Nice Destinations For KS Couple Time

[en107rn.01056yahoo.01056com.01056sg]

[quote]buds wrote:

No problemo... One of my best girlfriend likes
to say, \"good things must share...\"

I hope that I am not \"included\" in this right?? [/quote]Gawd! :faint:

[buds]

Yeah, EN... Gawd! :roll:

[buds]

Am reminiscing some nice moments my family and i had taken on our

short getaways. Here's another place to share with all. Though it would
be lovely to have gone without the kiddies in tow, no regrets. Cause at
Holiday Inn Batam, not only do you get to do couple time... the kiddies
are well taken care of. Read on if you're keen to take a short trip any-
time soon... For those wanting to take a quickie break during CNY to
avoid the relatives, you guys can chill here till the coast is clear. :lol:

As usual, i simply did a quick click on http://www.holidaybagus.com/Group-Batam.html which i've bookmarked
as one of my favourite sites for short getaways. As we just wanted a
short trip to a venue without floods or quakes last Dec 09, we decided to
go for Batam. As we've tried quite a few in Batam from the city hotels +
tours plus the Turi Resort at Nongsa, this time i decided on Holiday Inn @
Waterfront City. I found myself attracted to what i googled on the web &
my instincts brought us to one nice chill nook within the hour. :rahrah:


http://www.postimage.org/


I made a quick call to the accommodating agents at Holiday Bagus
Peninsula Plaza and told them i'd be confirming with them shortly
after hubs okay-ed it. We were quoted these rates.

Adult Twin : SGD $ 135.00 per pax

Child with bed : SGD $ 113.00 per pax

Child without bed : SGD $ 50.00 per pax

All in all we paid SGD $433.00 for the 4 of us. :celebrate:
Monies paid include 2 way return ferry tickets, 2 nights
accommodation plus daily breakfast for all four of us. Oh
yes, land transfers are also included.

As usual, i would be checking out sites everywhere for
facilities within resort and within the town plus the different
activities they offer for adults and children alike.

Here was a brief overview of the resort > http://www.holidaybagus.com/Waterfront_Hotels_-_Holiday_Inn.html

Price wise... not too bad. And now for the real thing...
Why real thing? Cause pictures lie. And the pictures in
certain sites are like dated 10yrs ago and without any
maintenance especially for resorts, the place tend to look
kinda old and everywhere would be creaking... :roll:

I was informed that the ferry ride from Harbour Front Ferry Terminal
would take us about 45mins there. We parked one big luggage packed
for all 4 of us at Banquet while waiting for our ferry. We had something
light to eat before boarding to ensure we won't get too sea sick from an
empty stomach. Waterfront City was the second stop so we didn't alight
when the captain announce arrival at Sekupang (first stop).

Upon arrival at Waterfront Terminal, we were segregated by two groups.
One group queued up altogether upon being greeted by staff from Harris
Resort and then there was us : two families who opted for Holiday Inn.
Tho' we didn't receive preferential welcome unlike the Harris Resort-ers,
our immigration procedures were swift and barely took minutes.

A polite staff from Holiday Inn welcomed us and requested we follow him
to the transport which was a small van. It could fit both the two families.
I told the children to lean back thinking it was gonna be some time before
we reached the resort, but like barely 2 minutes into the land transfer, we
were already there! :shock: Very near! Harris Resort though, was a little
further up front.

I checked us all in and confirmed our ferry timing back as well just to
ensure we could get available seats cause on the day we were going
back, we were informed there was gonna be quite a big crowd returning
to Singapore... some tourists from Japan included.

The porter brought our luggage and led us to our room on the third floor
of the resort. We were pleased that since we went weekdays, our unit had
partial pool view from the veranda.

This was the view that greeted us when we came into our room.


http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=TsQbdsJ http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=PqcnUV9 http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=TsQbzV0

So best the main bedroom can close with sliding doors! :evil:


We realised that the room was more apartment styled as compared to
the usual resorts that come only with the usual queen/king bed, bathrm,
dressing table area... so it was a nice change.


This is the view at/from the balcony.


http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=TsQc0lA http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=TsQc5kS


This is the view of the other parts of our room.


http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=PqctM4i http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=gxyohkJ http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=Pqcua0J http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=aV1Wvzg9 http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=TsQfMj9 http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=aV1WAtyS

Wardrobe came with a safe and even ironing board + iron. Some resorts
only provide this if you make special request. A few resorts i've been to
have a special ironing room. :shock: Everyone who wants to press their
own clothes will go to that one particular room. Hehee.. :lol:


http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=PqcyNRr


This is the small kitchen/kitchenette area behind the TV area.


http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=PqczvL0 http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=gxyufZi


Since we already ate before reaching Batam, we decided to just dump
our luggage bag (which we packed really light) and tour around the plc
together. The girls as usual got hyped up upon seeing there was a Kids
Club and pestered us to make that our first stop.


Called Panda Kids Club, the atmosphere that greeted us was a really
spacious room equipped with the usual masak-masak toys (kitchen play).


http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=aV1WqsuJ

http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=TsQc_I9


There was also a small library corner with books for different age range,
TV area with lotsa cushions and bean bags on the added upper floor, a
small slide for indoor play and a gaming area (i saw x-box console).


http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=aV1Wu0ZA http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=PqctpD0 http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=PqcrbX0 http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=aV1WqEYr http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=TsQdeG0


Small shelves at the entrance displayed works of art done by some
kiddies and the minders. The minders will play with the children and
keep them occupied with different activities at different times of the
day. There can be fish feeding in the morning, shell craft in the aft..
and my girls couldn't be happier when they were told the first thing
they could do the minute they entered was painting! All it needed
was a simple form registration and SGD $5.00 for half a day or
SGD $ 10.00 for the whole day. I must say that's very cheap child
care. Parents only pay the sum if they decide to leave the children
there in the minders' care.


But if parents with smaller children wish to play with their own children
in the Kids Club or allow the minders to play with them but you're in the
area (so-called... with parental supervision), then no charge.


http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=aV1WqTWi http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=TsQdr8J http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=gxyncZS http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=aV1WtbBA


The Kids Club also had a few garments up here for children to play dress ups.
My girls had fun changing clothes and some costumes here..

http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=TsQelw0

[buds]

To be continued... hubs coming back liao. :siam:


Next up.. something for couple time. :evil:

The Tea Tree Spa Review.. :drool:


http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=PqcC2o9

[EASON MAGPIES]

This is a very good thread. Been thinking of going to either Bintan or Batam for this christmas 24th for 1 or 2 nights trip.


Wife don’t want to spend too much money and DD only 11 months old so not sure if we should leave if with my parents or bring her along. If we bring DD along then both of us might as well stay in Singapore. The kids club sure sound interesting but I think they probably cannot baby sit her since she is only 11 months.

I just wanted a 2-3 hours massage time with DW.

Almost Christmas still not confirmed plans yet.

[DesertWind]

buds:

All 5 resorts under Nirwana Gardens got free wi-fi access!

Hi buds,

Yup! That's was the first thing I told my husband and that's how he got connected and let me read KSP on his handphone - and that was when I saw your fantastic avatar at Nirwana Gardens. Kee....hee...hee!

[EASON MAGPIES]

In the end miss the xmas trip cause was partly busy with work, partly dunno what to do with DD. Really hope to go during CNY.


So anyone can tell me if any of the kids club in these resort have minders that can take care of my 1year old nicely for 2-3 hours???

[buds]

Heyya EASON MAGPIES, while kids' clubs generally are able to accept 3-4yrs old

children without their parents for a small fee, children younger than that presch-
going-age can also be minded by hiring a babysitter. By this i mean, there are
resorts/hotels that offer babysitting services and this service is usually up on
their websites. Presch-going-aged children can usually be left the entire day
@ the kids' clubs for a small/nominal fee of S$10.. (may be more depending on
individual resort rates) and will be indulged in a host of activities as planned by
the kids' club. During festive seasons, the clubs sometimes have extra activities
planned for the children... like fancy dress party... children's carnival... and so
on. During one of our trips to Phuket, Ramada Resort Karon... offered to babysit
our children including meals! The children loved it so much they told us to shoo
for jalan-jalan (shoping trips) without them readily and told us to just leave em'
there... in their own words, \"We don't mind.. you two can go have your own
quiet time without the kids.\" :lol:

During one of our trips to Bintan Lagoon Resort, they offered in-room massage
services, as well as their signature spa treatments at their spa rooms. As our
girls were still very small then, we took up the in-room massage. We took turns
to have our one-hour-traditional-javanese-massage in the comfort of our own
room and took turns to play with the children.

The spa in Desaru Pulaie Beach Resort allowed us to bring our children into the
treatment rooms. We opted for the couple massage so we got to do our spa
package together, while the kiddies ate chips, played their own games & do
their drawings in their scrapbook (plus we bought them sticker books) and
even eventually took a nap on the sofa as we were almost done.

One well-known resort, Club Med, is one place where children as young as a 2-mth
old infant can be left to the GROs to care for while parents indulge in their spa
sessions. In fact, over at Club Med it seems that they encourage all their patrons
to enjoy their own personal time and just remember to pick their children up
thereafter for family time. They also have buffet meals for all three meals a day
and free flow of drinks. Activities for the older children can also include with or
without instruction from a qualifiied coach/instructor. We have yet to try Club
Med mainly due to the cost, but definitely is in our list of to-go-to list.

You may email the resorts directly to find out if they indeed offer babysitting
services as sometimes these webbies aren't updated for quite awhile.

Dunno if this helps.

Regards, buds.

[SBKS]

i like nirwana gardens also…we went there before having kids and love the swimming pool and the activities they have there. 3d2n is just enuff…any longer will be sian liao.


do they have those package that allows us to jump from gardens to mayang sari to bintan lagoon or similar?

[buds]

Package to jump meaning to stay over 2 or 3 different resorts within a 3 day package issit?


My entire family around 8 of us stayed at Mayang Sari once and we ate, swam and had
massage done at Nirwana Gardens but we retired back in our room after all the fun is
done. No probs..