Since I’m heading to Bali again soon, I thought it’s time to finally get round to doing the reviews of my Bali trip in mid-2022. It’s been awhile since those stays, but I’ll do my best to recall all the details. For my 2022 Bali trip, I stayed in a couple of hotels. The first three nights were spent at the W Bali Seminyak, while the last night was at the Conrad Bali in Nusa Dua.
This was my second time staying at the W Bali Seminyak, the first time was in early 2018. I’d loved the W Bali Seminyak the first time round, and was looking forward to returning. Because of how much I’d enjoyed that first stay, I had been hyping it up to my girlfriend prior to this stay. Thankfully, the W Bali Seminyak absolutely nailed it again. A big part of the marvelous (pun intended) experience was down to the villa we booked, probably my favourite hotel “room” anywhere. It also helped that we’d gotten a great package deal with great inclusions that enhanced our experience around the resort. The W Bali Seminyak is hands-down one of my favourite resorts. It’s pricey, but in my opinion, worth every cent.
Read on to find out why I love the W Bali Seminyak!
Booking
The booking process for this stay was a little complicated. Back in June 2020 not long after the world went into lockdown, the resort ran a promotion offering IDR750,000 (SGD65 at current rates) hotel credit per night which were accumulative, and daily breakfast. Given how much I enjoyed the villa back in 2018, I convinced my girlfriend we should splurge for one. The rate came to IDR16,500,000 (SGD1,435) for 3 nights, and we’d get IDR2,250,000 in hotel credits total. I’ll admit it’s a lot to pay in a location with cheap villas aplenty, but the W Bali is a resort I love.
Given the pandemic situation then, and this being a non-refundable rate, I booked the stay for as far out as the hotel’s calendar would allow me, which was May 2021. Of course, it turned out not to be enough. In April 2021, I reached out to the hotel to enquire what options were available to defer or cancel without penalty.
The hotel responded that no refund was possible, but they would be happy to issue a voucher valid till 31 May 2022 for the same rate, room type and inclusions as initially booked. They also indicated the voucher validity could be extended if the Indonesian border remained closed then. I also enquired if I could have the voucher issued in the name of a relative residing in Indonesia, and they were willing to accommodate, though ultimately I didn’t opt for that. They also could have split up the stay into separate nights should I have wished. Thankfully, there was no need for any of that, and we were able to complete the stay in May 2022, after the removal of quarantine requirements in March 2022.
While hotels and airlines were all offering flexible policies regarding cancellation then, I was grateful to the hotel for honouring the rate and inclusions. Considering the surge in hotel rates would have been expected when Bali did reopen, I thought it was generous of the hotel to do so. I did a fresh search for my stay dates out of curiousity, and the closest package was only offering IDR500K daily credit, and the rate for the one bedroom villa was around IDR7million if memory serves me right. They’re flexibility in structuring the voucher was also welcome, though it proved unneeded. This is the sort of generosity and flexibility that builds loyalty.
Location
The W Bali is located in the Petitenget area of Seminyak. Beside it is the extremely popular Potato Head Beach Club. This puts it close to loads of great food options. Depending on traffic, the ride from the airport could take anywhere from 30min to an hour.
The resort is by the beach, though the beach itself isn’t a private beach. Being in Seminyak, the hotel roughly faces west, which makes for great sunset views.
Arrival and Check-in
Rather than booking the hotel’s expensive airport transfer, I opted for a transfer through Klook, was much cheaper. Thanks to light traffic, we got to the hotel around 8pm after arriving on SQ946. To enter the W Bali, one has to pass through a bamboo ‘tunnel’, leading to the security checkpoint that’s standard at all high-end hotels in Indonesia. At this point, I have to confess I somehow missed taking photos of the driveway and lobby, so I’ll showcase these with photos from the W Bali’s website.
Once past the security check, we pulled up to the hotel lobby. If you’ve ever stayed in a W hotel, you know the hotel is going to be full of funky design and colourful lighting at night. The W Bali is no exception, it might be even be more funky given the resort setting. Some people love it, some people hate it. For me, at least in the context of this resort, I love it. It really enhances the resort feel for me. The overall environment just puts in a chilled out, holiday mood. I’m still in the age (physical and mental) where this kind of cool, slightly edgy environment agrees with me. Perhaps in a few years, my feeling on it might change. But for now, I definitely don’t mind this resort.
A staff member opened the car door, and enquired if we were staying in a room or villa once we hopped out. At the response of villa, our bags were taken away to be loaded onto a buggy. We were brought to a reception desk and offered a choice of alcoholic or non-alcoholic welcome drink. I don’t remember exactly what the choices were.
There was some confusion over the voucher, and the front desk requested I forward them a copy. This was a little ridiculous, and it was clear their reservation team did not communicate with the front desk. Nonetheless, it was sorted out once I forwarded them a copy. The breakfast and daily credit were confirmed, and when I attempted to clarify exactly what was covered by the credit, I was told any hotel charges except for the room. This was rather vague, but as I would later find out they literally meant any charges.
Once all these were sorted, a male staff member escorted us to a waiting buggy which had our bags loaded on, and he got in the driver’s seat to set off for our villa. Along the way, he explained the various facilities available, the F&B outlets and breakfast timings. He enquired if we had stayed there before, which I responded in the affirmative (at least for me). He was very effusive in welcoming me back, and expressed his appreciation for the support Singaporeans have given in quickly returning to Bali once the Indonesia border reopened. I had gotten the same sort of welcome on my first stay, and it’s clear the staff have been very trained. The staff sounded sincere and warm to me, and it absolutely made us feel welcome to the resort.
The Marvelous One Bedroom Villa
The villas at the W Bali Seminyak are located closer to the main road, though still sufficiently far enough to not be bothered by road noise, thanks to the long driveway. There’s no beach view naturally, so if that’s what you prefer then the villas aren’t the best choice. There’s a total of 72 villas; 58 one-bedroom, 10 two-bedroom and 4 three-bedroom. It’s easy to get lost in the maze of villas, should one decide to walk between villa and main building. There’s the option of calling a buggy, but I personally prefer walking. This a bit of problem, especially arriving at night. On my first stay, after arriving the night before, I got lost the next morning returning to the villa after breakfast.
Each Marvelous One Bedroom Villa measures 225sqm. The villas are pretty private, with high walls all around each villa.
Stepping into the villa, it’s clear most of the 225sqm has gone to the outdoor space. I don’t mind this at all. I come to a resort to relax, and I book a villa to relax in private. The more outdoor space for me to sit around and chill, the better. The greenery around the villa enhances the resort feel of the villa. They also do a good job obscuring the walls and beautifying the grounds of the villa. I felt the W Bali’s villa design shows how it’s possible to have total privacy in the form of walls, while maintaining a tropical feel with greenery all round, something the Capella Singapore could learn.
One thing I’d recommend is not being too intoxicated when returning to the villa, as the pool is immediately by the side when entering. A stone and tile path leads the way into the villa. Don’t walk too far, or you’ll end up in one of of the ponds that surround the villa structure.
The outdoor space offers plenty of options for relaxation. There’s the outdoor dining table, the sun lounger or the huge daybed in the cabana. My personal favourite is the sun lounges, as the cabana can result in strange tan lines due to the gaps in the roof.
The plunge pool is 43sqm. It’s not long enough for swimming, but perhaps for floating around lazily. A staff member came by daily to maintain the pool. This consisted of adding the necessary chemicals for water quality, and clearing the leaves that fall into the pool. With the amount of greenery around the pool, the leaves were a minor annoyance.
The hotel has floats for rent, which cost IDR200K per day. We rented a giant pink flamingo from the hotel, and the rental fee was covered by our hotel credit.
Honestly, I can’t get enough of the outdoor space. Sure, it doesn’t have a spectacular beach view, but I personally prefer having a private relaxation space. It’s hard to beat having a private pool to step into anytime to cool off. For example on our last night, we walked back to the W after having dinner at Kaum in Potato Head – which I highly recommend if you want a modern, refined take on Indonesian food – and jumped into the pool for a quick dip to cool down.
While the outdoor space is terrific and the main draw of a villa, the indoor space isn’t neglected. It’s perhaps surprisingly compact given the total villa footprint is 225sqm. I reckon most guests will be spending majority of their time on the outdoor terrace, so the room size shouldn’t be an issue.
The bed is positioned facing the pool, closest to sliding doors that keep out the Bali heat. It’s big, and very comfortable. A good rest is expected at a resort, and the W Bali delivers.
There’s a small living space off to the side. The sofa could double as a daybed. The coffee table was rather small though, not really suitable for dining. If you’re planning to dine in the villa, I’d recommend dining outdoors instead. There’s a beanbag chair and a round cushioned stool, as alternatives to the sofa. There’s a 40inch TV at the end of the sofa, which could be swiveled towards the bed.
The snack bar, or to use the hotel’s term, the W MixBar, was located at the back corner of the living space. Beneath the snack bar was the Bose sound system. This allows guests to connect their device and play music throughout the villa, including the outdoor area.
Should the urge to be productive strike, the room does have a desk. This faces the back wall of the villa. Not the prettiest view, but at least there’s greenery there too.
Flanking the desk was a couple of cabinets. The one on the left holds the glassware and minibar fridge. This was fully stocked. The cabinet at the other end mainly contained the safe, though there were drawers for storage if needed.
There’s no walk-in wardrobe in this villa unfortunately. Instead, the oversized wardrobe is open to the rest of the bathroom. The centrepiece of the bathroom is arguably the large freestanding bathtub. The shower and toilet were located at the back of the bathroom. The shower seemed pretty high to me, and had the option of a handheld shower or rain shower. While hotel’s website advertises Bliss Spa bathroom amenities, I don’t recall seeing those on this stay. In 2018, the amenities were definitely Bliss though.
The property is over 10 years old, but everything in the villa felt well-maintained. A couple of updates might not go amiss, such as a newer sound system, but I didn’t really hear any guests using it so I guess it’s not a necessary investment at this point.
The Marvelous One Bedroom Villa was as marvelous as I remembered it, The outdoor space was a perfect spot to spend an afternoon lounging around, while the indoors was spacious and equally comfortable. This was a villa I could just spends lazing around in.
Food & Beverage
One of the other fond memories of the W Bali Seminyak from my 2018 trip was the breakfast. Guests have the option of Starfish Bloo or FIRE for breakfast. In 2018, both had a similar buffet but slightly different ala carte menus. During this stay, I noticed both now had identical ala carte menus. The buffet offerings were similar as well, with a couple of small differences.
We dined at both FIRE and Starfish Bloo during our stay. Personally I recommend Starfish Bloo as its closer to the beach and it’s possible to get beach views if dining alfresco. After trying each one on the first two mornings, we wanted to go to Starfish Bloo on our third and last morning. Alas, we were too late and they had closed breakfast to prepare for Sunday brunch.
Starfish Bloo
As mentioned, breakfast consisted of a buffet and an ala carte menu. The buffet consisted of pretty much everything one would need and expect in a breakfast buffet. From pastries to bacon, cold cuts to sushi to dim sum, Starfish Bloo had it all. The sushi was only at Starfish Bloo.
The ala carte menu was equally extensive. There was no limit on the number of dishes guests could order. At least we didn’t hit a limit if there was one. The hot items were of the most interest to us. There were western choices such and steak and mushroom, chicken and waffles, Asian options like congee, and local specialties including mie goreng, lontong and nasi jinggo.
On the one morning we ate at Starfish Bloo, we ordered the mie goreng, steak and mushroon, and babi omelet. Of the three items, the mie goreng was our favourite. It was served with fried chicken even though it’s not mentioned in the description. The taste of the chicken and noodles were good. The other two items fared a little less well, with the omelet a tad too spicy and the steak not very good in terms of cook or quality.
When not serving breakfast, Starfish Bloo serves “pan-Asian” cuisine all day, with an emphasis on seafood dishes, with its beachside location. On Sundays, it serves Sunday brunch, considered by some to be one of the best in Bali (probably in terms of variety rather than quality I suspect)
FIRE
The buffet selection was similar, but not identical to Starfish Bloo. I noticed a couple of stations I had not seen at Starfish Bloo, such DIY Soto Betawi and Mie Ayam. There was also a noodle station. The ala carte menu was exactly identifical.
Since FIRE is a meat grill restaurant, we decided to try the steak and mushrooms here. It did actually turn out better than Starfish Bloo’s rendition. We also tried a number of other dishes over two mornings, including chicken and waffles, Balinese rice porridge, breakfast croissant, and a fruit bowl, which was let down by the poor quality of fruits.
To be honest, I felt the food standard had dropped a little since 2018. This applied to both Starfish Bloo and FIRE. Most of the buffet items were average. The fruits were particularly poor, all weren’t sweet at all. Service staff were generally friendly and enthusiastic, though language barrier did sometimes get in the way to my surprise. Honestly the whole resort feel, the crazy restaurant décor that only W can pull off, made me not feel bothered by the slightly lacking food quality. Just being able to have such a wide variety of choice was a win in my books.
Woobar
Woobar Bali is the W Bali’s beach bar. It’s a popular spot for both guests and non-guests. We visited Woobar twice in an attempt to use up our IDR2.25million of hotel credit. The first visit was late one night after returning from Ubud. Back then, Woobar closed at 10pm. We were there around 9pm. The Woobar seating was mostly made up of large sofas and loungers. There was a also counter closest to the beach, good for guests who really want a front row view of sunset.
The Woobar serves up the signature pink coconuts. Besides the plain old fresh coconut, there was an alcoholic slushy that comes served in a smaller pink coconut. As with all fruits we had during the stay, the coconuts weren’t very good. But then again Indonesian coconuts have never been as good as Thai ones.
We stopped by for sunset on our last evening at the resort. Besides the various alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks we had, we also ordered a few small food items. The prawn and chicken wantons were surprisingly delicious and addictive. If we didn’t have dinner booked for Kaum later that evening, I could easily have gotten full on those.
The Woobar, like most beach clubs and beachside bars in Seminyak, gets real crowded at sunset. It’s definitely not the place for a romantic sunset experience. But if you like a party atmosphere, creative drinks and decent food, it’s not a bad choice.
Back then, Marriott was offering members 10-20% discount on dining. As a lowly Silver Elite, I got 10% discount and these were applied on the bill, before the cost was taken off the bill by the hotel credits at checkout. It’s weird to complain about getting a discount, but it made it even harder for us to use up the credit.
Facilities
The W Bali’s WET pool is one of its signature features. It’s often featured on social media. We didn’t use the main pool at all this stay, though I did on my previous stay. The different levels of the pool are inspired by the terrace rice fields of Bali. To be honest, it looks a little underwhelming in real life, mostly because it’s always a lovely azure blue in the hotel’s photos but isn’t when seen up close. But with a private pool to enjoy, I could care less. The pool gets quite crowded during the day. Because of that and it’s odd shape, it’s not really a pool for swimming.
The resort also has a FIT gym and an AWAY spa. We visited neither of these facilities. On the previous stay, I did pass through the spa to use the showers, which the hotel allowed guests (or at least me) to use after checking out. We could have used our credits at the spa, but it wouldn’t have been enough for both of us to get treatments, so we gave it a miss. Since I didn’t visit either the gym or spa, here’s some photos from the hotel’s website:
Conclusion
The W Bali Seminyak is one of my all-time favourite resorts. The ambience may not suit everyone, but its location, service and marvelous accommodation make it a joy to stay. Admittedly I’ve only ever stayed at the villas, and a big part of my fondness for the resort is the villa. Nonetheless, everything else about the experience was fantastic, except the food quality which could be improved. The staff were mostly fantastic as well, friendly and warm.
Perhaps it’s not so much the individual aspects of the hard and soft product, but more of how everything comes together to deliver an enjoyable experience that makes me feel relaxed, refreshed and ultimately not want to checkout. To deliver that sort intangible, satisfying experience is no mean feat. Overall, if there’s one resort I had to pick to retreat to, the W Bali Seminyak is still my top choice.