Montigo Resort Review

In Oct 2014, the team behind our Singapore Travel Blog did a 2D1N trip to Montigo resorts to celebrate Nicole‘s birthday. We were looking for a quick getaway from the hustle and bustle of work and city life, and have heard rave reviews of Montigo Resorts so I decided to surprise her on her birthday.

Montigo Resort: Booking & Getting there

Like getting to Boracay, getting to Montigo (from Singapore) requires changing your modes of transport a couple of times. It starts with getting to Tanah Merah ferry terminal and taking a 30mins ferry from there to Nongsapura Ferry terminal and subsequently taking a bus from the terminal to the resort.

Booking the villa is actually rather simple, it can be done at either Montigo Resorts website or Agoda itself. They offer early bird promotions, so it’s best to book early. It’s a fixed rate for up to 4 person (they charge for the 5th), so if you want to, do bring up to 4 people and have the average cost per person brought down. *Do remember to let them know at the booking page your arrival and departure timings to have them arrange a transfer from the ferry terminal for you to get to the resort itself.

Check Agoda’s Guaranteed cheapest rates for your stay at Montigo here:

Ferry tickets can be bought from Batamfast online but like Boracay, aside from the fees & taxes you paid online, they do charge an extra terminal fee on your return trip, so don’t be so quick to spend all your money!

Montigo Resort: Service

The resort itself is beautiful. From the moment you arrive, you are greeted with a warm smile, towel and ice tea after the long journey just getting there. The scenery is gorgeous and it does resemble a wee bit of Santorini right here in Asia. Upon checking in, Montigo Resorts do assign a staff to give you a breakdown on the area and wheres where of the entire area i.e place to eat, gym etc. To get from place to place, they offer 24hrs free buggy service. Staffs friendly and ALWAYS willing and ready to help. I’m also pleased with the way they handled Nicole’s birthday surprise (Travel Video) when i told them that it was her birthday.

Montigo Resort: The Villa

Montigo Resorts provides you and your travel group an entire villa just to yourself which just enhances the overall luxury and serenity experience although they do cap the maximum amount of people per villa (4+1 pax/villa). 3 floors of beauty just to you and your travel group. The first level is the common area/living room where you can cook, laze and play Wii (2 games). Also on the first level is the famous infinity pool which you must spend time at during sunset (happens around 4~5pm) cause its just absolutely breathtaking. The bedrooms are found on the second floor with TV and shower facilities. Found in the master bed room is also a beautiful glass sheltered bathtub made for the couple getaway/retreat. The 3rd level is just a huge open air rooftop deck that you can use to tan in the day and/or stargaze at night.

Montigo Resort: Food

Within the vicinity of Montigo Resorts, there is 2 restaurants you can dine at which serves Chinese and Indonesian food. Although yummy, dining isn’t exactly cheap there. It cost around SGD$25 per pax per meal and that is if you are not having the more expensive dishes. But then again, you don’t have much of an option aside from cooking on your own cause Montigo Resorts is suited on a hill and the city is a 45mins drive away.

Montigo Resort: Activities and things to do

Montigo Resorts has a club like pub but that only opens on weekends which we sadly didn’t get a chance to experience. We did however took the resorts bus to the City (45mins drive away) which cost us SGD$15/pax where we were given 6 hrs of OTOT time to shop, dine etc. The shopping center wasn’t anything much but the massage and A&W made the trip down town worthwhile.

If you’re not looking to leave the resort, they have a gym, tennis court, free wifi, wii in the villa (although it really only consist of 2 games), cable tv and the infinity pool.

Montigo Resort: Overall Review

The resort itself is amazing, it’s beautiful and oozes luxury and serenity. The service staff was excellent, they were always ready to help and I’m please with how they handled Nicole’s birthday with a surprise birthday song and a complimentary cake sent to my villa.

But to be very honest, there’s really not much to do there except for each others company. Even the Wii only managed to keep us entertained for about 30mins.

It’s an intimate experience with your travel partner, cause you don’t exactly have much to do, so choose your traveling partner wisely. I personally don’t recommend booking anything more than 2 Day 1 Night there lest you get bored or at most 3days 2 nights.

I personally wouldn’t recommend it for a family retreat, cause at least in my opinion, i prefer my family holidays to be activity filled and not cap by the number of people allowed in each villa. I would think that Montigo Resorts would be more suited for couple getaways or partners who have been working too hard too long and want to just take a break from the fast paced world we live in. Alternatively, i would think Montigo Resorts would be a good place for long time friends to hang and go crazy, does bring back abit of the old chalet days. Get booze, get some board game, enjoy each others company and go crazy

Livelaughtravel.net: Montigo Resort Recommendation

i) Stay for 2D1N
ii) Take the earliest ferry in, book the last ferry out the next day
iii) Spend the first day in the resort
iv) Book a trip to the city the next day
v) Forget the massage at the resort cause its pretty pricey, do one in the city
vi) Get the famous Layers cake from the city
vii) If you’re like me and do not get exposed to A&W much in your home country, have it at the mall
viii) Get incredibly cheap toiletries from the supermarket!