Stayed here for a weekend getaway with my girlfriend in March of last year for one night. We had a special rate via one of those group buying sites. Making the reservation was a bit of a hassle as the reservation agent was a bit lost in the terms and conditions of the coupon we had and when you had to book by; very annoying and frustrating to have to deal with that but it eventually got sorted out. Fortunately we acted rather quickly upon acquiring the coupon but I would hate to wonder what would happen to people that booked a week or two later.
Bintan is a fantastic “escape” from Singapore ; very close by ferry, and –depending on where you stay- a real isolated and beautiful place. Angsana sits next to sister property Banyan Tree and together they have lush acreage of golf courses, beach, jungle and sand! You really feel quite removed from it all.
I first stayed at Angsana with my family nearly a decade earlier and it was quite a nice place back then. Not much has changed since then – which is both a pro and a con. The con being the fact that the hotel is starting to look a bit dated.
Rooms were being refurbished when we stayed. We were put into a newly refurbished room which was nice even though we had twin beds (specifically had checked to ensure we were put into a queen/king bed). They did have that available however it was a non-refurbished room. We had a look at that and to be honest it was rather depressing; looked stuck in time (and not the stuck in time in a good way) so the renovations of the rooms were coming at the right time I would say and with the new décor, the rooms are quite nice. Not sure if the renovations are complete now but I would imagine they are. The staff went above and beyond because of our troubles with the room and to our surprise stuck a bottle of wine in the room after lunch which we really appreciated. The service here is great and a highlight of the hotel.
The rest of the hotel is nice; nothing to write home about but nothing terrible either. Service is generally decent and pleasant in the restaurants, food is OK. We headed next door to the Banyan Tree for dinner. Food there was so-so. Not worth the price in my opinion. But with Bintan, everything is usually more expensive than usual due to the remoteness of the place. We only had lunch and breakfast at Angsana which was alright.
The thing we most enjoyed though was the beach. It is really beautiful and actually one of the better beaches in the region in my opinion. For the beach, they had freshly cleaned the beach when we were there (rake attached to the back of a tractor) so the place looked beautiful. And with beautiful weather and hardly any crowds, it was a really REALLY nice setting. That was the best part of the resort. The property and location is really fantastic.
Pool is also decent, although the pool deck and tiling looked like it needed some maintenance.
All-in-all it was a good trip. Did it knock my socks off overall? No. But was it bad? No.
Despite the dated feel of the hotel in general, the quality service and the setting made up for it, and for Bintan, you can't really be in a much better area I think.
Despite the fact we had a deal, I personally find the prices for Angsana a bit on the high-side for what you get (hence why I rank the value so low). I guess that is just a measure of location, costs, and the economy, but with Bintan, you don't have too many options.
- Angsana Hotel Bintan
- Angsana Hotel
