Address – 11 Laguna Golf Green, Singapore 488047. Website.

Contact – Tel: +65 6841 8888. Email: dtls@dusit.com.

Location – Situated on the same spot as the Laguna National Golf Resort Club in the east side of the island, there is pretty much nothing near the property but they do provide shuttle buses to Changi City Point and Jewel Changi Airport which offers you some dining and retail options. Being this east means your stay is pretty much peppered with airplane sounds every now and then.

Price – $274++ = $322nett booked under the Discover Dusit for Dusit Life Members which include breakfast for 2pax and $30 dining credit. I found it a fair deal for a new-ish property which I’ve been meaning to try out. It also pays to plan ahead and book early as rates as gone up to as much as $380++ for exactly the same package closer to my stay.

Pre-arrival – I received a pre-arrival email 3 days prior to my stay with some info on my stay as well as facilities booking link which leads you to a chatbot to assist you.

Check In – I arrived to a relatively empty lobby about 1pm on a weekday and was assisted to almost immediately. The entire process took 15mins including signing up and explaining of Dusit Life membership. My room was not ready unfortunately and I was invited to have welcome drinks at Tee Deck (more on that later) while I waited and was told I would get a call once my room is ready. By the time 2:45pm rolled around, no call came but I decided to ask anyways and it was. I would have preferred for the promised call to come through but ah wells I was happy to get my room.

But first, the main lift lobby is really nice!

Welcome letters –

Room – My Deluxe Laguna King (36SqM), Room 210, was really nice at first glance. For some reason, it felt smaller but very adequate nonetheless. The entranceway contains your open concept wardrobe (fluffy slippers!) to your left as you enter the room, with a luggage space immediately following that.

At the end of this stretch is your mini bar which contains a coffee machine, tea bags, kettle, and a fridge equipped with selected items.

The main bedroom area is where the cushy king bed is, accompanied by bedside tables on both sides with lighting controls.

A smart Samsung TV (only Screen Mirroring available) faces the bed, and at one side is a simple WFHotel corner with a reasonably comfy chair and a line of powerpoints / ports on the side.

The bathroom is really nice – single sink with plenty countertop space and separate toilet and shower. Toiletries are Green Potion – Bontanical Infused which was only okay for me.

Being on level 2 meant there wasn’t much of a view unless you have a fetish for back of buildings.

A Dusit care kit including a holding pouch is also placed for your use:

Finally, there was a Dusit Life welcome amenity in the form of traditional Thai sweets as well as a cake (not bad!) for my special occasion.

Unfortunately, things turned for the worse after settling down.

I realized there were signs of shoddy housekeeping and wear & tear: food crumbs, lint and litter on the carpet, badly stained bench, and unknown hair strands. Then I realized that ALL the powerpoints were wonky – I just could not get mine in despite some heavy pushing (it shouldn’t be so difficult!).

So I called for help and was told that a technician will come. 30mins in, nobody came. By this time, I haven’t even unpacked as I wasn’t sure if I’d be moving. I decided to make my way to the front desk to ask what’s going on and was told that a technician would be fixing it soon.

I had lost my patience by this time and without any definite timeline, I brought up the cleanliness issues and asked for a room change. Credits to them for finding me a new room almost immediately and a very kind Ayub from the concierge helped me with the move BUT we found out that the key card to the new room was not working so poor Ayub had to sort this out for me while I settled into my new room, 216.

The new room was much cleaner BUT the powerpoints had the same issues! Ayub snagged a technician who happened to be around (thank goodness!) and he had to poke and twist the powerpoints with his tools before they worked properly. If it is so difficult for a local, normal, 3-pin plug, can you imagine the pains of a tourist?

So I arrived at 1pm at the property and it was 5pm by the time all these were settled. So much time wasted for what was supposed to be a relaxing staycation.

I came back to my room later that evening to see a small plate of chocolates with an apology note. It hardly made up for the massive loss of time but at least they cared enough.

Facilities (website) & Activities – other than the resort’s facilities having a dedicated page on the website, there are additional activities for in-house guests laid out in a printed poster in the lobby (though most happen on weekends).

Pool (website): there are a few pool options for usage:

• Lap Pool | Depth (1.2m/0.9m) | Size (53m x 9m)
• Relaxation Pool | Depth (0.1m) | Size (32m x 5.5m)
• Kid’s Pool | Depth (0.5m) | Size (121sqm)

These are opened from 8:00am to 8:00pm (hourly sessions are bookable) and limited to one session per night stay. These swimmy spots seemed super nice and definitely for the IG people.

D-FiT: the gym is more spacious than expected and completely adequate for a good workout.

Breakfast – Served at Greenhouse from 6:00am – 10:30am with 1.5hr slots available for booking, I picked 7:30am-9:00am but woke up in time for the earlier slot and the staff was flexible enough to let me change on the spot. The space was super pretty with all its greens and garden setting. Plenty of seat choices but the best ones are of course the ones overlooking the golf course – rainy days while I was there though so didn’t get to experience the ‘regular’ view.

A printed note on the table tells you that beverages and eggs are ordered and brought to the table, while other options are free flow via an assisted buffet.

I wasn’t feeling very egg-y that day so that explains my choices – the bircher muesli, siew mai, and har gow rocks!

Dining – Other than breakfast, I had the chance to check out a few of their dining options:

Tee Deck – Located alongside the very photogenic pool, this is the poolside bar for the property. Service was excellent and I sipped on my lemongrass & pandan welcome drinks (after surrendering my voucher) while the rain poured outside, thanking the rainy weather for a rare cool balmy alfresco experience.

Legends Bar (menu) – this is where I burned my $30 dining credit with a small to up for 2 glasses of wine (Boo to no discount for in-house guests). This spot is co-located with Greenhouse and is a seriously pretty place! Nature and greens surround you as you try to make sense of their quite expensive choices but this is a good date spot for sure with cosy seating.

Shuttle Service – I didn’t get to try their shuttle service but here’s the schedule for those who are interested.

Service – Ayub (concierge) and Eric (Tee Deck) were the stars of my stay and softened the impact of negatives a little. Also this super energetic staff from breakfast – couldn’t get the name coz I was standing too far from him to spot his name tag.

Check Out – I was only able to get a further 30mins from the usual 12pm check out time even for a weekday but I was semi glad to leave anyways due to the bad experience. At check out, Duty Manager Vivien was there – she said she is aware that I had some issues with the powerpoints and that it has been brought up to the technical team. After a brief conversation including me bringing up the rest of my bad experience, she proactively offered to waive the dining charges from my folio which was nice.

In Summary,

I have mixed feelings about the property. I was really really excited about my stay. Sigh.

Sure, I received service recovery but the issues were so unexpected of a property that just opened just about a year ago. The public areas are really pretty but unfortunately the fancy façade has only served to magnify the discrepancy in service standards received as an in-house guest. Getting a clean room seems to be a luck of draw here, and I really don’t like getting the short end of the stick.

Nothing can reverse a bad hotel experience but it is nice to know that someone in the property cares enough. I still am curious about the Dusit Club Lounge (expected to open in 2022) to be honest but yeesh, knowing that I may get the same experience is a tough thought to swallow especially when it’ll come with paying premium.

We’ll see.