Club Med Bintan Review: Is This The Perfect Family Getaway From Singapore?

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Club Med Bintan is an all-inclusive resort located on Bintan Island, Indonesia, just a short 1-hour ferry ride from Singapore. It is one of the two Club Med resorts in Indonesia, with the other one located in Bali.

I stayed here for 3 days 2 nights with my husband and daughter. It is our first time staying at a Club Med resort, and also our first all-inclusive experience!

I bet you are researching for Club Med Bintan reviews because you have a million questions, right? Therefore, I’ll try my best to make this review as informative as I can. Hopefully, by the end of this article, you’ll know exactly what to expect when you stay at Club Med Bintan, and you can decide whether it’s for you.

Since my daughter is only 1 year old, this review will be focused more on the perspective of parents with young children.

TABLE OF CONTENT
1. What is Included and What’s Not?
2. Childcare Options for Kids Under 4
3. Is Club Med Bintan Baby-Friendly and Toddler-Friendly?
4. How to Get to Club Med Bintan
5. Check-In
6. The App
7. Superior Room with Balcony
8. Food
8.1. The Waterfall
8.2. The Terrace
9. Drink
9.1. The Santai
9.2. The Panorama
9.3. The Matahari
10. Swimming Pool
11. Beach
12. Activities
13. White Pool Dinner
14. Celebrating Birthday
15. Check-Out
16. Conclusion

What is Included and Not Included in Club Med Bintan?

If you’re new to all-inclusive hotels like us, you might be wondering, is everything really included? What’s actually included and what’s not? You can’t possibly have free spa all day long, right? Well, I’m here to debunk it for you.

Here’s the breakdown of what’s included and what’s not, based on my experience. While these lists aren’t exhaustive and there may be more items I’m unaware of, they should give you a general idea.

Club Med Bintan: Childcare Options for Kids Under 4

Club Med is well-known for its Mini Club Med+ which is a free childcare program for kids aged 4 to 10 years old. But, what about babies and toddlers? Does it mean it’s better not to stay at Club Med if your kids are below 4 years old?

Well, not quite. First of all, kids under 4 years old stay for free! So, if you’ve been hesitating whether to bring your young children, I personally think that it’s a good time to bring your babies and toddlers for a vacation!

Secondly, there are paid childcare/babysitting services that you can book for your kids under 4. These are: Baby Club Med (4 to 23 months old), Petit Club Med (2 to 3 years old), and Ala-Carte Babysitting.

For us, we didn’t engage babysitting or put her in Baby Club Med because I’m still breastfeeding via latching. If I’m sending her to Baby Club Med, that means I need to pump and wash bottles, and those are extra tasks that I do not wish to do on a vacation, haha!

Is Club Med Bintan Baby-Friendly and Toddler-Friendly?

You bet! My daughter was exactly 1 year old when we stayed at Club Med Bintan. I definitely think Club Med is very baby-friendly and toddler-friendly.

Firstly, they provided baby bed for free! But you need to request for it in advance. Secondly, in our room, we received Baby Welcome kit which includes a baby bath tub, warmer, sterilizer, and daily essential pack (body wash, powder, eucalyptus oil and chamomile oil). See photos of the cot, sterilizer and baby bath tub in the room review section further in this article.

In terms of food, there is a Biberonneries, a small room next to the main restaurant where you can find a fridge stocked up with food (jar food, ready-to-eat meals, yoghurt, fruits and milk), as well as food preparation equipments (blender, steriliser, microwave).

My daughter was old enough to eat solid food. We feel that the buffet offers plenty of toddler-friendly food that she can eat. She enjoyed eating pasta, noodles, rice, fish, bread, pancake, and fruits.

As for activities, there is no shortage of family-friendly activities for toddlers. During our stay, there was a bubble-making activity, kite-flying activity, kids shows at the Theatre, and Ranger Buddies program. We were not able to join every single family activities because some clashed with our daughter’s nap time and meal time. If you have an active toddler, he/she will definitely enjoy the kids-friendly activities.

How to Get to Club Med Bintan

To get to Club Med Bintan from Singapore, we took a ferry (Bintan Resort Ferry) from Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal in the east of Singapore to Bandar Bentan Telani Terminal in the north of Bintan.

After arriving at Bandar Bentan Telani Terminal, we registered at Club Med Counter at the terminal. Club Med has a bus that transport guests from the ferry terminal to the resort. The bus will leave when all of the passengers have boarded the bus.

After registering at the counter, our luggage will be tagged and it will be delivered to our room. We don’t need to carry our luggage and bags, yay!

The journey from ferry terminal to Club Med Bintan is only 15 minutes long. You need to pre-book the transport with Club Med in advance.

Club Med Bintan: Check-In

When we arrived at Club Med Bintan, we were greeted by the super-excited G.O.s (Gentle Organizers) as if we were guests of honours! It was a warm and uplifting welcome to the start of our getaway.

It was a hassle-free check-in. No need to queue in the lobby like you do at hotels. Here, we are checked-in immediately by the G.O. with zero waiting time.

Our G.O. served us welcome drink and face towel, gave us bracelets/wristbands that function as the keys to our room, and briefed us about our stay, including the resort layout, the activities, the app, as well as insider tips.

Club Med Bintan: The App

Our G.O. recommended that we download the Club Med App, so we did, and it was a very useful app indeed.

Through the app, you can see the daily schedule of the current day as well as the following days. So, you can easily plan your days.

The app also has a directory of all facilities and amenities, including the opening hours. You can even make reservations to the restaurant or spa using the app.

Through the app, you can submit requests to housekeeping, such as request for room cleaning, or topping up of supplies (shower gel, toiletries, or water bottles).

The app is only accessible during the stay. After checking out, you no longer have access to the content of the app.

Club Med Bintan: Superior Room with Balcony

There are 3 categories of rooms in Club Med Bintan: Superior, Deluxe and Suite. Each category has its own options, some are interconnected with other rooms, some are newly-renovated, and some have sea-views.

Our room is a Superior Room which comes with a balcony and forest view. It’s located at Level 2. Since there is no lift, we had to climb the stairs. Fortunately we didn’t have to carry our luggage on our own, the porters have sent it to our room when we got there.

Our room comes with a king size bed, as well as a baby cot (which we requested in advance). The floors are tiled, unlike renovated rooms which are carpeted.

There is a TV and a work desk for 1. While the chair is nice and comfortable, it’s quite heavy and makes a shrieking sound when dragged. The guests above us dragged their chair a couple of times and the noise was a bit disturbing.

The minibar comes with an electric kettle, several bottles of mineral water, coffees and teas, as well as cups and glasses. Since it’s all-inclusive, we could request for as many bottles of mineral water as we want through the app. There’s also an empty fridge hidden in the cabinet below.

The wardrobe comes with a safe, clothes hanger, extra pillows and slippers. In front of the wardrobe, there is a dressing table with mirror and hair dryer.

The toilet is separate from the bathroom, so there is no problem if one person needs to use the toilet while the other is taking a shower.

The bathroom comes with a shower, and two sinks. The baby bathtub was nicely stored in the cabinet under the sink. In the shower, there were bottles of shampoo, conditioner and body wash mounted on the wall.

On the sink counter, there were hand wash gel, body lotion, as well as disposable toiletries such as dental kit, shaving kit, comb, shower cap and vanity kit.

The balcony comes with a round wooden coffee table and two wooden chairs. Unfortunately, due to the presence of monkeys, we were not able to use the balcony throughout our stay.

There was a time when we opened the balcony door and window widely to enjoy fresh air, and, within a few minutes, an aggressive monkey came to our balcony and almost entered our room. We quickly closed the door and window, and the monkey eventually left.

We were already warned by our GO about the monkeys during check-in, but we didn’t expect the monkey would literally come within MINUTES after we open the door and window. Our hearts were racing so fast, it was such a thrill haha!

Another time, when I walked back to our room, I saw a group of monkeys hanging out outside our room! I was quite scared that they would attack me. Luckily, they went away shortly after.

Club Med Bintan: Food

There are 3 restaurants in Club Med Bintan: The Waterfall, The Terrace and Pondok Ria.

The Waterfall

The Waterfall is the main restaurant that serves buffet for all 3 meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner). I have to admit, before arriving, I thought the food at buffet restaurant is usually of low quality because it’s mass cooked, just like a cruise buffet restaurant. Boy oh boy, how wrong was I! The Waterfall serves the BEST FOOD when compared to the other 2 restaurants.

If the word buffet reminds you of aluminum trays which you have to open to take your food, well, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to know that there aren’t that many aluminum trays here. Instead, most of the food are presented in a very appetising way. The food were nicely plated and I felt like I was fine dining!

There were quite a number of live cooking stations, such as pasta, pizza, stir-fry, and desserts. One thing that I find lacking, though, is fruit juices. I was craving for watermelon juice so I requested one during lunch, but was told they don’t serve it.

I also like the interior of The Waterfall. There is a section at the back which comes with high ceiling; it was gorgeous! The best thing is, they reserved a table for us at this section, so, every time we come, we always go to the same table, woohoo!

One thing I personally feel can be improved about The Waterfall is the operating hours. Their lunch period is only 2 hours, from 12pm to 2pm. Of course, we’re allowed to stay until we finish our meal, but I feel that we’re always rushing during lunch. Maybe we’re slow eaters too, and maybe we spent too much time taking photos and videos haha!

The Terrace

The Terrace is a specialty restaurant that is open for late breakfast, late lunch and dinner. The food here is ala-carte and prepared upon ordering. The Terrace has the BEST VIEW of all three. Located on a cliff, it overlooks the ocean.

Dinner at The Terrace requires advance reservation. We didn’t have the opportunity to eat dinner at The Terrace because it was fully-booked on our first night, and closed on our second night. But we had the chance to come here for late breakfast and late lunch.

Personally, I feel that the food here isn’t as good as The Waterfall. So, just keep your expectations low, ok? We tried grilled squid, fried squid, egg Benedict and Korean ramyeon, and all of these dishes tasted just okay, nothing special.

Pondok Ria is a food truck that serves light bites. We didn’t have opportunity to try the food here, so I have no comment about this.

Club Med Bintan: Drink

There are 3 bars at Club Med Bintan: The Santai, The Panorama, and The Matahari.

The Santai

The Santai is the main bar that is located at Level 1, next to the swimming pool. It has indoor & outdoor seating area. It’s a great place to grab a drink when you’re relaxing by the pool. They have pretty wide selection of alcoholic as well as non-alcoholic drinks. They also have premium beverages which you need to pay extra if you want.

The Panorama

The Panorama is my favorite bar in Club Med Bintan. It serves the BEST COFFEE with latte art, and the view from The Panorama is stunning! From here, you get the bird’s eye view of the pool, as well as the South China Sea!! Unfortunately, they’re not open all-day, they close at 4pm, so you need to get there early.

The Matahari

The Matahari is also called the beach bar. Located right at the beach, The Matahari is the best place to enjoy your drink when you want to enjoy the sea breeze. On some nights, they have late-night live performances.

Club Med Bintan: Swimming Pool

For water lovers, the resort has 2 main swimming pools (upper & lower) where you can swim, participate in aqua classes or pool games. The main pool is an outdoor pool and not shaded; they’re quite deep at 1.7m. There’s also a kids pool at Petit Club, but we didn’t go there.

The opening hours of the main swimming pools is from 9am to 7pm and the lifeguard is on duty throughout the operating hours.

Our daughter went swimming for the first time here at the main pool and she loved it so much! Because we didn’t bring any float, we simply carried her in the pool.

Club Med Bintan: Beach

There are many things you can do at the beach, such as sipping drinks at beach bar, swimming (during our time, swimming at the beach was not allowed due to strong current), or simply relaxing on the sun lounge.

We let our daughter walk on sands for the first time and seeing her reactions was priceless! She was a little of scared of the unstable ground at first, but then she got used to the feeling and happily walk around.

Club Med Bintan: Activities

Similar to cruise, there is a daily schedule stating activities and locations. There are too many activities at Club Med Bintan and the schedule is super jam-packed! I suggest that upon check-in, you take some time to look through the daily schedules and plan your day in advance.

Of course, with a baby in tow, we also had to consider her nap times and meal times. Many times, we couldn’t join the activities that we had intended to join because my baby was already tired, or she was soundly asleep. So, we mostly stick to activities that don’t require strict timings, such as swimming at the pool or playing at the beach. But I will still cover activities that were available but we didn’t get to join, so that you can know what to expect.

Flying Trapeze: Flying trapeze is one of the most popular activities at Club Med Bintan. It always has queue and it looks so fun. We didn’t try it because it clashed with our daughter’s nap time or meal time.

Even though the flying trapeze is operational most of the time, there are different time slots for different age. So, with a young children in tow, it might be challenging to find the time that fits you, unless you’re a father and your wife takes care of your baby!

Family Activities: There’s no shortage of family activities. During our stay, there were bubble making activity, kite-flying activities, Ranger Buddies activities, and theatre shows. If you have older kids, they will have the time of their lives.

Water Sports: Being a beach resort, they also offer water sports such as kayaking, stand up paddling, and snorkeling.

Land Sports: If you’re not a water sport person, there are various land sports as well, such as archery, wall climbing, yoga, tennis, and golf.

One thing that you can be assured of: there’s something for everyone here. You can never be bored at Club Med.

Club Med Bintan: White Pool Dinner

On Saturday evening, both The Waterfall and The Terrace restaurants are closed because it’s the day for White Pool Dinner!

The sun lounges and poolside sofas were removed and replaced with white-clothed dining tables and white chairs, complete with an elaborate banquet-style table setting.

At the middle of the pool, there is a sign that says “BINTAN 2025” and a steel frame with ropes for acrobatic performances. The setting up started in the afternoon, hence, the main pool was closed during this time.

For guests who wanted to have a guaranteed table at the center with unobstructed view, they can place an order for premium beverages or premium seafood before the event. We didn’t opt for the premium seating, therefore, we were assigned a table that’s a bit further from the stage.

The food was a self-service buffet. The buffet lines were placed at the beach. Our favorite food of the evening was seafood, we love the grilled prawns! There were also grilled steaks, sushi, cooked food, and desserts.

During the dinner, there were acrobatic, singing and dancing performances at the center of the pool. We really enjoyed this dinner because it felt vibrant and full of life. The atmosphere was so much more lively and exciting compared to a typical buffet dinner. Many GOs came to talk to us, it was nice to get to know them more.

Celebrating Birthday at Club Med Bintan

This trip is very special to us, because during our stay, our daughter turned ONE! It’s such a milestone birthday. When a baby turns one, she can eat so many things and she’s now a toddler!

We informed the reception about her birthday, and the reception told us they would bring a cake during dinner at The Waterfall.

On the night of her birthday, our table was nicely decorated with a “Happy B’Day” made from grains of rice! WOW, what an effort!

The GO confirmed with us the exact time to bring out the cake and we agreed. So, at the agreed time, a group of GOs came to our table while singing and brought the cake! It was so fun! Because my baby won’t remember this, I recorded the entire singing thing which I’ll show her when she gets older haha!

Club Med Bintan: Check-Out

After spending a memorable 3D2N at Club Med Bintan, it was finally time to check out. The official check-out time is 10am.

Our return ferry to Singapore departs at 6.35pm. For this ferry timing, the pick-up time for the transfer from hotel to ferry terminal is at 5pm and the luggage pick-up is at 4pm. Between 10am to 5pm, we were still allowed to eat lunch, drink and use the resort facilities for free.

Because our daughter needed to nap in the afternoon, we requested a late-check out until 4pm. We were told that late check-out is chargeable at IDR 170k/hour.

Technically, she can nap in a carrier, but I wanted her to have a proper rest on a bed before the exhausting ferry ride later on, so we agreed to pay for late check-out. They then updated our wristband to allow room access until 4pm.

At 4pm, we went to the lobby to check-out and make the necessary payment. They then handed over our ferry boarding passes, right at the resort! I truly appreciate that they went the extra mile to check us in for our ferry and got our boarding passes!

This way, when we arrive at ferry terminal later, we wouldn’t need to queue at ferry counter to check-in again, we could immediately proceed to the immigration and waiting room!

The bus that transported us from hotel to ferry terminal came on time at 5pm. The GOs then waved us goodbye as our bus left the resort.

The journey to the ferry terminal was very smooth. When arriving at ferry terminal, we immediately went to queue for immigration. We totally forgot to take our luggage from the bus, because we had been pampered for so many days, we thought someone would take care of our luggage hahaha! Luckily, we remembered and my hubby quickly went to the bus to take our luggage.

Conclusion

So, to answer whether this is the perfect family getaway from Singapore, it depends on what you’re looking for.

Club Med Bintan is perfect for you if:

• You’re looking for a relaxing vacation where you don’t need to research, plan or arrange for anything (maybe you’re burned out from making itineraries and planning logistics of a trip)
• You love staying put at a place to recharge your soul instead of being stuck in a traffic just to get to places
• You want to eat quality food and drink quality beverages to your heart’s content without worrying about the bill
• You want to enjoy me-time while your children are being cared for by experienced and trusted caregivers
• You want everyone to have activities that they’re looking for. The kids can participate in kid-friendly activities, the adrenaline junkies can go for flying trapeze or sports, the fitness enthusiasts can join yoga or fitness classes, the tired souls can enjoy spa right at the resort.

Otherwise, if you’re in the mood to explore cities and towns, and the idea of staying put at a resort makes you feel isolated or boxed in, then perhaps an all-inclusive getaway is not a great option for you right now.

Thank you Club Med Bintan for hosting us and giving us the opportunity to celebrate the special occasion of my daughter turning one =) This will forever be one of our most memorable experiences!

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