TTG Asia Luxury May 2018 | Page 46

focus Check-in The Residence Bintan Name The Residence Bintan No. of rooms 127 Address Desa Galang Batang Bintan Kep. Riau Bintan 29153 Indonesia Contact Tel: 62 (778) 6000 888 Email: [email protected] Website: http://cenizaro.com/ theresidence/bintan By Raini Hamdi LOCATION I took a 55-minute ferry from Singapore to Bintan. As the ferry terminal in Bintan is located in the north while the resort is in the east, it took another 55-minute drive or so to get there. I didn’t mind it; Singapore- based Cenizaro Hotels & Resorts has opened not only its latest Residence in years, but an entirely new place in Bintan for tourism and I was curious to see it. AMBIENCE The location is remote and will 40 TTG Asia luxury | May 2018 appeal to high-end travellers who have a sense of adventure. The sight of a sprawling resort development creating new jobs for locals was uplifting. I could see locals at work, tending to plants, doing the last check for defects on one or two villas (I was there just after it opened in February), and so on. Nearly 90 per cent of staff are locals, most of them new to the industry, general manager Bagus Paramarta told me. ROOMS Land is in abundance in Bintan and the resort has plenty of it. There are various types of villas, suites and residences, some of them double-storey, some inter- connected, which makes the prop- erty ideal for groups of friends and families to be ‘together apart’. I stayed in a one-bedroom Beachfront Villa (pictured above), which was very spacious (the smallest Beachfront Villa is 125m 2 , including a sundeck and a pool). Designed by Hirsch Bedner Associates, what I like about it was not just the space but the neatness, the quality of materials used and, especially, the nod to traditional Javanese aesthetics, done in a con- temporary way. FACILITIES Given the location, it’s critical for F&B to be good and it was. There’s a Dining Room serving Asian food, a Pool Bar and, my favourite, Rica Rica, because the rendang (spicy stewed beef or chicken) tasted the way my late mom had cooked it for me. It also tried to be creative with Indonesian cuisine, fielding belacan (pungent shrimp paste) bread! Because of its luxury of space, no facility was small, not the gym, spa, Kids’ Club, nor the MICE spaces which include three mul- tifunction rooms, spots for sunset or elegant receptions and areas for teamwork. Speaking of activities, simply cy- cling through the whole resort was fun. Or, swimming in its gorgeous pool. A spa treatment is a must. The hotel is also bent on creating a lot of fun for adults with activities such as paintball and rock-climbing and, for kids, everything from dance lessons to treasure hunts. SERVICE I met experienced staff such as Mustika, who drove me to the resort in a huge downpour and im- pressed me with his warm nature and professionalism. The newbies might not be as adept but I could see they had a lot of potential. VERDICT Indeed, the whole resort has a lot of potential. Courageous of Cenizaro to open a new location and to do Bintan a real service in advanc- ing its aim to get more upmarket travellers.