Author: Kok Seline

Forget Hotel Staycays, R&R At These 9 Local Airbnb Spots Instead – And They Are #HouseGoals

Planning a staycation or just like looking at beautifully designed houses? Whether you are looking for a mad pretty apartment to stay in, a place for a family vacation, or even a luxurious space for a company retreat, this is the article to read. Here at Discover SG, we’ve compiled a super list of 9 amazing local Airbnb places to rent in Singapore!

1. Huge Loft at Bukit Batok

This loft at Bukit Batok is not your conventional Airbnb. It was previously an office space that was revamped into a rental home.

Don’t expect your usual overnight rental though, this place charges by hour blocks.

Fully equipped with all forms of entertainment, you can always be sure that your guests will never be bored.

This loft has a foosball table, pool table, large screen projector, dartboard, PS 4, Xbox Kinect, DJ console, KTV set and even a functional bar counter.

Loud noises and music are actually permitted here, which is definitely great for parties and events. There is even a bedroom on the second floor. The only downside of this place is that it may be a little hard to find, so do make sure to get clear directions from the host!

Book at: Loft at Bukit Batok
Location: 10 minute bus ride from Bukit Batok MRT
Price: $450 for 5 hours, $650 for 8 hours (Weekdays)/ $850 for 8 hours, $1100 for 12 hours (Weekends)
Cleaning Fee: $80
Minimum Stay: 5 hours

2. Decadent Pool Villa in Tiong Bahru

Thought private pool villas can only be found in Bali? Think again.

This beautiful villa is located at Tiong Bahru and comes complete with its own private pool as well as sunbathing deck.

With high ceilings and minimal furnishing, this place is clean, airy and spacious.

At a little over $300 a night, this villa is really a steal for a large family.

Book at: Decadent Pool Villa
Location: Within walking distance of Outram Park MRT and Tiong Bahru MRT
Price: $316 per night
Minimum Stay: 2 nights

3. Three-bedroom FERRETTI 630 YACHT

Fancy living it up in the middle of the sea and enjoying the waves?

With a deck that gives you a bird’s eye view of the sea, you will see that Singapore’s scenery is actually quite awesome.

As it goes, yacht rentals are expensive but worth every penny. Imagine the stories you can tell from hosting a yacht party!

This yacht has 3 bedrooms and can house up to 16 people, which makes it perfect for a short family holiday or a party with friends.

If you are up for an adventure in the sea and do not want to settle for a cruise, this yacht might just be what you need.

Book at: Ferretti 630 Yacht
Price: $1299 per night
Cleaning Fee: $200
Minimum Stay: 1 night

4. Apartment Near Orchard Road

This modern double storey house is like a huge luxury hotel.

However, it comes at only a fraction of the price of a luxury hotel, and has a lot more space to boot.

Besides the awesome location behind Paragon Shopping Centre, this Airbnb’s furnishing and decor will leave jaws hanging.

With plenty of good reviews from previous inhabitants, you can be assured of quality service and an awesome stay.

Book at: Orchard Road Apartment
Location: 2 minute walk to Orchard Road
Price: $899 per night
Cleaning Fee: $200
Minimum Stay: 3 nights

5. Singapore Hobby Studio

An ideal place for parties and events, this place does not even come equipped with your usual bedrooms or even a bed.

There are, however, many coaches and bean bags for you to rest on.

This office-like space has almost all forms of entertainment. It has a pool table, a Playstation loaded with games and also many different board and card games. There are multiple TV screens and even a wide screen projector.

Just a short walk away from the Alexandra IKEA building, you do not have to worry about being hungry as there are plenty of food options around the area.

Image credit: AirbnbIf a fun night of games and activities is what you want, this could just be the place for you.

Book at: Singapore Hobby Studio
Location: 5-7 minute walk from Alexandra IKEA
Price: $800 per night
Minimum Stay: 1 night

6. Designer Apartment near Orchard

This apartment has a live-in helper to maintain its cleanliness. She sleeps in a room separate from the main home to afford residents their privacy.

Daily breakfast is cooked by the helper, which may be convenient for you if you are staying with a big family.

Do note that this apartment is an extremely popular place that is often fully booked, so do try to book this place way in advance!

Book at: Orchard Designer Apartment
Location: 5 minute walk to Farrer Road MRT
Price: $601 per night
Minimum Stay: 3 nights

7. CBD Penthouse with Private Pool

Here’s another house with a private pool! This time though, the pool is a lot bigger and it is also open air.

Located on the second floor of the penthouse, the pool is surrounded by many lounging chairs for suntanning purposes. It also boasts breathtaking views from its balcony.

The interior of the house is very well received by guests, with many lauding its cleanliness as well as furnishing that were well maintained.

Book at: CBD Penthouse
Location: Near Chinatown MRT (5 minute walk)
Price: $589 per night
Cleaning Fee: $80
Minimum Stay: 2 nights

8. Central Business District (CBD) Skyline Loft

This skyline loft is located in the Central Business District (CBD) area overlooks a gorgeous view of the cityscape.

With full length windows, the highlight of this loft is definitely the scenic views you can admire from anywhere in the home.

The master bedroom is also designed such that you are able to enjoy the view from the bed.

The downside of this place is that it requires a minimum stay of 7 nights. That being said, it didn’t deter us from featuring this pretty home that costs less than $300 a night!

Book at: CBD Skyline Loft
Location: Near Tanjong Pagar MRT (3 minute walk)
Price: $250 per night
Cleaning Fee: $80
Minimum Stay: 7 nights

9. Modern Asian Designer Terrace in Central Singapore

This is not your regular and affordable Airbnb, because it’s stunningly gorgeous.

If you’re organising an event or are ready to splurge some company cash on a team retreat, this will be the perfect house.

There is a private elevated infinity pool on the second floor, 3 bedrooms, and tons of mad pretty furnishing.

For slightly more than a thousand bucks a night, you get a huge and well equipped house with an enormous collection of books to feed your hungry soul. Best of all, these books are free of charge! Sounds like a built-in home library?

Each bedroom looks like it was ripped right out from a resort, with balconies that offer beautiful views as well.

Book at: Modern Designer Terrace
Location: Serangoon (within walking distance of Lorong Chuan MRT)
Price: $1249 per night
Cleaning Fee: $180
Minimum Stay: 2 nights

This list contains just some of the beautiful homes that owners rent out in Singapore. Depending on your budget and reason for stay in a local Airbnb, we guarantee that there are many more of such gems in Singapore just waiting to be discovered.

Sometimes, to satisfy that #wanderlust, you don’t even have to leave shore. Just look around you, and you will find that there are many homes you can stay in that will make you feel like you’re on a holiday.

Disclaimer: All prices and surcharge fees are correct at time of publication.

Also, read You Wouldn’t Believe That These Opulent Homes Exist In Singapore

A Look Back At 2016: 7 Food Trends That Got Singaporeans Queuing

As true blue Singaporeans, we are definitely no strangers to crazy long queues. And by crazy, we mean queues lasting for a good 2 hours and more. Year after year, we see them forming. Year after year, we joined them. Now that 2016 is coming to an end, let’s do a quick round-up on the food trends that got us voluntarily joining the queues.

1. Michelin-Starred Hawker Stalls

Earlier in July, when two hawker stalls were awarded a Michelin star each, we witnessed people of all ages chiong down in throngs to try their food.

Who wouldn’t, if it means getting to taste Michelin-approved food for less than $5?

Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodle at Chinatown Food Complex dishes out its famous chicken rice at $2 per plate. Even its most expensive dish, the Pork Ribs Rice, is priced at $3.

At Crawford Lane, the other Michelin-starred Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle also saw long queues forming. Singaporeans wanted to have a go at their $5 bowl of Bak Chor Mee.

We Singaporeans know our stuff. When we see good deals like this, we flock down like birds, even if it means queuing for hours in the heat.

Also, read The Full List Of Michelin Guide Singapore 2016 – How Many Have You Tried?

2. Salted Egg Yolk Anything and Everything

Remember that period of time, when almost every other food item seemed to be infused with salted egg yolk? Even McDonald’s had hopped on the bandwagon.

Salted egg yolk croissant, salted egg yolk chips, salted egg yolk lava toast… the list goes on.

Snaking queues in eateries, bakeries and even coffee shops became a common sight when the salted egg yolk craze was at its peak. And we reckon it will still be that way in the new year ahead.

Also, read 6 Seriously Addictive Salted Egg Yolk Snacks You Must Try In SG!

3. Cheese Tarts

The cheese tart trend started when Hokkaido based BAKE opened its first store in Singapore in April.

With its signature yellow box, this is a brand most cheese lovers are familiar with. Yet eating BAKE cheese tarts do not come easy at all. It comes at the expense of having to queue for more than 2 hours for them.

In its heyday, cheese tarts were the rage. Even neighbourhood bakeries jumped on the bandwagon and hawked cheese tarts. Prominent bakeries like BreadTalk and Prima Deli created their own versions of the cheese tart too.

Perhaps there is just something about that measured sweetness of fluffy cheese atop a flavourful crust that draws in the crowd.

Also, read BAKE Cheese Tart Continues Singapore Invasion At Its Second Outlet In Westgate Mall!

4. Themed Cafés

The feverish craze for cutesy cartoon characters seemed to have translated to widespread popularity in their themed cafes as well.

When Hello Kitty Café first opened at Changi Airport in May, more than 100 people waited to enter, queuing for two hours or more just to get inside.

Sounds long? Wait till we get to Pokemon.

At Pokemon Cafe’s first opening, which was also in May, fans of Pokemon had to wait for as long as 5 hours just to enter the café.

Yet the most amazing thing is, 5 hours was not any form of deterrence at all.

The latest themed café to open its doors to customers with much fanfare is the Gudetama Café.

Queues stretched for up to 2 hours and are expected to remain this way for the upcoming few months at least.

5. Tai Cheong Bakery

Famous for its egg tarts and other pastries, Tai Cheong Bakery, a renowned Hong Kong brand, made its way onto Singapore shores in mid-November.

With a dine in-concept introduced, it has become common for customers to queue for close to 2 hours to get seats. Yet the crowd just keeps growing.

At a slightly pricey cost of $1.90 per egg tart, egg tart lovers have no qualms about waiting in line to have a taste of the buttery crust that is all the rage in Hong Kong.

6. Froyo

It all started with Llao Llao, queues were formed for a cup of frozen yogurt with toppings that cost $6.95. With that, new players entered the fray.

Kokopanda serves your regular froyo, but with a twist. It has a new product called Black Yogo Frozen Yoghurt, which is made from edible activated charcoal as well as roasted coconut husk.

This latest innovation to the frozen yoghurt family has led to long queues for froyo stores once again and it certainly does not look like it’s going to become a dying trend anytime soon.

7. Man Man Japanese Unagi Restaurant

Unagi may not have caught on with Singaporeans quite as well as some other items on this list, but this sweet Japanese eel looks like it has the potential to become something big.

Man Man Japanese Unagi Restaurant opened in October this year to healthy crowds and looks set to maintain its strong customer base. Perhaps it might even become a trend of 2017.

Now that we have looked back on the food trends that got us voluntarily joining long queues in 2016, perhaps it is time to take a step back for a quick reflection. Which of these queues resulted in a new experience and were worth our time?

Come 2017, a host of new food options may take our country by storm. But how many of 2016’s trends will remain? Will froyo continue to evolve in 2017 and become more popular? Will our love for cheese tarts disappear?

Whatever it is, I am sure we can all agree that Singaporeans know no boundaries when it comes to food. The amount of time and money that we are willing to spend on food trends is astounding, but at least we can be comforted that our F&B industry will continue to thrive even in a slowing economy.

Also, read Serious Foodies Only: Here Are The Best Restaurants In Singapore For 2016!