Being Touristy

After our first night at the Hyatt (yes, these posts are getting a bit out of order, sorry!) we woke insanely early and I got in a quick workout at the gym before we all went to breakfast at the club. All of the hotels we stayed at had really great gyms, and normally I would not work out on a vacation this much, but 1. when you wake up at 2am there is not much else to do and 2. I wanted to stay in shape in case I got offered a class to teach at the Y when we returned home.

Hyatt gym

Riding in a taxi with NO CARSEATS!

After breakfast the girls took a FOUR HOUR nap,  eating up some of the morning, but that's the way it goes when travelling with babies. When everyone was up and ready to go we took a cab to the Marina area and did a Duck Tour and took a ride on the Singapore Flyer - the world's tallest Ferris Wheel. We realized that these were very touristy activities, but when you have a 1 and 2 year old in tow it's hard to do a lot of "off the beaten path" sight seeing. We also thought that both activities would give us a better idea of the layout of Singapore and were hopeful that the girls would enjoy them as well.

Lizzy was a borderline terror on the Duck Tour but we made it without her going overboard, and luckily they both seemed to enjoy the ride on the Flyer.

Annie and Daddy on the Duck Tour

After we finished our activities we were walking around the shopping area surrounding the Flyer and a group of Indian tourists converged on the girls snapping photographs of them and taking turns posing with them. We came to see that this would be a very common occurrence for the rest of the trip.

We took a cab back to the hotel and had some dinner and did a little swimming before it was time to call it a night.

Annie and the skyline. Marina Bay Sands hotel is building on the left.

Celebrity babies!

Riding on the Singapore flyer

Annie and Lizzy made a friend on the ride.

Getting Trendy at the W

We were a bit apprehensive about booking our 2 nights at the W Singapore Sentosa Cove.  We had never stayed at a W property before and know them to be for a hip, young, cool crowd, and those are three words that have absolutely nothing to do with Joe.  We were also a bit concerned that it would not be very baby-friendly since it wasn't even clear if the hotel had cribs.  Despite all these concerns, we decided to check it out because it was a brand new property in a location we wanted to explore and hoped for a suite upgrade.

The lobby and common areas were definitely trendy and hip, but to my surprise, we liked it and did not feel too out of place.  The check in agent told me about the property while he looked up the reservation.  I wasn't too hopeful about an upgrade because we had tried to use our Suite Night awards online but they were not accepted.  Much to our delight, we got upgraded to a "Marvelous Suite" and picked the buffet breakfast as our Platinum Amenity.

The elevators and hallways were very "W" and the girls especially liked the carpet on the walls and had to touch it every time we went past it.  The corner room (502) was very big with a half bath right at the entrance.  Past that was a large living room with an enormous white leather couch, a wall mounted TV and a desk area.  The bedroom had an egg-like pod-chair suspended from the ceiling by a chain and that was the girls' entertainment for hours during our two night stay.

The bathroom had a huge free-standing tub, a TV mounted from the ceiling and a shower that leaked water all over the bathroom floor.  The suite had floor to ceiling windows and a giant wrap around balcony with nice furniture and a great view. The hotel did have cribs which was nice and the girls slept in the living room and the blackout curtains worked very well.

My two favorite things about the W: The fantastic pools and THE MOST amazing breakfast buffet of my life. It's getting late, so I won't go into details just yet, but for now just take in a few pictures of Annie having fun in the pool and the heavenly food spread.

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Prosciutto anyone?

Fresh Mozzarella, YES PLEASE!

Salad fixings

Adorable baked goods

Muffins, jams and jellies

You name it, they had it! And if they didn't have it, they would make it for you!

DELICIOUS hot buffet

Fresh juices, milks, yogurts and fresh fruits

So cute

Hotel Hopping: Grand Hyatt Singapore

We checked out of the St. Regis and moved less than a mile north east to the Grand Hyatt Singapore on Scotts Road.  It was in a very similar area but just a bit more centrally located near Orchard Road.  Back in the spring, we had originally booked three nights here on a cash rate and applied one of our Diamond Suite upgrade certificates (four are given each year to Hyatt Diamond members) to the reservation.  Since Joe likes to change his mind, we decided to only stay here for two nights and instead use the 2 free nights at any Hyatt worldwide that you receive for getting approved for the Chase Hyatt credit card.  These are the same free nights that Katie and Steve used for their honeymoon at the Park Hyatt Maldives. We got a much lower value out of them than Keve did, but they were going to expire in February and we worried that we would not be able to "maximize" their value by then, so just decided to use them.

We were met at the taxi by a nice woman from reception who took us into the hotel, bypassed the registration desk, and took us straight up to our room where we conducted check in.  The standard suite booked for Diamond members is their one-bedroom duplex suite.  While this sounded really cool when we booked it, when we stepped into the room, we almost immediately realized this room was going to cause some problems.  Both girls immediately ran for the stairs and when we finally made it up there, the bedroom was open to the first floor area.  After discussing for 10 or 15 minutes, we called down to the front desk and asked if there was any way we could switch to a room that would give us a better chance of avoiding a trip to the hospital.

First floor of suite

Master bedroom on second floor

Looking down into the dining room from 2nd floor master

They said they had another room on the 15th floor but it would not be ready for an hour or two, so we ate some of the chocolates, fruit, and water they provided as the Diamond food and beverage amenity.

The new suite was perfect and, functionally, probably the best room we had on our trip.  It had a bedroom with a walk in closet, where Lizzy slept, a big bathroom, a living area, a 6 person dining room table, a small kitchen area and a half bath.  Despite the fact that we had plenty of room, we managed to cover it with our stuff within the first hour.  The girls had a great time making a fort with the drapes, a common activity during the trip.

Dining/living area of our new suite, with no stairs

Kitchenette

Bedroom

Bathroom

Enjoying some dinner in the room. There was a pasta place down the street that was great for the girls

The Hyatt had a great lounge, called The Grand Club. It included a daily continental breakfast, which was a big understatement. There was a huge selection of hot and cold buffet items, breads and pastries, fruits, cereals etc. and you could order eggs anyway you would like them from your table. In addition to all the food there was also just about any type of drink you could want. On our first visit to the Club the server offered the girls Yakuit, which turned out to be a Japanese probiotic drink, and they loved it! Annie continually asked for more 'Kuit for the rest of the trip. A little digestive aid never hurt anyone, I suppose :).

Besides breakfast, the Club was open throughout the day with drinks and snacks and offered "light hor d'oeuvres" in the evening, which again turned out to be really a full meal. Salads, appetizers, hot entrees, fruit and vegetable platters... both nights after the girls went down for the night (very early) I would go up by myself and enjoy a leisurely and filling meal.

Perhaps the most convenient part of the Grand Club (besides the unlimited Yakuit and milk for the girls) was the Family Room which was separate from the main dining room of the club. They had a TV playing cartoons and a section with some children's toys. It was just nice to be a little separated from everyone else since Elizabeth isn't exactly the most polite or quiet baby in these types of situations.  It was obviously more fun for the girls to be able to run around a bit and play instead of being locked into high chairs with us shushing them the entire time. I wish more hotel clubs and lounges had family friendly areas like this! It really made a HUGE difference in our experience.

Family Room at the Grand Club

Jet Lag (and The Longest I've Slept In Years)

We checked out of the St. Regis and moved less than a mile north east to the Grand Hyatt Singapore on Scotts Road.  It was in a very similar area but just a bit more centrally located near Orchard Road.  Back in the spring, we had originally booked three nights here on a cash rate and applied one of our Diamond Suite upgrade certificates (four are given each year to Hyatt Diamond members) to the reservation.  Since Joe likes to change his mind, we decided to only stay here for two nights and instead use the 2 free nights at any Hyatt worldwide that you receive for getting approved for the Chase Hyatt credit card.  These are the same free nights that Katie and Steve used for their honeymoon at the Park Hyatt Maldives. We got a much lower value out of them than Keve did, but they were going to expire in February and we worried that we would not be able to "maximize" their value by then, so just decided to use them.

We were met at the taxi by a nice woman from reception who took us into the hotel, bypassed the registration desk, and took us straight up to our room where we conducted check in.  The standard suite booked for Diamond members is their one-bedroom duplex suite.  While this sounded really cool when we booked it, when we stepped into the room, we almost immediately realized this room was going to cause some problems.  Both girls immediately ran for the stairs and when we finally made it up there, the bedroom was open to the first floor area.  After discussing for 10 or 15 minutes, we called down to the front desk and asked if there was any way we could switch to a room that would give us a better chance of avoiding a trip to the hospital.

First floor of suite

Master bedroom on second floor

Looking down into the dining room from 2nd floor master

They said they had another room on the 15th floor but it would not be ready for an hour or two, so we ate some of the chocolates, fruit, and water they provided as the Diamond food and beverage amenity.

The new suite was perfect and, functionally, probably the best room we had on our trip.  It had a bedroom with a walk in closet, where Lizzy slept, a big bathroom, a living area, a 6 person dining room table, a small kitchen area and a half bath.  Despite the fact that we had plenty of room, we managed to cover it with our stuff within the first hour.  The girls had a great time making a fort with the drapes, a common activity during the trip.

Dining/living area of our new suite, with no stairs

Kitchenette

Bedroom

Bathroom

Enjoying some dinner in the room. There was a pasta place down the street that was great for the girls

The Hyatt had a great lounge, called The Grand Club. It included a daily continental breakfast, which was a big understatement. There was a huge selection of hot and cold buffet items, breads and pastries, fruits, cereals etc. and you could order eggs anyway you would like them from your table. In addition to all the food there was also just about any type of drink you could want. On our first visit to the Club the server offered the girls Yakuit, which turned out to be a Japanese probiotic drink, and they loved it! Annie continually asked for more 'Kuit for the rest of the trip. A little digestive aid never hurt anyone, I suppose :).

Besides breakfast, the Club was open throughout the day with drinks and snacks and offered "light hor d'oeuvres" in the evening, which again turned out to be really a full meal. Salads, appetizers, hot entrees, fruit and vegetable platters... both nights after the girls went down for the night (very early) I would go up by myself and enjoy a leisurely and filling meal.

Perhaps the most convenient part of the Grand Club (besides the unlimited Yakuit and milk for the girls) was the Family Room which was separate from the main dining room of the club. They had a TV playing cartoons and a section with some children's toys. It was just nice to be a little separated from everyone else since Elizabeth isn't exactly the most polite or quiet baby in these types of situations.  It was obviously more fun for the girls to be able to run around a bit and play instead of being locked into high chairs with us shushing them the entire time. I wish more hotel clubs and lounges had family friendly areas like this! It really made a HUGE difference in our experience.

Family Room at the Grand Club