Amara Sanctuary

wow oh dear... don't think they've even found the replacement for Irene yet and now Rayston is leaving?? sigh...

anyway i did my food tasting last week and must say it's quite good actually... saw the setup and the banquet team who were very friendly and offered their assistance readily... so i think actual day wise should be ok... just that the preparation time must brace yourself lah... haha...
 


hihi everyone,

I am also new this tread... I am also considering whether to sign up for AS for my AD. From all the comments above, it seems like the turnover rate in AS is very high... Is there anything wrong with the management in AS?
As my AD is still quite far away, I am not sure if to sign up with them.....Anyone has already held their AD in AS recently? Can share with us ur AD in AS? My HTB and I are attracted by the ballroom as well as the resort style hotel.

Thank you.
 
Hello!

Attended my aunt's wedding lunch at AS and here's my feedback.

If you are particular abt food, i tink this is not the place for you. My aunt had less than 10 tables but the food is really not up the mark. Most of my relatives, even my mum who is not too particular wif food, complained.

The appetizer (platter) was ordinary. Sharksfin gooey. Herbal chicken is veri fatty. Fish was not fresh. Even the fried rice was tasteless. Tink normal tze char tastes better.
sad.gif


However, the redeeming factor is the banquet staff. Two thumbs up for their attentive service!
happy.gif
 
hi, anyone hired buses to shuttle from harbourfront mrt to amara?? are 2 buses required, or just 1 will do?? advice and recommendations please?? this will be on top of the hotel shuttle bus...
 
Thanks tmtgirl & charz for the information. I have managed to get a copy of the registration form.

This tread has been very silent lately. No wedding banquet held in AS lately? Anything to share here?

I have emailed an executive coordinator and he has provided me with all the information on the wedding banquet. Just to check how is the process flow like in AS?
An exective coordinator is the one who is taking care of all the matter for the wedding? Or you will being transferred to a wedding planner or catering manager to take care of these?

Any improvement to AS service lately? Anyone has any info on the upcoming wedding show? I meant the perks? Can share?
 
Hi princess

attended a wedding there last nite. Food is fine...no complaints about it. =) IN fact two fo the dishes are rather tasty... the cod fish in bonito sauce n scallops n asparagus. =)

Nice ambience. think the only thing not really up to standard is the service... the waiter goes MIA at times... cos sometimes we see other waiter serving other tables but our waiter not serving..then after we help ourselves to food already, he'll appear...but still it's not too bad.
 
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.
 
Dinner Banquet Package to let go!

Due to unforeseen circumstances,Me & my fiance have to let go of our dinner banquet package on 10 Jan 10 (Sunday). email me if you're seriously interested. Thanks!
 
Hi all AS btbs, I feel the need to drop a note here just so that all of you are more reassured.

My now husband and I picked AS as the venue to host our banquet because we didn't have a choice, most hotels were taken for the date that we had planned for and AS was one of the two ballrooms that was pillarless.

I had my fair share of unhappiness at planning stage and was at the verge of choosing another hotel with better service, but I couldn't get over the fact that the ballroom has two pillars which I absolutely hated, so, we went ahead with Amara Sanctuary.

When I was about to ink the contract, I was honestly wondering if it was the right thing to do, but I signed the contract anyway. From then on, everything went rather well. It was Amara that eventually asked me to confirm details like food tasting, car passes etc. Things that I knew needed to be taken care of, but I had no time to attend to.

I asked for a theme that was off the usual AS theme of red roses and the florists were happy to obliged. On the actual day, my guests were pleasantly surprised by the decor and they were all raving about the nice ambience.

Food wise, I could not ask for more. The chinese menu differed from normal hotels' dinner and their cod was absolutely fabulous. My husband and I only wish we can be invited to Amara Sanctuary for a wedding so we can have the cod again. My guests loved the cod and the prawns.

Finally, the service. Joey took over our portfolio eventually and his service was impeccable. He went over and above his call of duty to attend to my band who called in on him one Wednesday afternoon. My band was so happy with his service they reassured me that all was going to be well. On the actual day, he was always at hand.

The banquet manager, Jerry, deserves a post of his own. I have never met such a professional and dedicated banquet manager in my life and we left AS feeling like we had another family at AS.

All in all, mine was an experience which was bad to good and for all the grievances that we suffered in our planning stage, AS more than made up for it by giving us our perfect wedding. We would have made it to the wedding show to share our experiences if we weren't on honeymoon =P

Wishing all btbs all the best in their wedding planning and if you need more invitation cards, I have more and am willing to let them go at a nominal sum =P
 
Hi Belle, I am glad your experience with them turned from bad to better and left your with a wonderful wedding.

I love AS's embiene and ballroom too. No doubt about that. The glass pavilion was also nice. However, despite the venue being nice and perfect for a dream wedding, it is also important for BTB to feel that they can entrust the manager to do a good job for their most important day. Weddings is us bride's most important day. We all want that dream wedding instead of being treated like we are not wanted or important, not to mention the additional stress if the service is not good.

I had been to AS and met up with JONI LIM. But I am less than impressed. Even JOEY's attitude sucks at that. I was clearly informed that JOEY will be meeting me, but then when he was informed that we had arrived to see him, he gave a face to the concierge, a face to imply 'who are these disgusting ppl, they are not my client' look. we just felt unwelcome and disgusted by his actions. even if our appointment is not with him, he could have kindly be more welcoming than that.

A couple was there, checking out from their wedding when we were there. JOEY just simply ignored us. Cheers JOEY. Hands down for bad service.


I had written to Amara Singapore Head Office to demand an explanation for this. This is totally unacceptable.
 
Hi Laetitia,
I'm sorry to hear about your experience with AS, but I would like to let you know that I actually faced the same situation as you when I first enquired.

Perhaps I can share a few tips with you.

1. Drop in to check out the ballroom unannounced. I have done this a few times and the security guard and banquet staff are more than happy to help. Truth is, their banquet staff are very proud of what they do and they like to showcase it. On one occasion when I was there, the AV guy even showed me his creation specially for a couple for the first dish presentation using their lights. I guess he put efforts into creating it and is always grateful for an appreciative audience =)

2. Do your food tasting early. The earlier you do it, the earlier you meet your banquet manager and he can then take over the nitty gritty details from the sales staff. Trust me, you will have a much easier time after that cos the banquet manager will take care of your every need.

As for your current situation with them. They do have a knack for making btbs feel insecure. You will always be wondering if they can deliver your wedding if their present service is already so bad. Truth is, when it comes to the dinner proper, the banquet manger takes over the execution, so, my advice is, don't waste your precious time dealing with the sales people cos the more time you spend with them, the less time you have for other things and trust me, there are many other things that require your attention. BTW, AS has very good vendors, in fact, speaking with their appointed florist makes me feel assured.

I hope things turn out better for you =)
 
Hi Laetitia

I thought I should also share my experience with you. Few months ago, my husband-to-be and I started looking around for our ideal banquet venue. Nothing caught my eyes until I step foot into Amara Sanctuary. It was love at first sight.

On the day of the site visit, I have arranged to meet up with Rayston (who has recently left). However, when we got there, we were greeted by Mathew because Rayston was unfortunately ill. I guess, this is what I would call “a blessing in disguiseâ€. Mathew greeted us with all smiles at the lobby, explained to us why Rayston couldn’t take us around for the site visit. He started with a short overview of the hotel and told us that he will show us around the premise. At this point, he apologize that it will be a long and hot walk due to the morning sun and ask us to please bear with him. Well actually we were more than glad that we’ll be able to take a tour! We started from the beautiful ballroom (I love the pillarless ballroom with the high ceiling) and proceeded to the main block to view the helpers’ room and the infinity pool. While walking towards the lift lobby of the main block, we passed by Than Ying and he even took effort to tell us about the highly-rated restaurant. Throughout the process, Mathew was enthusiastic in sharing details and information of the premise. After that, he took us to the glass house and then proceeded on to view the 2 bridal suites – the Veranda and the Courtyard Suite. I must say, this is really helpful in making my decision on the bridal suite! Mathew did not hesitate when we asked if we could view the one-bedroom villa. It is beautiful! He shared with us that a couple has actually used the platform beside the villa’s pool for their tea ceremony. Something unique! We walked on, saw the main swimming pool and BBQ area. Then he took us into SiBon (the fine dining Japanese restaurant) and shared with us that the restaurant used to be an old chapel.
happy.gif
Our journey ended at Shutters restaurant (Mathew’s shirt was soaking in sweat by then!) which he politely asked if we would like to have anything to eat or drink while he explains to us on the package. He even took out all the different colour table cloths, wedding favours and wedding cards. At this point, I was really happy thinking that I’ll be having Mathew as my coordinator only to learn that he does not handle weddings!! He is in fact Amara Sanctuary’s Corporate sales manager! Too bad for us!

It is definitely Mathew’s hospitality that affirms my decision on Amara Sanctuary, I knew no other venue that could change my mind.
Mathew is indeed an asset to Amara Sanctuary. Rayston on the other hand did not follow up with a call as promised. Instead, I had to contact him.

Nevertheless, I’ve signed up with the hotel (after Rayston left) and despite all the negative feedbacks, I’m reminding myself to keep an open mind. Afterall, there’s still a year before my wedding, I hope Amara Sanctuary would train/recruit more staff like Mathew.
 
They can only waived 12 bottles of external wine!!! Corkage $25++
A=number of tables
Total wine: A+12
They are selling their wine at $30++.
Dun think it's enuff for my guests. Damn it!
 
Hi,

Just had my wedding on 26 Nov 09 with Amara Sanctuary. Just to share my feedback:

Banquet team: they were really excellent, especially Jerry. we had quite a number of details and he was really patient to go through it with my hubby step by step. i agree with Belle, meet the Banquet manager earlier, so you can liaise with them directly. they are definitely a very competent team to have on your Wedding day.

Food: excellent, many of my guests commented that it was the best food that they have ever tasted in a Wedding. the first course presentation was also a really good job and was really beautiful (see picture)

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3086716&id=593918354

Ambience: i liaised with xiangting from sing see soon, and met up with her twice to go through the flowers and decor. she knew i wanted a more orange and peach/ champagne type of colour theme and showed various flowers that fit the theme. plus the brown linens for the guest tables really went well with the ballroom and flowers. there was also plenty of space for my guests as we only had 30 tables.

Wedding Suite: we got the one bedroom villa and it was fantastic having my xiong dis and jie meis come over in the afternoon and just chill in the villa pool (hehe, we managed to get a bit of sun before the wedding dinner)

Wedding planning stage: this is the only part which wasn't on the day itself. when we first signed up, we had irene, and when she left, she informed us about it. next we were handed over to rayston, who wasn't very prompt, and his colleagues always had to help cover for him. fortunately there was always joey around to make decisions. finally when he left, we weren't even informed about it and only got to know it through this forum. we were then handed over to samuel. samuel was more responsive. the details informed to him, he made sure that the relevant parties are aware of the arrangements. however would be better if he had been more pro-active; during our finalisation meeting, it was more like tell me what you need and i do, rather than he having a checklist of items that he needed to go through with us. maybe he thought i was familiar with wedding banquet so he just listened to what we had. but generally, we enjoyed having him as our wedding coordinator.

another point, we had our own invitation cards made and chose our own wedding favours (not from their selection). the hotel property itself looks very classy, and i loved the whole reception and ballroom look, but really felt that their cards and favours really need to be improved otherwise gives a really "cheap" feeling... especially since their cards look like printed on recycled paper, and favours are very outdated... if you are willing to get your own like we did then this would not be a problem...

in short, rest assured that your Wedding day itself will turn out wonderful... just that for the interim planning process need to brace yourself a bit more... good also if you are the hands-on type and prefer to do things personally as well...
 
Hi Faithz17,

Would you mind sending me your AS package details and the perks tt they gave u? I really luv the ambience @ AS and im thkg of holding the wedding there. I'm suppose to meet the coordinator Samuel last friday but was being reschedule to anthhr day due to him not feeling well...I was rather disappted wif the last min cancellation. May I know who is ur coordinator and what are the stuff tt i shld keep a look out for? Please advise. my mail: [email protected]

Thanks
 
hi, eh our package was a bit different cos we wanted some things and didn't want some things, and the package has changed substantially since then... cos i think they didn't update the package so was still using the 2008 package, whereas we also saw their 2009 package, main difference being 2009 package had better fish (red garoupa instead of sea bass, which they quoted need to top up around $50-$60 per tbl)... so quite different... best to work based on what you need and what you don't need and discuss with them your requirements...

yes the ambience at AS is really nice... the ballroom was what hubby and i loved about the place, especially the reception area very spacious...
happy.gif


samuel was our final coordinator (the rest have left)... don't think he would have rescheduled unuless he was really quite sick, so do give him another chance, we are all human after all... he's quite a nice guy...
happy.gif
 
Hi Faithz17,

Thanks for your prompt reply. I feel much at ease now..Hopefully, myself & hubby will have a great working experience with Samuel.thanks again.=)
 
Hey, just to check. I'm invited to a wedding at Amara Sancutary ballroom this month. Any idea how much it cost per pax, on a Saturday night???? Need to bao angpao but dun noe the market rate....
 
Would say $130 if you want to cover their cost..

Just thought I'll share some pics of my xmas dinner over at Shutter Restaurant.. The bonito cod fish was absolutely delicious! This is my 3rd visit to Amara Sanctuary and I still walked out happy with their service and hospitality. =)

One thing i must highlight is that even though we were seated privately, our ice water was always refilled without having to ask.

http://picasaweb.google.com/thegateau/DinnerAmaraSanctuary?authkey=Gv1sRgCMuribOQ96elYQ#
 
tmtgirl: So true!! the cod is very nice...and quite a big portion.

Me and my partner had a night stay at amara in Dec'09. Where we chose the courtyard suite. Our package comes with a in-room dining. Actually they didn't handle the whole arrangement quite well and made us walk to the lobby 2 times to clarify how was the in-dining served.

The food came late but lucky the food was nice which patch up for all the inconvience we have earlier.

------------------------------------

My partner and I love the place and would like to have our banquet held there. Reading thru the comments here are making us half hearted.

But still i think ultimately we will settle for amara if both side of our parents are agreeable too.

Their weekend package needs a min of 35 tables, are they flexible if we don't meet the mark of 35 tables?
 
anastasiazen: I'm not quite sure if they are flexible in the number of tables.. Hey my advice is don't judge until you've experienced it yourself.. There's always a black sheep in the family but you might not be the unlucky one. Look for Samuel, he's nice.. =)
 
Hi anastasiazen,

I have a banquet at Amara Sanctuary to let go at a good discount within the next 6 months. If you're planning it later, I will negotiate with the hotel too.

And yes, its truly a beautiful venue for a wedding banquet, and Samuel is most helpful.

Am sincere about this and hope you could drop me an email at [email protected].

Thanks!
 
Hi Daniel,

Thank you very much for the good offer.

However, we have yet to settle the venue with our parents so we can't confirm it.

Thanks anyway.
happy.gif
 
Hi all, I feel that I also need to drop some comment regarding Amara Sanctuary Resort Sentosa so that some of you that already sign up their package, will rest assured their service.

For your info, 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.

My wife picked Amara Sanctuary when we started searching for hotel becos of their Glass Pavilion. But due to accessibility into Sentosa, we decided to go for others hotel in Singapore.

We did meet up with 6 to 7 hotel & we almost sign up with one of the 5 star Hotel but decided to go back to Amara Sanctuary becos we don't really like that Hotel's wedding planner's attitude. I'm glad that we make the right choice in signing up with Amara Sanctuary.

Amara Sanctuary do give us a nice resorty feel. We do understand that is quite troublesome for our guests, especially for those elderly to travel to Sentosa. But this is a very different kind of wedding feeling we want & most important is we love their Glass Pavilion which we held our solemnization there on the same day.

Eventually, we first signed up with Rayston, who was young, inexperience & not very prompt but we still feel confident with him till he left Amara Sanctuary without even informing us. I do feel disappointedat first until Joni Lim contact us.

We glad that Rayston left & we appreciate that Joni Lim takes over as our wedding planner. She is more responsable & experience, she really help us a lot & always there to calm us down. It was her that keep remind us to confirm details like food tasting, favor, car passes, table arrangement, rehearsal etc. We do know there are lots of things that we needed to be taken care of, but due to our work committment & getting our new home ready for our wedding as well, we hardly had time to attend all of it, until 3 days before our actual day, we then able to finalise the table arrangement & what favour we want. Anyway, Joni is always there patiently waiting for all our confirmation even we have minor changes of the foods on the Actual day.

The Banquet Manager (Jerry) & his teams gave us the best service. I have never met such a professional and dedicated banquet manager too. He is very helpful & is always there to assist us, guide us & advise us before & during our wedding dinner. He even advise our 2nd march-in & coordinate my coaches. The day we check out the Hotel, he is there to send us off too... Both of us is really touched by his action.

Foods are wonderful, many good comments from our guests, especially thumb up for the fish & prawn. Too bad, I'm too drunk after the whole event to taste/eat the foods... How I wish I can be invited back to Amara Sanctuary again for a wedding dinner.

Location might be in Sentosa. Accessibility is the biggest problem as what we thought, which I think I worry too much. I even 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, plus there's valet parking service to ease all my guests parking headache.

Lucky we have 2 nights stay at the courtyard suite, no rush to count ang bao money. The room is very nice & resort feel. Is totally different compare to other hotel's bridal suite. Is so romantic & so privacy.

I do agree that Amara Sanctuary wedding favours/invitation cards might not be very attractive or special compared to some other hotels, but to be frank, we do glad that the Hotel do provide both wedding favours & invitation cards, which we realise that some hotel don't even provide any. Amara Sanctuary also do not have any wedding themes nor any creative decor backdrop which they only depend on the florist company. Eventually, we did our own backdrop with the help from our friends & own suppliers.

Anyway, rest assured that your Wedding day itself will turn out wonderful... Just enjoy the whole progress! You will sure miss it when it's over... Remember that you can't satisfied or pleased every of your guests, most important is both of you must know what you want & what you like as this is YOUR wedding...
 
Hi Colin,

It's very comforting to hear such good feedback like urs.

As me and my partner is contemplating very hard whether to choose Amara, coz the feeling was love at first sight.

And the logistics part is also a big headache on our mind.

Is there any pictures to share of how your wedding looks like?

And by the way congrats on your wedding!!
 
Hi Anastasiazen,

Thanks for your wishes & I do hope both of you will like Amara Sanctuary service as well.

Logistics is really a big headache, especially when the Hotel carpark is not very big too. Anyway, Resort world is opening soon, transportation into Sentosa is so much easier. As long both of you love the hotel that is more important. I believe that your guests that will be attending your wedding will be understanding & reasonable. Like most of my friends that advise me, you can't please everyone that will be attending our wedding. So just concentrate on who you will be inviting, that is the most important thing as this is the most headache part & messy.

By the way, we did our own wedding backdrop instead of what "The Red Petal" is providing. So kindly give me your email address & I will forward you the photos for reference.

Happy planning...
 
Hi Colin,

we went for 2 site visits(last sunday and yesterday) to show our parents the place. Though it was impromtu. The staff was very attentive and helpful to show us the suites, room and villa.

Goin down this evening to clarify some issues before deciding.

My email add is [email protected]

Thanks so much!!!

***********************************

Hi Drexter,

Congrats for ur upcoming wedding! All set and ready?

How you rate AS's service so far? Who's following up with you? =)
 
Hi All

I had a great wedding banquet (lunch) on the 6 Dec 09. Everything went smoothly and all my guests love the foods, 'Deep fried fish, Garlic rice and mango pudding' are amongst the guests favourite. The guests even commented we had a posh wedding,i think is becos of the spacious pillarless ballroom and the roses decoration and colour lightings that brought up the ambience.

Oh boy, i really miss the mango pudding, i think one day i must heard back AS to grab a few bowls. heehee

Every guests even 'ka por' the fresh roses from their own tables and brought home with them..haha..The roses are beautiful and in huge petals..

I shall said that AS really did a good job on their services and on that day as a bride, i was more worried on the food standards. Surprising all my guests had good compliments on the food and venue.

We as a wedding couple really did enjoy ourselves during the banquet and in the good hands of AS staff, banquet manager, ops manager,waiter & waiteress and not forgetting our hardworking coordinator aka sales manager, Samuel who took so much effort to liaise with us, when he just took over our profile from the previously resigned manager.

Kudos to AS! Please continue to provide us with good services and good food.
happy.gif
 
Hi all,

just an update. Me and my partner have made our choice for AS at the BOWS 2010 wedding show today!

Hope everything goes on smoothly for us!
 


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