A short getaway to Montigo Resort (Batam)

A short getaway from Singapore to Montigo Resort in Batam. While all think that ferry to Batam departs at Harbourfront terminal, please note that the nearest ferry terminal to Montigo resort is Nongsa. We took Batam Fast ferry and a return ticket costs around SGD$46. Do note that you can purchase an open ticket for the return trip so that you can decide when and where to take the ferry back. In the end, we took the ferry back from Batam Centre after visiting Nagoya Hill Shopping mall. 

Price:

Back to the blogging on the resort. We booked the Hilltop Villa via their own website. We managed to book it at around SGD$425 per villa per night (for 4 persons) through a Flash deal promotion. It is noted that a fifth person can be accommodated and has to pay SGD$100+ per night. 

Service:

Montigo resorts provided a shuttle service (to be pre-arranged) to bring us to the Resort from Nongsa ferry terminal. It was around a 5-10 minutes ride. Check in time is at 3pm but you could check in early if there is availability of room. Check out is at 11a.m. Montigo also provides a shuttle service to Nagoya Hill Shopping Mall at 10am (well, it was late when we took it at 10.40am the next day) and back at 4pm (which we did not take). The journey was around 45 minutes to an hour depending on the traffic. 

I have to say, Montigo staff at the reception lobby were very attentive. When we alighted the shuttle bus, we were given a glass of welcome drink and a cold towel. Then as we proceeded to the lobby, a staff was 'appointed' to do the check in process for us. He also went on to tell us about the floor plan of the resort and did some introduction. Do note that we have to give SGD$100 as deposit which will be returned upon check out unless we spent on something during the stay. Well, do prepare the notes if not, charge a million rupiah to your credit card!

Here's the first few views I saw at Montigo Resort:

the first look at Montigo Resort

As the villa was not ready, we were being shuffled to TADD’s by buggy service to have lunch. While, as it was Hari Raya, they had a buffet lunch promotion at around SGD$25++ for the festive where drinks were not included. In the end, we paid around 1.6 million rupiah for 4 persons - I have to say, a pretty expensive meal in Batam. the variety of the food was not that great and some were beef which I do not take. The appetizers were special and spicy enough to perk the stomach. The desserts which are mostly kuehs were good too. Just that the mains were so so.

Here's some of the food we had with  a nice gloomy view - Lucky Sun was not on our side and it started raining there. What a letdown when we are supposed to be under the sun swimming!

The Lunch - not that fantastic and an expensive one!

After the lunch, we took the buggy back to the reception lobby. Lucky for us, the villa was ready and there we went to the start of the retreat! 2 card keys were given to us - 1 was to slot into the card slot to activate the electricity while the other is for us to use when we were out of the villa - we did only once, that was to have our breakfast the next day!

Without further ado, here's the pictures of the ground floor of the villa - with the living room + kitchenette, the dining table next to the private pool. A private pool that we spent most of the time at. It was a little 'dirty' and we reckon it could be due to the downpour earlier on. 

A wii machine is found at the TV area and 2 controllers were available. A NBA game disc was there as well and we tried to play. Only one controller is working and well, that marks the end of our touch with the wii. We did try to call the reception for more games and only Mario driving game is available. I told them to deliver to our villa and not sure of it is due to some communication breakdown, the game disc never arrived!

Level 1 of the Villa - the place we spent most of the time at

Next level up is the 2 bedrooms. A master bedroom with a pretty big washroom - a bathtub sitting in the middle of the washroom! A double bed was fantastic and there is a long sofa (I think there will be where the fifth person can make him or herself comfortable!).

The bedrooms on the second floor

 Well, I cannot resist but to capture the art pieces there. The painting, the decorations were really very captivating for me. What say you?

Can't resist the art pieces!

Spent the rest of the afternoon soaking in the private pool. With fun and laughter, chit chatting with the girls. Bonding time is the best quality time ever! I love! 

Soon, it was time for the sun to rest.. Pretty sunset by the sea. Taken by the pool.. Nice!

What beats a nice sunset with friends... on ground level

Off to the rooftop for some more pretty views of the sunset....

Up to the rooftop for a better view

Good things come to an end fast! real fast! Day 2 came in a twinkle of the eye. Here's the complimentary breakfast at the same place we had the lunch yesterday. We all agreed that breakfast was indeed much better than the lunch. Well, typical international breakfast buffet. One nice dish to talk about would be the prata and its curry sauce. The curry sauce was actually jackfruit flavoured. They used Jackfruit to cook the curry. Sweet and spicy made the prata tasted better! I like!

Breakfast is the best meal of the day!

More views of the common pool on a sunny day. How nice was it! Definitely better than yesterday! I hope for one more day to be spent there but reality set in real quick!

The main pools

The Tiigo Bar which only served the adults. Here's how it looks in the day!

Well, the rest of the resorts!

Shall be back soon to enjoy more of the common facilities in the resort. For the price we paid, for the service we had, I think this is rather a good choice. Away from the bustling city in just 40 minutes, who would mind going to Batam!

From here, we took the shuttle service to Nagoya Hill shopping mall. Not much time to shop as we went for a (not-that-fantastic) massage! Should have used that time to spend in the hypermart!

I think I will be back here soon... the hypermart was irresistible!