If you are planning a family staycation weekend in Singapore, Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort could be one of your best bet.  Being the only resort in Singapore with a beachfront location, Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort, Singapore offers services and facilities catering to leisure and business travellers.  You will also be able to reach various attractions in Sentosa within minutes – there is a bus stop right outside the resort where shuttle buses travelling to different parts of the island will converge.

Fort Siloso, Underwater World are just around the corner and so are many of Sentosa’s attractions. A typical weekend getaway staycation (with Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort) itinerary could look like this:

Day 1 (you will achieve quite a lot of savings if you use the SeeSingapore Pass or Sentosa Play Pass with the recommended Sentosa attractions below)

• Wake up to Breakfast at delicious buffet spread at Silver Shell Cafe

• Explore Fort Siloso – Best done in the morning as some of the attractions e.g. canons (if you are into canons and artillery guns) are outdoors and it can get quite hot in the afternoon. Also some walking to burn off the calories accumulated during the sumptuous Silver Shell Cafe buffet breakfast

• Check out the Underwater World next and lunch at Trapizza by the Siloso Beach or back at the one of the 3 restaurants at Dine On 3 in Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort. Dine On 3 is a destination-dining concept that features three restaurants (Casserole, Silver Shell Cafe and 8 Noodles) under one roof. Casserole offers group dining with a selection of family style portions of Western, Indian and Moroccan casserole dishes. Silver Shell Cafe features chefs in action at live cooking stations preparing a la minute buffet specialities for luncheons and dinners, as well as international à la carte selections. Chinese noodle house, 8 Noodles, serves different value-for-money noodle selections and traditional Chinese roast meats.

• Take a shuttle bus out to Sentosa 4D Magix where you can check out the 4D Cineblast ride or Desperados. Then take the Luge and Skyride and take a leisurely tour with the Gogreen Segway Ride along Palawan Beach.

• If you still have energy after all these activities, you can also check out the MegaZip and other beach activities along Siloso Beach – maybe rent a bike or kayak from Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort Sea Sports centre.

• End off the evening with dinner at any of the restaurants along Siloso Beach or just MacDonalds and(not recommended to do so immediately in case you might empty out what you just ate) then go for simulated skydiving at iFly Singapore and check out the beautiful Songs of the Sea performance!

Day 2

• Check out Universal Studios Singapore the next day – perhaps consider extending your staycation at Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort (considering that it will be a long and fun day at Universal Studios Singapore).

The above itinerary seems fun for a weekend family getaway staycation.  How about you just want a romantic weekend getaway with your spouse but couldn’t find a babysitter?  That’s where, in my opinion, one of the best and useful service provided by Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort would come in very handy – the Children’s Club Cool Zone!

Spanning 100 square metres over two-storeys, Cool Zone is the largest children’s club provided by a hotel in Singapore. Free for in-house guests for children aged five to 12, Cool Zone offers children’s meals and three activity centres (Toots Club, Craft Zone and Game Zone) that are fully supervised by an experienced recreational team. Cool Zone features a large slide that winds from level three of the resort down into a pool of colourful balls on level one.  This is just paradise for kids – you get to play all you want and interact with other kids and have your whole day planned and packed with activities and you get lunch!

Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort recognises the fact that parents travelling with children may end up spending more time to tend to their children instead of enjoying a full holiday experience. A range of recreational facilities is available to address this need.  Besides the Cool Zone, children can splash around at the water slides and children’s pool under a canopy, or the fun splash pad. A water management system is installed to keep the water in the pools in its natural state, where only the minimum statutory amount of chlorine is added, as opposed to four to five chemicals used in a commercial pool. This minimises guests’ risks of allergic reaction and respiratory problems triggered by chlorine, eliminates eye irritation and is gentle to the skin and hair.

I took a peek at the itinerary of the Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort Toots’ Club and it looks very fun:

• 9.30am Welcome
• 10am Cirque Du Rasa – a variety of Circus skills for children to enjoy
• 11am Garden Games/Island Tour
• 1pm Art and Craft
• 2pm Beach Games at Siloso Beach
• 3pm Pool Games
• 4pm Special Event of the Day
• 5pm Shower Break
• 7pm Evening at Cool Zone
• 9pm Goodbye

and in between all these activities, kids can also play arcade games at Game Zone – you need money to play these games or just chill by the big slide to catch the latest cartoon and child-friendly movies.

Be it – hill, garden, pool or sea – you have a wide selection of views that you can enjoy from your room!  We checked out the Island Suite which had a great view of the South China Sea and its large ‘container’ ships (so if you are a big ship enthusiast – this room view is perfect for you).  What we enjoyed most is the large balcony that comes with the suite room.

The rooms are furnished in soothing accents of green and beige to complement the resort’s lush and natural environment with wood as the predominant material used throughout the room design. Displayed prominently above the head of the bed is the floral carving and the leaf motifs that run across the bedding.

Rooms are designed specifically to suit the different needs of travellers. Guests with children can check into a larger Family Room instead of having two connecting rooms. Honeymooners can choose to stay in the Panorama Room with an open concept bathroom that looks out to views of the South China Sea or a Deluxe Seaview Suite, each with its own private outdoor Jacuzzi.

Siloso Beach is just beside the resort – in fact, you are already on it when you chill out by Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort’s beach.  You can also dine by the beach at Trapizza (a part of Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort) which features an open-air layout at Siloso Beach. The best selling item on its menu is the crispy, thin crust pizza baked in a traditional wood-fired oven.

Sea-sports, cycling – you will be able to rent all these from Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort Sea Sports Centre just by the beach.  There are electric bikes for rent too – further extending your reach across the island without breaking out a sweat!  Of course, there are also the good old sand castle building tools for the kids too!