The Clover Suites experience (review)

Here's my experience staying at The Clover Suites confinement centre recently with my wife who has just given birth to our second child.

Confinement centres aren't common in Singapore. Due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, finding and hiring a stay-in nannie to care for newborns is now more difficult. Most nannies working in Singapore are from Malaysia. The pandemic travel restrictions has severely limited the number of nannies willing to come work in Singapore.

The two new confinement centres in Singapore are Kai Suites and The Clover Suites, started in 2020 and 2021 respectively. These are luxury confinement centres with stay-in nannies and hotel-like services. A quick search on Google will show other options such as Newlife Confinement Services, SingJoy Confinement Centre and Singapore Muying Service. There are also confinement nanny services from STAR Confinement Nanny, NannySOS and more.

Services at the two most luxurious confinement centres are not cheap. Kai Suites prices start from SGD 25,000 - 27,000 for 28-days stay which is around $892-$964/day. The Clover Suites prices start from SGD 13,888 to 15,888 for the same duration which is around $462-$567/day. Prices will vary depending on whether there's any promotion. Just for comparison purposes, the single room rate from Thomson Medical Centre is $588/day (food sold separately, laundry not provided). These prices are comparable to luxury hotels.

Between those two confinement centres, I went with The Clover Suites because the price is lower, though still quite expensive, actually several times more expensive compared to stay-in nannies (~$3,000 - $4,000/month).

This is the layout of the Premium Room that we are staying in. I paid SGD 14,888 which is a promo price for 28-days. The promo price is now $15,888. The non-promo price is $17,888 (used to be $16,888).

The days are counted slightly different from hotels. 14 or 28-day stay means 14D/13N and 28D/27N respectively.

Despite the high price, all rooms are fully booked. I counted just 9 rooms in total so I recommend booking months in advance, with a deposit. Payment via instalment is possible if there's a credit limit with your credit card. But do ask in advance regarding payment options.

As baby delivery dates may change, there will always be a spare room available even though rooms are fully booked. So it's possible to check in earlier if needed.

The Premium Room is spacious. The bed is queen-size. There's an extra charge of $1,000 for dads who want to stay in. However, I can no longer find that info on their website so it's best to ask if there are additional charges for stay-in dads.

Based on the photos I've seen, the difference between the Deluxe vs Premium is the addition of more table top space where you can work, and the table top or desk is separated from the bed. You can contact Clover Suites for a tour of their premises to see the rooms for yourself.

The room that I'm staying overlooks the busy East Coast Road. The address is 697 E Coast Rd, #02-01, Singapore 459060. The windows do a good job blocking out the traffic noise and pubs at night but if you want absolute silence, go with the rooms beside the back alley -- if you can't see the traffic, you can't hear the traffic.

The best and quiet rooms are on level 4 because they are not located beside the baby nursery (level 3) and the cafe (level 2).

Free high-speed wifi is provided. There's also Netflix available from the huge TV on the wall.

There's also a steriliser provided for sterilising baby bottles or whatever you need to sterilise.

Food

Meals for mothers are provided throughout the stay. Dads have to find their own food which isn't a problem because there are many eateries on the ground floor, e.g. hawker centres, food courts, pubs. There's also a clinic just beside, 7-eleven, Guardian pharmacy nearby.

You can choose to have meals in your room or at the second floor dining area. You can use the microwave, oven, pressure cooker and coffee machine.

The confinement food is actually provided by a catering company. The food is Taiwanese style confinement food which I guess is supposed to be nutritious for mothers but I won't say they rank high for taste. The variety also gets repetitive soon because you're kinda eating the same rotating mix of dishes weekly.

By the way, the meals ($20 each) at Thomson Medical Centre are really tasty. If you don't mind looking after your baby but don't want to cook, you can also consider getting confinement food catering from Thomson Medical which is around $2000 for 28 days. I'm not sure if the quality of the confinement food will match their hospital food though.

Baby care

A group of attentive stay-in nannies take care of the babies, such as bathing and feeding, round the clock. The baby nursery is filled with freshly bathed baby smell. Parents who want to rest can leave their babies there, or they can wheel the cot to their rooms.

While I was sketching, I could see the nannies feeding the babies, and giving advice to mothers on how to take care of their babies. The nannies are definitely very knowledgeable. They even offered me Ayam Penyet for lunch because they accidentally ordered an extra set.

Each cot is equipped with a camera which is linked to an app where you can watch the baby remotely.

Nannies will teach you how to bath the baby too.

Other services

Other services include photographic session for the baby and family. There are free massage and facial sessions where number of sessions depend on the length of stay. Laundry is provided everyday. In the bathroom there's a pail with herbal water for bathing. There's free flow coffee, red date tea, and lactation cookies. Netflix on a 48-inch TV.

There are so many restaurants along East Coast Road that you can explore. 7-Eleven, food court, supermarket, pharmacy, Mcdonald's, KFC, Domino Pizza are all within 5-10 minutes walking distance.

Is it worth the money?

There are several reasons for choosing a confinement centre vs stay-in nanny. My condo unit doesn't have extra rooms for a stay-in nanny and my wife doesn't like a stranger to stay in, and the kitchen is just too small for proper cooking. So it's more convenient to just stay at a confinement centre where everything is taken care off, e.g. cleaning, feeding the baby, laundry, postpartum care and food.

The service is good. My wife and I enjoyed staying here. So whether it's worth spending on a confinement centre vs hiring a stay-in nanny really depends on what you value.