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The Sanchaya: Singapore's Gateway to Indonesian Island Luxury

By PORTALTO Editor

24 August 2026

When people think of luxury escapes in Indonesia, Bali usually gets all the attention. But just 60 minutes by ferry from Singapore lies Bintan and hidden along its coastline, The Sanchaya offers a compelling reason to look beyond the usual destinations.

A collection, in the truest sense of the word

There is a ferry from Tanah Merah terminal in Singapore that most people have never taken. It crosses to Bintan in under an hour, arriving at a private VIP lounge where The Sanchaya's staff handle immigration on your behalf while you settle in with a cold drink. By the time the car pulls up to the estate you will past the famous white pineapple sculpture at the entrance, past the formal garden and its fountain — you have already understood that this is not the kind of place that needs to try very hard.

Bintan is an island of white sand beaches, laid-back coastal charm, and the quiet confidence of somewhere that has never needed to compete with anyone. The Sanchaya sits on Lagoi Bay's shoreline as though it has always been there and in the decade since it opened in December 2014, it has steadily and unhurriedly become one of the most recognised luxury estates in the region.

The Architecture of Intention

The name says something important. In Sanskrit, sanchaya means "the collection" — and that is precisely what this place is. Its founder, Natalya Pavchinskaya, is a Singapore-based Russian designer, artist, and film producer who spent years gathering: antiques, textiles, artworks, objects with history inside them. The resort became the home for all of it. Every room holds something worth looking at twice.

The architecture was realised by Thailand's P49 Deesign & Associates, working closely with Pavchinskaya's vision. The Great House — the resort's centrepiece — draws from the colonial black-and-white mansions of the Straits Settlements, layered with Dutch and Spanish Southeast Asian influences. The surrounding gardens were designed by renowned landscape architect Boonchai Sakulthamrak, whose work gives the estate a depth and permanence that most new-build resorts can only gesture toward.

And then there is Vanda Villa. It sits at the far end of the beach, a little apart from everything else — four bedrooms, two storeys, its own infinity pool, a 90-square-metre veranda that faces nothing but open sea. The kind of place that makes you do a quiet double-take the first time you walk past it. The name comes from Singapore's national flower — the Vanda Miss Joaquim orchid — and the villa wears that inspiration well. Same white walls, same colonial bones, same black-and-white detailing you've seen throughout the estate. Just quieter here. More settled.

Vanda Villa at The Sanchaya

Why the awards keep coming

The Sanchaya has earned its recognition steadily and without spectacle. The Michelin Guide has awarded it two Michelin Keys — a distinction given to hotels, not restaurants, for the quality of the stay itself. It has been named among the Top 100 Hotels and Resorts in the World. Each of these recognitions points to the same thing: a place that consistently delivers on what it promises.

What makes The Sanchaya award-worthy isn't a single standout feature. It is the accumulation of details that other resorts let slip. The staff-to-guest ratio that means someone always seems to anticipate what you need before you've decided you need it. The 50-metre infinity pool, the way the black-and-white geometric patterns throughout the property carry enough wit that the whole thing never tips into self-importance. The bar, with its egg-style chairs, vintage leather couches, old-fashioned ceiling fans, and carefully chosen antiques, is the kind of room you find yourself returning to not because there's nowhere else to go, but because you genuinely want to be in it.

The Pool and The Bar at The Sanchaya

Island life, on its own terms

Beyond its award-winning hospitality, the estate invites guests to embrace island life through padel, watersports, and days spent by the sea. The stretch of beach at Lagoi Bay is calm and rarely crowded, it is the kind of coastline that reminds you what beaches are actually for. Mangrove discovery tours explore Bintan's coastal wildlife; visits to the historic islands of Penyengat and Senggarang offer a glimpse into the region's layered cultural heritage. A spa built around Indonesian wellness traditions, afternoon tea served on fine bone china, a sommelier-led tour through the wine cellar — these are not amenities tacked on to justify a rate. They are the texture of a stay that has been thought through from the beginning.

Blokart Sailing and Spa at The Sanchaya

Beyond the Property Line

The Sanchaya also runs the Mr Morris Foundation, named after its black-and-white cat mascot who greets guests in every room on arrival — funding education, elderly care, and environmental projects on Bintan. It is a small detail that says something about the kind of place this is: one that understands hospitality extends beyond its own property line.

And perhaps that is the simplest way to describe The Sanchaya. Sixty minutes from Singapore, a shoreline that slows everything down, and a place that gives back to the island it calls home. Some hotels offer a stay. This one offers something closer to a reason to return.