W Singapore - Sentosa Cove

“W Singapore exceeded our expectations”

It's been a while since I wrote a review on Tripadvisor. Now that I'm a mom, I barely have time to do these things. But W Singapore deserves my time and effort. We've been planning to stay at this hotel and finally decided to give it a try for my daughter's 2nd birthday. We stayed at the Wond... more

It's been a while since I wrote a review on Tripadvisor. Now that I'm a mom, I barely have time to do these things. But W Singapore deserves my time and effort. We've been planning to stay at this hotel and finally decided to give it a try for my daughter's 2nd birthday. We stayed at the Wonderful room. It was spacious and the lighting is unique. The decor on the wall got my daughter curious though and started meddling with it. Since it was my daughter's birthday they decorated the room with balloons and gave us a cake. You cannot light a candle in the room though for safety reasons. What we liked the most was the pool! The water is warm which is suitable for our toddler. Their baby pool is shallow with lots of water sprinklers. She can safely walk around on her own and even if she trips, she can easily get up. There's also free ice cream for kids from 4-6pm. I also have to commend their staff. They are amazing! We were welcomed with kombucha and popcorn. There was also a balloon for my daughter. The staff in Kitchen Table were so kind and helpful. They also provided nice birthday pastries with sparkler. Before we checked out, we availed the complimentary 20-minute massage. It was soooo relaxing. Thank you Rose! We'll definitely be back! Thank you for a wonderful staycation!

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“A typical W experience but with improvement ahead”

This was my first time staying at W @ Sentosa Cove. Its location was a bit far from central amusement area of Sentosa and I had to take either free shuttle bus (though not recommended by staff there as long travel time) or Grab taxi to central Sentosa. The area itself was tranquil because the h... more

This was my first time staying at W @ Sentosa Cove. Its location was a bit far from central amusement area of Sentosa and I had to take either free shuttle bus (though not recommended by staff there as long travel time) or Grab taxi to central Sentosa. The area itself was tranquil because the hotel was locating inside the residential zone and adjacent to yacht parking area and a small mall with restaurants and a supermarket. The hotel itself did follow the “Spirit of W”, with quite a number of decorative items spreading around. The check-in area was on 2/F and could be accessed from ground floor entrance by a staircase or one of the two glass lifts. The front desk officer handling my check in was helpful and sincere. The concierge lady was also helpful who gave assistance to my enquiries about the booking of themed attractions online. The room itself was well decorated and spacious. The outdoor swimming pool was huge and had a water slide in there. The overall stay experience was good, but there’s one point I wanted to voice out was the efficiency of the concierge. As I called them twice for assistance of moving luggage to lobby prior to my check out, but despite a long wait, no one was shown up and I needed to help moving three luggage and 2 bags to lobby on my own at the end.

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“A nice but complicated stay”

I am still a bit torn on where to give this stay a 3 or a 4 star review. Right after I checked out, it probably felt more like 3 stars but after reflection, the stay was nice after all and hence 4 stars. Purpose This hotel is for leisure and not well equipped for a business traveler. I was there... more

I am still a bit torn on where to give this stay a 3 or a 4 star review. Right after I checked out, it probably felt more like 3 stars but after reflection, the stay was nice after all and hence 4 stars. Purpose This hotel is for leisure and not well equipped for a business traveler. I was there on business with everyday trips into the city, while my wife was coming along to enjoy the hotel and surroundings. She had a much better time than me. Part of this was location, part of it was the room layout/setup, part of it was the service. Location It's 20 mins away from the city and any business meeting, so that essentially kills off the opportunity to quickly pop back into the room for some work in between meetings. I knew that so i am not holding it against the hotel, but you want to be aware. Beyond that fact, the surroundings are nice in the Sentosa Marina (no ocean view from any room), one can go for nice walks through the Marina and residential areas to do some villa watching, and one can walk all the way to Tanjong beach for more villa watching, a beach swim and nice nature walk. There's also facilities around the hotel with several restaurants in the Marina, a wine shop, a free shuttle bus within Sentosa. Room As a Bonvoy member we got upgraded to a room with balcony and pool view which was nice. I don't think the basic rooms have a nice view, overlooking buildings so this was important for us. The rooms itself were very fancy, a big floor to ceiling mirror in the middle of the room for example, some pattern ceiling and bed backboard, it all looks very fancy and creative. However, one needs to state that much of it is not very practical. The bed side table was fancy but the design means it's quite a very long arm away from the bed. The cabinet doors were some of the most bothersome that i ever encoutered in any hotel room, hard to imagine that one can get this item to become a bother. Lighting was a constant challenge, funky purple lights excluded. The bathroom doesnt allow you to close both the shower and the toilet at the same time, you need to choose. I also sense that many rooms suffer from quite some damp. It's close to the ocean and one needs to ventilate well. The hotel cools them down to 18 degrees when entering so you dont recognize the damp smell and once inside you get used to it, but it's definitely there. On the positive side, the bed is nice and comfortable, the rooms are spacious, the view to the pool area is very nice, and upon asking they have many items on hand for being sent to the room (yoga mat, scale, etc.). So all-in-all, they try to be 5-star but just don't quite get there. The manager(s) know this and try to compensate you every time with some goodie (some chocolates, fruits, etc.). This is a nice touch but i would have rather had a proper 5-star room that just works and has everything you need. Service The hotel tries to be 5-star but again just doesn't quite get there. The staff is generally hip and young, but maybe some more experience wouldn't be a bad thing even if they are not that hip. When checking in, I would just want it to be efficient frankly. Overall everyone is trying hard and does well. But some of the service is quite rule based but that's generally the case in Singapore so one cannot hold that against the hotel. If other hotels like Capella or Fullerton are the benchmark, then W Hotel is one notch down for sure. Still good and we had a good time after all, but one notch less good. Hotel facilities The pool was very nice, large and open 24 hours, this is great! Some of the bubble/massage jets in the pool seem to only function 80% but it was still great to have them in the first place. The spa and changing rooms and the fitness/gym was very well equipped and i loved them. Skirt restaurant was very nice and good food, maybe slightly overpriced (but then again, what is not overpriced in Singapore these days), and one waiter's English was not up to standard and that made us wait 10 minutes longer for the food to be served, which was not ideal. The breakfast place was good, very busy and again one notch less good than a real 5-star restaurant. So more like 4.5 stars. It's generally little things that make the difference, e.g. the cereal choices looked fancy with 6 choices but i missed the basic rice crispies. The egg benedict comes with their signature cake patty (instead of bread), nice, but i'd rather have the basic choice also. The cold milk wasn't very cold. The pastry was average at best, the bread ok but not great, the butter probably a fancy choice but a basic good one would have been better. And the whole hotel has one big issue which is that the description of items, facilities or services all have their own name rather than keeping it simple so people can understand it. You try to call housekeeping or the front desk on the phone, it's not called that way like in every other hotel in the world, it has some weird name that keeps you guessing about who you are calling. The arrows on the elevators do not have a simple up or down design, but rather a curvy one that first goes up and then down (for down) and the opposite for up. One gets used to it but i am not sure i enjoy the explorative process too much. At the end of the day, our stay was nice, we enjoyed the surroundings and the pool/spa facilities a lot. The rest left some desires open.

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“Spectacular hotel but stupid idea of allowing outsiders to use the pool with in-house guests”

A wow hotel indeed. Good service staff and amenities are top notch. Food is very tasty and well prepared. Breakfast was fantastic and the pool house music was out of this world. Only problem is they value their brunch guests more than the in-house hotel guest. I had to search for a deck chair, st... more

A wow hotel indeed. Good service staff and amenities are top notch. Food is very tasty and well prepared. Breakfast was fantastic and the pool house music was out of this world. Only problem is they value their brunch guests more than the in-house hotel guest. I had to search for a deck chair, struggle to call a waiter at the spectacular pool and wait for ages to order a drink at the bar. It wasn’t the staffs’ fault. The management’s decision is to let outsiders use the pool for a fee. Outsiders mingling with hotel guests in the pool. Frustrating and uncalled for. W! Why do you allow this lively, cool pool turn into a madhouse. There were tissues, food step, wrappers in the pool, bags from outsider strewn all over the grass and surrounding areas and a long queue at the slides. My kids had to wait 20 minutes to get in the slide. All I can say is they value outsiders more than I house guests just because of more revenue as outsiders have to pay a fee to use the pool and they have to buy a drink package. Stupid way of earning more revenue. All I can say is at the expense of in-house guests who paid an arm and a leg for the rooms. What the hell are they thinking.

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