[TRE PET BLOG]

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!

We’ll start a new year post with this: A CONRAD STAYCATION! (So that you can plan your very own Conrad Staycation 2014)

For readers abroad who are scratching their heads as to why anyone would engage in a staycation…well, Singapore’s really land scarce–and entertainment-scarce (because most entertainment need space)!

So a staycation it is!

Beautiful Singapore. 

We chose Conrad Centennial Singapore for our staycation because:

1.) They allow two dogs

2.) Max 35 kg per dog

Most hotels that are pet-friendly only allow for one dog up to 5kg, so unless you have Chihuahuas, you can forget about going on a staycation with Fido!

Checking-in was a little nerve-wrecking (for me, because I was holding on to Hershey’s leash. Oreo’s Mama had no such problem because Oreo was nestled happily in her dog carrier!) and there were many odd glances thrown our way. Anyway, many of the guests were pleasantly surprised by this little ‘toy collie’ and stopped to play with him. Score one for nice-human socialization!

We asked the receptionist if many people bring their dogs for a staycation, and she shook her head. Maybe once or twice a year, she said. Guess we’ll change that! haha

For this staycation, we brought:

• Peepads
• Dehydrated raw dog food (Hershey)
• Eggs (Hershey)
• Raw chicken (Oreo)
• Bagfuls of treats and chews
• An aromatherapy diffuser
• Leashes & harnesses
• Simple solution Pet deodorizer and disinfectant for pet messes
• Waterless pet shampoo for dirty dogs

Shall let the pictures speak for themselves…

This tag will be hung outside your room throughout your stay.

We chose the executive room (upgraded from normal room)

I like this bed! It is bouncy and soft! 

So…Luxurious…

When not napping, the dogs were playing. In fact they mostly played. What rest? Staycations are not for rest!

Rawr!!

Huge bathroom with a shower stall (very handy, you’ll see later) and a bathtub and vanity.

Why is the shower stall handy? Because…

Time-out area for naughty puppies! Hershey wouldn’t quit playing, so he was put in ‘jail’ for a while. Any time he got too excited, it was ‘jail’ time! The glass walls aren’t built to the ceiling, so the ‘jail’ ventilation is good.

Fragrant toiletries provided.

Dog bowls and chew tug toys provided

Delicious chocolates and fruits for the humans (refillable!).

Pretty flower deco

And not so pretty window scenery… (the least of our concerns, though)

The entrance to our room

Free tea and …Nespresso coffee! Perfect for a pick-me-up. Positively buzzing with energy when we brewed those little Nespresso capsules.  They also provide a little fridge, which is where Oreo’s raw chicken went to stay before she ate them.

Oreo checking out the place to make sure that there aren’t any burglars hiding behind the curtains…

A little green sofa! A perfect dog-bed…which Oreo claimed as her own for that night.

We went for a long walk before dinner!

These were taken at the Helix bridge, which is the bridge on the left (for our overseas readers).

This is where you can walk to Gardens By the Bay and take loads of beautiful pictures with your dog. But since Hershey is a puppy, we didn’t want to walk too far and too long. He’s also a big puppy at 7.3 kg @ 5 months, so carrying him for any period of more than 10 min was taxing as well (sorry weak arms haha). But the walk was very windy and enjoyable!

Gardens by the Bay…

All the beautiful artsy Singapore photos are courtesy of Hershey’s Dad.

After the walk we went to eat at one of the cafes next to Conrad.

Dead to the world! Zzzz

You have to ask if the cafes are dog-friendly. Some are not!  We ate at a pet-friendly Thai restaurant (alfresco seating), so you may head there as well.

Yummy!

Back to the hotel to feed the dogs…

Hershey’s on a diet. Too many treats!

Conrad also gave us some souvenirs to take home: the Conrad bear and the Conrad Ducky! The hotel was nice enough to give us two bears: one for each dog!

So…chewy!  

The dogs hid the rubber ducky, so we couldn’t find it. Boohoo!

We also ordered some human nibbles for ourselves. Hmmm, nothing fancy. The hot chocolate was awful as well, and we did make a note to them about it. Hopefully if you do order, it’ll be tastier!

The dips however, WERE FABULIOUSLY DELICIOUS! So yummy! I believe this tray cost us $30, and the hot chocolate was $8 each. Before tax !

Time to crash!

Hershey rolled off the bed with a bump at night. =.=” Silly puppy!

While breakfast is provided, we didn’t want to leave the two clowns by themselves in the room, so the hotel provided us with room service.

The room service didn’t appeal to us, so we headed over to Millenia Walk’s Mos Burger. They seemed confused when we asked if they allowed dogs and explained that they’d never had dogs before. Still, we were allowed to sit outside and all was good!

Cafe-dogging! It’s a (self-invented) sport for the ultra lazy (like me), but very useful for socialization and desensitization. A great learning activity for both owner and dog. This is where you sit down and have a cuppa and your dog is expected to lie quietly by your feet come what may. No sniffing or barking or begging for tidbits!  I’m still quite bad at cafe-dogging, because a guy snuck up on us (bad mama!) and touched the dogs before I noticed. Eeeks! Must be more observant!

And thus we ended our too-short staycation at Conrad. Here’s a breakdown (rough) of our expenses, exclusive of GST and service charge :

$380 off-peak weekday room charge + $80 upgrade to executive suite + $88 compulsory pet cleaning to be done by hotel + $50 room service.

A small sum to pay, we feel, for the new experience for both owner and dog. The Conrad staff were also very nice!

If you do decide to stay at Conrad with your pooch, please leave them a lovely note thanking them for their being dog-friendly! A little encouragement goes a long way in making sure they stay dog-friendly! 🙂

[Edit: Also, Hershey’s barks could be heard outside the room–muffled, but definitely a dog. So if you happen to have noisy dogs, please keep them quiet and help everyone else enjoy your dogs’ presence before Conrad decides to revoke its dog-friendly policy! hehe!) 

THANK YOU CONRAD ! :):)

Categories: TRE Pet blog