As an Indonesian, I came here with a set of low expectations. We just wanted a getaway. After stressful days of working and crying a lot about our fertility journey, me and my husband decided to get a 3D2N getaway to a resort in Bintan. We decided to take a few days off and travel during the weekday to avoid crowds.
He wanted to cheer me up and we both miss Indonesian food so much, so it was a perfect opportunity. This is actually our first time coming to Bintan, although I used to live in Batam – the neighbouring island – for two years, but I didn’t get an opportunity to visit.
In this post, I will share my experience staying at Nirwana Resort Hotel and travelling on Bintan Island.
You can also watch my travel video here: [COMING SOON 🩷]
Bintan Resort Ferries
We took a economy class ferry from Tanah Merah ferry terminal with Bintan Resort Ferries, which took us to the port nearest to the resort area, Bandar Bentan Telani Terminal.
I didn’t see the need for taking the Emerald class. It was a freaking one-hour ferry ride, and there were no other ferry companies outside Bintan Resort Ferries arriving here unlike an airport.
It took around an hour by ferry before getting into the immigration. I recommend filling in your Indonesia arrival card at least the day before for a smoother process.
I don’t know about visas-on-arrival since I am Indonesian and don’t need one. But I suggest contacting your resort if they can help you with that, which I am pretty sure most of them can.
We arrived at the Bandar Bentan Telani ferry terminal. It is the specific terminal for the resort guests.
The process was pretty smooth. You get off the boat, and the staff were there welcoming the guests. There was no automatic lane, so the line can be quite long during peak season. Fortunately, I disembarked from the ferry quite early, so the line was still short when I got into immigration.
After passing the immigration, you’d see the reps from all resorts standing by welcoming their guests and to help with the ride. We came to the Nirwana Gardens’ rep and she checked our names. After that, we were guided to the resort’s shuttle bus (free of charge).
It was around a 10-15 minute bus ride from the ferry terminal to our resort. Since it is a resort area, there are no traffic jams, and the roads are smooth and well-maintained.
Along the road, we can also see other resorts in the area, although only their main gate and not the actual buildings (you’d need to drive through to reach the resort buildings inside).
The Resort
We were staying at Nirwana Resort Hotel, a part of Nirwana Gardens. They have another accommodation called Mayang Sari Beach Resort, which I think is a villa-style.
The resort’s white and wooden brown colour palette gives it a warm, homely atmosphere. While the design appears slightly dated compared to newer, more contemporary resorts, it adds a sense of nostalgic charm. The entire place was impeccably clean, neatly arranged, and clearly well cared for.
There was no dingy furniture or that musty smell of dust or mould that old buildings often have. I’m super sensitive to smells—honestly, I could sniff things out like a K9—and I didn’t catch even a hint of anything unpleasant. Everything smelled so clean and fresh!
So, even though the building may be old, I know that the staff are doing a really great job at maintaining the resort.
A waiter kindly served us a welcome drink, a refreshing iced orange juice, which was perfect for the hot weather.
We were very lucky to get upgraded from the Deluxe room to the Premier room, which is the second-best room available in the Nirwana Resort Hotel. The receptionist gave us the sea view room too. I think it was either because she thought we were on a honeymoon or because this is our first time in the resort and she wanted to give us the best experience so we would come back.
Either way, I am very happy.
Additionally, we also got two complimentary massage tickets and coupons to get 15% off on the resort activities and restaurant. The kind lady at the reception was very welcoming and generous in explaining to us about the amenities in the resort, including the resort activities, restaurants, and the free shuttle bus.
The Room
The AC was already on when we entered the room, so it was very comfortable even from the start. Mind you it was a very, very hot and humid day.
The room has a traditional, mid-century modern style which I personally love (in fact, I do decorate my own house with this style too). Everything was very clean, tidy, and well-maintained. No mould or strange smells at all.
The windows gave us straight access to the garden, pool area, and the beach.
It was spacious and had an ample space to store our belongings. There were a lot of storage and the tables are wide enough to put everything we bring.
They also have a very big mirror in the bathroom with side lighting, which is really a plus point for doing my makeup. The toilet has a bidet!! That’s why I love Indonesia. I could never understand wiping only with tissue (I’m not sorry, I need water!).
They have two showerheads: the regular one and overhead. The cold and hot water switch was also working, so we can shower with warm water.
I read some blogs said that their room can only accommodate 1 device for the Wi-Fi, and you need to purchase a package from the hotel to unlock it for the second device and so on. But I did not experience that at all. Both I and my husband could connect to the Wi-Fi easily, and the internet connection was strong. We did not purchase any Wi-Fi packages, just the one that came with the reservation.
We had a good night’s sleep during our stay. The bed was very comfortable and bigger than our home.
They have a cable TV, but honestly the reception was quite bad. It was quite grainy, and the size is way too small for the width of the wall. But I couldn’t complain since we did not reach out for TV a lot when YouTube has all we need. It would be nice if we could AirPlay to the TV, though. Or even better, replace it with a smart TV instead.
Activities
There are a lot of activities offered by the resort. I will share the photo from the brochure below or you can also check on their website here:
A lot of family-friendly activities, from water sports to arcade games. If you a land creature like me, you can try many outdoor activities too.
Our main agenda was to relax, so we did not get to try many. But here are some things that we tried:
Massages
I used both free 15-minute massage coupons from the hotel since my husband did not want them. So I had a 30-minute free back massage, which was very relaxing.
There were no other customers, so I got my therapist right away. They offered either a back-shoulder massage or foot relaxation. Even though I chose a back-shoulder massage, the therapist still briefly massages my legs and my head. Overall it was a really relaxing time.
Bowling
We decided to try bowling since it was in the same building as the spa, just downstairs. We also want to use the 15% discount coupon that came with our booking.
They provided rented shoes and sold socks if you did not wear one. But it was quite expensive for basic socks, so I recommend bringing yours here if you plan to do bowling.
This was actually my first time bowling. I was pretty bad at it, but it was really satisfying striking the bowling pins down.
Infinity Pool
The pool is pretty large and has a variety of depths. There was even a dedicated small section for water polo. If you bring kids, you can play at the 90 m pool that has a pretty large size.
They do have a jacuzzi-like section, but too bad, according to the staff, they do not provide hot water anymore.
We enjoyed swimming, as it was not too crowded.
The Food
We ate at the Coffee Shop (the resto downstairs for breakfast) and Kelong Seafood Restaurant. We obviously ordered Indonesian food (like, hello, we’re Indonesians coming home to Indonesia after so long).
On the first day we ordered lunch from the coffee shop. My husband ordered Nasi Goreng Iga (Indonesian-style fried rice with ribs), and I ordered Sop Buntut Goreng (Indonesian-style fried oxtail soup). It was all superb. The size was quite big too. We spent like around Rp600,000 (around SGD50), so it was definitely way more expensive than the normal restaurant price outside the resort. More like a Singaporean price, I guess. But I think the total price is way lower than if we ate the same meal in a Singaporean restaurant.
For dinner we had stone crabs with black pepper sauce and a sea bass at Kelong Seafood Restaurant, still in the Nirwana Gardens complex. It was also very yummy. The price is hella expensive, though. I think we paid Rp1.200.000 (SGD94) for the whole meal and drinks. But I like the sea view, the ambience, and the food itself. For an occasional treat, considering we were in a resort, I think it was worth it.
We got free breakfast the next two mornings. We ordered Indonesian Mee Goreng and Indonesian Fried Rice, which were authentic as they should be.
The breakfast was semi-buffet. So we ordered the main course from the menu and picked the sides by ourselves from the buffet. They had a variety of breads, fruits, and salads.
I loved that they had like 5 coffee machines across the buffet table, where guests can pick their coffee of choice. I obviously had my latte :D
At the second day, we had lunch outside the resort at a pujasera. Then for dinner, we opted to order a room service because I was very exhausted from walking all day. My husband ordered a pasta carbonara which he said it was quite good. I ordered Ayam Bakar Taliwang (Taliwang sauce roasted chicken) which were supeeerb. Love it to the max. Definitely will try it again if we came back.
Overall, I think all of my order had been great. Perhaps because we ordered Indonesian food, and I think they all authenthic to Indonesian recipe. We don’t know how good the western food are, though they do have variety of western menu. But you know, when we were abroad like in Singapore or Australia, the Indonesian food they served weren’t good nor authentic. Understandably because they were not specialized on it. My point is maybe you shouldn’t expect western food in non-western countries to be exactly the same as you’d have in the west. But I can definitely guarantee, if you were being an adventurous traveler, try eat Indonesian food while in Indonesia and try a new variety to your palate. They are great.
BinBin Shuttle Bus & Grab Taxis
Just recently, like 2 to 3 months ago, Grab became available in the Bintan resort. But they have a flat fee, meaning no matter how short or far the distance is, it’d be the same fee (cmiiw).
If you took a Grab/taxi, a one-way flat fee is Rp120,000. So for a round trip from the same place, you’d spend Rp240,000 alone.
On the second day, we went outside our resort to look around some of the most popular destinations for tourists. Mainly for shopping, though.
Some of the drivers also offer to do a tour to a variety of tourist destinations. But we just wanted to relax and eat, so maybe next visit.
There is also a paid shuttle bus, BinBin, that goes around every resort and to the island’s top attractions. Unfortunately, it only has two timetable. Meaning, we go from Nirwana Resort Hotel to Plaza Lagoi at 12 PM, you’d need to wait until 2PM to board the next BinBin shuttle bus to your next destination.
UPDATE: I checked just now at their website there are four schedules. It’s interesting cause the when we were there, the board only said two.
You need to purchase the pass at the resort reception and make reservation.
Mustafa Centre Bintan is…meh
That was so unfortunate since I literally so excited to go to Plaza Lagoi because so many good reviews. A visit to their Mustafa Centre spoiled my mood for the entire afternoon.
Unlike the OG Mustafa Centre in Singapore, who literally has everything you can imagine, this place is more like a Miniso.
In the first floor, they have chinese-brand shoes as well as western brands like under armour. Not something that I have on top of my mind if I came here, though. This floor mainly offers things that you could find in any minimarket, like snacks, drinks, and toiletries. Might be okay if you’re looking to buy Indonesian specialty snacks, but personally I’d rather buy from SME sellers. There’s a minimart next to the store where we bought some water and stuff and it was way more affordable.
They sold Singapore-themed gifts and trinkets, like Merlion keychain and MBS magnets. I don’t understand though, I know that Mustafa Centre is a Singaporean brand but I think if you decided to become international, I think you can afford to do some localisation. I mean, McDonalds can even sell Nasi Uduk style meal in Indonesia, so…
The second floor they sell variety of Miniso-like stuff like children toys, sandals, suitcases, bags, etc. The other part of the second floor sold sport attires, swimsuits, bathing suits, and printed Batik shirts (which I must say, printed Batik is NOT a real Batik. Batik is the method/technique applied to the fabric to create the pattern). The collection was mediocre to say the least. Nothing special to me.
Maybe I live in Batam way too long, but I think everything in here could be find in any mall, like in Top100 for example. I don’t know if this is not the case with Bintan. Again, two floors and they are nothing similar to Mustafa Centre Singapore.
But what spoiled my mood the most is the rude security on the second floor. I know dude was just trying to do his job, and I respected it, but there are more polite ways to say things.
We were tourists, expect many of us have phones in hand to take our pictures. As there were no sign or whatsoever that day in the walls or doors about cannot take any pictures or videos, I was just holding my phone recording my husband browsing.
The security stopped us from entering the second section (so you exit one and then enter another next to it) saying no cameras allowed. I told him this is just for personal use and I am only using my phone and not an actual camera.
His tone becoming higher and angrier. I didn’t understand why it was necessary to be that mean in just saying you can’t do things. Like you can just say it in a normal tone and I could hear you the same.
After I agreed to put my phone down and walked inside, he kept continue talking back to me. So he already facing to the outside while keep saying things to me, while we already walked inside, quiet, with nothing on my hands. I found that just to be very impolite.
Just a feedback to whoever manages this franchise, if you wanna enforce a rule, do consider putting a sign at the doors so everyone can see. I checked and there were none. Or if it was too much, maybe consider being more kind to the guests, which I believe since this is placed in the Bintan Resort complex, is targeted towards tourists – who are most likely don’t know about unspoken local rules 🙄
At least we already checked this off from the curiosity list and definitely won’t bother to come back. Just a tip, if you wanna go to Mustafa Centre, please just go to the actual one in Singapore. It is magnificient, you can find almost anything you could imagine in an affordable price.
What I Liked The Most…
is definitely the warm hospitality of everyone. I love how every staff that we interact with always smile and give more than expected.
For example, we were waiting for the shuttle bus that supposed to come in the next 15 minutes. The staff asked us where do we wanna visit, and we said the resort activity building, not knowing that it was just in a nearby building 1 minute away by walk. He offered to drive us with the car, and on top of that, also drive us to every building in the Nirwana Gardens to show us around. He also shared about the kind of activities, the food, and the view we can get. Like he suggested to visit the Kelong at 5:30 PM if we wanna get the sunset view. It was such a lovely gesture. He could’ve just drop us off and return, but he decided to showed us around and gave some recommendations. We were very thankful!
I also recognised that the cleaning and maintenance team have been working really diligently with the resort. Everything was very clean. Even when it was raining, I didn’t see any puddle or hazards on the floor.
The gardens are beautiful and I can see that it the grass and the plants are tended everyday.
I also love that everyone automatically speak in English. We are both visibily Indonesian, but almost everyone address us initially in English. They just replied in Bahasa once we initiated the reply in Bahasa, which usually accompanied with the smile of relief.
These are the things that made our stay.
Overall, our vacation is beyond my expectation! We very much enjoyed our stay at Nirwana Resort Hotel. I love the food, I love the place, the activities, and most importantly the staff hospitality.
The room price is definitely more affordable than international resort like Banyan Tree, but the service is not lose to anyone. If you are planning to have a vacation in Bintan Island, we definitely recommend Nirwana Resort Hotel.
Except for Plaza Lagoi and Mustafa Centre Bintan, everything during our trip was amazing.
We’ll definitely come back and hopefully next time with our family!
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