Review : Singhasari Resort, Batu
12:25:00 AM
Hi guys!
Okay, after yesterday's rant (Update : guess what, the stupid CS said he can give us free annual fee but cannot reverse the penaltized installments. WHAT IS THE FRIGGIN DIFFERENCE then??? They adamantly said they couldn't waive the fee before, but once we terminated the installments and paid the penalties, suddenly they are waiving it? it's clear that they just want us to PAY no matter how. TSK TSK TSK. Credit cards company's super scary greedy, be careful you guys... Better stick to the ones that's been around forever with good reps, the news ones with explosive offers mostly turns out like this, full of tricks and twists, screw you A**!) now i finally get to write what i originally wanted to write, a review for Singhasari Resort, Batu, Malang (East Java, Indonesia).
A few months ago (on May, to be exact), we went for a little weekend getaway to Batu with my family. So, this is acually supposed to be the trip's day one story, but since 90% of the first day after we left Surabaya (around 10) we spent stuck in the most horrible jam EVER (normally it'd take less than 3 hours to reach batu, we were on the road for almost 6 WTF), there is no story whatsoever. And since i snapped quite a few pictures of the hotel's room and this is our second time staying there, i decided to write my first full review of the hotel (in case you're a new reader, i like to drop in a few pictures of the hotels i stayed in in my travel entries). In case any of you are interested to stay there next time you're in Batu maybe this review can help.
This is our second stay in the relatively new resort, we stayed there for the very first time with #Undecided and hubby (plus KC's family) about (almost) a year ago (if i'm not mistaken, it was November 2012? I can't remember exactly when, but i think it was on #Undecided's hubby's birthday so it should be on November) when they were really really new. I didn't snap too much pictures of the hotel's exterior as well as the lobby etc, so i googled them. Couldn't find the proper front picture of the the hotel, the drop off part overlooking the lobby though. So i settled with another picture that shows how the hotel basically look like.
Looks pretty, isn't it? It really is. Why the picture taken at night though? Guess it adds to the overall beauty of the place *LOL*. Okay, here's another picture with enough sunlight :p. The above picture was of the rooms overlooking the pool though, while the one below was the ones overlooking the... errr... garden (and parking lot, that is haha).
The resort is quite massive, with beautiful swimming pool and lots of other facilities. Here's a look of the lobby area :
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| Not apparent in this picture, but the lobby's actually massive, and there were only a few of these seats so it looked kind of empty really |
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| A self-playing piano in the middle of revolving platform surrounded by tiny pool |
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| Haha, with extra decor : Baby Boy :p |
Dunno why but the whole time we were there this second time round, the tiny swirly pool was never filled with water but instead left bare like how it's seen in the picture. Personally i think this is a bit dangerous (both filled in with water or not) when you have young children staying there with you, especially if they happen to be restless and active like mine, you can never know when they might plunge into that tiny pool *sigh*.
The hallway into the rooms was also spacious.
On our first stay, we opted for a Deluxe room, which costs around IDR 1.500.000 if you book by Agoda right now (which they claimed to be "special rate from IDR 2.775.000, but don't trust it. Last time i checked it was always around that price lah WTH), but we booked our rooms via Haryono Travel (a travel agency in Surabaya that's famous by their super low local hotels rates) and paid no more than IDR 1.000.000.
We were more than pleased of our rooms back then, sadly we haven't started our blog back then yet so i didn't even think of taking pictures of the room. It was super duper clean, spotless, even the towels were lush and nice smelling (and i didn't mind using them. I am very iffy with hotel towels, i brought my own to Taiwan-and almost any other trip. Except to Europe because we're moving hotels every day i didn't think that would be convenient and the towel wouldn't dry anyway so it'd still be yucky). Love the bathrooms especially.
This time round, we opted for a more luxurious room, Premiere Room. It was around IDR 1.500.000/night booked via Haryono (of course), around IDR 2.000.000 via Agoda. My mum was the one who demanded us to book this type of room, the main reason why we went there was because of her lah. She was jealous because she couldn't join us the first time we went there and been adamant ever since to stay there with us sometime soon. Seriously, it was a long weekend that time, that's why the traffic was sooo bad. It's like the whole Surabaya tries to move to Batu every time we have a long weekend, you know. Or to Bali, whenever we have a longer vacay WTH.
The difference between Deluxe and Premiere rooms? Not only the rooms size were different (Deluxe's 32 sq feet while Premiere's 52 sq feet), but also the bathroom. We'll get to that soon.
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| Spacious even from the entrance haha |
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| Oops. LOL, i love to get into big cupboards, i dunno why |
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| Super spacious, you see? |
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| With big, comfortable beds |
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| And a comfie sofa |
And here how the Premiere room was different than the Deluxe. In Deluxe room you'd get a normal bathroom, still huge and spacious, but i don't think there was a bathtub in it. Not that i use bathtubs anyway.
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| View of the bathroom from the room hahaha |
I think this type of see through glass window between the bathroom and actual bed is in trend right now? Spot it every where. Why, though? Who could possibly fancy watching other people doing their bathroom business while lazing on the bed? *Shudder*. No see through glass window in deluxe rooms, i think i prefer it that way. I mean... What if i forgot to close the shutter??? You notice we booked the room with double beds, because like typical Chinese, we like to squeeze a lot more people inside the room than we should *LOL*. So, there'd be a lot of people who have no business seeing me in the bathroom! And vice versa!
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| Whoops! Yeah, that's what i mean hahahaha |
I do love how the room has a few mirrors (some hotel rooms only has one, some even none in the bedroom and only one in the bathroom!), self-absorbed cam-whoring time!
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| One... |
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| Two... |
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| Three hahahaha... i do quite love the lighting and all! |
Also love the wide tables and all, there's always enough space for all of my crazy tidbits (oh, i am nothing compared to my mum, i swear she brought most of her vanity to every hotel she stays in...)
Sadly, i found the cleanliness of this room was not as top notch as a year ago. I could feel some sandy feeling on the floor, and it felt slightly dustier. Maybe because the more expensive rooms has less visitors than the standard ones? I remember the room used to be a lot cleaner (on the first stay, only KC and CL got the Premiere room because they ran out of the deluxe ones already). But then again, my parents' room just opposite of ours were not sandy at all. So maybe only this room was a bit neglected? Just my luck, getting it!!!
As most germ-phobics (actually i am not germ-phobics, i think i am more of a stain-phobic. I only fear what i CAN see. On the contrary, #Undecided's more disgusted on what she CANNOT see. You know what i mean? She was bothered by the train's seat when we were in Taiwan and refused to have skin contact with the seat, because i quote "Who knows what's in there???". Whereas me, i wasn't bothered because it looked fine with my naked eyes. But then i did get some bug bites *LOL*), the most important part of a hotel's room? The bathroom!
If it's super clean, then i am sold!
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| As long as they have showers, i am content... |
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| Seriously, this room reminded me so much of our hotel room in Hualien, Taiwan. It could be its twin! You'll see what i mean once we manage to get around to blog about it haha |
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| Another self-absorbed selca hahahaha |
Okay, let's see the balcony!
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| Oh, here's the entrance view! Taken from out balcony! Hahaha |
Overall, the rooms are quite fine but maybe next time i wouldn't bother booking the Premiere one. I was content with the Deluxe anyway, and the IDR 500.000 difference can be used for so much other things haha (like paying a credit card's installment's penalties. WTF. Yes, i am still bitter. Should be for another few days).
But i do quite like the hotel, don't think there's another one quite like this one in Batu (the old ones that used to be very famous when i was little like Club Bunga etc are still almost as expensive as Singhasari, yet so much older, dirtier and disgusting. Were so shocked the last time we stayed in Grand Orchid-which used to be very pretty on its heyday, and it was so disgusting when we stayed there. Just skip any old-used to be famous hotels, if you haven't been staying in Batu overnight for a long time like we did) so next time we're staying in Batu (not going to be anytime soon, we've been there too much the last two years it's getting boring. Especially after the traumatizing traffic. CL said she's happy not to go to batu for another five years *LOL*) i'd definitely still opt to stay in Singhasari.
Oh, if you're a hotel breakfast lovers like us, it's not that good lah hahaha. Very mediocre. Didn't bother snapping pictures of my breakfast but i did find this picture of the massive dining room.
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| Trust me, on the weekend? Every seat would be filled.. |
Oh! Oh! They also have a chapel! yes, it's also in trend right now. And as a simple wedding fan, #Undecided and i always dreamed of having an intimate, private weddings (not to each other, obvi HAHAHAHA, that sounds more like our hubbies) in a chapel somewhere in Bali (not that it was an option, seeing the kind of mom i have and MIL she has hahaha... They would settle with nothing less than a grand Chinese wedding zzz. Thankfully mine wasn't really crazy lah, it was more of a wedding banquet than a crazy Chinese wedding. Speaking of which, when are you going to continue blogging about YOUR wedding, #Undecided??).
If you aren't married and shares our dreams but thinks Bali would be too expensive (if you live in Surabaya and all) and far, this one in Singhasari could be an option (not that it'd be cheap! I mean the airfare and all would be minimized coz you don't have to fly to Batu, right...) :
Any other criticism for this hotel (than the slightly sandy room) would go to the receptionist *LOL*. But that happened on the first stay, when the hotel was super new and the staffs were probably not trained enough. We had to wait for HOURS to get into our rooms because they weren't ready (and we had to wait in KC's room), even though it was way passed check in time (check in time at 1, we were there at 3 or 4). Plus the stupid receptionist also kept on questioning us if we're the Premiere (KC's) room's guest's family. Eh, how else can we get into the room, then? We were the ones who checked them in, after all! WTF. Much better and more professional the second time round lah, thank God.
Would definitely recommend this hotel highly for those who are seeking a place for a weekend getaway, somewhere close (should be, if there was no traffic) to Surabaya, with cooler climates, and nearby some theme parks (one of it i will show you on the next entry). It is not cheap, but if you have some money to spare, i don't think you'd regret spending your holiday here! (NOT a sponsored post, even though i do hope we'd get to write a sponsored hotel posts here hahahaha).
That's all about the resort, but please indulge me i wanna share my typical mountainous resort outfit :p... My OOTD in details:
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| Wah, have you ever seen me in such skimpy outfit? Hahaha this is only the inner layer lah :p |
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| Minty Knitted Striped Top : Matahari Department Store, Pink Floral Tierred Skort : Bugis Street, Singapore |
Then i simply threw in my cute new jacket from Europe!
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| Jacket : Souvenir stall, Pisa-Italy |
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| Unzipped |
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| Zipped! |
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| It was too hot to wear it like this lah *hosh hosh* |
And my typical first day FOTD :
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| Simple and clean |
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| BB Cream+Under eye concealer+Mascara+Blush on+Vaseline. The next day i'd even skip the mascara lah, i am always too lazy to put on mascara when i'm holidaying... |
That's all for now, i will blog about the second day that's much more interesting next, we went to Green Echo Park for the very first time!
Until then!
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