Very Good Service. Efficient and friendly. Stayed at the Villa on the Rocks. Honestly, i'd been rather worried reading some of the reviews about cleanliness and insect infestations. So much so that i'd even emailed the resort with my concerns and they assured me that my room would be worry-free. Upon arrival, transfer was smooth and the villa was very good and clean. I only have one complaint, in that the shower blinds, after rolling out, were rather filthy, as were the bottom edges of the window pane. Perhaps the resort might invest in some mould remover? Other than that everything was good! We enjoyed the jacuzzi on the outside deck as well as the in room dining experience. We only stayed one night as we only had a short amount of holidays and were going to singapore for most of the period for some shopping, but we enjoyed it very much. Recommended for couples who are willing to dough out a bit extra for rest and relaxation (romance too!)

The thing you need to realize before you stay at the Banyan Tree (any Banyan Tree) is that it is going to cost a lot of money. I would say that if staying at the Banyan Tree means you can't afford another few nights somewhere else as part of your holiday, don't stay here. It cost us $1000 a night once all the extras were added (food, airport transfer, massages etc.) and there is no escaping the fact that it's not five times better than a hotel that costs $200 a night for example.

With that said, if you can afford it, the Banyan Tree is outstanding. The staff are all incredibly helpful, and utterly dedicated to the goal of helping you to have a relaxing time.

My wife and I had a pool villa, which was amazing. Having your own pool is really a treat, although if you don't go for one of those rooms, there are a couple of very nice swimming pools in the resort. The villa itself was in good condition (some people have said it's in need of refurbishment, and that will be happening next year, but honestly, there is nothing specifically wrong with it now), with a comfortable bed, excellent showers (one of which was outside) etc.

Food at the resort was good, and the massages we had were first class.

All told, for a piece of real luxury, the Banyan Tree is worth a visit.

One tip for visiting any resort on Bintan. Assuming you are traveling there from Singapore using the Bintan Resort Ferry, pay the extra for the Emerald Class ticket (I think it's SGD20 more), since the ferry lets the Emerald Class passengers off the boat first, which puts you at the front of what can become a very long, and very slow queue at the immigration desk.

1) Check-in went smoothly (although it was a little bit slow) and the complimentary drinks to welcome us was lovely.
2) Since we e-mailed the villa before arriving there to ensure that we get good services/rooms etc, so we infact did get a very lovely room. Aside from the hot water not working but the service men came quickly to fix it.
3) The outdoor jacuzzi took a while for it to heat up.
4) Dinner in Saffron was excellent! Food was fantastic!
5) In room service was very good! fast delivery of food =)
6) Breakfast at tree top restaurant was very pleasing although it would be nicer to sit outside on the deck. Few tables set up outside with the large deck space, could have added another 7-10 tables outdoors.
7) Spa treatments were very lovely.
8) The In-Room-BBQ was just excellent! Though we ordered for 2 pax, we were surprised at the amount of food that came with it!
One comment: It would be better to have a list/selection of food to choose from. Eg: for USD60 you can choose 2 different meats, 3 different seafoods, 3 selection of fruits out of 6 .... something like that. Instead of a pre-set package as not all guests will want some of the food listed in the package and would ask to replace it with some other selection available.

Overall, it was a very lovely stay for us. We would come back again in the near future with the price of the resort to take into consideration. Else, it was a memorable one.

The service staff was excellent, and the ambience really relaxes the mind. The only inconvenience is getting out of the resort, but I guess this applies for every resort in Bintan island.