I Hotel Batam (Superior Room) near Nagoya Hill @ Batam in Indonesia

My last trip to Batam was before the terrible 2020 Covid 19 pandemic and although it has been a few years; I resisted visiting the island after ferry ticket pricing surged more than 100%! 

Hence, my family decided a two-night trip would be a better way to spread out the expensive ferry ticket, and opted for I Hotel Batam, a four-stay establishment in the popular Nagoya Hill vicinity. 

Grand lobby and reception area.

Tall ceiling and chandelier; atas! 

Self-serviced welcome drink and biscuits! I actually prefer hotels to give infused water instead of sugary drink given the healthier notion. p.s. biscuits were buttery and so, so good! I think my family contributed massively to their reduction in the glass jar.

Collection of key cards! 

Room - No 324 

Superior room of about 30 square meters, and one of 165 rooms within the hotel across ten floors. Yes, I was disappointed to be on the 3rd floor. 

Photographs of the general interior for your reference. There was a mini bolster and four large pillows, latter of which were too soft for my liking. 

More photographs; standard mini fridge, in-room safe, bottled water, and for Singaporeans, the provision of 3-pin plugs. What I hope to see more hotels providing would actually be USB ports, best if they are USB-C. 

Hidden control panel at the bedside table! Nowadays, hotels are also doing away with hard phones, prefer to leverage on stronger Wi-Fi signals for requests and feedback to be made online. I am a traditionalist, preferring to speak to someone though.

Let's check out the balcony!

At the 3rd floor, nothing much we can see. My motivation of wanting to do a time-lapsed video was dampened with the sad view in front of me. 

Washroom with bidet spray, bathtub etc. Shower strength was good even though I always prefer a separate shower area. Showering in the bathtub can be quite dangerous!

Lastly for the room, the evacuation route. 

Swimming Pool

Located on the third floor, same as our superior room, the view was in fact better. I did find it disturbing to have the low trees surrounding the whirlpool. What if there were snakes?! That's the rich imagination from a person with ophidiophobia.

Gymnasium

While they were classified as fitness centre and aerobics studio, the two rooms, separated by a walking passage, were equipped with gym equipment. Pretty good selection; only issue was that they were not well maintained and that's another red alert for safety. 

Hotel Breakfast

For someone who always opts for without breakfast, it's usually something we would include when we are travelling with my mom as she wakes up much earlier than us, and can spend her time indulging while her children sleep. So here we are; at the hotel's cinnamon cafe! 

We shall let the photographs do the talking.

And maybe whet your appetite.

I generally enjoy the hotel breakfast buffets in Indonesia, as they usually have many condiments and sauces for different combinations for the plain porridge!

Miscellaneous

Library in the disused phone booth at the lobby; I am wondering of its relevance in the contemporary world where watching videos on phones have overtaken the reading of hard copy books. Sad yet a fact of life.

Bicycles and skateboards for rent! Albeit to be used only within hotel compounds and in the case of skateboard, only in the garden. Nice to offer yet serving no practical purpose in my opinion. 

For your information, in case you need a local taxi to get around. I am happier going through GRAB, which is available in Batam, and very cost-effective for poor chaps like me.

Second level of the hotel, where there were conference rooms and a ballroom, plus a restaurant by the name of dnic dining & lounge, commanding a perfect score of 5.0, from 12 reviewers. 

From the map, it might seem like the hotel is next to Nagoya Shopping Centre but it would still require hotel guests to go out from the front of the hotel and take the main road. There's a shortcut, and I shall show you how to reach the hotel from the shopping district.

Identify the location of Starsbox Barbershop / Delta Spa.

Look out for the i hotel sign, which wasn't too prominent I feel; hence, my suggestion to identify the locations of Starsbox Barbershop / Delta Spa on Google Maps first. Finger crossed that they don't close down.

Take the stairs and you would come to the gate, which would open from 6am till 12am. If you happen to have a massage till the wee hours, this shortcut shall not be applicable then.

After the gate would be the garden.

Yes, same garden where you can skateboard.

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In summary, it was a good hotel stay. 

However, there was an incident that made it memorable. I went on this trip with my two sisters and mom, and we were in separate rooms. According to my younger sister, who was with my mom, she complained that the bed was shaking when she was sleeping on the first night! It didn't happen on the second night though. Maybe a dream? Anyway, her room was 326. 

I am definitely keen to return to Batam again! Food was food, expenditure was low, and the people were friendly (as evidenced by the above photograph, totally random). If only they could cut the pricing of the ferry tickets. 

Address

Jalan Teuku Umar, 

Bukit Nagoya, Batam,

Indonesia

Map

As above.

Website

https://www.ihotelbatam.com/