Bintan worth it?

[desperately seeking]

Desperately want to get out of Singapore this weekend. Have checked out flights but nothing that makes sense for a weekend away available or rightly priced. I've not been to Bintan for years but would be reluctant to part with money for the same kind of value for money this time round. Has anyone been recently? Is it worth another try?

[kids / no kids?]

If you have kids, or are a golfer, I suggest you tru the Bintan Lagoon Resort.  We had a good time there and from what I here from others with kids and also from golfers, they enjoyed it too.

We had a wretched weekend at Angsana because of all the renovation going on there (in May) and were surprised that it was much more expensive than BLR with much less (and much older) facilities.  One of our colleagues was also dissatisfied at the sister facility to Angsana, the Banyan Tree which frankly looks dowdy and at horrible prices.

[OP]

Yes, I have 2 children under 5

Thanks for that kids / no kids? Will take a look but to be honest was put off by the Trip Advisor comments.

[We gave up]

We used to go to Bintan a couple times a year, just for a cheap and quick getaway. We used to stay at Mana Mana Beach Club, which were simple chalets, nothing fancy but tidy and on a very nice sandy cove, the restaurant was good and the staff was really cool. We didn't see a need to stay in the upmarket places on Bintan because we'd been told that dollar for dollar they are just not worth it, and would rather save money for when we take "real vacations". But for cheap and easy, Mana Mana was a good bet, especially for a family. A family of three could have a 4d/3n getaway for around S$700 all in, which was unbeatable.

Over the years, Mana Mana changed hands, was bought over by Nirwana Resorts, which has sucked it up into it's growing tourism complex. Nirwana changed the entire menu of the restaurant, tacked on a few dollars more, and transformed it into a disco on Saturday nights, bussing in loud and campy tourists from their other resorts. Meantime, they've done absolutely nothing to upgrade the chalets which have gotten ugly and run down, things broken.

Earlier this year, we decided to give the place one last chance, but have decided no more! 

They no longer served western breakfast at the beach club. Previosly we'd been able to wake up and stroll out to the beach club and have a nice breakfast and coffee on the beach, instead they decided shuttling us up to some tacky school-style cafeteria that was worse than kids summer camp with awful, greasy local food at astronomical prices. It was so cheap and so overpriced and all of the intimacy of the former beach club was lost.

To add insult to injury, the last time we went, the beach was completely spoiled by thick black globs of oil washed on the shore. The staff did their best to tidy up the globs each morning, but otherwise shrugged it off as business as usual. The beach was virtually unusable for our entire stay and we hadn't been notified beforehand.

So now we are completely turned off from Bintan. Ugh! No more!

[Bin n gone]

We stayed at the Mayang Sari (part of the Nirwana) a year or so ago and it was nice, but apparently not so much at weekends because the ex-Mana Mana place (also owned by them) is just up the beach and can be noisy at weekends (we stayed mid-week and it was peaceful)

We also stayed at Bintan lagoon which was expensive but not that special for the price. 

I did think that if I went back there I might as well stay at Club Med because while I wouldn't bother at most Club Meds (ie Phuket - because usually I like to eat and drink at different restaurants and bars in the local area), there's nothing around Bintan resorts so you might as well stay inclusive and eat at the same place every night and make the most of the freebies.

So for me, first choice if not a weekend would be Mayang Sari - second would be Club Med (because of the lack of variety available around Bintan Resorts).

[cmdsea]

Batam View beach resort is easily reached from tanah merah ferry terminal and is a shorter and cheaper ferry ride than going to Bintan.

The hotel is only so-so but is much better value than anything on Bintan and is quite ok for a short and easy break.

[mana also]

Over the years we have also stayed at former Mana Mana and have to say life has gone down hill for them.  The rest of the resorts are overpriced.  It would be better to fly budget to Phuket and get a decent hotel there.

[Not worth it...]

Bintan has become overpriced and not worth the money. Last time we went we spent 120 on the ferry tickets, 25 US each for the visa, 250 on the room and over 300 for food and drinks for 1 night 2 days. I wouldn't mind spendng that amount if the hotel was nice and the food was good-but it is not.

[yupeety]

been overpriced and overrated for years and years, muppets still defend it though