we have high expectation of the banyan tree brand and have stayed in their hotels in Phuket and KL. however, the resort in Singapore, supposing HQ, was somewhat disappointing.
First the plus, the onsite staff is excellent and helpful. our rainforest room is big, nicely design, good layout and with excellent built quality.
Most disappointing are unresponsive reservation and buffet breakfast that doesn’t tally and below expectation of a with a 5 -star resort. Having booked our stay with our trusted hotels.com, some queries and requests for info sent to the hotel went unanswered and we have to waste time calling up the hotel. A few day before checking in, we were sent a long e-form through whatsapp for filling in. I must have stayed over a hundred hotels in the past 40 years but have not encountered this. While from the hotel’s point of view, it saves them time but as a customer buying service, this did not make sense - we paid for 5-star service and expect likewise. We stayed for 2-night, the breakfast is the worst of all equivalent grade hotel. While there is a wide variety and choice, the quality is poor and food lacks flavour. Examples, the bacon is paper thin and feel like eating a sheet of salt, laksa comes with 10% of oil on top, lemak curry chicken comes with thick sauce but taste like the curry powder is not fried like Japanese curry, porridge is lukewarm, etc. there is also a shortage of baby chairs.