Staycation at Sofitel Sentosa Resort and Spa

Kevin and Jocelyn spend a luxurious night at Sofitel Sentosa Resort & Spa, for a weekend of pampering at the spa and fine dining with cliff-top views.

We love our city but that doesn’t mean we don’t feel the need to escape once in a while. So many bright lights can be blinding. Too much technology is tiring. And the constant flow of people can be overwhelming. So while friends across the world dream of coming to visit us in Singapore, we often dream of getting out. Easier said than done these days. But we recently had our first staycation at the Sofitel Singapore Sentosa Resort & Spa and we were blown away by how much it felt like an escape from the hustle and bustle.

Kevin needed a break but never allowed himself the time to take one. It was getting to the point where the mere suggestion of a holiday would get him upset and frustrated. So I decided to take the matter into my own hands. While he was on a conference call with colleagues in the room next door, I spent some time scrolling through the offers on the Accor Plus website. I first wanted to see if we could switch off for a while, but time was tight and I knew Kevin wouldn’t appreciate it if I pulled him away from his work for longer than a weekend. Then I remembered we had a free night that we hadn’t yet used thanks to the Stay Plus benefit that comes with membership. A few clicks later, I had found our ideal staycation – Sofitel Singapore Sentosa Resort & Spa.

On Saturday morning, I told Kevin to pack a few things, I’d booked us a holiday. The look of confusion in his eyes was quite funny. I quickly told him to relax, it was just for one night and, sure enough, he seemed to accept it. Almost as if he’d been waiting for someone to force him to take a break. Maybe I should have done this sooner.

We arrived at the hotel in time to enjoy a So In Love spa treatment for two before settling into our room. Every staycation should start with two and a half hours of heavenly relaxation. I couldn’t recommend it more. I could see my plans were working. You’d have to be beyond burnout to not find serenity in a place like this. Tucked away from the city, surrounded by beautiful gardens… The high-rise towers of our regular lives were just a faint memory.

That night I’d planned to use our Accor Plus dining discount to treat ourselves to a sunset dinner at The Cliff. I joked that it was the next best thing to visiting Italy itself, the Italian food was that excellent. Kevin didn’t even look at his phone once. We chatted and laughed like we hadn’t in ages, and all to the backdrop of a beautiful sunset. In fact, the phone didn’t make any appearances at all that day, or the next. I took mine out for the occasional selfie shot, but other than that, we totally disconnected from the world. And reconnected with each other.

That was really the best part of our staycation in Singapore: realising how important it is to continue to make the effort and, in the end, how little effort is needed to stay happy, together. So the next time one of us feels the need to escape, we’ll know exactly what to do and where to go. In fact, this experience has made us love our little red dot even more.