Hotel Bintan Nirwana

A couple of marts nearby have local snacks, since the hotel shop doesn't offer much variety. We ate at the hotel for two days, then at the last minute took a hotel taxi to a local Warung. It cost 200,000 IDR for a ride of about 15 minutes, and it was a great call. The chicken rice was tasty and only 4,000 IDR, and my husband liked the oxtail soup's local flavor. Watch out, though, the local food can be very spicy. For the ferry, make sure you choose the terminal at BBT, just 15-20 minutes from the hotel. The other terminal can take 1.5-2 hours by car. The hotel has a free shuttle from BBT, which is very convenient.

Breakfast was the weak part of an otherwise good-value stay. It wasn't enjoyable, especially if you can't eat oily food. There was no milk or proper spread for toast, and the food was already getting cold just 15 minutes into breakfast, with no reheating. The room conditions and service were better than the price might suggest, and breakfast is included. The stay itself is really cheap if you're a foreigner. Recommended if you don't care much about hotel breakfast.

All three rooms they gave us were on B1, and there were several kinds of bad smell. We arrived around 11am and, although we'd booked three rooms and many seemed available, they only let us check into one. We understand check-in is at 2pm. The receptionist was unfriendly when we asked where to eat and go, even though it was our first visit. We were also told we'd get a 50% discount when booking the message, and we double-checked before booking. When we paid after the message, they said it was only 30%. That really upset us. It was a bad stay for our group.

The location worked well for getting to food markets, a spa, a doctor, grocery stores and other places. The service was friendly, and the place was clean and neat. I did have a couple of issues: it took a long time for the shower water to heat up, and they don't provide a hair dryer. Still, I had a pleasant stay.