Location
Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore sits in a lush and serene part of the city state’s premium shopping and lifestyle district, a perfect blend for travellers who desire to be within easy reach of entertainment but without the noise and traffic.
Ambience
Beneath the Tower Wing’s sophisticated veneer lies a paradise for little travellers. A hint of this begins at check-in, with a cheerful family concierge assigned to each arriving family. The family concierge ensures check-in is done swiftly and remains on hand throughout the stay period to assist with stay and activity requests.
Rooms
The latest gems in the Tower Wing are found on the ninth floor, an entire level dedicated to families with young ones. This level houses five Themed Family Suites and 19 Deluxe Family Rooms.
You get a sense that this is a haven for little ones as you exit the elevator – giant cubic sculptures of animals greet you at the landing.
Parents will appreciate the central pantry on this floor, which provides a steriliser, washing machines and dryers. Deeper within the pantry is a locked storage space that shows off a wide range of more essentials that guests can easily request for through their family concierge – car seats, strollers, high chairs, potties, bath toys and more, all from the premium brand Stokke.
My family took the themed family suite. An orange lion mail box at the entrance of our room hinted at what was to come. Suspense mounted as we entered, as we saw only an elegant bedroom. A tiny door stood in the far corner, and through it lay the surprise for my three-year-old son.
His Safari themed bedroom featured a mural of the African plains and was furnished to resemble the abode of an explorer. A bed, a wooden table and chair on a woven rug, and faux leather suitcases sat under a tent, while a smiley lion carpet, bean bags and a reading corner completed the room decor.
His bathroom featured more shelving space, a larger vanity counter that doubles up as a diaper change station, a small foldable baby bathtub and a child toilet seat.
The hotel scores major points for providing day, night and swim diapers, wet wipes and organic toiletries for children.
Facilities
No stay for children is complete without play. And Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore delivers on play with its new Buds by Shangri-La playground on level one.
Buds houses Recharge Café, a Toddler Zone, and the Explorer Zone for children aged four and up.
It is easy to see why Explorer Zone is a hit with kids. It is made up of five themed play areas – Waterfall, a pit filled with cassia seeds; Space, for aspiring astronauts; Underwater, a submarine themed climb-and-slide structure; Fire Mountain where children can shoot soft foam balls from air guns; and Mesh Cave, a massive two-deck netted structure that meant the second level was one giant, bouncy trampoline.
Regular activities are held in three play rooms – Stage, a music room; Muddy, an arts studio where children are encouraged to paint on walls; and Bake, where children can discover the joys of cooking.
Buds extends outdoors with a giant pirate ship play structure and a splash pad. Guests must be registered to enter Buds and are given RFID wristbands. The outdoor play zone is gated and manned.
Other facilities that families will appreciate include a swimming pool with a wading pool and lush internal gardens which the hotel is known for.
F&B
There are five restaurants and four bars at Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore. The Lobby Lounge where celebrated local hawker dishes are served, Origin Bar, Origin Grill, NAMI Japanese restaurant are new, a result of Tower Wing’s renovation and rebirth.
For families with young, fussy eaters, The Line buffet restaurant is the best option. The restaurant’s famous generous buffet spread will surely offer something that pleases picky palettes.
Verdict
The well-thought-out, family-friendly facilities and services are impressive. I like that the children facilities are set away from the hotel’s meeting facilities, effectively separating two distinct sets of guests.
No. of rooms: 503 guestrooms and suites in the Tower Wing
Rates: From S$430 (US$326) a night in a Deluxe Family Room; from S$900 a night in the Themed Family Suite
Contact details
Tel: 65 6235 1666
Email: reservations.sls@shangri-la.com
Website: www.shangri-la.com/singapore
It is not enough to keep up with the digital expectations of today’s tech-savvy consumers, Expedia says. Exceeding these expectations is a “travel industry imperative”.
To help travel service providers anticipate new needs, Expedia casts the spotlight on four key trends of 2018.
AI and machine learning: chatbots become ubiquitous
Expedia expects 2018 to be a year where AI, in the form of machine learning, becomes not just a futuristic technology, but an integrated and valuable everyday tool.
Growing “digital impatience” among consumers and expectations for instant responses to queries and purchasing requests has driven adoption of digital assistants. According to Expedia, 62 per cent of global consumers today are comfortable with an AI application responding to their query.
Chatbots are already enabling deeper and easier traveller communication, and are expanding to different mediums: chat, social channels, voice assistants and more. In addition, new tools and technologies in this space will allow hoteliers to connect with consumers in deeper and more meaningful ways.
Voice: Siri and Google go mainstream
Voice-enabled digital assistants are poised to not just change the travel industry, Expedia posits, but nearly every industry we touch in our lives. By 2021, there will be 7.5 billion digital assistants in the world.
Digital assistants today are giving us weather and traffic information, and entertainment content – but they are also enabling us to search hotels, check the status of flights, and more.
“As an industry, we need to be at the forefront of testing voice skills, and aligning with the growing traveler adoption of this technology, to ensure we’re equipped and at full performance when it becomes ubiquitous”, Arthur Chapin, senior vice president – global product and design, Expedia Group. said.
Citing Business Insider UK, Expedia shared that the number of virtual digital assistant users has increased over 40 per cent from 2016 to 2017 with an estimated of 158 per cent increase from 2017 to 2021.
Expedia also shared numbers from Seattle-based voice over IP carrier Speakeasy showing that nearly half of global smartphone users will use voice technology by 2020 and 47 per cent will use voice technology at least once a month.
Activities booking in an experience economy
With 72 per cent of consumers seeking experiences over things, Expedia said there is great opportunity to target consumers who will not just book a hotel room, but also experiences from dinner reservations, to tours and activities to entertainment.
One-stop shop for packages
Consumers expect a seamless, one-stop experience in nearly every area of their lives. A recent multi-generational study by Brand Expedia shows that 80 per cent of travellers find it useful to book all their trip components together, and for Gen Z, the number is massive 87 per cent.
The upside for hotels is that offering rooms in “package bookings”, alongside flights and cars, typically means higher average daily rate, longer booking windows and fewer cancellations. Plus, consumers can streamline their research and booking into one seamless purchase. Package demand on Expedia generated nearly 1.4 times longer booking window when compared to standalone hotel bookings.
For hoteliers, these longer stays and longer booking windows mean more opportunities for them to engage with and upsell consumers – both prior to check-in and on-property, Expedia says.