SINGAPORE - Whatever you call it - work from hotel, workation or "I need to leave before I do something I regret to the upstairs guy tearing up his kitchen floor", fleeing the home office is not just a good idea, but it could also just be the best thing for mental health.
Many of us still toil away - into the sixth month or more - from our kitchen tables, on sofas and in bedrooms.
In this review, one question the writers will ask is, does the hotel experience make work better, or does work make the hotel experience worse?
Tourist-starved hotels in Singapore are happy to accommodate home-office refugees. There are packages that fit users in a co-working space.
Not a fan of the sharing economy vibe? Then take a hotel room for a day's stay.
Not good enough? Perhaps you would be soothed by a private suite with a living area and sofas, so you and a colleague or two might have a socially distanced meeting. For a fee, some places let you bring a pet, add a partner, or tack on a night's stay.
Yes, you can work in a cafe. But it is more about what you cannot do - in a cafe, you cannot run a hot bath into which you have poured sweet potions, after which, clad in a bathrobe as thick as bear's pelt, you eat a room-service meal.
How much work you get done after that is up to you.
• These workations were hosted by the respective hotels. This is part of a weekly series. For more staycation reviews, visit the Suite Life page.
InterContinental's Heritage Suite is too nice a place to ruin with work
The InterContinental Singapore hotel lets me try its Heritage Suite, which, honestly, is too nice a place to ruin with work.
My suite, with its Peranakan influenced touches, is designed for making happy memories of Singapore, so visitors get to bask in luxury after a day of looking at nice things around town. Instead, here I am, a grubby local with a laptop.
Resisting the call of the bed, bathtub, and views of Marina Bay at Fullerton Hotel
Work 0 and Vacation 1.
I am in a room with a view, in a hotel that is a national monument. Behind me is a balcony that opens up to a panorama of Marina Bay, albeit from the sixth floor, on this gently sunny weekday.
Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel offers a welcome view of Orchard Road
Draw the curtains, and the futuristic facade of Ion Orchard greets me. To the left is the crystalline Wisma Atria, the grand dame of Orchard Road malls. To the right, Wheelock Place's distinctive cone-shaped atrium reminds me of Christmas trees that will soon be lit up for Yuletide festivities.
Working in the heart of Orchard Road is divine.
Hotel G, no bells or whistles, perfect for hustle and grind
A workation is the kind of thing I would usually be sceptical about. To me, hotels are either for high-end luxury and relaxation or just places to crash if I am on a budget vacation.
But with the drilling and knocking in the flat above mine going on for the third week, I jump at the chance to work from Hotel G Singapore.
Work at a hotel or airport lounge for as little as $16 a day
The Straits Times checks out three co-working lounges to see how good they are for a change of work-from-home scenery.
Surviving a 15-day workation with husband
One couple, two hotels, 15 days of "workation". What did I do to deserve this?
