THE rate for Cupid's services is going through the roof this year - with packages costing more than $3,000 for a no-holds-barred exclusive and romantic experience.

This Valentine's Day, hotels and restaurants are upping the romantic ante, taking exclusivity to new levels, by laying out the red carpet - and the limousine - for lovey-dovey couples.

'We think there'll be discerning clients who have a bigger budget and want something unique and exclusive,' says The Sentosa's public relations manager, Renee Lim.

The Sentosa Resort & Spa leads this year's pricey cache of exclusive dining packages with its $3,232++ My Valentine Dream getaway stay and dining experience at The Cliff (Tel: 6371 1425), which only one couple will get to enjoy.

The resort's previous Valentine's Day packages have mostly focused on dinner, says Ms Lim, but this year, the couple get taken to the hotel by a limousine for an eight-course dinner in a gazebo, followed by a one-night stay at a garden villa. They also get chauffeured back to their homes upon check-out.

'It's going to be a total experience,' she says, adding that the couple can expect 'one of the most exclusive and luxurious treatments in Singapore'.

The package includes, among other goodies, a $400 spa voucher and a bottle of Krug 1989 champagne.

Though the resort has received several inquiries, the package is still available - unlike Banyan Tree Bintan's (Tel: 6849 5800) destination dining packages which have all been fully booked for next week, as it is limited to five couples a night at different exclusive areas in the resort. Prices range from US$90++ to US$160++, not including the room bookings of US$420 to US$950 per night.

The outdoor dining concepts proved so popular when they were introduced last year that Banyan Tree has added another location: a platform in the middle of the resort's swimming pool.

Could Banyan Tree's success reflect a growing demand for exclusive romantic experiences? Other hotels have followed suit, to allow more couples to spend dinner in a world of their own - at a price, of course.

There is the $888++ Romantic Interlude Dinner at the Ritz Carlton Millenia's Greenhouse Garden (Tel: 6434 5288), with candlelight and live jazz music in a billowy white tent - and only for one couple.

Similarly exclusive is the Twilight Indulgence at the Oriental Hotel's Dolce Vita (Tel: 6885 3551). The $1,288++ treat features a limousine pick-up, spa experience, and dinner facing the harbour. The seven-course menu includes Brittany lobster and roast fillet of wagyu beef.

Both these one-couple-only offers are still up for grabs, having been introduced just this year. Otherwise, Dolce Vita's $488++ per couple menu in its restaurant still holds, as does Greenhouse Garden's $78++ per person buffet. Only a couple of tables are still available at press time.

As with The Cliff and Dolce Vita, the Pan Pacific Hotel (Tel: 6336 8111) offers a dinner package that includes far more than just dinner. Its bubble lift dining experience follows the adage that location is everything. For $1,999+++, one couple will enjoy a five-course 'aphrodisiac dinner' in a bubble lift on the hotel's 35th floor, overlooking the city through floor-to-ceiling glass panels.

The package includes a two-day one-night presidential suite stay. Pan Pacific's marketing promotions manager Carolyn Goh says the bubble lift dining experience was launched last year, but this is the first time the hotel is offering a Valentine's Day dining package that includes a suite stay.

If hotel stays and extreme exclusivity are not your thing, there is always the classic no-strings-attached Valentine's Day dinner. Seats are limited by now, of course, but not impossible to find.

Saint Pierre (Tel: 6438 0887), for one, is reserving 10 tables for walk-in diners on the day itself. Their Special Christofle Valentine's Dinner - at $288+++ per person - includes a foie gras duo and hay-smoked lobster, as well as 'his and hers' presents.

Being more coy is Covo (Tel: 6466 8103) at Greenwood Avenue. Its 'four-play' set dinner starts at $150++ per couple, comes with a 'Love Inspiration Pack', and ends with a dessert platter: of chocolate rum tart, lychee panna cotta, cheese mousse and crumble mud cake.

Senso (Tel: 6224 3534) at Club Street is also offering gifts with its Valentine's Dinner, with 'early ladies' receiving L'Oreal perfume. The menu, priced at $288+++ per couple, includes a choice of either lobster medallions and sea urchin, or pan-fried veal tenderloin and foie gras. As with the other restaurants, seats are available - but probably not for long.