Going for staycations in Singapore is one popular way for families to spend time together amid Covid-19.

One family of four chose to visit W hotel in Sentosa Cove, but the short Singapoliday did not end on a pleasant note after glass pieces were found at the bottom of a juice bottle served to the hotel guests at the restaurant.

Broken bottle served at W hotel in Sentosa Cove

The incident happened on Dec. 4 morning when Lily Wang's 10-year-old daughter, Angela, spat out a piece of glass shard, which she initially thought was plastic.

At that point, Wang did not pay much attention to it as she was feeding her younger daughter and asked Angela to throw the piece of "plastic" away.

Angela continued drinking the bottle of apple juice and to their horror, they later found more pieces of glass at the bottom of the bottle.

Wang then inspected the glass bottle and found a crack and a hole in the inside.

Poor attitude from hotel staff

Wang said that the family and an accompanying family friend then alerted the hotel staff.

However, Wang claimed that the hotel staff were "arrogant" and did not attend to the matter promptly.

Wang told Mothership that it took half an hour for one operations director named Robert to check up on them.

Furthermore, Robert asked if the family had taken the bottle from the fridge on their own and said he could check the CCTV if they did.

Robert also questioned if Angela had knocked the bottle, instead of showing concern for her after she drank the juice from a broken glass bottle.

That gave the family the impression that Robert was unsympathetic and not genuine when handling the matter.

A general manager named Nick later arrived, but did not show any concern for Angela's well-being as well, Wang recalled.

During this period, the hotel staff did not ask the restaurant to stop serving the juice bottles immediately, according to the family.

Not assured that the hotel will take responsibility for the matter, the family decided to make a police report.

While the family wanted to keep the glass bottle as "evidence" while waiting for the police to arrive, Wang said that Robert refused to hand it over.

The hotel has also refused to pay for the cost of the medical check-up, Wang said.

While the family does not need the hotel to pay for the medical expenses, Wang said that she would expect the hotel to offer it out of goodwill.

Felt discriminated

In the process of communication, Wang also felt discriminated against as she could not speak English well on top of being questioned repeatedly over the broken glasses.

Wang told Mothership that while she came from China, she has been living in Singapore for over 10 years and her husband and daughters are Singapore-born.

She had to rely on her friend to translate the exchanges with Nick and Robert.

The hotel did not get someone who could speak Mandarin to communicate with her.

Wang felt that the incident was mishandled because of that and that the family felt being looked down upon.

"The whole situation is definitely worsened by how the above two high-level executive handled [the incident] and made us feel like we are trying to take "advantage" of the hotel over the incident, they as leaders of the hotel should have shown sympathy or empathy and try to put themselves in the shoes of a parent... How would they feel and react if their precious young daughter might have swallowed those broken glass particles?"

Daughter hospitalised

Angela was subsequently sent to Mount Alvernia Hospital for a check-up.

According to Wang, Angela was advised to stay in the hospital for observation for a few days.

However, she was discharged after a day and has returned home as she felt well and there was no internal bleeding.

Wang said that the hotel has not reached out to them since then, but understands that the relevant authorities are looking into the incident.

The mother said she is still worried if Angela had consumed small glass pieces by accident and will continue to observe the situation.

Police: involved parties advised accordingly

The police confirmed with Mothership that they were alerted to the case at 11:27am on Dec. 4.

The involved parties were advised accordingly and no further police assistance was required, the police said.

W hotel: We view this matter seriously

In response to Mothership's queries, W hotel confirmed that they are aware of the incident.

The hotel spokesperson said, "the safety and well-being of our guests are of the utmost importance to us and we view this matter very seriously".

The spokesperson also added that necessary safety protocols were followed as soon as they were notified.

This included offering Wang's family assistance to seek medical attention.

They also said that they are currently in "regular contact" with the guest.

The hotel also said that they are also working closely with the relevant parties on this matter.

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Top photos courtesy of Lily Wang