Travel: Indonesia - Batam/Bintan

[jacsplace]

We wanted to go to Harris but it was fully booked, it seems to be very popular. I asked for more details in a post more than a month ago but no replies so far

[corneyAmber]

jacsplace:

We wanted to go to Harris but it was fully booked, it seems to be very popular. I asked for more details in a post more than a month ago but no replies so far

Harris is a stone's throw away from Holiday Inn. I have not stayed at Harris before, but I have good feedback about Holiday Inn, though location wise is very far from town centre. Very nice hotel, clean and comfortable. Good buffet too. Good for family with kids as their rooms come in either 1-bedroom suite or 2-bedroom suite.

I normally book with Indo Falcon Travel.

http://www.indofalcon.com.sg/TPIndoB_2DHolidayInn.html

[buds]

I shared my honest review here on this resort. > http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3483&start=20


Frankly, we didn't have a great impression of Harris.
Not worth the go for us. We're thankful that we opted
for Holiday Inn on our last trip.

The place and its facilities a bit run down. The so called
beach was more like a kampong pond and... dirty. Even
the sand wasn't clean for children to engage in sand play.

Bowling centre stuffy and staff not helpful. No shoes for
children... and the staff make it seem like children aren't
encouraged to bowl there.

The kids' club? Gosh.. cannot make it. :roll:

We'd choose Holiday Inn over Harris anytime.. no matter
how fully booked or popular Harris seems to be. We still
cannot figure out why they're that popular.. cos the price
range almost similar.

[MOE Hater]

June:

Been to Nirwana Gardens resort hotel in Bintan in May and heading there again in Feb. Nice short getaway from the busy citylife like Singapore. Nice beaches, lovely place

Me too! Been 2 years but still fresh in my mind. The beach, pool, restaurant, service etc. I remember there was a place to drink drinks in the middle of the pool. They may be similar to singapore, but in the creativity department they win hands down(if you see the YOG mascot, you will know what I mean)

[moom]

buds:

I shared my honest review here on this resort. > http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3483&start=20


Frankly, we didn't have a great impression of Harris.
Not worth the go for us. We're thankful that we opted
for Holiday Inn on our last trip.

The place and its facilities a bit run down. The so called
beach was more like a kampong pond and... dirty. Even
the sand wasn't clean for children to engage in sand play.

Bowling centre stuffy and staff not helpful. No shoes for
children... and the staff make it seem like children aren't
encouraged to bowl there.

The kids' club? Gosh.. cannot make it. :roll:

We'd choose Holiday Inn over Harris anytime.. no matter
how fully booked or popular Harris seems to be. We still
cannot figure out why they're that popular.. cos the price
range almost similar.

Hi buds,

read your review on HI batam.. thinking of bringing the kids there. May I ask if there is a decent beach nearby? I was reading up on trip advisor and someone mentioned ' no nearby beach'? anything else for the kids to do other than kids' club and any eateries/ malls nearby for local food and a tad of shopping?

Thanks

[buds]

Yap. No nearby beach. Think the one with

a beach we went to was at Turi Beach
Resort. I think this was at Tanjung
Pinang. Got shopping abt 30-40min
car ride away. Cars/Taxis available
from hotel. But the beach wasn’t
that fantastic.

Bintan wud have better beaches especially
if you get the chalets on the beachfront
or Mayang Sari. There’s also a reknowned
spa there… i think it’s called Asmara Spa…
Always fully booked!

We oso didn’t venture out of the resort
so dunno about that. What we saw there
was just the two resorts beside each other
just 2 mins away from the pier. Hol Inn and
Harris.

The shopping we did before was at Batam Ctr.
That one is different alighting point and that
trip was purely for shopping and makan. They
oso have those indoor playgrounds in some malls
where your kiddies get to play (unlimited duration)
for only 10,000 Rupiahs!

The whole idea of this Hol Inn trip was really to
just chill and not do anythin…

We did our spa on one afternoon and had the
longest couple jacuzzi time the following day,
since the kiddies wanted to spend time at the
kids club. The spa treatment was something i
never experienced before. Share with y’all
another time.

Nitey nite!

[moom]

Thanks buds for your sharing, will prob give it a miss till kids older and head over to lotus desaru instead.

[buds]

No problem! I'm planning to bring my family

to Lotus too next hols... see how... we've
been to a different corner of Desaru all this
time, and Lotus does seem an interesting
change.

[jacsplace]

Hi moom and buds, there's another topic just for Lotus Desaru. Check it out. With cool photos too

[buds]

Yup, we know. :evil:


That's why last hols everyone's going there!
A personal experience is better than anything
we read on the hotel webbie itself. Some pics
are sooo dated... that when you arrive you
realize you've been conned. :lol: So, tks to
you, jacsplace... Lotus has found more fans.