We stayed in a 2 bedroom villa -it was large and clean,a little run down but only needs a lick of paint!Outside we were surrounded by nature-ponds filled with lillies and 2 resident monitor lizards!Resort was huge and if you like sport they have archery,trampolines,flying fox all on site so no need to get bored.Restaurants on site although didnt try them all the food was great and lots of choice.
For us living in Dubai it was so nice to get away from skyscrapers and modern life and have some basic nature to appreciate.I was worried after reading the reviews but go for it I am sure you wont be disappointed!!

We stayed in a 3-rm villa over the weekend. The villa is spacious and self-sufficient. The kitchen is well-equiped withstove, microwave, bread toaster and even rice cooker! All utensils are clean, they even provide dish washing liquid! All 3 rooms are clean, toiletries are provided too.

Swimming pool is very private, nice view of the sea. Short walking distance to the beach and Nirwana hotel where we can enjoy all the hotel facilities.

Good for friends party or family gathering. Can rent bbq pit from the resort and bring your own food from S'pore :)

This is a terrible place to stay and my husband, son and I could not wait to leave. Here is the list of the things that happened on our three night holiday at the Banyu Biru Villas at Nirwana Gardens which leads me to strongly suggest finding alternate accommodation in Bintan:
- we waited 25 mins to check in only to be told we would have to wait up to an hour for our villa to be ready. That is fine but when we went finally got to our villa practically all the others were empty, including the one right next door to us - it was low season and the place was very quiet.
- There were no toilet roll holders - they were broken - in the villa
- The fully equipped kitchen was a joke - no frypan, no cooking utensils, no chopping board, no stirring spoons or tongs
- there was old food and dirt on the walls of our villa
- we hired a bbq one night and it came but again with no tongs to cook the food with. Also we were told two different ways to light the bbq (after much asking around) surely they know how their own bbq's work?
- we went to the Villa pool and there were not enough towels (there were only 5 other people at the pool) and we waited 30 mins for more towels to come
- the next day when I went to the pool at 9am it was not open - it had signs up to say it was open at 8am. There was no one there and no towels.
- the internet at the Business centre was slow and it took 12 mins to load a website (we were charged for every 15 mins)
- Due to the fact we could not book our return ferry tickets online we had to use the hotels' booking agents. We booked at 4pm in the afternoon and were told to pick our tickets up at 12 the following day. The tickets were not there at 12 midday and we returned on the staffs advice at 4pm they were still not there. It took 2 subsequent phone calls for the tickets to finally be delivered to us at 7pm
- They said lunch started at 11.30am but at 12.05 we were told that one of the food stations was not meant to open for another 15mins
- we ordered drinks and got the wrong ones
- we ordered a salad from room service and got a hot dog delivered - so had to wait longer for what we ordered
- The electricity went in the villa and we called them at 3.30pm to report it. At 5.15pm no one had come so we had to call again. Only after being very firm with them did they send someone immediately. It was fixed but then went again 10 mins later. Another man came who could not fix it and was trying to sort the fuse box in the dark with a lighter for light! (safe !!!) after 45 mins it still could not be fixed. The Duty Manager arrived and offered to move us - it was at this point 7.15pm and my son was about to go to bed so he expected us to move all our stuff and our very over tired son to a different villa. If they had fixed the situation earlier it would have been fine but we were expected to be even more inconvenienced because of their incompetence! so we stayed with no hot water, no side lights, no fan in the kitchen, no microwave and no fridge - luckily the main lights worked
- they charge Singapore prices for terrible food and awful service - lots of smiles but no action!
- When we checked out of the hotel (finally) they also get you as throughout the hotel you pay in Singapore dollars but paying the final bill we paid on our credit card which they charged in Indonesian which they gave a really bad rate on so you land up paying an extra 10% on your bill
Bintan is overated but if you are going I have been told to either stay at the Angsana or Club Med. Nirwana Gardens is spending lots of money expanding the resort but it really needs to look at its core hotel and villas etc and spend some money on those as well as training its staff. Do not book this hotel.