Club med Bintan beach

Club Med Bintan Island YOU BEAUTY

Being able to travel is an amazing opportunity. It allows you to meet new people, see different spaces/places and get a different view of the journey of life. After this last trip the next trip abroad is already being conceptualised and planned…stay tuned for details.

Over the last week I have been fortunate enough to join the CN&CO team on a trip to the Club Med Resort on the Bintan Island in Indonesia. After two flights, a ferry trip and a couple of taxi rides we arrived at the resort. Thirteen of us in total, ready for a week or catching up with mates, recharging the batteries, meeting new people and enjoying everything that the island life has to offer.

Heading off on holiday, it often takes me a couple of days to unwind. As you settle into the swing of things and adjust to the different time zone (some call it jetlag put I think it’s all in your head) Club Medmade this transition seamless. A warm welcome from a fellow South African and Chef de Village of the resort, Jonathan Hegarty and his team, definitely had something to do with this. Arriving at the resort on Sunday after a day and a half of travel I was itching to get into the sea. The South China sea, the sun and a great lunch recharged the energy batteries… jetlag (the myth) was a thing of the past and we were ready to enjoy the all-inclusive offering which Club Med are renowned for.

Club MED Bintan island pool

Relax next to the pool or head down to the beach!

It was the first time that I had been to a Club Med resort and having spent a week at the resort I urge everyone reading this blog to check out the different Club Med travel options for your next trip. The value for money from the all-inclusive offering makes it a ‘no-brainer’, but this is only one piece of the bigger puzzle.

The Club Med Gentils Organisateursor GOs as they are referred to are another vital part of the puzzle that make your time spent at the resort most memorable, their friendly and welcoming personalities encourage you to make the most of the holiday vibes. Professional and personal.

There are two more pieces to the puzzle that really stood out for me over the last week, the third piece was the diversity that the Club Med Bintan Island team manages to harness and the energy that they draw from this. Who would have thought that you could fit +/-600 holiday makers into one resort and for them all to be able to enjoy their own style of holiday? It’s possible I witnessed it, go an check it out for yourself.

The fourth puzzle piece which impressed me about the Club Med offering is the energy that the entire team has. Everything is done with a smile, they are genuinely happy and enjoy seeing others happy! From taking care of your kids around the resort, to performing on the stage during the evening shows and when chatting to you about their experiences even if English isn’t their first language.

Club Med dinner at the terrace

Our team of 13 that enjoyed the island lifestyle for a week.

Putting the experiences of this trip down into words hasn’t been the easiest thing to do. There is so much to write about and the pictures themselves tell a thousand words. The Bintan Island itself is a very special place, with the warm water of the South China Sea on the door step, a range of activities from snorkelling, to golf, to running, to lounging next to the pool and many more. The people that we met and engaged with over the last week was my biggest highlight, both from the CN&CO team and from new faces that we met through the week. Meeting South Africans on holiday, as well as diverse groups from Australia, France, Morocco, Canada and Russia – to mention a few – has given me new insights and energy.

It deserves a recommendation, there is no doubt about it, so go check it out. Club Med Bintan Island is a small piece of paradise. The people that you meet while there are great and I look forward to staying connected with everyone that we met on this trip. The world is a very small place despite its size and we must remember that the people we surround ourselves with really do influence our experiences.

Club Med Bintan Island, you beauty. Thank you and especially to the people who make up the team!