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

Babies in Biz-nass Class

I'm going to start this post with a list of what we brought. It kind of felt like a lot of stuff, and I wish we could have brought less, but I think we basically needed/used everything we packed.  We decided to pack Sunday night, four days before we left.  We were 90%+ packed at that point and only added a few last minute items the morning of.

1 26-inch medium sized suitcase containing adult clothing and items (checked)
1 22-inch rolling carry on suitcase containing baby clothing and items (checked)
1 diaper bag (my carry on)
1 backpack (Joe's carry on)
1 $46 Cosco car seat purchased at Amazon especially for the trip because it was only 10 lbs (carry on)
2 adorable girls (carry on)

We decided to take a rental car to the airport because it was cheaper than parking or a car service and it would allow us to load the car and install the car seats the night before in order to minimize the chaos in the morning.  I had picked it up at the airport the day before we left since I happened to be there anyway.  It took about an hour to get to LAX in Thursday morning traffic around 8:30am which was bad but could have been much worse.

We stopped right outside the Delta terminal.  I stayed out with the car and VERY slowly unloaded the strollers and car seats while Joe ran into the terminal and checked the luggage and tried to pay the taxes for Lizzy's infant in arms seat.  Unlike domestic flights, babies under two typically have to pay the taxes at a minimum, which in this case was under $100.

It was taking them forever to figure out what was owed, so Joe came out and took the car.  I went back into the terminal and finished off the transaction and waited for Joe and Annie to come back from the National Car drop off facility via the bus.  Any trip that has a bus ride involved is good for Annie.  We got to go through the family security line before heading to the Delta Sky Club for some bagels and snacks to prep us for our long underground walk from Terminal 5 to 6.  Joe took Lizzy early and I got to make the trek on a golf cart with Annie which she also enjoyed.  Pretty easy to please.

The world's biggest boopter ready to go on a 24 hour adventure! Looks can be deceiving

When we went to our gate to board the plane at LAX, Joe happened to notice on the screen that someone else was assigned the seats we thought were ours. Worried that we might not get the Economy Comfort seats that we had planned on having Joe asked the gate agent what was going on and we found out that the flight had been oversold and we had been upgraded to Business Class. Heyo!! So, instead of 3 seats in coach we had 3 compartments with a ton of space and seats that fully reclined into lie flat beds.  This typically only happens on international flights when coach is oversold so this was extremely lucky, especially to have our entire group upgraded!  About an hour into the flight Lizzy fell asleep in her car seat and I enjoyed a full service meal and watched a movie. Aaaannnd, it was pretty much downhill from there :)

Lots of full-sized adults eyeing Annie's seat during boarding

Enjoying a couple of seconds of good behavior from Lizzy

Not enough of this during the flight

Smooth Sailing 2 hours in! Too bad it didn't last long...

Let's just say that Lizzy is NOT a good flier. She has the attention span of a gnat, will not watch a second of TV and does not like to sit still in general for more than 5 seconds at a time.

We tried to have some things for the girls to do on the flight.  Annie was so happy to have her bonky and the movies that we really didn't need much to keep her entertained.  We brought 5 or 6 little wrapped presents from the dollar bin at Target along with some activity packs with crayons and some stickers.  We had snacks and the iPads, but at the end of the day really wished we just had about 1,000 small stickers for them to play with.  That was just about the only thing that kept Lizzy busy for more that 5 or 10 seconds.  Definitely a lesson learned.

All she wanted to do was walk around in the aisles (couldn't really do that in business class) or climb back and forth over the divider between compartments. She was also crabby and tired but fought sleep the WHOLE time. She finally fell back asleep with about 3 hours left in the flight but it took a LOT to finally get her down. And even then she kept waking up and crying intermittently. Then she cried solidly for the last 10 minutes of the flight and it felt like an ETERNITY.

Annie sitting on the extra area in the Joe's seat while watching Wall-E

Good not great

Ditto

We had a short 2 hour layover in Tokyo and headed to the SkyClub for some quick snacks and diaper changes.  We brought multiple changes of clothes for them in the carry on, all of which were used on Lizzy.  Despite bringing what we felt were plenty of diapers for the trip, we had to take Annie's pull up off (which she kept dry the entire time!) and let her be bunsie-girl for the last 90 minutes of the flight so we could put Lizzy in it.  We then headed over to the gate and slummed it coach.  The flight from Tokyo to Singapore (about 8 hours) was a little better as Lizzy slept for a few hours at the beginning, but there were definitely times during the whole ordeal where we thought to ourselves, "nope, never again."

Needless to say, we were relived to finally arrive in Singapore at two in the morning.  We made it through immigration without any problems and our luggage was already out by the time we made it to baggage claim.  The taxi area was clearly marked and we waited for only a minute or two and then loaded all our stuff into the cab.  Both girls were very excited to be in a car without car seats so they enjoyed the 25 minute cab ride into the city.  There was no traffic at that time of the night and coupled with a very regulated and reasonably priced taxi service, it was a great introduction to the city.  We paid the cab fare with a credit card and the fun was about to begin!

"Oh, Is Your Family Moving to Japan?"

I was asked this question 3 times by flight attendants on our recent flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo.  Here is Joe's explanation (written by Joe himself!) of why we were "crazy" enough to take our family on vacation halfway around the world.

Back in the spring there was a big fare sale to Singapore on a number of airlines and since Delta was participating, we decided to take the plunge.  Coach round trip tickets from LAX routing through Tokyo Narita both ways were right around $600, which is a very good deal on that route.  We bought three tickets for Mary, Annie and me and took Lizzy as a lap child to save some money on the trip. Once we got to Singapore, we added a separate ticket on AirAsia to Bali, Indonesia.

This was a good deal for anyone looking to head to Singapore, but since the three us of had some level of status with Delta, it made it even better.  Here is how it broke down for me.
Fare was $600 with the following routing:

Route Flight miles
LAX-NRT 5,451
NRT-SIN 3,328
SIN-NRT 3,328
NRT-LAX 5,451

LAX - Los Angeles
NRT - Narita/Tokyo
SIN - Singapore

That is a total of 17,558 miles earned for the trip.  Anyone booking the trip would earn those.  Since I am a Delta Diamond member, I earn an additional 1.25x miles, earning me a total of 39,506 redeemable miles for the trip.  Valued at a penny a mile, that is $395 worth of miles for completing the trip.  If you use them wisely for domestic travel or use them for business class international travel, they are easily worth two cents a mile, for a value around $790.

There is also value to the Medallian Qualifying Miles (MQMs) that were earned.  Part of the reason I booked this was I was not certain I would travel enough to maintain my Diamond status so it is always nice to get a big chunk of those miles on one trip.  In this case, my cost per MQM (cpm) was 3.4, which is pretty good for a trip you would like to go on anyway.  There is a wide range of value placed on these, but 2 cents a piece could be reasonable.  It is worth noting that these only had value for me.  Without going into the details, these had no value at all to Mary and Annie because I gift them status (a benefit of Diamond status) instead of earning it through flying.

As a Gold, you get an additional 1x the miles instead of 1.25x, so Annie and Mary each ended up with 35,116, worth anywhere between $351 and $700.  As long as you have some flexibility for when you redeem the miles, it should be towards the high end of the range.  My general rule is 2.2 cents per mile or otherwise pay cash.

Another (small) perk of Diamond status is that it allows you to book Premium Economy seats at no additional cost for you and everyone on your itinerary.  To be clear, I am still not sure what is premium about them other than that they are immediately behind the business class section.  They are essentially the same seat as coach with a tiny extra amount of recline. They also have a bit of extra leg room.

We booked an aisle and a window seat in one row, in hopes of having the middle aisle seat open, and an aisle seat in the row behind.

So, we kinda sorta flew all the way to Singapore for a buy one, get one deal.  I would like to say "free" but since we parted with the money and only received a trip and miles in return, it really isn't free.  At a minimum, we could use the miles earned to redeem for airfare to Hawaii, so you could look at it as "pay $600 to fly to Singapore, get a free round trip flight to Hawaii."

Parts of the travel were torturous but now that it's over I'm definitely glad we did it. The girls did really well and everyone had a great time. Thanks, Joe, for planning all the travel and explaining it for all of us pea brains to understand!

More posts about the trip coming soon!