Harris Resort Batam

Extremely crowded at the ferry terminal. The Ocean Raider (Batam Fast) was slightly late and we had to make a stop at Sekupang before reaching the Waterfront terminal. At the Harris Cafe now - waiting for our nasi goreng and pizza. As you can see from above, the pictures near the pool look nice - however, nothing prepare me for the bad experience which followed: The wooden planks were loose and one of the nail in the room came out and cut my boy’s toe. They should definitely replace the wooden planks especially those near to the bath area as the water had weaken the wood or the ground below it.

The incident which upset me was when I could not open up the safe box the second day. The room was quite a distant away and I had to go all the way to the reception to get help. When the housekeeping came, he told us that the battery was low which caused the problem. I moved all the content to the other room. When I wanted to go back to room 18, I realised that I could not open it with the card and had to rush to the reception again. The staff told me it could be my handphone which had affected the magnetic card – I reassured her that it was nowhere near my handphone and there was nothing wrong with the other room card which I had placed together. I reconfirmed with the staff that the new card was ok and she told me no problem. I rushed back to the room and realised that it still cannot be opened! I had to rush back to the reception which I had mentioned that was quite a distance away. Finally one of the staff came and told me that battery was low which made me real mad as I had never came across a hotel which locked the guest out due to low battery for the lock! Shouldn’t they change the battery more regularly for something so important as the safe box and door lock?

In fact when we checked in, I was already quite disappointed with the long queue and the lack of activities there. They did not allow us to top up our breakfast to lunch though I told them we could not wake up in time for the breakfast.

The air soft gun was sent for repair so my son did not have much to do. Thank god there was a DVD player. The wi-fi did not work in the room either though the staff told me it is available everywhere. The only place you can access wi-fi was the cafe. By the way, if you eat in the cafe – you will have plenty of flies for company –it spoilt my appetite as we have to chase away the flies with one hand and eat with the other. The food was expensive and the chicken wing which came with the nasi goreng was cold and tough! My total bill for 2 pizzas, 2 nasi goreng and some drinks came up to S$97!

The worst part was departure from Waterfront terminal – we went there at 12 noon so that we could check in early for the 2.10pm ferry. However after waiting for almost 2 hours, a church group came and they were given express check out! The Harris management did not mention that there could be express check out if you pay a fee. Quite unfair for those who came early and did not know that you can have express check out for a fee!

The only pleasant part of the Harris stay was the staff – very courteous and patient. However the resort and the system was a nightmare. After the lock incident, the manager sent a voucher for a night stay for 2 in the funky suite (with some T&C expiring in Sept- said will extend if I want to) and some fruits/cookies to the room. After such a nightmarish experience, do you think I will go back to Harris? I had stayed in different hotels in Batam (Planet, Panorama, Goodway, Harmonia, Formosa) but never had such a bad experience before .