Glamping Society — Hotel in Singapore

Booked a glamping activity via KLOOK "Glamping@Bukit Timah Horsecity" in mid December for my family.

The reasons for the 1 star:

1. Poor comms Vendor only contacted me at 10pm the night before (instruction on voucher only said to call when arrived, so I assumed there was an on-site vendor), and even then it was to ask if I wanted any add-ons like BBQ package, extra decorations. No info given on arrival time, where to go etc. Only when ask, then will get answers. BBQ package need to book one day in advance but you only gave us the info the night before?

2. Dirty tent + surroundings The glamping area itself is just a narrow space between the buildings and the open field.The tents were also placed close together, such that you can hear your neighbours' conversations. They are also right next to where the garbage truck does their pick ups (we arrived early enough to see this). There were about 6 tents set-up and they were all set-up slightly differently (mainly the "glam picnic table, BBQ pit and canopy").

The tentage itself, it's seen better days, could do with a scrub. More importantly, it kept us safe, dry and cool. But we also found litter in and around our tent: used tissues, food wrappers, masks, lots of charcoal and BBQ wire meshes. I could not bring myself to inspect the inflatable mattress, sheets, pillows or blankets. When we got home, we gave ourselves a good scrub. Vendor asked if I wanted a Happy Birthday banner (it's "free"), I said no. But our tent had 2 different, sad looking birthday decorations, complete with deflated balloons. This clearly shows how much effort they really put into cleaning and setting up your space, especially if you never top up anything extra.

3. Inaccurate description and omitting inclusions In the listing, they promoted a discounted stable tour, and other activities like archery and bouldering , at your own cost. However, all these have to be booked in advance, and nothing like that was mentioned in the listing. On top of it all, the vendor pointedly blamed the stables for cancelling their bookings.

Listing also said that each tent comes with a BBQ pit (we didn't have one, and it was a good thing that we did not go out to buy our own food to BBQ) and toilet paper (ours was a soggy roll sitting on the fence).

At the time of booking, my voucher stated that parking was included, but on the day of the activity, the vendor said that it was "not included" and she "did not write it in her listing" and that "KLOOK anyhow write things". So now, it's KLOOK's fault. I submitted a request for a refund for parking ($22) to KLOOK, but at the time of writing, all I have gotten is a "sorry for the inconvenience".

Overall, while I would say that it was an interesting family experience, we were let down by the poor management. The venue made up for it somewhat, but you need not glamp here to experience Horsecity, the place is...

The idea of “glamping “is interesting, that’s why my bro gave it a go and booked this year end staycation for the fam.

The place was packed as it was the last day of the year and guess many had the same idea to celebrate the countdown to 2023 here with friends or family.

040123: In response to the vendor’s reply, have to say that we were equally shocked how the staff on site could scoff at us and tell us to go ahead and complain… but that was exactly what he said. Nothing to insinuate about it. Unless the gentleman in the staff office is not a staff member as he was clearly the one who went about to fix the power issue and mattress.

We read some of the bad reviews on Google Maps just before heading over (maybe should have done it before booking) so expectations were lowered considerably.

When we reached, the whole outlook of the place looked pretty run down (just had a staycation at D’Resort chalet a week ago and it was such a contrast).

When we saw the tent, it looked quite ok but we started checking if it was mouldy or had bedbugs like what some reviews said. Fortunately nothing of the sort but the light inside the tent fell apart the moment we tried to turn it on.

One of the mattresses then became deflated the moment one of us sat on it. Had to call in the staff to inflate it again but the same thing happened later.

It was nice to have the electrical point and air cooler in the tent but ours failed a couple of times due to power trips though we didn’t plug in any additional devices. Had to get the staff to reset it every now and then.

The BBQ equipment and food was alright. Solar lights may need to be replaced as they were obviously old and didn’t work very well.

In the end, we decided not to stay the night due to the power trips and deflated mattress. There was overcrowding as well as some tents had more than 20 people. Also, a lack of bins around the entire place contributed to trash around the area with some inconsiderate campers.

When my bro informed the mgmt that we were checking out early due to the above, the person in charge simply laughed and told him to go ahead and complain…

I think if you don’t come with much expectation, this may still be an alright trip. If it’s an all-guys or friends’ outing, I think it can be fun but not recommended if you are out with family with kids...

My family and I had a wonderful Glamping experience at the private Glamping site of Heritage Chalet at Pasir Ris Park.

We were celebrating our daughter’s birthday and she was delighted with the beautiful lace curtains and flowers that the staff put up at the rainproof canopy. She was also delighted with the Happy Birthday decorations that they put around the tent.

We bought the birthday package - includes a beautiful birthday cake, a oven hot pizza, a champagne juice! My daughter feels so grown up with the champagne juice ( non alcoholic) poured into the wine glasses!

We also had a BBQ in the outdoors, under the stars, and it is a beautiful and memorable experience!

We walked to the beach , about 2 minutes walk away and saw the beautiful sunrise in the morning!

We also had prawning and caught quite a few prawns! Ending our Glamping experience on a high note.

I spoke to the owner and asked why there were a few negative reviews, she said that there were glampers who tried to bully her into giving refunds after they had experienced Glamping for a few hours, or even stayed overnight, but tried to kick a fuss to get a refund. She did not want to give in to their threats, and felt that she must stand by the company‘s policy of no refund once guests have checked in. Guests can reach out to the on site staff if there are issues. But if guests do not reach out to on-site staff and try to get refund over “issues” , it will be refused.

She is a plucky lady, and who is very kind and hospitable. I believe her story, because if you visit the physical Glamping site, none of the negative comments are true.

I wish her best luck! And for myself and family, we will be coming to Glamp again, as we love the unique experience of sleeping outdoors and doing the outdoorsy...