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SOMERSET PANORAMA MUSCAT: THE BEST AFFORDABLE SERVICED APARTMENT FOR FAMILY STAYCATIONS

February 26, 2020 by Little Miss Honey

Somerset Panorama Muscat

One of the occasional indulgences of living in Oman of expats working in the interior parts of the country are staycations in Muscat. Staycations are usually for celebrations of a special occasion, sometimes to satiate the taste for a bit of metropolitan bustle for city-born expats missing it and sometimes out of necessity because a lot of errands are needed to do in the capital of Muscat & the current residence is a far drive away.

In my ten months living in Oman, my family had a total of three staycations, two of which, we brought along my mother-in-law who stayed with us here in Oman for one month. We are a family of five, my husband and I plus our 3 young kids with the addition of my mother-in-law, we are a total of six. For staycations, we wanted an apartment-style lodging. It doesn’t seem cost-effective to get two hotel rooms. Also when my mother-in-law returned to the Philippines, if we booked a hotel, we couldn’t just get another extra room for our older kids. Our option would be for us to squeeze in one big hotel bed or get an extra bed in the room. So we searched for an apartment-type hostel that would be perfect for our family’s needs. And we found just that in Somerset Panorama Muscat.

Somerset Panorama Muscat

The three staycations we had in Muscat were all in Somerset Panorama. It has been our official go-to lodging if we want to stay in Muscat. Our kids love the place and looking forward to book there again soon. We had our last Christmas there. Our kids are even asking as early as now if we will spend Christmas there again this year.

Somerset Panorama Muscat is a serviced apartment providing hotel-like indulgences. It is located Bawshar commercial district, centrally located near the diplomatic areas, Ghala industrial estate, and midway between the Central Business District and Muscat International Airport. Somerset is under the leading international lodging owner-operator, The Ascott Limited, a Singapore company. Ascott’s portfolio including Ascott The Residence, Citadines ApartHotel, Citadines Connect, Lyf, The Crest Collection, Quest and Tauzia Hotels are found more than 180 cities across over 30 countries in Asia Pacific, Central Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the USA.

Somerset Panorama Muscat Living Room

It has so many great points why we chose Somerset every time for our Muscat staycations:

• 2-Bedrooms in One Apartment

Our initial main concern is that with our growing family, one hotel room is not enough for us to sleep in. We are happy to find a serviced apartment such as Somerset Panorama that has two rooms in a 78 sqm apartment. One room has the king size bed & TV and in the next room there are twin beds. The bigger room has a bathroom with bathtub, toilet and sink while the smaller room has another bathroom across the room with shower, toilet and sink. There is a dining area, living room area with TV and a kitchenette with stove, water heater, microwave & all the utensils. They even have a washing machine to you to wash your clothes with a laundry powder provided. There is no laundry dryer though so you have to airdry your washed clothes in the room balcony which you have to inform concierge if you want to have it opened.

Somerset Panorama Muscat
Somerset Panorama Muscat Bathroom
Somerset Panorama Muscat bathroom
Somerset Panorama Muscat Kitchenette
Somerset Panorama Muscat Kitchenette

• Affordable Price Point

One of the other reason why we keep coming back to Somerset because you cannot beat the affordable price that comes with fantastic amenities. We get good deals in booking our stay in the place compared to other apartelles, hostels and hotels we checked out in hotel booking apps. We can get a two-bedroom suite for a price of 30+ to 60+ OMR.

• Accessibility

Somerset is found centrally in the Bawshar commercial district. It is attached to Panoroma Mall which has a food court that provides wonderful choices for all taste buds. It is a big plus for us because the food court has Palayok that services Filipino foods that we miss. They also have Spinneys in Panorama Mall for quick grocery needs and has a sections for pork items that is hard to find in Oman. (The pork item can be really expensive though.)

Taxi are easily available in the area. You can use the O-Taxi app similar to Grab or Uber to get taxi quickly and cheaper too.

Somerset is near Oman Avenue Mall and Muscat Grand Mall. It is not far from Muscat International Airport. There are a lot of restaurants, cafes and shops around the area of Al Ghubrah Street.

• Wonderful Service

In our three time stay in Somerset, we never got disappointed by the hotel staff services. They were very polite and helpful with our needs and requests. They were nice to provide us with reasonable late check-outs too.

In our last stay, we got to enjoy their nice pool and lounging in their pool benches. We didn’t avail their hotel breakfast because we usually have some food leftover from night before which we would keep in their perfect medium size refrigerator in our room, not the measly small refrigerator in most hotels. The bathroom toiletries are worth mentioning because I have been to several hotels with sub-standard shampoo, conditioners and bodywash. I was pleasantly surprised that Somerset provides good toiletries that is not too drying for my already very dry hair and skin. They also provide iron, iron stand, safety box and free wifi. We definitely good deal staying at Somerset Panorama.

Somerset Panorama Muscat Pool
Somerset Panorama Muscat toiletries

For our next Muscat staycation, we may probably book again a room in Somerset. But if you know any other affordable good family apartelles, hostels or hotels with excellent amenities in Muscat, please don’t hesitant to suggest it to us. We would deeply appreciate it.

Somerset Panorama Muscat

Al Ghubrah Street, PO Box 1640, PC 131, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman

Tel no. 22 040000

Filed Under: Expat Diaries, Inspirations Tagged With: Muscat, oman, serviced apartment, somerset panorama, staycation

5 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD STAY AT THE STRAITS HOTEL & SUITES WHEN IN MELAKA, MALAYSIA

September 4, 2017 by Little Miss Honey 2,499 Comments

he straits hotel and suites melaka

My family and I had visit Malacca before when I was still pregnant with my second son. It was a nice short visit and since my husband and I were able to get a long weekend leave, we opted to visit the charming city again.

Melaka River

Our last visit was just 2 days and 1 night, we decided to stay a little longer for 3 days and 2 nights. We booked a Suite Room with Connecting Room at The Straits Hotel & Suites and we are very impressed with the hotel. Let me tell you why.

Here are 5 reasons why you should stay in The Straits Hotel and Suites.

The Straits Hotel & Suites Melaka

1. Location, Location, Location

I love the hotel location. It is right smack at the heart of the bustling city, just 2 minutes away from the mall. The guests of the hotel are spoiled with the accessibility of shopping, entertainment and dining destinations. We didn’t have any problem looking for a place to eat. We love that there are mini-marts nearby to buy our kids their fresh milk and snacks. We also can head to the mall easily if we want to hide from the hot sun.

It is just a little around 8-minutes walk to the Red Square and Jonker Walk. You will cross from Hatten Square and cut through Dataran Phalawan Mall. Tada- you are just right around the Red Square once you see those colorful tricycle adorned with lights, stuff toys of popular cartoon character, booming with disco pop music.

Malacca

One great advantage of staying in The Straits Hotel and Suites is that I had booked a coach bus from Singapore drops us exactly at the hotel and fetches us at the hotel when we were going back to Singapore. Coach buses doesn’t stop to all hotels just like the last hotel we stayed up. We opted to go down at Melaka Sentral and take a taxi going to our hotel which can be so troublesome now that we have two young kids in tow.

2. The Suite Room feels like home

The suite room is spacious with its very own dining area and living area. Our active kids need the space to run around. It is beautifully decorated in a modern contemporary design with big black & white photo of the Melaka River cut into 3 parts and bright comfortable red sofa cushion. Large windows gave us generous natural lighting streaming inside the room. The living room has a big TV for my kids to watch their cartoons.

he straits hotel and suites melaka

he straits hotel and suites melaka

he straits hotel and suites melaka

The main bedroom has a king size bed with comfortable mattress and comforter. The bathroom has a bathtub which my kids love to have a bubble bath at night. But if you are not the one who like baths, they have a separate shower area.

he straits hotel and suites melaka

he straits hotel and suites melaka

There is also a connecting room with two twin beds joined together for them. It has its own bathroom, closet, mini refrigerator and desk area.

The Straits Hotel & Suites

The Straits Hotel & Suites

The Straits Hotel & Suites

The night before we head back to Singapore, I prepared the bathtub with warm water and placed a bubblebath liquid for the kids after we had a long day walking around Jonker Street. I watched them enjoyed their water fun. Then I tucked them in to bed to sleep. I told my 3-year old son, “Did you enjoy your stay here? We are going home to Singapore tomorrow.” He replied, “Like it here, mommy. Is this home?” Hahaha! I guess that is what The Straits Hotel & Suites makes you feel, just right at home.

3. Staff are so friendly and helpful

All the staff are so friendly and nice. The bell man offered us suggestions and good places to go to in Melaka. The staffs in the lobby were so amused with our kids, running around and offered them cold juice drinks found in the lobby waiting area, much to our kids’ delight. Staff would often greet us with happy smiles when we walk pass. They are fast to offer us assistance when we asked them, like the time, we were all locked out with all our access pass inside the room. Good thing, a staff came to the rescue really fast. They were kind to bring us an iron board and iron when we asked.

4. Infinity pool with great view

The Straits Hotel & Suites Pool

The Straits Hotel & Suites Pool

We enjoyed going for a morning swim in their infinity pool. Our kids can’t get enough of the swimming around. It helps however to bring some floating device for your kids because they don’t have a kiddy pool and you may have to hold your kids when swimming in the pool. You will enjoy the view from the infinity pool at the 23rd floor. You get to the beautiful Melaka outreach before you. You would see the glorious Melaka River below. My eldest son enjoyed pointed at ships, buildings and birds he saw from the pool. My husband was happy to test out his new and very good bargain waterproof camera. Check out the video he made of our trip:

5. Yummy Brunch Buffet on Sundays at Pizzaria at 23rd Floor

We are lucky to have stayed until Sunday because we got to enjoy their Sunday brunch which is at the Pizzaria at the 23rd Floor where the infinity pool is. It costs RM30 per adult and RM15 for children and senior citizen from 12:00 PM to 5:30 PM. There is a wonderful spread of Western and Malay foods to fit any tastebuds. There were pizza station, burger station, Char Kway Teow, satay grill station and deep-fried sweet potatoes & chicken station. There is juice, coffee and tea for everyone. Kids and adults would indulge in the abundant spread. They can eat and swim as well. They also provide Kids Activities like Coloring Activity and Creative Sandwich Workshop.

The Straits Hotel Brunch Buffet at Pizzari

The Straits Hotel Brunch Buffet at Pizzari

The Straits Hotel Brunch Buffet at Pizzari

The Straits Hotel Brunch Buffet at Pizzari

The Straits Hotel Brunch Buffet at Pizzari

The Straits Hotel Brunch Buffet at Pizzari

The Straits Hotel Brunch Buffet at Pizzari

There are actually more than 5 reasons why you should stay in The Straits Hotel and Suites but let me just stick to 5 Reasons for now. I should mention that breakfast every morning at the 3rd was enjoyable. They provided generous platter of different breads and muffins for the carb-lovers, yummy selections of fruits, a spread of Malay dishes to acquaint foreigners’ innocent palates and many many more. They also have a gym if you want to squeeze in an exercise on your trip. They also have conference rooms for those who wants to combine business and relaxation in one trip. We have enjoyed our stay at The Straits Hotel and Suites immensely. It is such lovely place to stay when you are visiting Malacca. We will definitely stay in The Straits Hotel and Suites when we visit Malacca again.

 

The Straits Hotel and Suites

No 1-B , Jalan Melaka Raya 2 , Taman Melaka Raya, 75000, Melaka Malaysia

Contact Number: +606 289 8555

Fax: +606 289 8488

General Inquiry: enquiry@straitshotelsuites.com

Room Reservations: reservations@straitshotelsuites.com

Sales & Marketing: sales@straitshotelsuites.com

Website/ Facebook / Instagram

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post in collaboration with The Straits Hotel and Suites Melaka. All opinions are my own.

Filed Under: Food Discoveries, Travel Tagged With: collaboration, Highly Recommended, Hotel, Malacca, Melaka, sponsored, staycation, The Straits Hotel & Suites, TripAdvisor

THINGS THAT INSPIRED ME THIS WEEK

February 22, 2015 by Little Miss Honey 1,329 Comments

Wanderlust Hotel

I got panicky worried this week. My little boy got really sick and weak the start of the week that all the knowledge I got from my paediatric postings in medical school flew out of the window. But after a few frantic calls from my doctor friends and constant hydration, my son was back to his old active and happy self.

Naj and Daddy

 

I am happy to announce that Little Miss Honey got a new look this week. I hope you like it too. You have  a lot to watch out for in my blog.

Little Miss Honey

 

Also since hubby and I was able to celebrate Valentines Day last week, we had a staycation in one of the quirky boutique hotels here in Singapore. We stayed in Wanderlust Hotel. I will blog about it soon.

Wanderlust Hotel

Here are a round-up of links I found online that inspired me this week that you might enjoy too:

A must-watch for all fathers

A letter to those who wants to watch the movie “Fifty-Shades of Grey”

Blogging and Balancing Family Life

Advice For Wives to Save Their Marriage

Marriage tips for wives

Readers are scientifically-proven to be great lovers

Great song cover

Beauties around the world

Such a cute love song

Teenagers swapping clothes with their grandparents

Falling in love is easy, staying in love is hard

Real meaning of love

Wow, next week is the last week of February. Gosh, time does fly so fast…

Have you sign on for Little Miss Honey Newsletter so you won’t miss any post?

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Filed Under: Inspirations, Travel Tagged With: little miss honey, najbrillo, Singapore, staycation, Valentines, Wanderlust Hotel

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Hi I'm Honey! I am a Filipina who has studied & lived in Saudi Arabia for a few years, worked in Singapore and is currently based in Oman with my husband & our three little boys. I am a medical doctor, a lifestyle blogger, travel junkie, a foodie and a bookworm. I hope I can drizzle a bit of sunshine and inspirations whenever you drop by my blog. Thanks for dropping by! See ya soon.. :)
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