It’s been seven months since the borders have closed and what’s the best way for you to destress and give yourself that much deserved break? STAYCATION at Singapore‘s best hotel. Yep, that’s the Fullerton Hotel! As we all know, the absence of tourists has caused hotels to offer very competitive rates and too-good-to-be-true packages and now is the perfect time to grab these deals.

Everytime I have friends visiting Singapore, I would include showing them Fullerton in the itinerary whenever we’re at the central area because this five-star heritage hotel is already a destination itself. I’ve always dreamt that one day I can have a staycation here and was overjoyed that it finally happened.

The good news is that Fullerton isn’t part of the Stay Home Notice facilities and as soon as I confirmed this, it eased my Covid paranoia and went ahead with the booking.

At night, we spent time at the 25-metre infinity pool and we were so lucky to have it all to ourselves (the perks of checking in on a Monday haha). It’s great to know that the facilities of the hotel have been certified with SG Clean quality mark. Also, I was relieved to find out that swimming in a well-chlorinated pool is safe and, of course, you still need to have social distancing.

Room Rates

We came across Klook’s promotion and were able to book a Premier Courtyard Room for only S$300 (with Citibank discount applied), which is the cheapest rate I’ve seen so far since starting rate used to be S$430++. This includes breakfast for two, late checkout until 4pm and Fullerton bear and 20% spa discount (we were eventually upgraded to Quay Room – photo above).

Alternatively, you may book directly at Fullerton website and surprisingly, the rate for Courtyard Room could go as low as S$313 nett. Other fabulous room types can also be seen here and offers such as complimentary night stay are found in this link.

The Fullerton Hotel‘s Quay Room has amazing view of the iconic Singapore River. This, for me, is the highlight of our stay — it’s one thing to indulge in a luxurious room, but this breathtaking view completely takes your cabin fever away. We loved everything that the renovated room has to offer — it may not be that huge but the scenic and relaxing view compensated for it.

Old Meets New

This hotel, which used to be a General Post Office, is steep in history and yet, interestingly, it has state-of-the art facilities such as LCD TV, wireless speaker, Nespresso machine..but my favorite is the Toto Washlet which automatically opens/closes and has night lights for visibility. Also, I super love their 100% goose down pillows which gave me a deep sleep.

Fullerton Breakfast

Another thing that we delightedly look out for during staycations is the breakfast and Fullerton did not disappoint. Gone are the buffet days because of pandemic period but I don’t mind as I’m not a fan of buffet anyway. We were allowed to have individual orders plus one more to share. Should you wish to try something else, they’ll be able to serve you the food in a smaller portion.

Breakfast is held at Town Restaurant and you may also sit by the riverside to enjoy the nice view. I ordered my favorite vanilla pancakes with berries compote, Jon had Mee Goreng and our third order was scrambled eggs with artisinal sourdough, chicken chipolata, pork bacon, baked beans, hash brown and grilled tomato. We loved them all and I personally liked the light taste of Mee Goreng.

Lastly, we requested to try Chicken Congee and Dim Sum (yep, war isn’t over haha). It was a bit bland though and I’m not too sure if it’s because the diminishing marginal utility has finally kicked in (it was already our fourth order).

The Courtyard Pink Afternoon Tea

To cap our staycation off, we indulged ourselves with Pink Afternoon Tea (named as such in support of the Breast Cancer Awareness Month and went all the way to personalize the macarons) at The Courtyard after we checked out. Weekday rate is S$51+ per adult but we had 20% discount as part of I Prefer Hotel rewards.

Everything that was served is unlimited except for the sweets. For the Savouries, my favorites were the truffle free range egg and corned beef & quail egg in mini wafer cup. As for the sweets, coconut pandan lamington, key lime tart and blueberry financier stood out though the rest were delicious too. Oh, and the scones were heavenly, by the way. Jon had Blue Tea (Imperial Oolong) while I ordered Moroccan Mint Tea (it was amazing!).

So far, I’d say this was the best English afternoon tea we’ve had. The Courtyard Pink Afternoon Tea experience awakened and heightened our senses through the palatable savouries in its vibrant colors. We’re actually planning to be back to try the Truffle Mac & Cheese as featured in their The Courtyard’s Express Lunch.

Service

If you’re staying at five-star hotel, you definitely should expect impressive service. It was so nice to know that Fullerton went above and beyond in terms of service (way way better than our previous staycations). From checking in and accommodating us to our room (Andrew Yip, the Duty Manager enthusiastically showed us the amenities of Quay Room) up to providing more than what we need for every request we made, Fullerton’s service is consistently 10/10.

In summary, these two words would best describe our Fullerton staycation: WORTH IT. I’d say this was, by far, the best hotel I’ve stayed at. I would prefer it than MBS Hotel (in my opinion, the latter is overpriced — you’re basically just paying for the overrated yet crowded infinity pool and the rooms are too simple).

I would genuinely recommend the Fullerton staycation experience especially if you want to have birthday or anniversary celebrations and travel is currently not allowed. In fact, I made reservations on my birthday and Jon’s too but these didn’t push through due to circuit breaker and thankfully we now got the chance 🙂

Verdict:

Overall Hotel Experience: 9.5/10 (best so far)

Service: 10/10

Breakfast: 9.5/10

Room: 9/10

What it boasts: heritage and history