Singapore stopovers offer access to Indonesian island getaways

When Australian banker Andrew Dixon moved to Singapore in 1998, he began spending his weekends exploring the Indonesian islands scattered just across the water.

The islands of the Riau Archipelago reminded him of something quite different: the uncomplicated coastal holidays of his childhood, camping around the Hawkesbury River and NSW Central Coast.

In 2001, Dixon and a group of friends first visited Nikoi, a tiny 15-hectare island eight kilometres off the east coast of another island in the archipelago, Bintan.

They secured the leasehold in 2004 and began building the following year, initially creating the sort of simple island escape they wanted for themselves.

Nikoi Private Island opened to paying guests in 2007, turning Dixon into what he has since described as an “accidental hotelier”. A decade later came adults-only sister property Cempedak, another private island off Bintan.

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Almost three decades after Dixon began his explorations into tourism, Bintan Island and its surrounds constitute a major hub for luxury island holidays, with the international hotel industry big players moving in.

Long known to Singaporeans as a weekend getaway, the island may soon lure the rest of us across the Singapore Strait for a South-East Asian add-on.

Movenpick Resort & Spa Bintan Lagoon is one of the latest resorts to open on Bintan’s northern coast. The 408 rooms and suites all have balconies or terraces overlooking gardens or the sea, while the resort has five dining venues plus Sonada Beach Club, with beachfront cabanas, a pool and weekend DJs. It also has access to two 18-hole courses designed by Jack Nicklaus and Ian Baker-Finch.

Hotel Indigo Bintan Lagoi Beach, which opened in October 2024, has brought IHG’s design-led boutique brand to Lagoi, the main tourism precinct on Bintan’s north coast. Rooms are sized from a generous 42 square metres, and accommodation choices included suites with a private pools. There is also an oceanfront pool and SugarBEATS Beach Club.

Next door, Holiday Inn Resort Bintan Lagoi Beach, which opened in February 2025, is a more family-focused proposition, while Four Points by Sheraton Bintan, Lagoi Bay has added Marriott to the collection of international names on the island.

And the old guard isn’t standing still. Club Med Bintan has been welcoming holidaymakers since the 1990s, making it one of the international resorts that helped establish Bintan as Singapore’s tropical playground. It is now undergoing a significant refresh, with renovated accommodation and dining, new family facilities and an expanded line-up of activities being introduced through 2026.

Then there is The Sanchaya, which offers almost the antithesis of the big integrated resort. The elegant beachfront estate on Lagoi Bay has just 30 rooms – 21 suites and nine villas – surrounded by tropical gardens and lawns running down to the sea. Guests have access to the property’s own VIP lounge at Bintan’s ferry terminal.

In 2026, The Sanchaya was admitted to The Leading Hotels of the World, the prestigious collection of independently owned luxury hotels. It has since received two Michelin Keys in the 2026 Michelin hotel awards.

Cempedak Private Island, meanwhile, was added to Conde Nast Traveler’s 2026 Gold List of the world’s best hotels and resorts.

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