The Banyu Biru Villas look nice but unfortunately only from the outside. Once you step inside, you realize how run down are the villas! My last visit was 10 years ago and it looks like nothing has been done to maintain the villas: the villas are really run down. They should be entirely repainted, the bathrooms have added visible pipes, the new aircon units have been quickly added with the previous holes still visibles. The hard wood floor must have been nice when it was installed but it is now in a completely unacceptable condition. Not to mention the furniture which is simply horrible. The mattresses are simply awful and the decoration is that of a motel on a US highway. For those expecting the quality and taste found in hotels in Bali, be prepared to be seriously disappointed.

Our villa's just 3 mins from the beach, with a porch facing the sea. Spacious and simple. There are 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, a kitchen, a dining area and a living room. Generally clean and acceptable.

There's a buggy service that comes to us whenever we call (even though the person may have some difficulty understanding English).
The shuttle bus can scoot us to the Kelong restaurant and other parts of Nirwana resort from the main lobby, but watch out cuz it does not allow standing passengers.
The only complaint is that the bus that connects the ferry terminal to Nirwana resort had been quite a wait and my luggage was missing in action for quite some time because goods and human were on separate vehicles.

Bad things aside, the beach was simply amazing.

We were allowed early check-in at 12.30pm after arriving from our ferry. Staff around the resort grounds are friendly and responsive when we chat with them, less so when we needed them to send things to our villa.

We had 4 adults but only 2 towels provided when we entered our villa. No bath mats or dish racks were provided too. The phone in the living hall was faulty - this is the very 1st time i encounter this on holiday! Took us quite a while to finally get through to them to change the phone. Extra towels took 2 hrs and at least 3 calls to arrive. Buggy service to bring us to the resort lobby or resort centre was also slow. Walking would take about 15 mins if you didn't mind the scorching sun.

The villa was also old and could do with some refurbishment. The bedrooms were all situated upstairs and this could be a problem for elderly who have to climb the winding stairs many times a day.

The villa was TERRIBLY run down. Air con in all 3 rooms were leaking when we arrived. The leak was so bad that the water soaked through the daybed that was under the aircon and dripped onto the wooden floorboard. A large area of the floor was damp and sticky as a result.

The rooms had a musty smell from all the dampness and were definately not conducive for staying. When we requested for a change in villa, the staff turned us down immediately and said they were fully booked, despite us seeing alot of EMPTY  villas throughout the time we were there.

The TV remote in the master room was missing and when we requested for a new remote the staff said it had been missing for 3 months and they won't be able to replace it within the 3 days we were there, which makes us wonder Why they didn't replace it during the 3 months in the first place.

It rained on the 2nd day and the roof  LEAKED! The master room bed frame was broken, room safe was spoilt and room door to the 2nd bedroom jammed and had to call the staff to get a locksmith.

Bintan have such nice sandy beaches but it's a pity the resort by Costa sands is so terribly maintained.