You know you have a great deal on hand when a five-star offers you breakfast and dinner (in-house) meals within their staycation package.
And that in true five-star fashion, neither their breakfast nor their dinner is delivered in slipshod standards too.
One thing though- they've removed much of the frills from the rooms- and so at first glance, you might feel like you've gotten just a bareboned room- and nothing more.
But, given that most hotels are still on a half-half basis these days, staycayers will just have to accept, and understand.
I've never stayed in this Hilton before.
Hilton Garden Inn at Race Course Road, yes, Checkers at elsewhere, also yes, just not in Hilton Orchard on this shopping street stretch.
(Don't know why- I've bounced up and down a few of the other properties- but have always seemed to miss out on this one)
And so it was a pleasant surprise to find that the room- despite it being somewhat really just a room without the expected sight of writing paper and notepad and pen- continued to hold a mix of 'late 70s business trip' nostalgia.
Not to say that it was old.
Certainly not.
The decor was contemporary, the place well maintained, and the business-like atmosphere in the room made it very effective to settle down at the glass-topped desk and work the afternoon away.
The room had the necessary amenities- Crabtree & Evelyn toiletries in the bathroom, glasses and cups in the drawers and a selection of coffee and tea.
Then there was also a mini fridge, devoid, however, of its regular selection of soft drinks, mineral waters, chocolates, and wines. Whilst it made little difference to me- with the convenience stores downstairs and the supermarkets nearby there's hardly a reason to pay room service prices for a can of Coke- but the sight of empty fridge was a glaring reminder of what the situation once was, and what it still continued to be.
Thank goodness, then, that there was a dinner to look forward to.
And a fantastic one it turned out to be too.
It isn't every day that I get the chance to see a steak the size of a tomahawk in front of me.
And it is rarer a chance to be able to have that same piece of a tomahawk for my dinner.
A steak that size could only be consumed by two, of course, and so for two hours over we sat there at the table slowly sawing into the meat, cutting it up into little pieces (me) and dipping it in the sea salt and sauces by the side.
I wish I could tell you what sauces they were, but it's been a while and although one of them I think was a cheese of some sort, I think, the other two I really don't quite remember. But all of them I tried, sea salt included, and all of them were good.
Even though I can safely say I liked the cheese (if it's cheese) dipping sauce best of all.
We had soup too.
French onion soup.
Because my dining companion has this thing for soup, and a place like the Hilton would not likely compromise on skill in French onion soup.
Warm and comforting it turned out to be, a thick blanket of baked cheese covering a dark brown broth full of thickly-sliced onions swimming about inside.
Along with all of this we each had several glasses of wine- the deal being that you could have as much wine as you wanted within two hours- so whilst my companion had two glasses of red and one of white, I stayed with two glasses of white instead. I think it was Moscato, what we had.
It was a wonderful, charming evening with good food, pleasant company, and of course, all that wine made one become more relaxed than they intended to be.
Not drunk, but once back in the room I conked off almost immediately.
Thank goodness then that I woke the next day to the sun shining outside the windows, and the anticipation of a great breakfast awaiting me downstairs.
Scrambled eggs, bacon, mushrooms, sausage, baked beans and toast, followed by rice krispies (I was greedy), followed by pastries, muffins and pancakes (I was greedier) then a platter of fruit, and a serving of yogurt, all of which was accompanied by cups of coffee and glasses of orange juice.
At other times it might not have seemed just a big deal, but when you're in a year where hotels have seen a sharp drop in international tourists, where they have had to close their doors to guests even from local shores, where they have had even to ration out their rooms and close their restaurants (until such designated time), to be able to enter through the doors of the Hilton, to be able to have a room (without a toilet bowl brush on the bathroom floor), and to be able to enjoy a meal in their restaurant (without a need for takeaway)- a blessing it is, a blessing with a capital B it is- indeed.