Mandai Rainforest Resort by Banyan Tree (review)

It's the June school holidays and I wanted my kids to have some fun so we went for a staycation at the Mandai Rainforest Resort by Banyan Tree recently.

Mandai Rainforest Resort is a a new hotel that just opened in April 2025 beside the Singapore Zoo. They have rooms for single, double, family and suites.

Location

Address: 60 Mandai Lake Rd, Singapore 729979

The main selling point of this hotel is it's near the five big Mandai Wildlife Reserve (MWR) parks, namely Singapore Zoo, Bird Paradise, Rainforest Wild ASIA, River Wonders and Night Safari. You can spend your time at a park, then head back to the hotel quickly to clean up and rest.

The hotel lists 3pm as check-in time. That means if you want to visit a MWR park, you may have to book at least 2 nights with the hotel. Because by the time you check in and want to head out, it's already 4pm or later, and the MWR parks are closing soon at 6pm except for the Night Safari that opens at 715pm.

This hotel is about 10-15 minutes walk from the Singapore Zoo. Walking towards the zoo once it's past 10am in the morning is gonna be hot and humid. Just beside the zoo, before you reach the zoo, at the basement down from the escalator is the free shuttle bus to the Bird Paradise.

My two kids at the Bird Paradise posing under the shade but the weather is crazy hot

Anyway, if you do not plan on visiting the MWR parks, I don't think there's a compelling reason to book this hotel as a staycation. There's nothing much to do except to visit the MWR parks.

Design

This hotel was built with nature in mind. While the rainforest was cleared out for this development, there were several big huge rainforest trees that were saved, and the hotel has curves and extensions that would move around these beautiful big trees.

Much of the rooftops was covered with plants, and even the balcony has plants and vines hanging down. The overall design does suit the "rainforest resort" description. I can't imagine how much algae there will be on the walls and glass in years to come though. But right now when the hotel is still new, everything looks great.

The reception area is spacious and beautiful. There's so much greenery, and there are plants hanging from the ceiling. When we check-in, I was quite surprised by how breezy it was.

This was sketched at night and the air was still and not so breezy. There's humidity in the air but not to the point where it feels uncomfortable. Temperature at night is just slightly cooler.

Sketch of playground in front of some hotel rooms

I've read reviews of this hotel having mosquitoes but I've not actually had one bite me during my 2 days stay. The hotel must have very strict insect control because I don't even see ants anywhere which is almost unreal.

View of the reception and drop off point from my hotel room

You have the option to choose rooms that face the rainforest, the lake or the front of the hotel. My room happens to face the front of the hotel and it was really noisy outdoors with non-stop noise possibly coming from the industrial air-conditioning system. Thankfully you don't hear the noise once the balcony doors are closed.

Room service lunch was great, but pricey of course

Tables and chairs in the (my) Family Retreat room are actually outside in the balcony. I'm not sure if that's a good idea because when it rains, you may be hit by the rain if there's wind and when it's not raining you have to deal with the heat and humidity. I would have preferred the table and chairs to be inside.

What to do at the hotel

Since we check-in rather late, we had our dinner at the restaurant. It was a buffet dinner and adults cost S$68 and kids above 3-years of age cost S$34 before tax. My dinner came out to S$200+. Food was good but it's so expensive so I'm not sure if it was worth it.

Food options near the hotel is limited.

Activities at this hotel would be the same as other hotels, dining, gym and swimming. My wife was actually looking forward to getting a massage but the price is S$300 per hour so she discarded the idea.

For kids, they can go on this "Ranger Buddies: Rainforest Discovery" activity that's located at the basement.

As mentioned early, the main reason to book this hotel is to go to the MWR parks.

Service and other issues

Service is good, I guess. I don't really have much complaint.

My wife was complaining about how the TV would sometimes shut down by itself. The touchscreen control for the lights and aircon would freeze and she had to call the technician.

There's no door holder for the very heavy hotel door. When the door closer slams the door shut, the whole room would vibrate.

I was charged twice at the hotel restaurant by the same person who could not remember me when she charged me at the restaurant entrance.

The rooms

The look and feel of the whole hotel is designed around the nature theme. Tiles selected look and feel like stone. I don't think I've seen Furniture look like they were made with real wood. There are even tiles created from scanning banyan tree vines and these tiles are used for the balcony walls. I don't think I saw any glossy tiles except for the food countertop in the restaurant.

I booked the Family Retreat room that comes with a bulk bed. This cost me S$400 per night, and in total $800 for two nights with tax included. Pricing for weekends would cost 1.5 times more, and during peak periods would be 2x more.

I booked this room for the kids because I thought they would love the bulk bed. My elder daughter loved it so I guess it's worth the money. The young daughter is too attached to me so she wants to sleep with me rather than sleep with her sister on the bulk bed which is definitely large enough for two kids to roll around.

Is it worth the money?

That you'll have to decide for yourself.

The normal rooms with a huge double bed or king bed can cost S$280 and that's an average price for a good hotel in Singapore. The price seems reasonable but pricing is really subjective.

Had the Family Retreat room I booked cost S$450 or more, I may not have considered it.