I'm so excited to finally be blogging about my trip to Montigo Resorts located in Batam.
When I found out about Montigo and how close it was to Singapore (it was only a 30 min ferry ride away wtf. It takes even lesser time to go to Montigo than to get to school, one way) I really REALLY wanted to go there. All the pictures of the resort were beyond pretty but pictures do not do the place justice at all.
Last week was NTU's recess week and I had the privilege to book a short getaway there. I was so PSYCHED. I've been working myself to death in school and at work and I really deserve this break from reality. Like even though I was leaving on Monday morning, I was still working throughout the whole weekend, even on Sunday night.
ANYWAY let's get STARTED.
I stayed at Montigo for 3d2n and despite what everyone says, I feel that it wasn't long enough at all :'( I could stay there for a whole week and not be bored of the place just 'cuz of the view.
Fact #1: The ferry terminal to Montigo is the Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal, not Harbourfront.
Unlike my past 2 stays in Batam whereby I took the ferry from Harbourfront, the ferry terminal to Montigo is the Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal. And since I've never been there before, we cabbed down instead of trying to struggle with public transport.
CAN YOU SENSE MY EXCITEMENT?!
Checked in, got our ferry tickets and settled ourselves down to have some breakfast because we had the time to kill. Such a pretty view of the sea.
Destination: Nongsapura Ferry Terminal!
I really love the sea, but I also get terribly sea sick which is just horrible because I get really nauseated. But just look at how pretty the water looks!!!! And how awesome the weather is. Super psyched that Imma be able to see the sea for the next 3 days! I'm pretty glad that we're going through a dry spell now just because I got to lounge by the pool side all day err day. But no, don't twist my words and say that I'm glad that all the plants are dying and our water supplies are being depleted and stuff like that.
Fact #2: Ferry ride to Montigo takes only 30 mins or so.
After 30 minutes or so, we finally reached!!! Was really amazed at how fast it took. The time it takes me to travel to school and back, I could have travelled to Montigo and back 6 times. It's insane.
Cleared immigration and there was a bus from Montigo waiting to pick us up. The resort is about a 5 minute drive away from Nongsapura ferry terminal and in a blink of the eye, we were finally there!!
Check out my first glimpse of the resort as soon as I arrived! The bus drops you off at the hotel lobby/reception area (which is to the right of this photo). Just look at the different shades of blue of the sky and the sea. I'm in love with this place already.
Fact #3: We stayed in the Hillside Villa.
Checked in at the lobby but our villa wasn't ready yet because the villa that we were staying in was fully booked for the weekend and the people were just checking out (we reached the resort at about 12pm Batam time).
By the way, there are 4 types of villas available. Seafront Villa, Spa Villa, Hillside Villa, and Hilltop Villa. The interior of the villas do not differ much (except for the Spa Villas) but the location and view of the sea varies. Seafront is literally right in front of the sea so there's an unobscured view of the water. Hilltop Villa is literally at the top of the hill, and is the villa that's highest up. No idea if the view is blocked by the Hillside Villas though.
One reason why I love Batam is because the people there are exceptionally nice and provide incredible service. I have not met a single rude staff there at Montigo, or at Harris actually.
They even bothered to give us a briefing, pointing out all the key areas of the resort such as where out breakfast is at, where the reception is on the map and so on. Super nice!
A glimpse of the Pantai Seafood restaurant which we'll be having dinner at on the first night!
Since we had time to kill, we took a buggy over to the convenience store in search of Tehbotol.
Fact #4: I love Tehbotol. Every time I head to Batam, my first thing to do is search for it. No one understands my obsession with it but dude, it's like S$0.50/bottle and it tastes nice. So why not?
Fact #5: The paths at Montigo are relatively steep so it's easier to take the buggy than to attempt to walk everywhere and anywhere.
Fact #6: You are not required to tip the staff. No seriously, they literally drop you off, bid you a good day, and leave. They don't even attempt to hang around to wait for a tip. They're amazing though so I really don't mind leaving them a tip every time they send me around.
Sadly, the convenience store there was really small and was more focused on selling stuff like swimwear, and their brand of soap/shampoo. There weren't much food or drinks available so we decided to take a cab out to the nearest supermarket/mama shop.
Everything was dirt cheap there, like really. We bought a whole bag full of food and drinks and it only costed us like S$12. It's INSANE. Buy EVERYTHING.
The cab fare to the supermarket and back was 150,000 rupiah which is a little pricey but the prices of the food at the supermarket more than makes up for it.
And when we got back to Montigo, our villa was finally ready for us!!! #muchexcites #sowow #manywonder
We stayed in villa 63!
As soon as you open the door, what greets you is the stairs to the second level. The living room, kitchen, alfresco dining and private plunge pool (!!!!!) is to the right.
First things first. CHECK OUT THE POOL!! (And living room heh.)
Fact #7: Montigo provides Wii consoles!!! (Not that we made use of them.)
Fact #8: Every villa has a fully functional mini kitchen.
What's pretty amazing is that they have a fully functional mini kitchen available including an induction cooker, a microwave oven, chopping board, cooking utensils, a frying pan and a pot (if I remembered correctly) and like 3-4 sets of cutleries all available for anyone who wants to attempt whipping up a simple meal.
Toilet at the first floor which comes with a shower cubicle. So convenient!! No one has to go up to the second floor just to shower after a dip in the pool.
And now, the second level.
Straight ahead (the door that you see) is the second bedroom with two single beds with a toilet. To the left is the master bedroom with a king/queen (I don't know how to tell the difference) bed with a hugeass toilet, a bathtub, his-and-her-sink (I LOVE double sinks) and a kickass view of the sea.
I really dig this view. Every morning when I wake up the first thing I do is to run to the window, open the curtains and just take in this breathtaking view.
Bathroom at the back of the bedroom.
I LOVE DOUBLE SINKS. No hassle with trying to fight for the sink or space to put makeup/skin care. I really need this in my future home.
And this is the second bedroom that's available!
I love how every room in the villa has a TV!
And when you head up to the top level, there's this bom diggity, kickass sky terrace! SO PRETTY. Looks just like Greece. Oh how I wna go to Santorini so badly T.T
The sky terrace is literally big enough to host a party of maybe 15-20 people. There is that much space, not kidding! I read how many people use the sky terrace to host BBQs at night, not that I did so but it was really amazing just chilling up there at night and staring at the stars in the sky. This is one thing you will probably not be able to do in Singapore because of all the light pollution in our little island.
And finally, the highlight of the whole place, the private plunge pool. Zomg I cannot emphasize how amazing this pool is. I can sit by the pool side ALLDAYERRDAY (which was pretty much what I did actually. Every moment that I wasn't asleep/not in the villa/in the toilet I was by the pool side.
Amazing view, how to miss?! Even though this photo looks pretty darn awesome already, the actual view is like so much prettier. Photos really do not do this place justice. I cannot capture the awesomeness of this place in this photo. The blues are just more blue than what the camera could take.
DIP IN THE POOL ALL DAY ERR DAY.
Lazed by the pool side for a few hours just because I couldn't bear to miss a second of this view. Sat outside till the sun started setting and even then, I sat outside to do my work.
And yes, sadly I brought my work with me to Montigo because I have assignments due this week T.T
Evidence that the staff at Montigo are amazing.
Before we left for dinner, the staff rang our door bell just to give us more bottled water and "origami". Just look at this towel folded into the shape of a swan (or a snake, depending on how you look at it). How awesome are they?! They literally bothered to paste eyes onto the towel.
I love the staff here, they're really so so nice.
Had dinner at the Pantai seafood restaurant. The whole place looks super romantic at night.
I would say that the food was pretty good (or maybe we were lucky enough to choose the nice dishes). The price is maybe slightly cheaper than tze char prices in Singapore. Sadly, I cannot comment about the seafood here (since it is a seafood restaurant after all) 'cuz I'm no fan of seafood.
I love the veggies and the tofu here btw! The veggies had three types of eggs, salted egg, century egg and I think the usual egg (cooked in soup type, no idea what it's called). I love eggs and I love veggies so it was my favourite dish ^^
After that we walked back to our villa and just looked at the stars from our sky terrace. Perfect way to end my first day there.
Oh and I had a soak in the tub with drinks by the side heh. As all of you know, I do love bathtubs ^^ And after a soak in the tub, I was so sleepy that I literally just went to bed.
Stay tuned to my next post on my second day at Montigo!
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