D'resort at downtown east

went down to the downtown east chalet 2 weeks ago for our annual cosplay event.. wanted to do some costume this year but was so occupied with the house hunt, end up not doing anything... so the goal for the chalet was just to relax & chill out with friends..... i am not going to talk about the cosplay event in this post cause i didnt spend much time at the event & nothing fancy me there... instead just share the changes in downtown east chalet...

i believed most people know the downtown east chalet is under costa sand = operated by NTUC.... since last year there has been quite alot of renovation but when we stayed there this year, it had MAJOR changes!!! is like a total make over!!!! first of all the name has changed to D'resort, no longer costa sand.... they have also closed down the pasir ris chalet since end of last year..... next, the entrance to the chalet changed.... the entrance is so OMG far from the car park!!! for those who stayed in downtown east chalet before, you will know that the entrance was just next to wild wild wet... that entranced has closed, instead it has shifted to somewhere way behind the multi storey carpark, close to the link to pasir ris park.... but the place is still undergoing renovation so i believed it will be more convenient to stay there next time.... now let me share some photo

entrance to D'resort

super different right!?!??! from this angle, it looks like some sort of hotel rather than chalet.... & the reception area is on the second floor in the building on the left.... there are 2 types of rooms now, those that are chalet style which are nearer to the BBQ pit or "hotel" style which are located inside the 2 tall buildings.....

reception area

drop off porch

buggy service

since the chalet is so far from the downtown east mall, it provides buggy service only on fri & sat... dont expect too much from the frequency & each time can only accommodate 5 people.... so we just end up walking to & fro since you wont know when the next buggy will come along....

chalets

this is how the new chalet buildings look like... compared to the old blocks system, now each building has a name to distinguish themselves.... the buildings have 3 storeys compared to the old ones which had 2 floors.....

our room

wardrobe/luggage space

bathroom

toilet area

simple amenities

balcony

we stayed at beach cove, 3rd floor.... i think our room is 35sqm, which is much bigger compared to the old rooms.... you have much more space so you can accommodate more than 4 people..... the toilet is much more spacious & i like the idea of having the additional sink outside... however, i dont understand why are there so many cabinets at the sink area!?!?? i am not going to set up the whole kitchen if i were to stay just for a weekend....

balcony view

new BBQ pits area

our friend managed to get the room at NTUC staff price so the room cost $220 for 4D3N which is  quite a steal compared to the norm of about $200/night during the weekend.... the BBQ rental now cost $26.75, which shot up from last time $10.... but that's not all, i dont know where NTUC has the brilliant idea of building 48 BBQ pits to accommodate more than 100 rooms!?!??!?! seriously!?!?!?! most people stay at the chalet is to have BBQ!!!! & now you have pits to supply less than half the population!?!??! OMG!!! what's wrong with you people!!!! & i heard from our other friends, the booking system screwed up so they had problems booking the pits even several months in advanced!!! as a result, we couldnt get the pit for sat & had to shift our BBQ to sun =(

i think the new look for the chalet is nice, i think proposed idea is to build the whole swimming facilities surrounding the chalets.... oh, i forgot to mention.... the old swimming pool in the chalet has torn down so the staff compensate with tickets to wild wild wet.... but seriously, you want to walk all the way back to the chalet dripping wet!??!?! definitely not for us..... so that's another disappointing thing in addition to the BBQ pits.....  on the whole, i think no harm trying out D'resort since there are very limited chalets in SG... but do book early if you intend to have BBQ =)