SMILING HILL CLUBHOUSE is a great place for newcomers to begin the process of getting to know Batam. It’s a warm, welcoming, convenient, safe, secure, comfortable and inexpensive place to stay.

LUSH TROPICAL gardens with the welcome mat always out - Smiling Clubhouse entry.

Smiling Clubhouse Facilities

WARM, welcoming and so very affordable with good facilities, good food, good company and a bountiful bar ... that’s what we aim to provide for our Smiling Hill clubhouse visitors. Here are some of the facilities:

· Excellent air conditioned accommodation equivalent to good three-star standard.

· Delicious international and Asian food all day (7am to 9.30pm) from our Goodies Restaurant, including full American or English breakfast with REAL bacon and toast.

· Good company and plenty of laughs with interesting and outgoing like-minded travellers and long-stay residents.

· FREE Internet access from your laptop via wireless Hot Spots or from a dedicated desktop computer in our guest lounge via ADSL modem link.

· Cable (satellite) TV to all guestrooms with a wide selection of English language news, sports, movie and general interest channels.

· Guest library of English-language popular fiction, travel, biography and reference books built up on an exchange basis by our regular guests and residents. If you are enjoying a book from our shelves then you are welcome to take it home with you. Perhaps you can leave in its place a book you have completed or bring a couple of books for our readers on your next visit.

· A quiet location but with quick and easy access to the main business and entertainment district. We are just 1.4 km from the heart of Nagoya. A taxi to town costs 20,000 rupiah (US$2) by day or 30,000 at night. For the bold a motorbike taxi (ojek) will cost about 10,000 rupiah. If our passenger van is available (and it usually is through most of the day) then our driver will drop you downtown for FREE.

· Security 24 hours and in-room Safety Boxes for your passport, cash, cards and other valuables.

· Stunning garden swimming pool complex with bar and restaurant. The main pool is 20 metres by 10 metres and suitable for lap swimming or just cooling off. The water temperature is always pleasant and the shady Bali-style surrounds are ideal for relaxing.

· Your choice of five championship golf courses with excellent facilities and modest fees (plus more courses on the nearby island of Bintan). We can help you to arrange a game or put you in touch with a Western specialist golf tour organiser.

· Informed and accurate advice on interesting sights to see and things to do in and around Batam and help in making the necessary arrangements to enjoy them.

· Low-cost and speedy laundry and ironing service. We don’t believe in the rip-off laundry charges typical of major hotels.

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Typical Clubhouse Guests

Business Travellers - Smiling Hill is a different and enjoyable option for Business visitors to Batam looking for a relaxed, quiet and convenient location offering most of the advantages of the major downtown hotels but at a much lower cost and with a much more friendly, responsive and supportive staff, management and atmosphere.

An interesting add-on to a South East Asian trip - Increasing numbers of regular travellers to regional countries like Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia are adding a Singapore stopover to their itinerary and then making the quick ferry crossing to Batam and Smiling Hill. Often the airlines allow additional stopovers at no extra cost. Some travellers are flying direct to Singapore, making a side trip to Smiling Hill and using the inexpensive Budget airlines networks to travel to their other South East Asian destinations.

Travellers making Singapore Stopovers - Smiling Hill is an excellent option for travellers scheduling stop-overs in dull, boring and expensive Singapore – less than an hour by fast ferry from Singapore’s Harbourfront terminal opens up a whole new and fascinating world. The lower costs in Batam will more than offset the price of ferry fares and a Visa-on Arrival.

Work break rotations - Expatriates working off-shore or in remote locations around the South East Asian region, Africa and the Middle East often work regular rotations (28 days on and 28 days off or two months on and a month off). Batam and Smiling Hill can be an attractive, inexpensive and enjoyable place for their R & R break for those without family commitments in their country of origin. It is easy to reach via Singapore and can save on travel times. Remaining outside their country of origin can also have tax benefits for some expatriates.

Weekend and Short Breaks - Smiling Hill is an excellent short break option for Expatriates living and working in Singapore or southern Malaysia or residents of those countries who want a pleasant, convenient and inexpensive stay away from very expensive, formulaic and, usually, remote Batam and Bintan resorts.

South East Asian Expatriates making Visa runs - Westerners living in countries like Thailand and the Philippines often need to make short trips to another country and then re-enter so as to extend the term of their Visa. Batam and Smiling Hill offer an interesting, inexpensive and enjoyable alternative to places like Singapore and Kuala Lumpur for such trips. Western Expatriates living in more distant centres in Indonesia also need to make Visa runs, typically to Singapore. They can simply take a low cost flight to Batam, spend a little time at Smiling Hill and then make the ferry crossing to Singapore.

Travellers hoping to see more of Indonesia - Batam’s sophisticated Hang Nadim Airport handles more than three million passenger movements a year with some 60 fights daily to and from Jakarta and other major centres throughout Indonesia. Apart from major holiday high seasons Indonesia’s domestic air services are very competitive with Budget airline prices the norm and regular promotional price cuts. Indonesia has much to see and it is easy and inexpensive to travel from Batam to places like Jakarta, Medan and Lake Toba, Solo, Jogjakarta, Semarang, Surabaya, Bandung/Bogor and Bali. A big advantage of Batam is that it is a designated Visa-on-Arrival port of entry and travellers planning longer explorations can readily and inexpensively take a quick trip to Singapore and back to extend their 30-day visa. For the more intrepid it easy to take ferry links from Batam gateway to explore some of the less travelled smaller islands of the Riau Archipelago.

Travellers hoping to see more of South East Asia - Batam and Smiling Hill are also an ideal base from which to explore the countries of South East and North Asia (Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Hong Kong, China. Macau etc). For those prepared to book in advance there are very inexpensive Budget airline flights out of Singapore to most of the region and Batam and Smiling are a low-cost and enjoyable place for recovery stop-overs between trips. Smiling also will happily store surplus luggage while you make your side-journeys.

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Long-stay Rooms and Studios

THE SMILING HILL Clubhouse can be a convenient, comfortable and pleasant option for expatriates employed under contract in Batam’s industries and fabrication yards.

We offer special rates for long-stay guests (more than three months) and long-stay residents generally find the facilities for relaxation and interaction with other guests and residents of the Smiling Hill community to be a big plus compared with the anonymity of a long-stay room in a typical hotel.

Long-stay residents have the same access to the pool complex, Internet services, guest library, laundry services and other facilities as other visitors. There are no restrictions on visitors - guests are welcome to entertain their own guests or friends.

Our passenger van and driver provide early morning and afternoon transport to the Batu Ampar construction yards at nominal rate for long-stay residents who work there.

The Smiling Hill team is planning to open a further 12 rooms and studios in 2010,. Most will equipped with kitchenettes and will be aimed primarily at meeting the needs of long-stay guests.

WE CALL it the Smiling Hill Clubhouse because it is so much more than just another anonymous hotel. In Indonesian parlance it is a Kos Kosan, which translates as boarding house or “rent rooms”.

Here you can truly relax and enjoy a real South Asian experience without the worries of finding out what to do, where to go, how much to pay, who to trust, and how to avoid making mistakes, wasting time or being ripped off.

From the moment you arrive you will find yourself among friends - interesting, perceptive, informed and like-minded travellers and long-stay residents who like to laugh and are always ready to share their experiences, stories and advice.

Our management team and the regulars in the Smiling Hill community will give you up-to-date, practical and reliable information on the who, what, when, where, how and why of the Batam entertainment, bar, food, touring and nightlife scene - What’s hot and what’s not; where to go and where not; what to pay; what to expect and how to cope with and enjoy the practicalities of a new and different culture.

Usually one of us or some of our informed regulars will accompany you on an introductory outing to both popular and lesser known venues. You instantly get an insider’s insights, save precious time and avoid all the newbie pitfalls.

If you have the time and the inclination to see more of this interesting island (the golf courses, the resort areas, the waterways, the coastal kampungs, the traditional kalong restaurants or even nearby islands) then we will happily arrange a relaxed, inexpensive an informative tour.

Smiling Hill Clubhouse was conceived and developed by Westerners for Westerners and is managed by a team of Westerners who understand the concerns and needs of Western visitors. There is no other accommodation property in and around the Nagoya area operated and managed by Westerners and it does make a difference.

GUESTROOM at Smiling Hill Clubhouse - air conditioning, cable TV and more.

A DESKTOP computer with free ADSL Internet link is available to guests. There is also a free wireless Hot Spot if you have a laptop.

OUR GUEST library has plenty of English language books for guests who wish to enjoy a quiet read. It works on a complimentary exchange basis.

• Smiling Hill Guestroom Tariffs
• Smiling Clubhouse Facilities
• Typical Clubhouse Guests
• Long-stay Rooms & Studios

Smiling Hill  Clubhouse Tariffs

Room rates at Smiling Hill are a very modest SGD$55 to SGD$60 per night.

Rooms are of 3-star standard with air conditioning, cable television, room fridge, minibar, complimentary wireless Internet  and safety box.

There are discounted monthly room rates for long-stay guests (minimum three months) with tariffs ranging from SGD$800 per month, depending upon room size and facilities.

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POOLSIDE buffet of delicious Indonesian and Western foods. The Smiling way of celebrating holidays and special occasions.