Nirwana Resort Hotel — Hotel in Bintan Island

Very difficult to try to enjoy the place because everything you do will leave you feeling very angry. The price gouging is worse than anywhere I have ever seen, it is insulting! To the management or owner, please don’t bother to reply to this or say you are forwarding it to the relevant department, people have told you this for years and you have done nothing so clearly the owners don’t care, which is bizarre given how empty the resort was. Maybe it serves other purposes and creating a good business is not a priority. ||We were in Bintan specifically to play golf but other than that I have no idea why anyone would come here. There is nothing in Bintan other than golf courses and the resort you stay at and unfortunately the resorts know that. Everything looks very old, very dated and kind of sad. Don’t be fooled by the advertising pictures of the accommodation. There is a sense of desperation, feeling something like, “oh my god, people are actually here, let’s try and squeeze them for every last dollar. Sir you want to breathe? Sorry we charge extra for air”. When a member of our group was trying to book, the booking website stated only 2 villas left. That is definitely not the case, the place was dead, we could only see one other one or two being used out of something like 17 villas, we couldn’t believe how empty it was. We were joking that at times it felt like being in the movie The Shining. Somehow we still ended up in one next to what looks like a septic or some kind of storage tanks. ||One repercussion is the resort seems to try to exploit those tourists that do them a favour and stay by gouging them for absolutely everything. As many people have said, the pricing of everything is outrageous. The entire resort is very empty but they don’t seem to make any attempt to value those that are here. There hasn’t been a manager in sight, one would think one would be around treating the few customers and that are here with some appreciation and maybe trying to incentivize them to return. As it is, once you experience the pricing for absolutely everything you will be unlikely to return. Instead, any little thing we try and do the hotel will try to exploit you. The facilities were nearly empty yet they wanted to charge something like S$300 for 3 games of bowling 😂 Even in Singapore where lanes are busy we would probably pay less than half of that. The Bar (yes that is what it is called) was so depressingly empty that we couldn’t even bring ourselves to go in, unfortunately for the poor staff in there that got their hopes up. ||If you don’t heed the numerous warnings and insist on going at least do yourself a favour and make sure you stop at a shop to buy enough water, alcohol and snacks for your stay, on the way. That’s one tip. Second tip is pay cash to the driver to detour if you have to. ||The food prices are like high end Singapore restaurant prices (the attached picture of the menu is in thousands of rupiah). That burger is IDR340k (S$28). Spoiler alert, it was not good! For context, Black Tap, located at Marina Bay Sands (not a cheap place itself) in Singapore sells some of the best burgers in Singapore. And one of its most expensive burgers is a wagyu burger (extremely good!)…. and it is S$29. The quality of the food is pretty bad, strangely even the local Indonesian food. Because there are so few guests it is questionable how much is fresh. Some thing’s seem to be frozen food heated up. My group is not all that fussy usually but I have seen some dishes left practically untouched. ||I honestly don’t get it, why not price things in a manner that might actually encourage tourism and repeat customers. Bintan is not a 5 star location and resorts like the Nirwana are not either regardless of what is stated, why try and charge 5 star pricing? No discounts have been negotiated with the nearby golf course. The discounts on bowling we were supposed to have was reneged on. The resort is aging, paint pealing off buildings. One aircon in our accommodation kept breaking down. One of the pools had no umbrellas for shade. We get the sense that the staff themselves, who to be fair were pleasant, polite, and are probably themselves grossly underpaid (3 games of bowling could maybe be someone’s monthly salary) are embarrassed by the prices being charged. In todays world where flights are cheap and you can go to Thailand, Vietnam and so many other places, it is difficult to make the case for coming to Bintan and The Nirwana hotel and their Banyan Biru villas certainly don’t help that case. Would be better to do the golf as a day trip to avoid having to stay...

We spent three nights in Nirwana Resort Hotel during Christmas. I am compelled to write this review as we do not share some of the reviews being made about this place.

1.Location, Pick-Up Service, Arrival: Once you went through immigration and customs, you will be picked-up by the Nirwana Gardens shuttle service, which is complimentary for all guests. The transfer takes approx. 10-15 minutes and you can alight at your location. Upon arrival, you will be greeted with welcome drinks and the check-in process was smooth and easy. The reception was very kind to us and explained in great detail all the information about the resort and the activities you can do.

There is a shuttle service within the resort that allows you to visit the other parts of the complex. But you can also walk along the beach to the other places as well without any worries.

Room and amenities: As we booked for two, we got a big room with a queen-sized bed. It is true what other travellers wrote: The interior looks from the 2000er period but that did not bother us at all; quite the contrary, it nicely fits into the overall theme of this resort. The bathroom was nice and modern. You can use slippers and have complimentary bathroom set.

As of Dec 2024, we received new bottles of water every morning when staff does the room service which we highly appreciated.

Service: The service is great, the staff really makes a wonderful job and whoever is serving you will meet you with a big smile. We could not complain at all about the service; rather, it is what makes this places so wonderful to enjoy.

One particular thing I appreciated was the fact that you can get towels every day (without charge) that you can use all day in the resort.

Breakfast: The breakfast selection was decent. Like in so many other hotels, the selection was more or less the same, but it does accommodate the needs of the guests: You can get instant noodles, vegetarian selections as well as western food. The Belgian waffles and pancakes were topnotch and I also enjoyed the Fried Rice and Noodles every day!

The coffee machine is a bit slow to brew coffee, but they have four around the large table, so there is no need to worry about long queues.

Restaurants: You will indeed need to spend money on food in all the restaurants and bars in this resort. The prices are SG standard and for all the items, there's an additional service charge and Indonesian VAT to pay for.

We spent approx. 30-40 SGD per meal, per person (without alcohol). This is indeed quite expensive but we felt overall that this was still reasonable and we were able to enjoy all the food in any of the bistros and restaurants.

Activities: Upon arrival, you receive vouchers for different activities, i.e. bowling, a welcome drink or a message. Bear in mind though that once you go to the these places, the voucher is only valid for one person; if you were going for bowling with 2 people, the voucher for bowling is only valid for one person, and the other one is charged. The price list for bowling, however, was reasonable and we ended up playing three games and were able to rent shoes!

Other activities, such as jet-ski are not included in the package and you will need to pay for that as well.

Activities outside the resort: Contrary to some reviewers, it is not quite accurate that you cannot leave the resort and you would be "locked". You are able to do tours on the island with a private guide.

Summary: Overall, we had a great time in Nirwana Gardens and were able to unwind for a few days. In particular, I enjoyed swimming in the pool, eating snacks at the pool area and even enjoyed a Hookah.

To sum up, we recommend this resort for people who just do not want to worry about any planning and are keen to unwind for a few days (couple or small family) and if spending money is not an issue for you.

We DO NOT recommend it for people who are on a small budget, expect great service for as little money as possible, and are just keen to exploit the currency exchange rate for cheap food,...

Nirwana Resorts seems to have the monopoly on the Bintan resort experience, with that in mind if you choose to stay at this resort, you will only see what they want you to see as transport away from the resort area requires a rental car.

Outdoor Activities (i.e. ATV/Kayaking/bicycling) are extremely limited as any additional activities have incredibly marked up prices, in some cases exceeding the cost of lodging. The staff are extremely indifferent when misleading resort guests for pricing on activities as well as children’s activities. They blame the Indonesian Government instead of doing simple arithmetic and making fare advertisements as “all-inclusive”. Service with a smile.

For reference, the prices for everything at the resort equals or exceeds the prices of Sentosa Island in Singapore.

Normally, for a resort experience this is of no concern, but here at Nirwana an additional 21% service charge and tourism tax per head adds up to astronomical charges.

Also a sidenote, if you are of African descent you may find yourself confronted with blackface cartoons on the ferry ride over. I witnessed a distraught gentlemen berating the ship’s crew, who instead of turning off the racist media - turned up the volume in misinterpretation. The cartoon apparently was so offensive even White and Indian passengers joined in protest. You will probably see the video on YouTube if you look for it (“racist cartoon Bintan Nirwana 2020 ferry”)

That ride became an interesting experience as this was during CNY and seasick passengers were liberally vomiting their CNY bounties away, many in tears because of the waste of their cherished snacks, which were noisely unpacked and devoured well before the ship was underway.

As for the demographics its nothing different for S.E. Asia, many mainland Chinese guests ransacking buffets with the other dining room guests looking on as if watching a nat geo special on Hyenas. Whilst the resort staff are continuously in a fervour of restocking the spread and attempting to clear the path for all other guests.

Upon check-in from the ferry, non of the non-stop advertisements for diving activities were in existence due to “Monsoon” season. Essentially, resort guests were subject to a half hour-long false advertisement campaign and expectations for most were set.

Even when attempting to enjoy the Nirwana eco-system of resort activities, shuttle services were insufficient to actually get groups of people anywhere. The Shuttles were equipped with 24 seats for often times, 40 or more resort guests. Getting on a shuttle can quickly turn into a battle royale.

As far as attempts in environmental conservation efforts, the Spice restaurant should be awarded for their efforts in recycling their bread items continuously throughout the day and supplying paper straws, no Naan bread is wasted here. If you order Naan bread for dinner you may instead receive day old bread, your mileage may vary. However, It feels good knowing the restaurant is doing their part whilst the entire Mayang Sari resort is inundated with petroleum fumes from the nearby oil refinery. Its all par for the course and just another beautiful day at the tar covered beach here.

Not sure if its the cargo ships or the nearby oil refinery, but a walk on the beach will blacken your feet. Hotel management has stations setup with tar removal supplies. Kudos to them for that.

The rooms and employees look worn-out. They certainly do their very best to appease all, though you can feel something about the whole experience certainly feels strange.

The weekly outdoor bbq event makes up for all the other deficiencies, that is if you can actually manage to fight through the crowd to get food on your plate.

If you bring kids, they nickel and dime for everything. Dinner, lunch, and even breakfast 33 sgd for 4 year olds - totally ridiculous. If Spirit Airlines managed a resort it would be this place. Bottled water - extra. Breakfast for Young...