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I don\u2019t often wish that I was six years old again.<\/p>\n
After a few hours at the new Mandai Rainforest Resort by Banyan Tree, I\u2019m regretful that I can\u2019t hang out at the Ranger\u2019s Club, where I could lounge in a cute pillow-packed pod reading kid\u2019s books all day, or sleep in a bunk bed in a family room which comes with a fun play area and towel art giraffes on the bed.<\/p>\n
I expected that the world\u2019s latest Banyan Tree property, which will be the brand\u2019s 100th hotel by the time it officially opens in Singapore in November, would be a sanctuary for adults in a beautiful natural setting. It is.<\/p>\n\nThe Mandai Rainforest Resort by Banyan Tree.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nBut the resort is also part of the 126-hectare Mandai Wildlife Reserve and adjacent to the Singapore Zoo, so it\u2019s very much a family hotel, with excited children everywhere \u2013 toting pink ride-on suitcases while their parents check in at the lobby, visiting the chocolate fountain in the restaurant, splashing in the shallows of the rooftop pool and skipping along the boardwalk that connects the resort to the zoo.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re averse to the babble of happy children, there\u2019s the option of cocooning yourself in your own private treehouse, which sprout like giant seed pods at a far end of the resort, and have their own plunge pools and dedicated restaurant, Forager, for breakfast and dinner.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no avoiding the fact, though, that the resort is focused on families, appealing to couples with kids who also want to take some me-time. That fits the demographic of city-dwelling Singaporeans craving a short break in nature, and travellers in transit through Singapore, especially those needing to entertain their children on the stopover.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\nA Sanctuary King room with nature-inspired decor. <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nConveniently, the resort is only about 30 minutes\u2019 drive from Singapore central. It\u2019s close to the border of Malaysia, which many people commute across for work each day.<\/p>\n
Leaving the concrete jungle of my city hotel, the drive along the freeway is pleasant, as the landscape gets greener and lusher the further we go from the high rises. The park entrance is signposted with jagged rock formations. I can\u2019t tell if they are real or not. It feels as if I\u2019m approaching Jurassic Park<\/i>. As we come closer to the resort, we enter a maze of concrete overpasses and an underground carpark with escalators. It\u2019s a bit jarring.<\/p>\n
Sitting one level above ground, the lobby is a long, airy space like the opening of a cave, with curvaceous, boulder-shaped ceilings full of greenery and trailing vines, which will eventually grow to soften the room. Designed by Singapore-based WOW architects, it has biophilia \u2013 the communing of humans with nature \u2013 at its heart.<\/p>\n
Benches are hollowed-out and repurposed from logs which were salvaged from the trees removed during the building. The concrete exterior walls of the resort are rendered in bark taken from the same forest. Little statues of monkeys hide in corners. The staff wear safari-like shirts and pants.<\/p>\n\nInto the rainforest.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe resort faces the Upper Seletar Reservoir, a tranquil lake, and rises through several layers of rainforest on 4.6 hectares of the reserve. It\u2019s built on pillars to allow the free movement of wildlife beneath the structure. I\u2019m told to watch out for snakes, lizards and wild boar. The elephants, rhinos and lions on the billboards are well behind fences in the zoo.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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My Sanctuary Room is on the fourth floor, reached by glass elevators, so wherever I go (except for the lower ground floor buffet restaurant Planter\u2019s Shed) I feel that I\u2019m part of the rainforest. When I open my door, the panorama of the lake and forest is framed in the room\u2019s large windows. The windows have insect screens that can be raised if I want the full experience of warm tropical air and forest sounds.<\/p>\n
After a week in air-conditioning, sleeping with natural ventilation is bliss. All controls are easily managed via an electronic panel by the door. Even so, I get the ceiling fan wrong, and it beeps and whirs threateningly until I call a mechanic to help me. (He arrives promptly.)<\/p>\n
All the rooms in the resort have beautiful murals of local flora and fauna on the walls. Curious indigenous creatures include the lesser mousedeer and the Sumatran flying dragon. There\u2019s a hissing cockroach too. Luckily, not a single bug comes into my room, which is soothingly decorated with natural fibres and timbers, with nice eco touches such as a water bottle made from sugar cane and coat hangers from recycled timber.<\/p>\n\nThe vast rooftop pool.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nMandai Rainforest Resort is proudly Singapore\u2019s first super low energy resort. Rainwater is collected and repurposed for flushing. Each room is equipped with an interactive display that shows power consumption levels. Mine congratulates me each day because I choose not to use the air-conditioning overnight.<\/p>\n
I do feel as if I can shut the door on the world and escape into the rainforest. My view is uninterrupted. In the mornings I hear the faint sound of traffic on the road beyond the resort but the rich birdsong and cicadas \u2013 and even a rooster \u2013 drown it out.<\/p>\n
The hotel has direct access to the larger reserve, which includes not only the zoo, but attractions such as Night Safari, River Wonders, Bird Paradise and the upcoming Rainforest Wild. The Singapore Zoo opened in 1974 and is consistently one of Singapore\u2019s top five attractions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n