With modern bungalows nestled in beautiful surroundings, East Villa at HomeTeamNS Bedok Reservoir makes for a memorable staycation in Singapore.
When we go for staycations in Singapore, our choices are typically hotels and resorts in Sentosa or the Orchard area. But this June school holiday my family and I went to a unique staycation venue - East Villa at HomeTeamNS Bedok Reservoir.
Set on a hill slope, East Villa comprises ten exclusive bungalows located within forested vegetation and close to Bedok Reservoir. Within the quaint compound, it's easy to forget you're actually right next to the HomeTeamNS Bedok Reservoir's clubhouse.
East Villa is relatively new having just launched last year. (I remember seeing photos of the villas which looked really grand and luxurious!) Bookings were then only available for HomeTeamNS members but bookings have recently opened to the public. Woohoo!
Post-staycay, I can say the villa we stayed at definitely lived up to expectations. In fact, the staycation exceeded my expectations given the fun we also had at the clubhouse. So, read on about our 2D1N stay and our review at East Villa at Bedok Reservoir😊
East Villa
After checking in at the East Villa concierge at 3pm, we headed to our villa - Premium Reservoir 1. This is one of the three villas facing Bedok Reservoir with the Premium Reservoir being the largest of the villas. Here's a layout of the compound.
And we're there!
We were all going "Wah!" "So nice!" when we arrived at our villa 😄 Though I had seen photos of East Villa previously, there's still that feeling of amazement when you see the stylish and modern bungalow in person.
When we entered the villa, the first thing that struck us was the spacious living room and those grand floor-to-ceiling windows!
The villa has three storeys with the living room, kitchen, patio, toilet and a bedroom with two single beds on the first floor. On the second floor is two bedrooms and a toilet, with a rooftop terrace on the highest level. OK, let's continue our villa tour!
First off, the kitchen is an open kitchen without walls separating it from the rest of the common areas on the ground floor. Here's a view of the kitchen from the living room. You can also see the window of of the bedrooms on the second floor.
The kitchen is equipped with induction hob and hood, water dispenser (yay! No need to boil water!), cutlery, plates, cooking pots, dishwashing liquid and sponge, and complimentary beverages like coffee, tea and milo.
Next up is a bedroom with two single beds on the ground floor, which I thought is a nice touch for those who might find stairs inconvenient like elderly folks and those who require wheelchairs. Took a video but forgot about about pics, so here's a video instead.
There is a toilet downstairs equipped with 2-in-1 shower gel and shampoo, and
hand soap. There are also a total of six towels provided in the villa.
The living room and bedroom connects to a spacious and sheltered patio. It comes with a dining table & chairs and a BBQ countertop using electric grill (no charcoal required!). So you can bring your own food and have a BBQ party here!
It looks out to Bedok Reservoir and the clubhouse pool, so you can dine to a view.
Let's head upstairs!
But first, a view of the living room from the stairs.
Here's the second bedroom that comes with a queen-sized bed with a view of the reservoir and...
a view the of living room below. So cool!
The third and last bedroom is the largest, with a king-sized bed and large windows that look out to the reservoir and clubhouse pool.
There is also a toilet upstairs that has the same design and amenities as the one downstairs. Having two toilets really helps with convenience whether we are on vacation or staycation.
From inside the house, you can access the rooftop terrace, which is also accessible from outside the villa from the ground floor.
There is a small table and two chairs which is great for chilling at night when it's not so hot. Again, check out the beautiful view of the reservoir...
the clubhouse and pool...
and part of the East Villa compound!
If you're wondering what's there to do at East Villa, there is a Pandora game console with lots of old school games in it. Here's Hubs having a go at it.
There are also smart TVs in the living room and all bedrooms with streaming apps. So you just need to sign in with your subscription. There is free WIFI of course!
You can also rent mahjong sets, board games, card games, extra tables and chairs from the concierge.
I think given the space and how grand the villa is, it's great for parties and gatherings. It's huge for just the four of us but when passing by the other villas, we saw some that had many pairs of shoes outside. We could also see our neighbour (who weren't bothered with closing the curtains) playing mahjong till late at night😁
While it's great for parties and gatherings, the surroundings weren't noisy at all, I think largely because the villas are bungalows, so the noise is all well contained within the villa.
Given the bed configurations, you can sleep 6 comfortably in the villa. East Villa states that the capacity for each villa is 40 pax but do note that the night occupancy limit for the villa is 6-8 pax, as per the FAQ of East Villa. The capacity is really great for families who have older kids as many hotels define those above 12 years old as adults and room capacity typically cannot exceed 2 adults and 2 or 1 child. So for families with teenagers or more than two kids, East Villa is a great choice as you don't have to book two hotel rooms, which can be really costly.
Clubhouse activities
After unpacking, it was time to head to the HomeTeamNS Bedok Reservoir clubhouse for a swim! The clubhouse is right next to East Villa, so you can just walk over. Your stay at East Villa comes with 10 entry passes to the swimming pool and 4 access passes to Fitness Workz Garage Gym at the clubhouse.
We had wanted to go to gym but because it looked like it was going to rain, so we hurried to the pool instead just to make sure we don't miss out on using the huge and beautiful clubhouse pool.
It is an infinity pool looking out to Bedok Reservoir.
There is also a baby pool great for the little ones.
Other than the pool and gym, the clubhouse also houses Aqua Adventure, an indoor water park. This is something you can consider too at your own cost during your stay. We went there late last year and it was really fun - a good option to take the kids for a splashing good time whether it's raining or really hot outdoors! See our review here.
After our swim, it was time to grab dinner. There are a number of dining choices at HomeTeamNS Bedok Reservoir, including Burger King, Fun Toast, Sum Dim Sum (a Chinese cuisine and dim sum restaurant - we tried and it was pretty good!), halal eatery Sri Bistari and restaurant/pub Georges @ The Waterfront. We decided to dabao back to our villa so we could enjoy our villa a bit more before our check out tomorrow.
There is lots of space in the villa for a dinner party. But here are my girls dining to the TV 😁
We spent the rest of our night leisurely, streaming shows and reading while enjoying the night views of the reservoir from our villa.
I really enjoy the quietness at the villa and its vicinity at night, where we can just chill and not rush from one attraction to another.
Sleep was really comfy as there were enough beds, pillows and duvets for all of us. This is something I'm quite particular about when we go for staycations or vacations, that there is enough beds for all! A bad night of sleep ruins my energy for play the next day😄
Oh if you're wondering about security at night, there is a gantry at East Villa's entrance, so people can't just drive into the small parking area before East Villa's entrance (parking lot at East Villa is only for loading/unloading, you need to park your car at the clubhouse's car park). After the gantry, there's a gate to the East Villa compound which you can only enter using your HomeTeamNS app or room key cards.
We woke up to this lovely view the next morning.
Check-out is at 10am, a little earlier than typical check-out timings but I kind of understand too as housekeepers have their work cut out for them given how large the villa is and they need to get it ready for the next guest checking in 😅
Anyway, before we checked out, we went for a little walk around the compound. It's not huge but I really enjoyed seeing the beautiful flowers and tall trees in the compound.
Certain shots look rather rustic, eh? 😄
Look at these beautiful trees.
I would say the three villas facing the reservoir have the best views...
though the other villas in the compound are still surrounded by trees and flora, still feels very exclusive!
The villas with the best views and most privacy are the Premier Reservoir villas but they cost more than those without the reservoir views. Rates for East Villa range from S$407.48-$886.26 per night, as at time of writing. The rates depend on whether you're HomeTeam NS/affiliate members, the villa you're booking and when you're booking (weekdays are cheaper than weekends). HomeTeamNS members get the best rates, followed by affiliate members (SAFRA/JOM/Social/PAssion), then the public who are non-members.
But do note that currently, only HomeTeamNS members can book East Villa during peak periods which is Friday-Sunday, eve of public holidays, public holidays and school holidays. Affiliate members and the general public can only book during off peak period which is Monday-Thursday.
See the detailed rate breakdown at HomeTeamNS' website. Booking can be done via HomeTeamNS Mobile App. More deets here.
After we bid our beautiful villa farewell (boohoo!), we headed off for brunch at Fun Toast at the clubhouse. For every night's stay, you get a voucher to redeem 2 breakfast sets. We redeemed ours at Fun Toast.
I took a stroll and enjoyed the view of Bedok Reservoir. Here's a view of the clubhouse and villas facing the reservoir.
The fun's not over yet because we were headed to Action Motion next! This is another attraction at HomeTeamNS Bedok Reservoir. We had so much fun there it called for a separate post. See our review of Action Motion!
During your stay, you get 2 complimentary tickets to Action Motion for every night's stay during peak period and this is an attraction you don't want to miss!
At the writing, there is a promotion whereby you get 6 (!) complimentary passes to Action Motion with every 2D1N stay during off-peak period at East Villa from July-October 2024. Good deal there!
Also, each villa booking gives you 2 complimentary overnight parking passes at the clubhouse.
All in all, this was a really unique and enjoyable staycation, not just because of the beautiful villa but also for the fun attractions and facilities at the clubhouse. I highly recommend East Villa for family staycations and for holding parties and gatherings 😊
Here's a video with the highlights of our stay at East Villa:
Do hop over to my IGS highlights at my Instagram account, vivianteowriter, for more pics and vids of East Villa!
Thank you, HomeTeamNS for having us! We had so much fun during our staycation, we're missing it already!
Are there any unique staycation venues in Singapore you would recommend? Do let us know in the comment box below!
Disclaimer: This is a media stay is provided by HomeTeamNS. As always, all opinions are ours.
©Vivian Teo. All content and photos are copyrighted to Vivian Teo unless otherwise specified.