Weekend Batam Trip - Harris Batam Centre

A good thing about Batam is that you could fit in a short getaway from Singapore without having to plan way ahead. We booked the hotel room and ferry tickets only a few days before and we were super lucky that we managed to get a room at the new Harris @ Batam centre.

We've been to Harris @ waterfront , you may wish to view our blog entries here .

The new Harris @ Batam Centre is perpetually booked over and I have been checking constantly for value offers. We wanted to book a room in July but was told that no rooms were available. But this time round, I managed to get a booking for one night with the ramadhan promo that comes with nice room, breakfast and 30 min massage for 2 pax at IDR513,400.00. (approx SGD67)

For close proximity to the ferry terminal and mega mall, the price is acceptable. 

For ferry services to Batam centre, most people usually use BatamFast. But most of the time, the good timings are fully booked. This time round, we had to take sindo ferry (penguin) as we wanted to reach Batam earlier but other ferry services were full. (Return Ferry tickets with surcharge included for 2 pax is SGD94)

We reached Batam centre at 11am indon time and went to Mega Mall to have lunch and do some shopping.

Official Check in time at Harris is 1500hrs so we only walked over to the resort hotel at about 1440hrs.

Lunch @ A&W

Well, how could we miss having this when we are at Batam?!

But we were disappointed as the drinks machine broke down and they were serving only orange juice and Ice tea.

No root beer float! 

The waffles were good. 

But I suppose, the best meal at A&W we had thus far had to be at Bangkok. 

Check-in to Harris @ Batam Centre 

As usual, the service at Harris is good. Towels handed on arrival alongside a glass of lovely drink. 

Non-smoking rooms are level 4 and above. Rooms are either sea view or "hillview".

We got our room at 1500hrs.

We bought our swimming stuff along but decided not to swim as the pool was just behind the check-in counter and with full view from the dining area. 

Its an infinity rectangular pool which is rather unfortunately right beside the area where breakfast is served. 

Without a super model body and flashy bikini , I opt-out on swimming this time round. 

Loved the room. Its comfortable and cozy.

The colours made the room lively and joyful. 

Loved the bed and wished I could have one more night to sleep in it. 

The nice soft and comfortable bed

TV with multiple channels to choose from

The "hillview" 

From our window, we are able to see Mega Mall. From the resort hotel, all we have to do is walk across the carpark towards the colourful guard post , walk parallel to traffic and then the ferry terminal carpark is just on the left side. You will need to cut across the ferry terminal carpark to reach the ferry terminal. Do watch out for cars coming in and out of the carpark , as well as taxi drivers who will often stop you in your path to offer you their service. 

For the adventuring type, You could get to Mega mall by crossing the streets directly.

For the conservative and safe type (like me), I prefer to get to the ferry terminal and use the link bridge to get to Mega mall.

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I would have loved to lay on this and enjoy the view but I just couldn't bear to leave the comfortable bed to walk over here.

Coffee/tea making facility with two complimentary mineral water bottle

Orange soap and shampoo

I didn't try the orange soap bar but the shampoo was not bad. I was glad that the toothpaste wasn't orange flavoured. 

There is an oil burner available in the room, pre-filled with orange oil. It was nice but it made him sneeze non stop , so I guess he wasn't into orange scent. 

We had our 30mins massage service in the room. The massage service was superb and I wished that it was longer. 

What we had for supper - JCO donuts

Hey, its pretty standard for everyone to buy donuts at Batam. Chuckles. 

Tasty donuts at affordable prices, who could resist?! 

Oh, btw, I bought like 6 bottles of mandi lulur from the supermarket. Each bottle are less than $2 and I have tried it. It really makes my skin soft and smooth.

Night view from my hotel room window

Goodnight 

Overall, I would say that this trip has been enjoyable.

Would recommend everyone to stay at Harris @ Batam centre if you would like a short trip to Batam just to stock up on toiletries and indo mee, catch a movie , buy donuts and eat at A&W in Mega mall. 

Breakfast at the hotel was sufficient to fill your stomachs, though choices are limited. But the constant topping up of food by the staff more than made it up for the lack of variety.