As I mentioned in my previous post, the Batam trip was a disaster. I was actually looking forward to some rest and relaxation. Rest and relaxation I did have, but not the way I thought it would turn out. When I arrived at Batam, it was close to noon. The hotel sent a car to pick up the guests going there, so I went into a van together with a few people.
It was a short trip, probably less than ten minutes drive from the ferry terminal to the hotel. Initially I was impressed because the hotel looks like a Balinese villa. We had to enter a big hall with two pavilions and a fountain before reaching the main lobby, which is open space.
That is where my impression ended. The place looks run down, furniture was nice but dusty. The place looks as if no one has maintained it. I checked in at the lobby, and realise the hotel rooms are all situated on top of a hill behind the lobby. The welcome drink was cool and refreshing, and they asked when I would like to go for the trekking and spa.
It was still raining, so I took a rain check first, but I booked the spa in the evening. After that, one of the staff took me to the room. He only showed me how to go, but did not actually bring me there. I wonder if I had been carrying a bigger luggage instead of just an overnight bag, would he have helped me take to the room?
I had to go down a flight of stairs from the main lobby, past the dining area. After that I had to walk behind past the swimming pool, where the water does not look that clean. Then I had to go up about hundred steps just to reach the rooms that look as if they are situated in a dormitory hostel. The rooms face a forest of sorts, so I got bitten by a few big red ants on my way up.
Finally I reached the room. The room is spacious at least, but there are no facilities. No television, no refrigerator, not even a safe. There is nothing in the drawers, no menu, no writing paper, no pen, not even a Bible.
I checked the bed and it felt comfortable at least. There is a balcony attached that overlooks the swimming pool and hillside beyond that, as well as the lotus pond that also looks very poorly maintained. However, the balcony comes with a wooden door, so there is no glass door that I can see out. Furthermore the balcony was dusty. I seriously wonder if anyone did housekeeping there?
I got an even bigger shock when I turned on the tap in the bathroom. The water was brown and murky! I did not even dare to boil any of that! I grabbed the two bottles of mineral water in the room and used that throughout.
After checking out the room, I went to the cafe for lunch. Food was good but not of much variety. The dining area is open air and face the golf course, again another badly maintained golf course. Since it is open air, flies and mosquitoes were swarming around.
I was supposed to go trekking after lunch, but since it was still raining, the ground was wet and I was still feeling seasick, hence the trekking was called off. I decided to change the spa session to after lunch instead of the evening. The spa facilities are next to the swimming pool, which are not very impressive, as I did not feel the spa environment. Still, the massage session was good, and when it was time to shower, I took the opportunity to thoroughly clean and scrub all over as I did not want to use the shower in the room.
After that I had nothing much to do. The hotel was quite far from the city centre and they did not provide transport, which means if I wanted to explore, I would have to take a cab there and then take a cab back. So I could not be bothered to go anywhere and just stayed in the room and read a book. At least I finally managed to catch up on some overdue reading!
Next day, my ferry was supposed to be in the afternoon, but I did not wish to stay any longer, so after breakfast, I arranged for an earlier ferry. The staff brought me to the ferry terminal, and I boarded the ferry back.
What an experience! It was really not a pleasant experience for me this time round. Hopefully the next package would be better since it would be a hotel stay around the city area, sight-seeing, meals and spa together. And that was still a cheaper package as compared to this!
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