Set on a secluded tropical bay of the Indonesian island of Bintan, Banyan Tree Bintan offers romance and relaxation in its most concentrated form.

I never used to be one for hyper-romantic situations. Valentine’s Day, with all its commercial trappings, makes my skin crawl and a man greeting me with a long-stemmed red rose on a first date makes me want to pull the rip chord.

But something recently happened to me on a trip to Banyan Tree Bintan. Ensconced in perhaps one of the most romantic settings I might ever encounter, I suddenly found myself embracing the concept of cupid.

Set on the Indonesian island of Bintan, just an easy 55 minutes by ferry from Singapore, Banyan Tree Bintan is an idyllic retreat frequented by honeymooners, couples savouring their final moments as a duo before the baby arrives, and older couples wanting a never-lift-a-finger escape.

The resort sits on a small, secluded outcrop of Bintan Island, and beyond its peaceful, forest-like gardens, the island is actually abuzz with activity. There are a total of 12 hotels and resorts to stay at, and 10 day spas for blissful pampering. For action junkies there are dune buggies, paintball, horse riding, fishing, mountain biking, go-karting and wake boarding. Adventure treks give you a chance to see rare animals, such as the silver leaf monkey, and kids are sure to love the Bintan Elephant Park, which offers the opportunity to ride and feed one of its Sumatran elephants. And of course, food fetishists will be able to indulge in the local cuisine in the township and resort restaurants. Beyond this, Bintan Island is also a haven for golf fanatics, with four designer courses overlooking the South China Sea, including the Greg Norman-designed Laguna Bintan Golf Club.

If truth be told, however, we didn’t put a toe out of Banyan Tree for the two and a half days we were there and only knew of this whole other world out there from the brochures we picked up along the way. We had more than enough to keep us occupied in the resort and had no desire to burst the bubble of idyllic isolation.

From the moment you arrive at Banyan Tree, you feel like you’re visiting a friend – albeit a very rich friend – who has invited you for a weekend romp at their expansive island paradise, who greets you with a cup of fresh chilled tea when you walk in the door and who drives you, at your whim, to wherever you want to go on their property. Housed in individual thatched-roof Balinese villas, you become oblivious to the outside world and fall into a period of intense relaxation.

We were somewhat hesitant to fall in line with the resort’s buggy practice at first. It seemed a little lazy to phone up to have someone drive us from our villa to breakfast, or from the Rock Pool to the beach, despite the porter telling us, “Oh, yes, it’s quite far, about five minutes’ walk.” But it wasn’t long before we were calling buggies to pick us up and take us here and there, and in the end we were incapable of walking anything more than 50 metres without considering the need for a lift.

On our first night we enjoyed an exquisitely intimate dinner on the beach. Banyan Tree Bintan has a range of Destination Dining options to amp up the romance, where they set up an exclusive dinner for you in an idyllic location – Dinner on the Rocks, Dinner at 8 (set on the eighth hole of the Laguna Bintan Golf Club overlooking the sea), Massage of the Senses and, ours, Dinner of Legend. It was exotically seductive – think a one-on-one date on The Bachelor, sans the cat fights. With a bonfire nearby and sitting on the foot of a shrouded bed, we looked out at the tranquil sea. Behind us on the bed, a love heart had been formed out a stash of red cushions and in front of us on the sand, another out of tea candles. (Love hearts are a big thing here – we came home one night to find on our bed two towels rolled into two swan shapes, which faced each other to make a classic symbol of love.) Our own private chef and waiter prepared a feast of Indonesian salads, curries and desserts for us, and a storyteller even appeared, kneeling on the sand before us, to tell us the Indonesian folktale of the Violet Rainbow Goddess.