We were very kindly offered a room on the 20th floor. Our Deluxe Room was spacious and homey with warm colours and dim lighting. Honestly, there's nothing very special about the room, but I still liked it because it was simple and clean. Also, the king bed was so comfy!

The Deluxe Room had a desk and a Herman Miller chair, as well as an armchair with a side table.

There are also amenities such as coffee and TWG Tea packets in the room for your consumption, as well as a Nespresso machine, bottled water, a mini-fridge, a safe, bathrobes, bedroom slippers, and an ironing board.

There's a smart TV as well, but we didn't manage to connect our phones to it due to connectivity issues. Maybe you'll manage to figure this part out!

I really liked the marble bathroom as it came with a bathtub and a large mirror. The image below shows what the bathroom looks like when you first step in.

And the picture below shows the area of the bathroom with the bathtub.

Being a sustainable brand, voco bathrooms all sport sustainable Apotheke shower amenities.

voco Orchard Singapore has a gym and a swimming pool. The gym is open for 24 hours and is stocked with a full selection of gym-grade equipment. I usually don't see a lot of the people at the gym when I go on staycations, but surprisingly, there were quite a number of people working out at voco's fitness centre.

The swimming pool is located on level 24 and offers panoramic views of the Orchard Road city skyline. There are suntanning chairs as well as seats in the shade.

Now onto the highlight of the staycation - the steak dinner! Dinner was held at Opus Bar & Grill, located in the hotel's lobby. The place is considered quite atas so you should dress to impress!

We got to enjoy a premium sharing steak with two hours of unlimited wine for two! You can choose the kind of steak platter you wanted, and we opted to top up $20++ for a wagyu tomahawk. We had no regrets because the steak was absolutely juicy, flavourful, and tender.

During the stay, we also had $50 dining credits to use, which we used on room service. The food is so-so and is rather expensive, but the portions are large. The two dishes we ordered totalled up to S$62++.

We had breakfast on two days of our staycation. voco's breakfast selection is decent and has Asian and Western options. We had an Asian breakfast on the first day which was the Daily Wok Special with Dim Sum.

On the second day, I went for the Avocado Toast.

The staycation at voco Orchard Singapore was really nice! The rooms were comfortable, the service was good, and the food was pretty decent. Of course, the location was great too and my boyfriend and I could just pop by our favourite sushi place or go for a spin class at Somerset. I know many people don't think of voco as the first place to have a staycation, considering it's quite an old building and not the trendiest place to go to, but the offerings are worth the money spent, and I loved the wine and dine. I'm sure you'll enjoy it too.

Thanks for reading, and see you next post!

Address: 581 Orchard Rd, S238883

Telephone: +65 6737 2233

ibis budget Singapore Clarke Quay is located just opposite Clarke Quay central, and its location is really good because there are so many food and entertainment spots around. It's also just a 5-minute walk from the Clarke Quay MRT station. The building is also not easy to miss as it sports its signature yellow facade.

We were lucky that we requested an early check-in because there were so many guests coming in that day, specifically backpackers. The lobby was filled with luggage. Our room was ready when we arrived, so my friend Penny and I were able to check in an hour before the normal check-in time. Check-in was swift, and we headed up to our rooms on the rooftop level.

Our Superior Room With 2 Single Beds was quite spacious and two people could comfortably live there for a few days. It was also really tidy and clean.

A big plus was that our room faced the rooftop swimming pool. This made our room look a lot more 'open' and made for great people-watching opportunities!

The room amenities included cable TV, a small desk, a stand to put your luggage, and a safe.

There were also coffee and tea-making facilities, as well as some refreshments and energy drinks!

The bathroom was spacious enough for one person but did not have a separate wet and dry area. I usually don't like bathroom layouts like this because the whole place gets soaked after someone takes a shower, but fortunately for us, our room was quite cold so the floor dried up pretty fast. You also have all the basic amenities like toothbrushes, toothpaste, towels, shampoo, and body soap.

After settling down, we went to check out the rest of the place. We came across the gym, which was located right at the entrance to the rooftop pool. The gym is tiny and you could fit only two people in there, but I really liked the view. Also, a small gym means you technically get the whole place to yourself if you come alone because I don't think anyone would be comfortable sharing such an intimate space with another stranger!

Book a staycation at ibis budget Singapore Clarke Quay

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Our Family Room was located on level 2. On the way to our room, we noticed that the rooms at Hotel Mono were generally quite far away from each other. I was quite happy about this because this meant that we didn't have to worry about being too loud at midnight. Our Family room was quite spacious, and it was definitely comfortable for a one night stay for four. There were mirrors on the cabinet as well, which made the room look larger than it really was.

There was only one small window in the entire room which made me a little claustrophobic, and the weird thing was that this window faced a small yard (?) with the window of another room literally right across us. We could literally see into the opposite room when the blinds were not down. We kept our blinds down most of the time as well.

The Family Room is simple but I really appreciate how it was designed. I liked how there was ample storage space for a relatively small space, and that there was a small table near the charging sockets to put your electronic devices.

Behind one of the queen-sized beds was a desk for you to catch up on work, watch shows, or whatever. It was spacious enough for two people to sit side by side, and we ate our meals here too. The hotel does have free WiFi but it can be slow sometimes.

Our room had basic amenities such as a hairdryer, digital safe, an electric kettle, mini-fridge, and complimentary coffee and tea. There were also four bottles of mineral water in the mini-fridge for our consumption.

The Family Room also had a TV with basic cable TV channels. Obviously, we don't watch cable TV, so we spent most of our time playing our Nintendo Switch which could be plugged into the TV.

The bathroom was simple and a little dusty (the whole room was a little dusty in general with icky fingerprints here and there) but I'll give it a pass. However, I have to say that the water power was good and I loved how hot the water temperature could go. The heater was really strong AF and my showers here felt magical.

Of course, complimentary toiletries were available such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, and towels. There were also mini bottles of shampoo and conditioner but I didn't use them since the shower already had the normal-sized ones.

Unfortunately, Hotel Mono does not have a pool and a gym. We took the opportunity to explore the area and found that there were lots of food options available, such as Nanyang Old Coffee and Mazzo Restaurant & Bar. There were also convenience stores and supermarkets nearby for us to get a quick bite.

Check out this Mazzo Restaurant & Bar review

Our staycation at Hotel Mono was actually a 'planning staycation' for us to plan our trip to Europe, so we weren't looking for a lavish hotel with luxurious amenities. We just wanted an affordable place to stay with comfy beds and a quiet, conducive environment to do our work - and we got it at Hotel Mono! Although I won't think of Hotel Mono the next time my boyfriend and I want to go on aromatic staycation, I may consider coming here again with friends.

It was also a good thing that I brought my rented Nintendo Switch along for us to play games because there was no other form of entertainment in the room. Don't even dare tell me that cable TV is entertainment, because it's not. Also FYI - and helping out a sponsor here - I got my Nintendo Switch from this company called Lendor which rents out electronics and games at really affordable prices. I've only played with a Nintendo Switch once or twice, but after renting it for a week, I am seriously, honestly considering investing in one. Do check out Lendor's if you'd like - it may come in handy during your next staycation!

That's all for today's staycation review - thanks for reading and see you next post.

Book a staycation at Hotel Mono