Golden View Hotel Batam

Ok, after acquiring the photos from my cousin, I’m now ready to blog my “another” holiday trip to Batam.

DAY 1

This time, 4 of us went and alighted at the Batam Centre, or should I say the International Ferry Terminal as the locals call it. Then we were given a free ride in a Batam Taxi to Golden View Hotel where we will enjoy your 3D2N accommodation.

As usual, we had a welcome drink at the reception area before heading up to our rooms - which definitely looks more eye-pleasing than Harris Resort. But apparently the hotel’s amenities were not what I expected. I didn’t had a fridge in my room when my friend has one. The hairdryer in my room is spoilt when my friends' isn’t. My cupboard light is not working and so is my friends'. Well, he had his fair share of malfunctions. Because his fridge ain’t working as well!. LOL!.

We went to explore the pool area and also the surroundings of the hotel. There’s ATV - at like $25 for 20 mins - and also a Flying Fox facility that doesn’t lead to anywhere except the water. But as we discovered, there’s 2 seafood restaurants beside it. And to our amazement, the seafood’s fresh and cheap. After deciding on which restaurant to dine in, I walked opposite the restaurant to discover unpleasant stuff - animals locked into cages so small that they have to squeeze in. Ironically, the smaller animals like the python were given the bigger cages. It’s cruelty at it’s best.

We went back to the hotel to get a little rest first and soon after, we were on our way to the cheapest seafood that we had ever consumed. Our dishes that we ordered and fished out on the spot includes a seabass, 2 crabs at 500g each, 1 lobster at 500g, 300g worth of prawns, 400g worth of cockles, 400g worth of oysters and a plate of Kailan.

The Seabass is like SGD$1.94 for every 100g, SGD$2 for every 100g or crab, SGD$6 for every 100g of lobster, SGD$1.94 for every 100g of prawns, SGD$0.59 for every 100g of cockles and SGD$0.74 for every 100g of oysters. In all, we divided by 4, each of us just needed to contribute about $25 for the meal. Worth it? Ten times a yes.

The cockles were like 3 times the size of a normal cockle in Singapore, like bigger than a table tennis ball but smaller than a tennis ball, and it’s definitely worth the deal. But the oysters weren’t that worth it because they fried it with egg. But overall, it’s a good deal.

We had our fill, total to our throats, and we head back to the hotel to have a game of billiard and pool before getting some sleep for another shopping spree tomorrow.

DAY 2

Waking up at 8:30am, we head down to the Cuppa Cafe to have our free breakfast that taste rather good though. They offer a range of food like their Indonesian breakfast - which consist mainly of fried rice and noodles, plus some of their dishes that include sausages and whatever. They also offer Koko Krunch or Cornflakes if you miss your western breakfast.

After that kinda heavy breakfast, we went head down to the lobby to take the shuttle bus to Batam City Square. The shuttle bus left earlier than expected, and for that, the bellboy promptly search for another driver to drive the 4 of us in their Indonesian favourite vehicle, Kijang, to the shopping centre. How nice of them to do so.

We head back to our hotel rooms with our excessive shopping items again and we manage to catch some sleep before heading down to the gym, table tennis, steam room and jacuzzi. The gym facilities are surprisingly well maintained. Perhaps not many people use the gym though. But I was quite impressed, just that the fact that they need to blast their Indonesian techno is not very fanciful.

I had about half and hour to an hour of Table Tennis with Yi-Gang while Suban and Zainal enjoyed themselves in the steam room and Sauna. After that, we all switched and it’s their turn to play. Zainal caught the attention of a masseuse there and she insisted on Zainal to take a photo with her, which Zainal duly done so. She even asked Zainal to smile. LOL!.

After all that hype, we ended up at the Jacuzzi beside the pool. The water was a little sticky - almost equivalent to the experience I had at Harris Resort. But at that point, it started to drizzle, so we left for our rooms to wash up.

We head down to their cafe *** bar, Rajawali, where we had our dinner. They had a combo set with a choice of Salmon, Beef or Chicken, cooked to either a BBQ style or Grilled, with a choice of Mushroom or BBQ Sauce, a choice between Mashed, Baked Potatoes or French Fries, a wide variety of soft drinks and also plate of Chicken salad and a plate of fruits. All for SGD$10.30.

After all these, we went to the souvenir shop at the seafood restaurant to get some keropok and cup noodles in preparation for the Euro 2008 opening match between Switzerland and Czech Republic. Before that, we went back to Rajawali to have our free complimentary drink sponsored by the hotel, and ordered a plate of Bruchettas and Garlic Bread, which both of it is rather good.

So we spent our night shouting “GOAL!” in front of the TV until we really knocked out after the 2nd match between Portugal and Turkey.

DAY 3

Woke up to have our breakfast again and then slacked in the hotel room for a while before heading to Batam Centre to do some last minute shopping. Then time was up and we are heading back to Singapore.

In all, the hotel provides good service and definitely food that is affordable in hotel standards. Although I was a little disappointed in the amount of facilities provided, overall, I did enjoy my time at Batam in the hotel with my friends as well as my cousin. And of course, I will be back for the seafood. Really. =)