New on Lazarus Island — 9 air-conditioned glamping tents, water sports facility and 'gourmet' convenience store
SINGAPORE — Come December, holidaymakers can check into nine furnished safari glamping tents on Lazarus Island that its operator says are aimed at spreading awareness of "slow living" practices and encouraging vacationers to be mindful of their surroundings.Six of these will be “couple tents” with a living area of 25 sqm, with the remaining three being 36sqm “family tents” that can sleep up to four guests.
The air-conditioned tents do not come with ensuite toilet or bathroom, so guests will have to make do with communal facilities located a short walk away.
Glampers will have exclusive use of two toilets, each containing two water closets, two shower cubicles and one urinal.
Guests will receive a “curated welcome kit” featuring eco-friendly products from local enterprises.
These include a “plantable” pencil and a natural watercolour painting set that are aimed at encouraging guests draw and paint in an eco-friendly manner during their stay.
The “plantable” pencil contains a plant seed at the end, which guests may choose to plant after using the pencil.
Prices for the glamping experience have yet to be confirmed.
The operator, a company called Into the Woods, was set up by Mr Ray Lee, 35, and his wife Sam Wong, 35, under a different name originally.
The couple had experienced camping and a outdoors lifestyle while living abroad in the United States and Australia for several years each.
Raising two young children, the couple have often been struck by how simple activities, such as a walk in the park or soaking in ocean waves, can easily become what their children describe as the "best day in my life".
Speaking to TODAY, Mr Lee said the company had previously worked with the Ministry of Trade and Industry through its First Mover Framework, which provides entrepreneurs with innovative ideas a head-start through a direct allocation of public assets, typically land or spaces to testbed ideas.
This was how Into the Woods came to know about Sentosa Development Corporation’s (SDC) efforts in promoting sustainable tourism in the Southern Islands. SDC manages the islands, including Lazarus.
“Being very raw (and) untouched, it (Lazarus Island) makes the perfect launch platform for Into the Woods,” said Mr Lee.
Mr Lee also said that the concept of “slow living” was paramount to the project.
“Instead of itineraries and to-do lists, we found it was often the little things (like making a fire to brew a cup of hand-grinded coffee or reading a book under the stars) that made the travel experience memorable.”
Mr Lee said that for Singapore residents, staycations tend to come in the form of hotel stays.
With this in mind, he decided to include more “upscale” amenities like yoga mats and watercolour painting in the glamping tents.
“We hope (that) by having similar levels of comfort, with the added feature of nature at their doorstep and activities thoughtfully put together, (that it) will allow more vacationers to take the first steps to more mindful holidays,” he said.
The glamping tents will complement the island’s first overnight accommodation, the five fully furnished, one-bedroom Tiny Away Escape houses, that were announced in February and launched in April this year.
Besides the glamping tents, the island will have two new features: A water sports facility called Lazarus Sea Sports Centre and a “gourmet” convenience store named Sol by Bespoke Dining Club (BDC).
The Lazarus Sea Sports Centre features non-motorised water activities such as kayaking and paddleboarding and will be open for public booking after its official open house on Sunday.
It will open on Fridays from 10am to 4pm, and 10am to 5pm on weekends and public holidays. However, the centre will only accept private bookings from Monday through Thursday.
Meanwhile, Sol by BDC has already begun daily operations, and will soon be offering “gourmet” food options such as a meat platter, cheese platter, and seasonal oysters besides day-to-day necessities, groceries and microwavable ready-to-eat meals.
In line with the Southern Islands’ positioning as an eco-tourism destination, Sol by BDC's storefront is repurposed from shipping containers, while its food offerings incorporate locally sourced produce, such as seafood, herbs and vegetables, from offshore local fish, hydroponic, and vertical farms in Singapore.
Speaking to reporters on Lazarus Island, Minister of State for Trade and Industry Alvin Tan said that he is “very much looking forward” to the upcoming glamping experience later in the year.
He also lauded the successful construction and launch of the various environmentally conscious initiatives on the island, such as the Lazarus Sea Sports Centre, which focuses on non-motorised water sports, and Tiny Away Escape houses which use solar energy as its main source of power.
“We have seen a few enhancements to the island, actually across all the Southern Islands, but particularly Lazarus Island,” he said.
“These are small but very impactful aspects to what we’re doing here in Lazarus Island. But finally, what we want to do is to engender a sense of preservation (and) conservation, even as ecotourism’s demand starts to rise.”
