We visited Nirwana Gardens - Nirwana Resort Hotel for a weekend getaway. Firstly, the check-in process at the Tenah Merah Ferry Terminal was very easy and quick. The ferry ride was comfortable, but take some sea-sickness tablets if you're prone to getting sea-sick (the ride was a bit topsy turvy at times). Once we arrived in Indonesia, the immigration process was VERY time consuming. We have Australian passports so we had to get a 7-day visa (USD$10 - tip take USD for the visa, you pay less than you would with SGD). Once we got the visa ticket, we were the last in the immigration line and had to wait for nearly 1 hour to go through immigration. It was frustrating, but not neccessarily a bad thing because all the people that got through quickly had to wait for us on the hotel shuttle bus anyway. So either way, arriving in Indo takes some time - be patient!

The hotel is about 10 mins away from the ferry terminal. Upon arrival, we were greeted with a nice welcome drink and a traditional Indonesian dance - which was nice. Check-in was relatively easy, but since we arrived around 12pm (and check-in is a 3pm) we had to wait a little (approx 40 mins) for our room to be ready.

The hotel grounds are nice and well spread out. The Poolside Bar and Restaurant serves some good fresh Asian and Western food. Dino's Bistro has some great pizza and a good view of the ocean - so it was nice to chill there, have a beer and relax. The coffee shop is where breakfast is served. In terms of food, a MUST TRY is the Thai Restaurant - Bayan Aarya - absolutely FANTASTIC food and an awesome atmosphere. Don't think Spice Restaurant - the food was shocking! The buffet breakfast as the Coffee Shop was great - a good spread of asian delights (e.g rendang, noodles, stir-fried vegies etc), western food (e.g. pancakes, bacon, eggs, puddings, sausages, baked beans etc) and good fruits. In terms of alchol - drinks are expensive (SGD$13 for cocktail +GST + Tax), so take a few cans of beer along with you and maybe a bottle of wine. Corkage is expensive though, approx SGD $15 - SGD $30 per bottle.

The hotel room was nice (we got a basic room) - spacious but outdated. The bed was comforable, had a good quilt and the pillows were nice. The bathroom upon initial inspection seemed dingy, but turned out to be really clean and the hot water was fantastic - very hot! The room was well-airconditioned and spacious.

The best thing about the resort was the pool - it was an infinity pool and really spacious. There was a jacuzzi and a kids pool. Limited seating undercover, so get there early in the morning and bag a couple of beach chairs - they run out quickly! The pool was clean and there was a swim up pool bar.

Lastly, make a booking to get a spa treatment with Bintan Spa Salon. For $69 you can get a 190min treatment including facial/mask, body scrub and 90min massage. Just a 90 min massage is $45 - awesome value. The salon is based in Oleh Oleh and if you book in advance, the salon sends a car to the hotel to pick you up and take you there. The trip back is every 30 mins - so you might have to wait a few minutes. Oleh Oleh shopping was a waste of time - so don't go there. Absolutely nothing to see expect a few delapidated shops and a bit of a waste of time.

The beach at Nirwana Gardens was nice (not spectacular but nice), unfortunately there was tar in the sand so our feet got stained (the stains were easily removable with the oil provided by the Club House - next to the pool). So we didn't go swimming in the beach - but it was nice to look at.

Massages on the beach are SGD $39++.

Overall a good stay, value for money, good food, very relaxing and I recommend it!

Must do's include: pool, Thai restaurant and Dino's bistro with a beer.

The Nirwana Gardens Hotel is a sprawling piece of real estate on Bintan island - the guard gate is some 2km from the hotel entrance! The hotel is thus very isolated with only sister properties located relatively nearby. It's the sort of place you retreat to and don't emerge from until the holiday's over.

The best thing's the beach - it's spectacular, with a shallow bay, powdery white sands, shimmering sea - and it's virtually deserted, as the hotel is only property on the whole expanse of beach! With waving coconut palms and forest around, it's simply stunning.

The hotel is a large complex, 3-stories with two wings, restaurant, convention center, gymnasium, bungalows, infinity swimming pool by the beach, business center, extensive manicured gardens, koi pond, mini zoo – the works.

There’s beach massage, a new Japanese restaurant by the beach, and enough rooms and facilities to swallow massive conventions. And perhaps that’s the problem for some – it’s not one of those cosy getaways, nor an intimate experience.

It’s also old, and it shows in the design and overall layout of the beach hotel, but it’s well maintained. My room was very large and clean and everything worked, but I couldn’t get away from the impression that it was dated, although there’s nothing wrong per se with the wood-rattan-bamboo tropical theme.

Food at the massive dining hall is average – large hotel fare, but service was good, delivered Indonesian-style, with a smile.

An army of workers cleans the beach every morning of the debris swept up by the sea – to their credit, the beach looks pristine, but was marred by oil deposits when I was there, and it’s very rocky just offshore. Just away from the resort, the buildup of junk on the beach – probably a consequence of being just off busy shipping lanes – really marred the beauty of the environment.

Overall, it’s a very pleasant experience, but it’s mass tourism, and large groups do check in, although, thanks to the size of the hotel, it’s possible to find many quiet spots. If you want to get away for a weekend to vegetate by the beach with a good book, this hotel is worth a visit. It’s not particularly intimate, nor is the memory of the place particularly special, but it’ll be hassle free.

Pros:
Relatively easy trip from Singapore
Very good breakfast buffet
Nice pool

Cons:
Facility needs updating
No poolside service, just a swim-up bar
Some rooms need updating
Restaurants were just ok

We originally booked the deluxe room - queen. The room was small and tired. I would be fine with this for half the price. Instead, we paid even more to get a one bedroom suite which had been renovated. Honestly, if we had not seen the first room, I would have a better impression of this place. At check-in, I asked for an upgraded room (as TripAdvisor reviewers suggest) and the desk staff seemed not to understand my request.

The kids club looked average, but our children opted to stay in the pool.

Indeed if anyone were to need sometime to get away from the stress in Singapore, I will suggest Nirwana Garden,From the day I made my Booking with Ms Astuti, my booking of the rooms and our meals were all well taken care by her esp the vegetarian meal from my husband. She arrange with the Food and Beverage Manager ( Edward ) to look into our dinner meal. Edward the Food n Beveragemanage did a fantastic job, he see to it that our meal are well taken care of esp my Husband vegetarian meal
This i must say she has indeed make our holiday stay a memorable one especial the outstanding standard of the western food that were prepared. I must say the Western Food is really Highly recommended as they were really authentic spiced with good spices n herbs, Thanks to the Chief Cook and his team member.Service wise by the staff was great as they are always very friendly every where from the swimming pool to the dining place. HIghly recommend for family with Children .
For the evening at certain evening , there is a great band called ´´Libere`´ plse do not give it a miss.One of the evening I have a great dinner meal accompanied by this Band playing .A unique Singing Band with good vocal. So all these makes our trip Great!!
One set back is the door ledge that need to improve so that when closing the door by the neighbours , it should be sound proof,,we hope to go back the next time n this small matter is resolved in most of the hotel rooms