29 December 2010
Day 2 started with a buffet breakfast at the Treetops restaurant overlooking the South China Sea. We sat outside, under the shady trees and enjoyed the views. Besides the freshly cooked eggs and champagne, the rest of the buffet spread was a disappointment for a supposedly high-end luxury resort in terms of quality and variety of food on the spread.
After breakfast, we went to the lobby to request for a change of villa and the staff was happy to oblige. Since the new villa would only be ready later, we walked back to our villa to pack our belongings. We could have taken a buggy, but we enjoyed the morning walk in the cool morning air and lush greenery.
It was good to see that renovation work was being done on some of the villas to restore them back to their glory days.
We enjoyed the rest of the morning relaxing at our Villa On the Rock before heading to the pool and beach.
The pool is small but there were ample sunbeds and umbrellas. As Banyan Tree is positioned as a romantic couples’ resort, there were mostly adults. No noisy kids. So a peaceful, relaxing and quiet sun-tanning session with dips in the pool.
Small packets of sand-fly repellent lotion were available for those wanting to venture to the beach. The beach is shared with the Angsana Bintan Resort, which is also owned by Banyan Tree.
A walk on the beach to observe the people surfing and also small critters on the sand was quite nice. Also lots of photo opportunities.
In the early afternoon, a staff came to us at the pool to inform us that our new room is ready and they can help us transfer our belongings to the new villa anytime, at our convenience. Great! The staff knew the guests by names and faces.
The Sea View Villa is quite similar to the Villa On the Rocks on the inside but with quiet, lush greenery outside, instead of the waves crashing on the rocks.
Inside of Sea View Villa at Banyan Tree Bintan.
With the transfer swiftly done, we went for a late lunch at The Cove, which is located in same building but below the Saffron Restaurant and on the cliff overlooking the pool and sea. The tables outside the restaurant offered nice views of the cove that we could not see from the Saffron during dinner last night.
We ordered the Fried Snapper with Chips and Club Sandwich. The food was a big disappointment. I was left wondering how a supposedly luxury resort, so close to Singapore, could offer its guests food that was so sub-standard.
After lunch, we spent the rest of the afternoon at the poolside.
Dinner was at the Saffron again, since we enjoyed the service and the Thai food the previous night. Again, the Saffron did not disappoint with their Thai dishes. The chef actually came out to greet us.
And we were able to get a peaceful night sleep in our new, quiet Sea View Villa.
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