(I had no idea how Ritz Carlton stack ranked against all the other hotels in Singapore; I also learnt from a friend who got Siloso Beach Resort that it's the cheapest hotel in Sentosa. I don't stay in hotels much, lol).
Anyway, how much does this cost?
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Earlier in the pandemic, everyone got it for free. But starting June 18th, the 14-day SDF stay costs S$2k, with S$200 for a COVID test. Exceptions: if you are a Singaporean or PR who had left SG before 27 March 2020, the cost of your SDF stay is borne by the gov.
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(27th March was when the SG gov issued a travel advisory. So basically if you left after that date, you were disobeying their advisory and deserve to pay).
Don't get me wrong: 2k is a lot of money, but it's still heavily subsidised by the gov. More on this in a bit.
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Ahh, link to the government site explaining the policy: gov.sg/article/questi
And the press release announcing the change in policy: straitstimes.com/singapore/trav
The G seems to imply that such subsidies will be cut back gradually. Simply not sustainable to do keep it up.
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Anyway, back to my journey. We entered the Ritz through a side entrance. This was NOT the main lobby.
Hotel staff were dressed with mask, hairnet, and protective overalls. We sat down and signed another bundle of papers. They also required us to leave a credit card num on file.
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Then we were told that food would be prepared by their in-house dining team, and we were asked to choose a menu. Vegetarian or non-vegetarian? I picked non-vegetarian.
The menu looked pretty great. And, yes, cost of food also included in the aforementioned 2k.
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We were tapped up to our rooms one by one. Still lots of social distancing. We weren't given keycards.
On my floor, a staff member directed me to my room from afar. He told me to latch the door once I was in. No keycard, except the one slot into the wall, for power.
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(Notice the chairs outside the rooms — that's where they leave our meals.)
The room was ... ridiculous.
Probably the most expensive hotel room I've stayed in in my entire life. (Again, I don't stay in fancy hotels much).
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To be honest, I'd be pleased with a dorm room. But I'm not complaining.
My friends checked the prices of the room. In normal times, this room in the Ritz, their most basic, goes for around S$800 a night. It's now around S$499 a night.
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Replying to
This particular room is about SGD $350 in normal times when booked through corporate booking iirc.
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Replying to
TIL! I should have mentioned that I’m assuming the G also negotiated separate discounts, and that the hotels are optimising for survival, not profit. So the price the G got is probably lower than market rates.
Thank you for the clarification, at any rate!
Replying to
Np, also good to note that the more expensive pricing is probably for the marina view and it comes with the free buffet breakfast.
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