8days.sg was recently on a hosted 2D1N stay at the luxurious The Outpost Hotel in Sentosa in January, before the coronavirus started spreading widely. The 193-room hotel is adults-exclusive, meaning kids below the age of 12 are not permitted to stay at the property (the adjoining Village Hotel is a family-friendly option). This ostensibly lets the grown-ups enjoy a chill vacay (with or without cocktails at the rooftop bar).

The hotel is currently offering an Island Holistay package from S$230 a night, with a free upgrade to a Deluxe Room with Sea View where available. Guests can also get 1-for-1 drinks at the hotel bar 1-V:U, and up to 20% off your bill at selected F&B eateries. You can also top up $50++ for a three-course dinner at the hotel compound’s tropical restaurant Native Kitchen, and take up free classes such as floral arrangement, terrarium-making, yoga and art jamming.

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the hotel is taking its sanitising efforts very seriously. A rep for The Outpost Hotel tells us that all guests will be required to check and report their body temperatures, and hand sanitiser and surgical masks are provided for both guests and staff. “High touchpoint areas” in public and back-of-house areas such as lift buttons, handrails and restrooms are also frequently sanitised. Staff are on hand to assist guests feeling unwell, while the staff members have a mandatory daily temperature screening.

While checking in at the lobby, we are served a cocktail made with a specially concocted tea blend called Siloso Night by homegrown brand Pryce Tea.

We are then handed a basket for a ‘supermarket sweep’ — guests for each room can pick five complimentary items, like potato chips, chocolates, fruit juice and mints from a cute snack drawer at the lobby, in case they get the munchies at night. There are also vending machines within the hotel if you want to buy more snacks, or just order from the 24-hour room service.

We got the 24sqm Deluxe Room with a sea view of Palawan Beach, which is just a six-minute walk from the hotel. There are only Deluxe Rooms offered, just with different views, like a pool view, or island scenery view. Don’t expect a vast space for pillow fights. The rooms are elegantly decorated and cosy, though compact (but remember what you can do in small spaces?). There is a mounted TV with cable channels (no Netflix) and a leather couch to lounge on.

To maximise the use of the space, the wash basin is situated along the corridor leading from the hotel room door. It comes equipped with a special filtered water tap so you can refill your own bottle with fresh drinking water (look Ma, no environmentally-unfriendly bottled water).

Personal hygiene is super important, especially in the time of COVID-19. If you're planning a staycay here, you'll be happy to know that the shower here is great. You can switch on both the overhead rain shower and detachable shower head at the same time to have water splashing on you all around, if you so wish. The fab-smelling luxury toiletries are from Australian cruelty-free brand Appelles Apothecary & Lab, and toothbrushes are provided.

A little corner in the room houses a Nespresso machine with complimentary coffee pods, and tea bags from Pryce Tea for your morning cuppa.

You have access to four restaurants on the hotel’s sprawling compound, which is shared with the family-friendly Village Hotel and the posh The Barracks Hotel. We tried Japanese celeb chef Hide Yamamoto’s Hidemasa by Hide Yamamoto for dinner (the man used to run a now-defunct teppanyaki restaurant at Marina Bay Sands). The restaurant boasts a live teppanyaki station, built like a dramatic theatre where diners can sit around and watch the chef prepare their melt-in-your-mouth, insanely marbled A5 Miyazaki wagyu beef that only needs a sprinkle of salt.​​​​​​​

The Outpost Hotel houses the newly-opened rooftop day-to-night restaurant 1-V:U. By day, this is the place where you go to have your hotel breakfast in the indoors dining room.

Instead of a continental breakfast buffet spread, the hotel offers an a la carte menu with dishes like pancakes and shakshuka with toast (pictured). There’s also a DIY congee station with yummy scallop porridge and toppings, plus coffee, tea and juice stations.

By night, 1-V:U turns into a chic rooftop bar with a pool where you can enjoy a view of the sunset over Sentosa.

Order a lemongrass-scented tropical cocktail and pretend you’re in Bali, minus the flight risk.

The hotel’s infinity pool is definitely one for the ‘gram, and overlooks Palawan Beach.

The comfy deck chairs are placed right in the water so you feel like you’re floating in the pool without even getting wet. But we say remember your #socialdistancing and take the necessary precautions when lounging in public spaces.

There’s plenty to do besides nua-ing in the room. Themed classes are held and vary from week to week, so you don't have to worry about getting bored during your staycay. We signed up for a floral arrangement class, and an island buggy tour. Looks like playing tourist on Sentosa at this outpost hotel can be fun.

For room reservations and more info on the Island Holistay package, go to www.theoutposthotel.com.sg.

PHOTOS: YIP JIEYING/ THE OUTPOST HOTEL