20
Jun
2010
My husband just returned from an 8 night stay at Ria Bintan WOW !!!! . Even though there were alot negative reports here we still decided to book anyway . For anyone thinking about visiting dont think twice - just do it. It has been one of the most enjoyable holidays ever and different experience.Jun
2010
Arrival - No hickups from Tannah Merrah ferry terminal to Bintan - easy all went well.
Service - Rooms serviced daily, clean, air-conditioning worked well -we were in sea view room but facing the back rather than front of resort. Next time we will choose wings on the opposite side.
The staff ( GO’s ) at the reception desk assisted us efficiently and quickly when we needed some assistance. Resturant staff were friendly and made you feel welcomed they showed us to our tables every day. Its actually quite good how the GOs also come and sit with you we enjoyed meeting them this way to.
Philippe was great the Chief of the Village – always around making sure guest were happy.
The GOs go out of there way to help you, get you involved with all that is happening if you want to get into the sports activities and other land activities.
Food – well what can I say superb… we thought – my husband and I thought the buffet food was great also the gorgeous Terrace restaurant on the beach ala carte. Really really nice.
Each night at the Waterfall Restaurant ( Buffet style) a different theme, Asian, Indian, Italian, Indonesian etc.. so much to choose from
Deserts they were our favourites from creme brule to the best tiramisu I have had.
Snacks foods – Each day between meal times near the pool bar heaps of various hot and cold snacks came out. Food was endless. ( Tip - keep moving and active to try and burn the cals if you can)
Cocktails and mixed drinks – that was amazing, You will love those if you go. I drank quite a few at the time.
Activities – well organized everyday by GOs , everything ran on time. My husband and I got involved with pretty much all that was going on each day. Such activities included sailing, kayaking, snorkeling, water aerobics every day at 11.30 we did the Yoga at 9.30 most days, we did archery that was fun, waterpolo, waterbasketball. We did the crazy signs and dancing in the pool, salsa dancing was on but didn’t get to that. We did the ping pong tournaments, the dart tournaments threw in a few cocktail in between activities to keep us hydrated. ( and snacks of course )
Trapeze was on most days but I was scared of heights so didn’t do it.
Nightly entertainment – was great some shows were geared for kids like Harry Potter Show, Lots of shows involved the GOs doing dancing, comedy acts and other things.
The best show was the Trapeze, We also did the Golf Night BBQ – eating out at the Bintan Golf course on and getting tips on golfing moves – more for golfer than me though. Nick did a great job
Each night after the 9pm show there is the Crazy Signs dancing where all the guests are encouraged to do the dancing as a group. It was really great fun if you like dancing ..
All the GOs we met were great and we got to know quite a few well - like David from Mauritius who works in the Gift Shop, Git ( Gidon ) the GO from South Africa Mr Trapeze , Bren the Life Guard, Nick the Golfer GO from Boston and so on.
As we don’t have children I can’t comment on this but just from observations the GOs have the mini club med running all day everyday and the kids are constantly kept occupied.
In general the level of professionalism and the way the whole club med empire was run is far beyond what we could have imagined. In a couple of cases we saw, I believe they even went overboard to try and accommodate the desires of particular group of people. In this case this group of people were only prepared to eat food which only originated from their own country and the chef went out of his way to cook meals up for this group.
Just a little of our experience: - We do travel a lot and have looked at going to club med previously and have always chosen other destinations instead. After this experience we will definitely be going to another clubmed or Bintan because we enjoyed it so much.
