Amara Sanctuary (AS), InterContinental or Oriental???

[pompompurin]

I have narrowed down to these 3 hotels and now having a headache to choose the one for my big day. Hope to hear suggestions from anyone here!

Price:
Pretty similar, a difference of $100 between the most exp (Intercon) to cheapest (AS).

Ballroom:
Intercon - the most grand of all with high ceilings, mirrors on the walls and hanging chandeliers. max cap of 40 will be just nice. long march in.
AS - has got a dark and modern ballroom. Size is huge to fit max 50 tables so we dun have to worry abt space. Grand, yes, in a different way. high ceiling of 6.5m. The feel of the ballroom is very different from Intercon. Intercon is bright, AS is dark. They use special light effects such as changing colour lights on the tables. long march in.
Oriental - ballroom is fan shaped, abit odd. low ceiling of 3.8. nothing to speak of it's ballroom. max to fit 38. long march in.

Wedding Themes:

Intercon - nice themes. went to view one of the themes, the decor was abit sparse but the ballroom makes up for it.
AS - no theme to choose. need to work with the florist on flower decor. big ballroom so maybe the expense of decorating might be high.
Oriental - has the best themes. they dun have a nice ballroom but they make up with their themes. Lush flower decors, very pretty indeed.

Food:
Intercon used to be good but i heard that their standard has dropped.
AS - good reviews on goods.
Oriental - The best

Location:
Intercon - convenient just above bugis mrt. but parking is a headache.
AS - located in Sentosa. accessibility is a problem, but AS has shuttle buses to and fro Harbourfront.
Oriental - same concerns as Intercon.

Feel of the hotel:
Intercon - rich peranakan style.. very nice interior.
AS - resorty feel. attending a wedding is like coming for a holiday. very different kind of wedding.
Oriental - hotel is posh and classy but quite a standard wedding feel.

Wedding Planner:
Intercon - experienced and helpful planner.
AS - inexperienced but helpful planner.
Oriental - best planner, very flexible with their perks.

Wedding favours/invitation cards:
Intercon - best
AS - not very nice, can look cheapo compared to Intercon and Oriental
Oriental - best

These are my feedback of the 3 hotels. AS seems to have the least favourable reviews but it won me over with its resorty feel. Oriental's service is impeccable so far. Intercon has the best ballroom.

So which one would you choose and why?

 

[twinkleng]

Heya!

It seems that AS is out from your descriptions. You mentioned that Intercon is the most expensive? i thought Oriental will cost $1300+ after GST and Taxes? Intercon is more?

 

[pompompurin]

hi eileen, my date happens to fall on an auspicious weekend. intercon is charging $100 more per table and a minimun spending of 40 tables is required. hence, the total cost for intercon will come up to be more than oriental.
intercon is about 1390nett and oriental is 1328nett with free flow beverages throw in.
btw, AS has a very nice glass pavilion for solemnisation but of cos, need to top up le.
which one would you choose? headache le....

 

[cheong123]

Hi, I just had my soleminisation @ Oriental and it was GREAT! You won't regret the choice. I note that you "discounted" Oriental because of the ballroom. Frankly speaking, the staff @ Oriental will make it look really beautiful. I think at the end of the day, the service is most important. My wedding planner at Oriental (Sandy) is great and helps me a lot for the wedding preparation. Oriental is also accomodating to most of my requests. I think great service reduces a lot of stress during the wedding planning and preparation process. My husband simply LOVES the Oriental.

 

[chuzzle]

Hi iLuvPurin, so have you decided on one alr? oriental and intercon are also in my shortlisted venues... i'm very inclined towards intercon becos of their stunning ballroom. As for the food, i recently attended a wedding there and it was very good. i heard its because its prepared by the chinese restaurant itself, unlike most hotels which come from the banquet kitchen. does oriental food come from their chinese restaurant too?

 

[pompompurin]

ivy > cheong summed it up for oriental. although the ballroom is not fab, they make up for it in terms of overall decor, very pretty as i have seen in actual setup. intercon, needless to say, ballroom is stunning. i heard better reviews on food from oriental as compared to intercon. oriental's food is prepared separately but it's fantastic, never once heard any complains. my service for both hotels, Oriental (Sandy) and intercon (Jane) are highly recommended!

I had a hard time deciding on venue until i went fullerton. it was a tough decision between intercon and fullerton cos we might have 38 tables and oriental cannot accommodate (max. 35). In the end, i took fullerton as it's more spacious and nice sweeping staircases, although i feel that intercon still has the best ballroom!

 

[poyo]

hi btbs, I'm having the same problem here...Oriental? Marriott or InterCon?....Have attended wedding for both Oriental and Marriott, good is GOOD! No idea for InterCon...

 

[jerlicious]

I prefers Interc or Oriental..

Been to Interc, bt tats like few yrs ago.. everytink is gd.. nw im nt too sure thou..

 

[butterie]

Hi iLuvPurin, i'm so glad you get the venue settled in the end... when i was reading your comments, it felt as though i was penning it...

It is EXACTLY the same dilemma i have... AS for resorty, Oriental for gd service, Intercon for great ballroom..

am still torn in betweens, anyone to help share some views?

 

[coriela]

Just want to share my experience with AS.

Amara Sanctuary really sucks in their service and coordinating issues. Tried to make appointment with them to have a site inspection on 23rd Oct and was given the appointment for 26th Oct. Called them on 26th Oct to confirm the appointment then was told, no one available to see us. Finally got a guy called JOEY to entertain us. However, when we were there, the conceige told JOEY that we are there to see him, he gave a sour say and told the conceige we are not there to see him...That was really bad attitude.

Eventually was served by JONI LIM. Experience there was not much better. She did not even bother to go through the package with us. Just shoved it into our hands and expect us to read ourselves. She was supposed to get back to us with a list of our queries like what dates are available but till today, still no response.

Hence, I rang up and guess what, she claim she cannot remember me and insist that we did not meet her last Monday cos she was on leave!!!! what a lie! What kinda attitude is that????????

If staff at AS can treat their potential clients so badly, then I will be worried to entrust them to do my wedding day. There is no way I can trust them to deliver what they promise me.

Looking through all the bad comments about AS, they certainly live up to their bad reputation with the experiences I had with them.

According to my friend who is also an event coordinator in another hotel, AS is known to have extremely bad service. They only like to serve those that are rich or famous. Hence, if we are neither, they will not regard us with good services.

 

[vocikit]

u should file an official complaint

 

[coriela]

how do i file an official complaint? and Guess what, rang Joni on 4 Nov 2009 (wed) and she says she will find my details and call me by the end of that day. Today is 6th Nov 2009 (Fri). 2 days had passed. And still no word from her.

If that is not bad service I don't know what is. Bad service is an understatement.

And yes, I will file a complain. to think they are on sentosa with such service, what a disgrace .

 

[vocikit]

write a nasty email to all the email addresses with amara sanctuary. express your surprise over such standards and threaten to write to straits times.

 

[coriela]

haha, i did write to amara singapore head office. let's see what they will come back with. I demand an explanation for this. wrote to them on Friday, so hope to have a reply today.

 

[drexter]

So many bad reviews? I'm going to sign tmr....

Anybody wanna share about the package they got from AS?

 

[hellogirl177]

Oh dear sounds bad. Laetitia, hope the head office had came back to you on a reasonable explanation.

I'm going for a site visit this Fri. Hope all will be fine. Anyway this is just one of my option. Lets see....

 

[drexter]

hellogirl, how was your site visit? Do share with us ya...

 

[hellogirl177]

Had my site visit. Hmmm i only like the resort-style environment. Ballroom was normal... bad thing is that there are two doors by the side, no center door (can't march-in straight).

The favours and invitation cards really very lousy. If i choose this place, i definitely need to personalise my own favour and card.

Menu is ok. I like the fact i can have a choice of individual platted meal (slightly more exp).

Their bridal suite is very small and cramp. However the villa looks nice.

I will look at other venues first before deciding whether to take up this.

 

[kurino]

Hi everyone, I just like to drop some comment regarding Amara Sanctuary Resort Sentosa.

We just had our wedding dinner + solemnization at Amara Sanctuary last Sunday, 17th Jan 2010. Our sale manager is Joni Lim & Banquet Manager is Jerry.

Actually before we sign up with Amara Sanctuary, we did meet up with 6 to 7 hotel & we eventually almost sign up with Intercon but decided to go back to Amara Sanctuary becos we don't really like Intercon's wedding planner sale attitude. I'm glad that we make the right choice in signing up with Amara Sanctuary.

Anyway, this are the reviews after my wedding dinner about Amara Sanctuary Resort Sentosa.

- Foods are great & wonderful comment from my guest. I only taste it during food tasting as on the actual day, I'm too busy entertain my guest & drunk after the wedding to taste/eat the foods... By the way, We did change a few dishes after the food tasting.

- Very nice resorty feel. Having our wedding there is like having our wedding oversea without require passport. Is a very different kind of wedding feeling & most important is we love their Glass Pavilion at first sight, which we had our solemnization there.

- Location might be in Sentosa. Accessibility is a problem as what we thought too, which I rented two 44-seater coach to ferry my guest out but in the end, only one coach is half full & the other is empty. As Amara Sanctuary has shuttle buses to and fro Harbourfront + there's valet parking service to ease all my guests parking headache. I believe the guest is all grown up, they will know how to get out of Sentosa which we need not have to worry for them.

- Wedding Planner (Joni Lim) is extremely great & very helpful. She been reminding us what we haven't do & what we should do.

- Banquet Manager (Jerry) & his teams gave us the best service that I ever experience. Jerry is very helpful & he's always there to assist us, guide us & advise us before & during our wedding dinner.

- Our Bridal suite is very nice & resort feel. is totally different compare to other hotel standard bridal suite.

- Lastly, the price is cheaper then Intercon & we had our wedding on Sunday (Weekend) instead of Monday if we sign up with Intercon.

I do agree that Amara Sanctuary has a normal ballroom with no wedding themes & no creative decor from the florist company. Which in the end we did our own backdrop with many help from our friends & suppliers.

Wedding favours/invitation cards might not be very attractive & special compared to other hotels but is still depend on each and indivdual couple what they need & want.

 

[babessg]

heya

im also considering amara besides hotel intercon but amara seem darker. not as classy. i found some photos here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=123459&id=140856633939#!/album.php?id=140856633939&aid=123459&s=40&hash=f790d742d76192f9f936ec9ac2d5bd59

as for oriental, the stage dont look as good.... like small and cramp?

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#!/album.php?aid=163463&id=140856633939

hmm.....

 

[rattie_nini]

Hi all~

I'm interested in intercon and oriental too! Can't make up my mind =(

But both consider quite high end as compared to others, not sure if its worthy? However i just went to Oriental's wedding show last week and i like it alots! Nice serving & decor! =)

 

[verityff]

Hi Colin,
can you share your ROM package at AS? I am keen for this place also.. thank you.

 

[yweiyi]

hi there here's soome recent wedding at amara

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150160214843940.288410.140856633939

if u are looking at interncontinental

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.323809998939.149315.140856633939

and this at oriental

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.383541438939.163463.140856633939

 

[kristine321]

Lol , the groom in the oriental pix is my friend.