Mandai Rainforest Resort by Banyan Tree

An absolutely wonderful experience and stay. The accommodation was perfect, very luxurious and facilities were excellent. The close proximity to the zoos and dining alleys were so convenient. The staff, in particular Toby, made our stay even more memorable, they went above and beyond to make our stay special. We will be back!

We had an amazing time at Mandai Rainforest Resort. My fiancé worked closely with Toby to plan a surprise engagement and birthday celebration for me. Toby is spectacular! We are so grateful for Toby, all his creativity and hard work decorating our room and taking us to the best photo spots at the resort to make the most special vacation of our lives come to life. I had the most relaxing time at the spa. Mimie was absolutely awesome! We spent 2 hrs together through my massage and body scrub journey. I highly recommend visiting the spa and ask for Mimie! Mandai is a great hotel for a family vacation. The zoo was a short walk away and although the hotel is a bit secluded, there are tons of great food options. The Cavern Restaurant is one of our favorites so far.

We were warmly welcomed upon arrival at the driveway. Unfortunately, we did not get the gentleman’s name, but he was incredibly helpful in assisting my family with our luggage and personally escorting us to the reception for check-in. Eman from Reservations was patient, attentive, and very helpful in assisting us with our reservation. Davis from Reception also provided a warm welcome and made the check-in process smooth and pleasant. We truly enjoyed the beautiful natural surroundings and the wonderful swimming pool overlooking the reservoir. Overall, it was a lovely and relaxing stay, made even more special by the excellent service from the team.

The location of Mandai Rainforest Resort by Banyan Tree is genuinely beautiful, and the property itself has enormous potential. Unfortunately, our stay was completely undermined by an extraordinary series of operational and service failures. For a hotel charging five-star prices - and carrying the Banyan Tree name - the experience was frankly unacceptable. It was, without exaggeration, the worst service experience I have had at a five-star hotel. We had booked and fully paid for our rooms in advance. Yet, when we arrived to check in late in the evening after a long flight, travelling with a two-year-old, the front desk said they could not locate our payment. I showed them the email confirmations and proof of payment. After a prolonged wait, we were eventually checked in and told that the hotel would investigate the payment issue internally. One would have assumed that this would actually be done during the following two days. It was not. On the morning of our departure, I specifically went to reception at around 10 am because we needed to leave the hotel by 11.30 am and I wanted to make sure there were no last-minute issues. I was told - again - that they still could not trace our room payment. In other words, despite having told us at check-in that they would investigate, apparently nothing meaningful had been done in the intervening two days. I once again produced the payment evidence. I was then assured that the matter would be checked while we had breakfast. When I returned after breakfast, absolutely nothing had progressed. I then stood at reception for approximately 40 minutes while various people continued to “check” a payment for which I had repeatedly shown documentary evidence. Eventually, they confirmed that the payments had indeed been traced and that we could check out. At that point, I asked for our luggage to be brought down from our room. We waited for approximately another 30 minutes. Nobody came. We finally gave up, went back to the room, dragged our luggage out ourselves and loaded it into our cab. Remarkably, this still was not the end of the payment saga. After returning home, I checked my email and found a message from the hotel, sent after we had checked out on 14 August, once again claiming that our room payment remained outstanding and asking whether they could charge my card. I had to send them the proof of payment yet again. They have now, once again, confirmed that they have located the payment and that nothing further is required from us. At this stage, one can only hope they do not change their mind for a third time. There is also the separate issue of the SGD 400 deposit taken at check-in for incidentals, despite the accommodation itself having already been fully paid for. A substantial balance remained refundable when we checked out. I specifically asked when it would be returned and was told five to seven days. A full week has now passed, and the money has still not been refunded. The service problems were unfortunately not confined to reception. The hotel’s main restaurant, Planter’s Shed, closes at 9.30 pm. The other principal restaurant does not admit children below 10. Neither of those things would necessarily be a problem if room service functioned properly. One evening we returned at around 10 pm after visiting Singapore Zoo. We were exhausted and hungry, and, more importantly, our two-year-old needed dinner. We repeatedly called room service, the main hotel operator and guest services. Nobody answered. Eventually, because our toddler was hungry, my husband physically went downstairs to reception to ask how we were supposed to order food and to explain that nobody was answering any of the hotel phone lines. He was curtly told that they were “too busy” to answer the phones and that food could instead be ordered using a QR code on the television. Nobody had told us at check-in that this was how room service worked. Quite apart from the inconvenience, the notion that a five-star hotel can simply be “too busy” to answer calls from guest rooms is extraordinary. A guest could be calling because of a medical emergency, a security concern or some other urgent problem. Having nobody answer the operator, guest services or room service is not merely poor hospitality; it is a fundamental service failure. We eventually managed to place the order ourselves. The food arrived approximately 50 minutes later, by which time our two-year-old was crying with hunger. For context, we were staying in a suite. There should of course be no difference in basic service standards between room categories, but given the level of service we received even in a suite, I shudder to think what the experience can be like when the hotel is busy. Our one dinner at Planter’s Shed was similarly chaotic. We had to repeat our order to at least four different members of staff. Nobody appeared to know what had been ordered, who was responsible for processing it, or where the order stood. After waiting for around 40 minutes, we finally followed up — only to be told, in an oddly accusatory manner, that it had been “just 10 minutes” since we placed our order. That interaction neatly summed up the stay: disorganised systems, poor internal communication, little ownership of problems, and an attitude that too often made the guest feel as though asking for basic service was itself an inconvenience. None of this is what one expects from a Banyan Tree property, much less at the prices being charged here. The tragedy is that the location is exceptional. The setting beside the Mandai wildlife parks is gorgeous, the concept is excellent, and this could be a wonderful family hotel. But a beautiful property cannot compensate for basic hotel operations failing repeatedly - payment reconciliation, check-out, luggage assistance, telephone response, room service and restaurant order management. These were not isolated minor lapses. They occurred repeatedly across different departments over the course of a short stay of 2 days. For the prices charged and the five-star positioning, I simply cannot recommend this hotel in its present form. The physical property may be five-star; the operation and service we experienced were nowhere close.

Auntie sophen was very warm and accommodating. When we were taking pictures nearby she offered to take photos for us and the pictures came out really good.