Conrad Bali Resort & Spa, Tanjung Benoa
We recently stayed over the New Year break at the Conrad Bali Resort near Nusa Dua. We had stayed here about 2 years ago in their standard rooms but this time decided to splurge a little and stay in one of the suites there and we were definitely impressed.
We used the Conrad Bali airport pick-up service (US$22) each way and had no problems. They have built a new tollway road since we were last here which makes it a short 20 min trip to the Conrad.
Suite life is pretty good, some of the benefits include;
– Complimentary breakfast, afternoon tea and evening canapés in the executive lounge (no kids under 12 allowed in the lounge though). If you are like us with kids under 12, you can have breakfast at Suku (the buffet breakfast) and afternoon tea and drinks/canapés at East Lobby Bar. The afternoon tea is just like a high tea where they will bring a plate stand of delicious goodies and you can choose from any non-alcoholic drinks that you can think of. Just a tip when ordering a cold iced coffee – it will come with no milk. If you want milk in your iced coffee you need to order an iced cappuccino or iced latte. The evening drinks /canapés is a good selection of cold dishes and excellent choice of soft drinks, beer, wine or cocktails (we love an exec lounge that does cocktails!) There is also a happy hour (2 for 1) in East from 8pm which was great for us.
– 15% food and beverage discount for all meals and drinks.
– Access to the suites pool where no kids under 12 are allowed so it is nice and quiet and peaceful.
– Free unlimited and fast laundry service which I loved and believe me it made a difference when we got home and no washing from our stay.
– Discount at Jiwa Day Spa. I actually booked one of their New Year specials package so didn’t get the discount but I did receive a gift (mud masque) which I am not sure if I got because we are HHonors Diamond or if it was part of the package. The day spa was exceptionally good though.
The pools at the Conrad are great. There is a main pool (which we never had any trouble getting sun lounges around) or a lagoon pool which wraps around some of the rooms. The Lagoon rooms are excellent and wouldn’t hesitate to get one with kids who can swim. Please note that the beach outside the Conrad is not great for swimming. If you want to sit by the beautiful, idyllic beaches then this is not for you. This is a water sport area so if you have teenagers they will love it!
There is a free shuttle bus to the Bali Collection (shopping mall) in Nusa Dua which leaves from the Conrad. We tried to get on the first bus one day but as the Conrad is one of the last stops it was so full that we couldn’t get on and had to catch a taxi there. Don’t know if that is the usual case or if it was just because we were there during an extremely busy time. Had no problems getting the shuttle back though.
Our kids used the Kura Kura Kids Club quite a bit at the Conrad Bali also. While it is complimentary there is a fee for some activities such as pizza making, cookie baking and ice cream decorating. Our kids loved it though and over the new year break they provided additional activities like beach soccer/volleyball everynight (5-6pm) and nightly kids movies (7-9pm) which gave us parents extra much needed relaxation time. We also played a bit of tennis as they have 2 tennis courts but be aware there is a fee to hire a tennis court. The gym is also an adequate size and if you are keen there is yoga lessons throughout the day.
There is a beautiful wedding chapel at the Conrad Bali Resort, so if you are looking for a wedding location, definitely check it out. While did not use it, they have the Reflections lounge which is available if you cannot get a late checkout and have a late flight.
Just wanted to touch on our room at the Conrad Bali, we had a twin suite which had a huge living area and kitchenette. There was a normal mini bar but they also provided an empty fridge for the numerous bottles of water that they leave. There is plenty of convenience stores nearby where you can stock up on drinks/snacks if you do not want to pay the highly inflated resort prices. The bathroom is a good size with a bath with a TV which I love in a hotel room. We also had amazing housekeeping who provided us with different towel art animals each day.
The hotel is in Tanjung Benoa which is pretty quiet with not much around it so we hired one of the Conrad cars & drivers to show us around Bali which is available at USD$150 for 8 hours which we found pretty good value. If you don’t want to pay hotel prices for meals, most restaurants further out will provided transport to and from hotels so just check with the concierge desk who are extremely helpful.
Just a small gripe that we had was we did not receive our right amount of Hilton Honor points that we were entitled to. We did chase it up with the HHonor desk and they reimbursed us with more points but I think we still fell short of what we were meant to receive so please check your account balances to make sure you get the right points.
For more information go to www.conradbali.com
