253 330
BINTAN
253
January14
With nice memories of it from that time,
I hired two villas for my daughter’s 18th
birthday and she invited some friends.
Each villa had its own kitchen, with
separate living and dining rooms; there’s
also a larger four-bedroom villa called the
Nirwana Villa.
My daughter and her friends were
kind of independent, though I was a few
minutes away down the road in another
villa. The accompanying golf buggies for
getting around the property also made
them feel grown-up and were a huge
novelty – luckily none of the buggies
ended up in the sea!
The three-bedroom villa can sleep
seven with an extra mattress, so it can
work out fairly economically. The rack
rate is S$1,000 a night for the three-
bedroom one, but there’s usually a deal
on offer. Check on the website; recently
there was an offer of $590 including
buffet breakfast, transfers from the ferry
terminal, Wi-Fi and golf buggy.
We hired a barbecue for the night;
you can cook the food yourself or get
someone to cook for you. The catering
– we had satay and fried rice – was
Singapore prices, but that’sBintan for you.
As with most places in the region, do
consider the seasons when you book. We
sent friends toBintan for their honeymoon
while they were visiting us and it rained for
the whole four days. “No problem!” you
might be thinking, but they had their eight-
year-old stepson with them. They played
lots of games of table tennis and cards to
keep him occupied.
One or two of the villas could do with
updating, but the space is good and if
you get the sea-view ones it really is a
spectacular place on a sunny day – you
forget you are so close to the metropolis!
Indra Maya Villas is an easy option
for a Singapore break; you can choose
to cook in or eat out – whatever suits.
You can send the others off to explore
the mangroves or try the water sports
while you lie by the pool or do whatever
gives you your switch-off time. I think it’s
a great alternative for when you have
visitors staying.
indra.nirwanagardens.com