Well, what’s our verdict after a five day stay at Club Med Bintan? In a word or two: “it’s complicated”. The summary of it is that the hospitality from Genteel Organizers (GOs) for the most part were as warm and memorable as numerous Tripadvisors reviewers and other bloggers have commented all over the ‘net. But if the quality of rooms is of importance to vacation seekers, then Club Med Bintan is not for them.
Starting off with the good bits:
Visible Management. We’ve never seen a property or resort which witnessed a similar degree of involvement from the Manager. Jessie, the resort’s Chef de Village, was ever visible making her rounds about the resort, and will go from table to table every dinner to converse with guests – and it’ll take an hour or more each time for all the tables. The burly restaurant manager Mervyn would welcome guests at the entrance with his booming voice. On the last day, the deputy manager (I think) spoke to the outbound bus of travelers inviting us to provide feedback on Tripadvisor, how visitor feedback is used and shared among the GOs, and what it means to them too in career advancement too.
Warm GOs… for the most part. The GOs are involved in so many aspects of our stay that we were able to recognize by face most of the team by the end of five days, and names of several. The resort’s prominently displayed organization chart with pictures and nationalities certainly helped us in making these personal connections. Most of the GOs made a serious effort to mingle though Ling felt that a couple of GOs seemed to be going through the motions. To be fair, it’s not a small resort and travelers are coming in every day. Of all the resorts we’ve been to, the one with hosts that strikes as most are genuinely and consistently warm all-round was Telunas Beach Resort. Not an exactly equitable resort of course, but they are both broadly serving the same market.
The lively ladies and lads running the Mini Club Med at least obviously adored kids. How the GOs manage training for the concerts every evening is also just mind-boggling. Hannah really enjoyed the two full days she spent with the Mini Club, and especially the circus/trapeze segments. And the Mini Club GO Dolpi who looks stern initially but is really a jovial and comical character and clearly a favorite among kids. He called our girl “Little Mei Mei”, and on our day of departure, asked a amused Ling to “take care of Hannah for him” LOL.
The beach is clean, and on a sunny and bright day, is stunningly powdery white. The waters are reasonable though not quite in the pristine state as some of the other well-known beaches in Malaysia. Both ends of the private beach were also teeming with sea life, and Ling made several ventures out for pictures and videos of all manner of critters she could find.
Feeding time was for the most part good. Recognizing that it’s tough to feel that you’re being fed new things every meal once you’re past a couple of days in the stay, credit has to be given to the team of chefs for at least trying their hardest to inject as much variety as they could. Breakfasts tended to feel same-y after two days, and to a lesser degree lunches, with dinners presenting the most variety. Seating availability was never an issue with enough tables to go round, and wait service was prompt and polite. More importantly for the kids: there was pizza and baked beans a plenty, so both kids ate well and a lot! :) Meals were served at the main restaurant, but there’s another restaurant further in the compound though dinner reservations are required there.
We looked forward to each evening concert, with the most memorable one of our stay centered on the comedic mash-up of modern music from the 1960s that had us laughing in stitches! One GO, Hans joined our dinner table one evening, and quipped that they rehearse when we’re sleeping.
The few accommodation-wise parts that worked for us were that the showers worked well (good water pressure, really hot water if you wish it), and also the free to use laundry/dryer machines (bring your own detergent!).
Booking our stay was also easy with a well-designed web site, and the package is really all-in (ferry prices from Tanah Merah Terminal are included).
More in the next post!
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