Hotel Parkroyal Beach Road Review

During phase 2 of the COVID circuit breaker, I’m relieved to know that many businesses have resumed. Yes, international travel is a hassle with the quarantine racking up extra annual leave days. Staycays still work, with families getting to spend quality time together. Read this Hotel Parkroyal Beach Road review to have a better idea if it’s a place you’ll also want to go.

Amidst the doom and gloom outlook with news of companies shuttering because of a drop in visitors, we wrote this Hotel Parkroyal Beach Road Review of our staycation in the cultural neighbourhood of Kampung Glam.

If you’ll pardon the pun, “Glam” in Malay sounds just like “glum” in English.

Doesn’t help that the song playing now is this.

However, I speak in good faith that the human spirit knows to regulate its own emotions. In bad times, think happy thoughts. In good times, cherish every moment with a heart of gratitude so when it’s over, it’s something to look back as hope for the future.

Barring the means to step out of the country, stretch our legs and let the baby explore the world, we find joy in spending quality time minus helper during this staycation.

Here are the 3 factors to consider when reading this Hotel Parkroyal Beach Road review for your staycation.

Location of Hotel Parkroyal Beach Road

Without doing much research on the exact location of the hotel, I was pleasantly surprised to see the taxi turning in shortly after passing Liang Seah Street, the hot favourite among locals for food.

This means even without breakfast included, we have nothing to worry about.

We did bookmark the Sichuan Dou Hua restaurant as a place where we will eat a meal. This restaurant sits on the ground floor of the hotel.

Besides that, Liang Seah Street is one of 2 rows of streets with local youths gathering after school to eat.

From steamboat, to BBQ and desserts, you can hop from main course to dessert in a few steps.

My personal favourites to eat are all here too: Ah Chew Dessert, Fat Bird Chicken Hotpot and Chin Chin Chicken Rice.

Another reason to be excited about being in the Kampung Glam area is to explore the Muslim heritage in Singapore.

The local Malay culture thrives in this space, from past to present. Food options become more exotic as you head over to Arab Street.

Turkish, Egyptian and Arabic food offer to delight your taste buds with so many restaurants you will find high return value to try them out over separate visits.

The once low-key swiss roll confectionery originates from this area, along Kandahar Street. Rich and Good cake shop has now raised its profile by setting up shop in Jewel Changi.

Location is everything, so even if this hotel is not 5 minutes’ walk from an MRT station, I’ll glady pay the price to immerse myself in an area that offers a refreshing change of scene from what I’m used to seeing.

Edit: according to maps, it’s 6 minutes from Nicoll Highway.

Comfort

Having ventured into virgin territory, I am sufficiently impressed with the comfort I’m stepping into.

Hotel Parkroyal Beach Road is managed by Pan Pacific Hotels Group. From the exterior to the interior of the Supreme King room, it feels impressive.

Much effort goes into designing the room so it feels classy and luxurious. There’s a clear separation of space from the entrance to the sleeping area, from cold marble flooring to a soft carpet for the feet.

The bathroom uses solid materials for the basic and vanity counter so you feel like feeling good is serious business here.

The sleeping area has a wooden feature wall with curved wooden panels to mark out invisible lines to the peaceful space you’ll call sanctuary when you rest.

I like the firmness of the mattress, though the pillow could be firmer.

The bed feels like it’s wider than your usual king size bed. Last time I felt this way was at Hotel 60 West in HK.

We got a room on Level 2, which was a bummer as there was no good view to brag about. In consolation, I can still see the gold top of the Sultan Mosque and that is the highlight of being in the area.

For the rest of the room, check out the walkabout review video I made of the first impression when I first entered.

What the video didn’t mention was how I am impressed with the water dispenser over the bathroom sink.

If you’re into environment conservation and consuming less disposable resources, you will be elated to know that they don’t put 500ml bottles on the table.

I was puzzled why there was no water at first, until I discovered this. How about it, you don’t need to step out of the room to a common water dispenser to stay hydrated in our hotel weather!

Definitely plus points for thinking of the environment.

The bed must be really comfy because it’s been 2 hours and counting… the baby and wife are still napping way into dinner time.

Service

First impression of service, there was no attendant to open the car door when we arrived.

I wasn’t expecting one though, just saying.

At the entrance, we get the reminder to declare our health status before entering. That’s typical for SafeEntry users in Singapore already.

Someone inside clarified whether we are visiting the serviced apartment or the hotel because they are just side by side

Allen was 1 of 4 staff at the reception to facilitate our check in. Check in was smooth, all I had to do is give the confirmation number and everything went autopilot.

There’s an iPad to fill in the declaration for just 1 person. And payment on the spot, plus $100 deposit payable by credit card.

We got 3pm as the official check in time, and arrived 40 minutes earlier to prepare in case the check in takes a long time. Turns out we didn’t have to use much of the buffer as we were comfortably set by 2.30pm.

Allen explained to us the facilities. Just the gym and swimming pool, limited to 16 people at any given time.

And also there’s renovation going on during Oct 2020, so he told us to expect some disturbance during the late afternoon.

It sure didn’t stop the 2 ladies from napping 2 hours. I hear the drilling and knocking for a bit, but they barely even stirred despite being relative light sleepers.

Soundproofing in the room is not very good, I can hear people talking at the lift landing. Room 263 is quite near the lift landing.

A week before checking in, I wrote in to their reservation mailbox to request for a cot. Pleasantly surprised to receive a confirmation 10 minutes upon sending my message.

Lynn was tending to the mailbox for the day, one up for a delightful customer experience.

After a night’s rest, where I feel refreshed and without any stiffness, I am happy to share that the staycation has been a success.

It’s not easy to find anything bigger than a king size bed out there, and this set the bar higher for future comfortable beds.

Back at home, the baby likes to fall asleep horizontally for some reason, pushing us adults to the edge of the bed. Over here, she can lie horizontal and we still feel like we have room to roll about.

Conclusion

Day 2 will see us visit the pool and gym for a walkabout. Parent friendly index: 3/5

I had to bring the suitcase up some steps. That said, there is a wheelchair escalator. Upon check out, there were 2 attendants to help us carry our suitcase down the flight of stairs.

The baby knocked her head against the edge of the table, despite the best intentions to design around corners of most furniture around the room.

Quick tip for parents: configure the chairs around the table around the height of your child’s head so they know to slow down around there.

Compared to Raintree Hotel last year, where we last did a staycay for just the 3 of us, this has been a most enjoyable experience.