paradise, as nice as it it to visit, and with all the construction that%26#39;s happening at the moment, it%26#39;s even less appealing. Yes it so easy, cheap and quick to get there, but I would choose a lot of beaches in the world before Sentosa as a place for a %26#39;%26#39;beach%26#39;%26#39; holiday.
Most of what is worth visiting, imho, is NOT on the Island, it%26#39;s well worth a visit, a %26#39;%26#39;must do%26#39;%26#39; really, but I think the city is the better choice.
Enjoy your first visit, I%26#39;m a great place. Alan
mankster and ddiggs are spot on. sentosa is good for a half day. or maybe one full day. thats it. its hardly a ';beach paradise';, more man made really!! but its a must-see if u havent already. In fact I%26#39;ll be visiting singapore again on the 27th this month but skip sentosa this time! have fun
IMO, stay in Sentosa for a night either in the beginning of the trip or at the end. Sentosa is good for one night%26#39;s stay and no more.
It depends on what you want really. City hotels will give you the location convenience. (Actually places like zoo, night safari, bird park are no nearer to city than Sentosa) Sentosa hotels will give you a feeling of relax and slower pace mood. So are you here in Singapore to escape the bustling city pace, then Sentosa is more likely than city to attain that. If you want to see more by cutting down the travelling time, then city will be more centralized. So you have to be clear what you want, and the choice is then obvious.
If they are still using the system, I think sentosa hotels will give you free passes to come out and back to Sentosa free during your entire stay there. If you are staying at Rasa Sentosa, you can either take their shuttle or take the Sentosa Express to Vivocity (3 mins), your eating and shopping paradise (one of the top malls in S%26#39;pore). The Sentosa Express (monorail) is connected to Rasa by a beach tram route (easy to use, just hop on and off at stations).
5 days is plenty of time to cover the major attractions. Perhaps, 2 days leisurely in Sentosa, 1 for zoo and night safari, 1 for city tour, 1 for escape theme park, etc. Hope you have a good holiday with your family.
Hi Nathan,
I believe you have already somehow gathered the pros and cons of Sentosa from the above posts. =)
IF i have an 18month old with me, and I%26#39;ve got a budget to stretch, I won%26#39;t be worried staying in any parts of SIngapore since I would be travelling via taxis everywhere I go... and taxis in Singapore arent expensive (not in the off-peak hours).
It will also depend how many days you have for Singapore to do all that you listed... The zoo is in the west, the east coast park near the central, Wild Wild Wet and Escape is in the East, and the Song of the Sea/Underwater world/Dolphins are in the Island of Sentosa. This would mean you are travelling almost all of Singapore. =)
If all you wanted of Sentosa is just the above 3 activities, then Sentosa might not be your best bet. Most probably you would be better off staying in the central areas such as the Pan Pacific/Marina Mandarin/Stamford Swissotel for greater accessibility/central location. And I would prefer these hotels compared to Park Royal/Rendevous.
If you stay in Sentosa, you will not just be restricted to the hotel restaurants, there are many other restaurants on the island. If you take a peep at the Sentosa website, you will see a whole list of food selections. However, if you are looking forward to try good local food, Sentosa doesnt have it. Nearest to sentosa, one tram ride away, is the Vivocity Shopping Mall where there are shopping and more restaurants.
For good and cheap local food you would have to visit the hawker centres/food courts/small restaurants along the shophouses....
You can find the list of recommended hawker centres easily by a search in this forum.
Cheers,
Suying
rimmel
