GeorgeP

We are a family of 5 (three teenagers) and we will be staying for 4 days in Singapore.
We want to spend 1 day in Sentosa, but at least 2 visits to the main island.
If I understand well, the 4 star hotels in main island have very small rooms and are not that good.
I was thinking to book a hotel in Sentosa, but I would like to know, if it is expensive and time consuming to travel to Singapore.
What can you suggest.
Thank you for your time.

DidgeryDub

Hi George,

No its easy. You can drive in a taxi between Sentosa and Singapore, or take the train.

I've been to Singapore many times but only visited Sentosa once. Universal studios is worth a look for teenagers and adults, but its really pretty small compared to other theme parks such as you might find in the US. In my opinion there is not a huge amount to do on Sentosa, but your teens would possibly disagree.

I would be surprised if hotels on Sentosa are better value, especially at weekends, but Singapore is an expensive place.

Enjoy!

GeorgeP

Thanks a lot for the answer.
I think we will stay on the Main island and visit sentosa on one full day, since the universal studios are small. The water park looks also good. Have you ever visited the water park?
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DidgeryDub

Sadly not.

invisible

As a former resident of Singapore for >10 years, couple of points:

I would not recommend staying in Sentosa if plan to visit it just for Universal studios/etc. Please consider that food/etc is more expensive in Sentosa (sometimes 2x/3x) and probably not as good as in mainland.

You can reach Sentosa by taxi, train, bus, or monorail (from Vivocity). I don't know what is the current situation, but there was a surcharge of taxi entrance/departures to/from Sentosa, which was abolished in Covid times but might be reintroduced again.

Walking from Vivocity to Sentosa via boardwalk over the waterfront is very nice - recommend doing it at least once during daytime and evening time to see lights/illumination.

P.S. Have not been at Universal Studios or any other tourist places in Sentosa where you need to pay fee to get in.

kevino

As a family of five, you will need two hotel rooms. I don't think hotel rooms are small in Singapore, but hotels can be very expensive there.

Walking from Vivocity to Sentosa is a very nice suggestion and a lot cheaper than the tram. It's possible to spend many hours walking around Sentosa and just spend on the attractions you want, or not spend anything and go to places like Fort Siloso.

invisible

With five adults (let's treat teens as adults for bed sizes) you need two rooms. IBIS has a room with three single beds where teens could stay and you can have another room.

Or you might have better chances and cheaper options to look for 1-2br serviced apartments if they are bookable. But still expect that it will be expensive considering in light what is the current hotel situation in Singapore.

P.S. If you all will be traveling together within the city, expect that ordinary taxis won't allow you to squeeze all together in one car - they allow only 4 pax. You will need a larger taxi and rates for them are 2x-3x of ordinary taxi prices. Instead, download the Grab and Gojek apps, and in the app select larger cars when booking. Again due to availability expect that you might wait 15-30 min until your car is going to arrive/available.

The alternative is to use MRT/buses instead and you can reach any point using public transportation - the Citymapper app will allow you to plot the whole route from A to B - just enter addresses.
You can pay for bus/MRT with any VISA/MasterCard which has RFC/contactless-enabled, but note, that you will need a separate card for each passenger. Or you can buy NETS FlashPay transport cards either at MRT stations or at any 7-11/convenience store.

TravelLawyer

You'll probably need 2 rooms for 5 people. It's not an issue getting rooms big enough for a family of 4 people, but most hotels cap it at 4 people max per room.