Sentosa

The Ocean Villas are a series of 11 uber-exclusive duplex underwater suites located next to the Equarius and Espa Hotel complex at Resorts World Sentosa. 

To say that this is a room with a window to an underwater aquarium would be a major understatement. I’m not sure I can capture the intense wonder and incredible beauty of the experience in words, so I’m going to let the pictures do the rest of the talking!   

 We check in and the boys are mesmerized from the start at the thousands of fish and marine life they can see in this massive underwater aquarium, the largest in Asia by water-gallon size!

    The floor boards are removable and uncover a sunken bathtub, which Tyler immediately wants to sit in! We make him a fluffy bubble bath and he spends the next 90 minutes entranced in water play next to the ocean. 
  Daddy is equally captivated!

I would say that we are extremely frequent travelers, and have stayed in incredible luxury hotels around the world, but the Ocean Villa remains an experience unto itself! 

Upstairs, there is a living room, with a sofa that converts to a daybed, and a second bathroom with shower facilities. There’s a private outdoor deck and jacuzzi – perfect for a little water play or inviting a couple of friends over to chill!   

 Daddy and the boys cool down with a little water play!
The absolute highlight of course remains the underwater bedroom. It’s hard to take your eyes of the floor-to-ceiling window as the fish seem intent on putting on a spectacular show. I used to be an avid scuba diver, and was able to tell the boys that the fish and creatures we were seeing were a real treat – this is the stuff of scuba diving fantasy!  We see dozens of rays (giant stingrays eagle rays etc), sharks (nurse sharks, leopard sharks and a hammerhead shark), schools of trevally, tuna and even Manta Rays – constantly swimming by our window to peek in!  
 At some point, I figure they’re also checking us out, like Little Mermaid Ariel, I guess they’re curious about us too! It results in an incredible underwater experience, which I can only describe as a glorious symphony of aquatic life in your window, a full immersion into their underwater universe!  View from our bed, after closing hours of the aquarium (below), we have the fish all to ourselves, and we watch them well into the night, long after the boys had gone to sleep!  The suite was so stunning that we decided to invite a few friends over next morning to share the treat! We catered some juice, coffee and pastries, and the hotel did a pretty little setup for us.     

   Why wouldn’t you want to share a view this spectacular! 

The boys also really enjoyed that there was a buggy to take us around the resort – another highlight for Tyler!   Before checking out, they take us on a tour of Beach Villas, the sister category to the Ocean Suites (you can also enjoy access to this pool when staying at the Ocean Suites). Each Beach Villa has its own walk-in access to the free-form pool, a private deck and jacuzzi and shallow area with sun-chairs in the water! I’ve already started planning our next staycation! 

And the price tag? Well let’s just say I think the properties aren’t fully marketed because they keep them, especially the Ocean Suites for the enjoyment of the RWS casino high rollers.  

Rack rates are SG$2200, approx US$1600 a night for the Beach Villas and SG$3000, approx US$2220 for the Ocean Villas (in April 2016). 

Yes, eyewateringly expensive, but I can leave you with a couple of important tips: Book during off-peak (generally May, August, September -minus school holiday season, and late October to November) they offer special rates (I’ve seen as low as SGD$1,200 – around US$890+) online before for the Beach Villas, and below SGD$2,000 (US$1480) for the Ocean Villa. Oh, and if you’re going to part that pretty penny – try to get the best suites; room 0907 and 0908 apparently have the best view, directly opposite the viewing gallery. 

While it’s definitely pricey (comparable to Maldives over-water villas), I dare say it’s the experience of a lifetime, and even if you just stay for just one night, it will be something you remember for the rest of your life!