This is a very 'business' hotel which caters quite a lot for business travellers. I see quite a few conference going on during my 2 days there. This hotel is pretty far away from the ferry terminal. Nothing much to do nearby. IT was good enough for hubby and me as we are not looking at much shopping, but a place to relax and rest. Pool was big and clean. Food at the hotel was generally nice. Ordered light snacks to eat after some time of dipping in the pool. Seem to have some pool BBQ but it's under renovation.

Room was big and spacious enough for both of us. But the hot water shower is cold. Bed was spacious too but only 2 pillows. I forgot why we didnt ask for extra pillows.

Ordered room service and the food tasted pretty good. Cheap and nice. We were glad we ordered room service instead of wandering around the place to look for food.

The tour package included the free ride from the ferry terminal to the hotel, but it is a good 15 minutes. We got the Superior Room which come with free WiFi coverage. The room was nice and spacious, and very comfortable. There's a nice pool, where we spotted another couple having candlelight dinner just beside it. They offer dimsum buffet for lunch but we didn't try it. The staff is also very friendly. Only problem is the location, but if you can arrange transportation with the local tour guides, it should be fine. However, the drivers are mostly Malay and do not speak much English.

The hotel is in the middle of nowhere, 30 min from the ferry terminal, No shopping or restaurants around. Service is very basic and simple although the staff, in general terms, show a good attitude.
Rooms are big and clean although I had a very bad and unnaceptable experience: I discovered, unfortunately too late, that there was not toilet paper in the bathroom,... you can imagine the experience.
The restaurant is clean and nice but the food variety is poor and scarce; I had to call the waiter on several occasions to request more food at the buffet ba, most of the food containers were totally empty. Smiling, being kind and nice is not enough, the staff need to show a real commitment to customer satisfaction.

We first arrived in our room, noticing that the aircon was not working, so we called the reception. They sent someone up to service our aircon after several reminders (45mins wait). It was in the afternoon, so we decided to head out in hope to return to functioning airconditioned room, after exploring the island. Before leaving, we informed the serviceman that he can just come in to service even if we're not in the room.

Imagine our dismay when we returned around 8pm (indo time), with the aircon still not fixed. Called the reception at once and they said they will look into it. Over the next hour, we made 3 similar calls to the reception due to their tardiness in sending the serviceman over. An hour later, the serviceman was still no where to be seen. Imagine how it felt like to return to the hotel after a hot day out and finally return hoping to unwind and relax only to find yourself in a stuffy room with faulty aircon that you have requested to be fixed earlier on.

We made another call after the hour, only to be hung up by the receptionist after her quick and rude reply of "looking for another room". This was the tipping point. Who gets hung up for bad service, seriously. We stormed down to the reception and they gave us a change of room then.

I would not penalize the whole service crew, but the female receptionist who hung up on us made us feel really disregarded as customers, much less guests of the hotel. This incident just happened and I'm writing this immediately so that it would be a fresh and true account.

Perhaps it was just that one female receptionist (working on 22/06/2012, afternoon to night shift, cause we didn't get her name). Overall, I do recommend staying at the resort cluster if you are coming to bintan (instead of this hotel). Because the town area (which Aston quoted as being near to) does not have much entertainment, probably closest to how Singapore was like in the 1970s.

Enough of the ranting, just a piece of advice on my part. Enjoy all your stay in bintan!
PS: Seafood here is cheap (: