That Endless Summer in Shangri-La, Singapore

A couple of weeks back, we felt it necessary, almost urgent, to get out of the house, and just breathe. It’s been twenty-one months since our family took a break – from work, from school, from our daily routine. We recognised that we could no longer wait for Covid to be over, or shouldn’t even wait for the Holidays, to get those calming, healing breaths once again…

In the past, whenever we’d need a short get-away seeking that endless-summer kind of break, we’d normally take the ferry to nearby Bintan Island in Indonesia or sometimes fly to Shangri-La Mactan in the Philippines.

This time, we were limited to what we had at home.

Singapore, our home for the past 20 years, is known for many wonderful and beautiful things; but not for its beaches. The shores here are far from pretty especially when we think of the clear waters on the fine, white, sandy beaches of our neighboring countries.

In fact, Singapore has only one beachfront resort, luckily it’s Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa. Apart from the not-so-ideal beach for swimming, everything else in the resort was five-star. And these ‘everything else’ proved to be more than enough to give us the much-desired pause and relaxation.

To give the four of us enough space during our stay (and to make sure we don’t cram in one room in case it rains -it rains a lot in Singapore in November you see), we booked two connecting rooms. Each room was decent in size and had a bathtub with a window that opens up to the bedroom, and a view that extends to the beach below. The youngest in our family enjoyed a good soak in the tub. He was tickled by the idea that he could see us watching TV while he was having a warm bubble bath.

Each room in the resort has a balcony and ours were overlooking the sea and the pool. It was quite soothing to gaze upon the lights coming from the ships at night.

Because of Covid, the usual buffet in Singapore has become buffet-ala carte in the past months and this applies to all restaurants and hotels. Breakfast or dinner buffet in any Shangri-La is always good including the meals we had at the resort, but the new buffet experience wasn’t quite the same. (Please Covid, go away already!)

Now, I think the two main selling points of Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa are their expansive swimming pools and the resort being the only beachfront hotel in Singapore. The pool area is not only big with jacuzzi or kiddy pools, but it also has an adults-only corner (Yipee!). There was also a separate pool with three slides for children. No other hotels in Singapore can beat this.

A few steps away from the pool area was Siloso beach. The resort beachfront is closed to the public and is for the private use of guests only.

The beach wasn’t great for swimming but it was fun and relaxing to be out there. The water is best in the morning when it’s high tide and you could actually swim. We were there as early as 8am and I must say kayaking at that hour was rejuvenating! Towards the late afternoon, the water turns quite murky but still good for water sports or for building sandcastles.

I forgot to mention that during our stay, there were Covid safe-distance protocols like getting access bracelets before using the pool or the beach. This was the hotel’s way of managing the number of guests using the facilities.

We did kayaking a couple of times and the stand-up paddleboard, too. They were free of charge. And hubby also went to Chi Spa for some massage, which he thought was fantastic.

So, my favourite part of the resort was probably here. Just sitting on that bench, doing nothing. Thinking of nothing.

It was beautiful out here, especially at sunset.

I’d say it was a successful escape – two peaceful nights and two lively, lovely days, something like a perfect endless summer…

Let me leave you with this short clip that I made… Hope you’ll feel peaceful…xoxo..

Our other ‘Endless Summer’ beach breaks in recent years:

Snorkeling in Shangri-La Mactan, Philippines 2019

Relaxing in Misibis Bay Resort, Philippines 2019

Paragliding in Movenpick Resort, Philippines 2018

Diving with Sea Turtles in Bohol, Philippines 2017

Family Time in Bellevue Resort Bohol, Philippines 2017

Island Hopping in Marinduque, Philippines 2017

Celebrating the New Year in Shangri-La Mactan, Philippines 2016

Snorkeling in Club Med Bintan, Indonesia 2016