• Singapore offers a variety of weekend getaway options.Singapore Bay image by Roy L. from Fotolia.com
  
  Singapore is the crossroads of Asia, a vibrant international mix of business and culture with spectacular beaches and easy access to nearby vacation destinations. But Singapore itself can be a mini-vacation, even if you live there. A family escape, a quick hop across a border, a cab ride to an island beach and you could be a million miles away from home.
  
  

The Ritz-Carlton Millenia

• Take everybody on a weekend break in-town. The Ritz-Carlton Millenia has a "Refresh Weekend" family package that gives mom, dad and children the chance to put on the Ritz. Stay overnight in a deluxe Kallang Bay-view room, enjoy a complimentary American buffet breakfast and one in-room movie. Two of you get free tickets to Golden Village Cinemas. You even get an Asian Tapas cookbook to take home to recreate some of the meals you try in one of the four restaurants in the hotel including Japanese, international and classic Chinese cuisine and afternoon high tea. The children will love the pool, and you'll love the spa. As of March 2010, the "Refresh Weekend" family package price starts at $291.08 per night, two adults and two children under 12.
  
  Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore
  7 Raffles Avenue
  Singapore 039799 Singapore
  +65-6-337-8888
  ritzcarlton.com
  
  

Cross-border Bintan Island

• Savvy Singaporeans know the shortest distance between work and weekend, and Bintan is one of their top choices. Bintan Island, Indonesia, a 45-minute high-speed ferry ride from Singapore, was once a pirate stronghold and an important stop on the China trade routes of the Sung dynasty. Today, things are a little more peaceful. In Bintan, you can visit the Elephant Park, where seven Sumatran elephants perform and give rides into the forest. The Bintan Lagoon Resort has two world-class golf courses, and there are overnight resort specials when you book tee times on the greens. Bintan has wonderful beaches for diving, snorkeling, windsurfing, horseback riding on the beach and rain forest trekking on an old volcano. At a shorter commute than cross-town rush hour in Singapore, Bintan lets you start relaxing sooner. Weekend rooms at the Bintan Lagoon Resort start from $109.35 per night, as of March 2010.
  
  Bintan Lagoon Resort
  Jalan Indera Segara Site A12.
  Bintan Utara, Lagoi, Kepri 29155
  Indonesia
  +62-770-691-388
  bintanlagoon.com
  
  

Amara Sanctuary Resort

• Sentosa Island is just offshore from Singapore proper. You can get there by bus, rapid transit, cab or car in minutes, check into your resort and leave the city behind. At Amara Sanctuary Resort, the "Courtyard Romance" package gives you one night in a spacious colonial-style room, welcome fruit basket bottle of wine, three-course champagne dinner served in your room, massage for two in the wellness spa, continental breakfast in bed and round-trip transfers from the city. Enjoy the adults-only rooftop infinity pool or the sandy beaches. Eat in one of the four main restaurants, which include Japanese, contemporary Singapore-western, Silk Road pan-Asian and Royal Thai. As of March 2010, package rate starts from $654.93 per night, plus weekend room surcharge, which is a bargain $500 cheaper than the exact same package in one of the resort's private villas, which starts at $1164.31.
  
  Amara Sanctuary Resort
  1 Larkhill Road
  Sentosa Island, Singapore 099394
  +65-6825-3888
  sentosa.amarahotels.com