This was our 6th visit to Bali and our 4th stay at this hotel, having previously stayed here in December 1995, December 2008 and September 2009. This most recent stay from 21st December 2009 to 8th January 2010 was to celebrate my 50th birthday ( a wonderful present from Mrs Electric ). And we have already booked another stay here in September 2010.
It is not the most modern. It is not the most plush. The food here is typically overpriced as is all international hotel food all over the world. (Prices are also subject to 21% tax and service resulting in us paying £40 for a good lunch and £5 for two colas at the pool bar later.) It IS very good food, but the cheaper deals are to be found in restaurants outside of the hotel).
We have also stayed at the Ritz-Carlton in Jimbaran Bay, the Alila in Ubud, the Sofitel and the Oberoi (both in Seminyak), and the Grand Bali Beach in Sanur. But in each of those hotels we have stayed only once. We have stayed at the Bali Hyatt 4 times.
Let me tell you why....
I have travelled a lot in this strange and yet wonderful world and thankfully my love of travel is shared by the equally wonderful Mrs Electric. And when we check in and the staff remember not only our faces but also our names and we have the first ice cold sip of the complimentary welcome drink while we are being processed; and we see the wonderful exceptional staff here who seem genuinely delighted to see us; when we smell the beautiful scent of the flowers placed around our necks and look with a familiar delight at the main area which houses the lobby, you forget that from door to door took you 22 hours to get here, you feel privileged to have been able to visit here once again, and, yes, you even feel love and forgiveness for the passenger on the long haul flight in seat 47C (yes, that's the one, with the awful body odour and garlic halitosis...). The staff here really are beyond compare.
What also makes this hotel are the pools and the wonderful gardens. They are simply magnificent and were apparently designed by one man. There is a plaque in his honour in the gardens as he sadly passed away in 2006. But what a fantastic legacy to leave behind him.
There is something about this hotel which invites complete and total relaxation. My wife and I have certainly enjoyed the rock and roll lifestyle to the full but we have wonderful memories of sitting in the piano bar drinking ginger tea and fruit cocktails and feeling so at peace we didn't even need any alcohol. This bar looks over the pool area and out to sea and we were lucky enough to befriend a lot of the wild birds who were eating from our hands. Complete bliss in our stressful 21st century world. What price can you really put on that?
The bathrooms are a little dated as everyone says. But I have come to love their individuality and quirky appeal. The rooms are large and decorated in a Balinese style, and the beds would certainly sleep more than just two of you, should that be your desire...They are of a generous size and comfortable. Rooms are cleaned regularly and to a high standard. Complimentary water is provided in the rooms and we have never had any problem when we have requested more. If you are sensitive to atmospheres, it must be said that the rooms do vary. It took me a long time to settle down in a sea view room during a previous visit, but i felt immediately settled in a garden room.
There are two main pools at this hotel and also a small children's pool, a small plunge pool, and two jaccuzis(one outside closer to the sea, the other in the Spa). The two main pools have radically different atmospheres. If you like to slurp and chirp then the blue pool is for you complete with a pool bar. If you prefer reading and swimming then the balinese styled green pool is better. And even when the hotel has been at full occupancy, it never feels crowded.
At last I can report on the Regency Club. For an extra payment (currently $60 extra per night if you upgrade at the hotel) you get to stay in an upgraded room and also have a private lounge which you can attend between 1700 and 1900 for free cocktails and food. And it must be said that the free food is of the highest quality. Hot and cold counters, International cuisine as well as Indonesian. Wine is very expensive in Bali so if you are a wine drinker it really would pay you to upgrade. And the food is plentiful enough to make dinner later completely unnecessary. (Pauses to dream of the smoked marlin and horseradish sauce....). The bottom line? If you can afford the upgrade then go for it. It really is well worth it.
GENERAL THINGS TO KNOW AND BE AWARE OF.
The Bali Hyatt is very well placed in Sanur and there are a plethora of bars and restaurants in the immediate vicinity and plenty of good food to be found including the most excellent Gateway to India for all you curry buffs. Kokoyo is the closest Japanese restaurant to the Hyatt and is also excellent, as is Kabuki opposite the Gazebo hotel. Other restaurants of note are Massimo (Italian), Aladdin (international and Indonesian) and the Star Bar(international and Indonesian).
If you want raucous nightlife then Kuta is only a taxi ride away. Sanur is calmer and we only go to Kuta to visit the wonderful Poppies Restaurant. There is also a Hard Rock Cafe in Kuta and the food is as good as you would expect from the HRC brand. I can't say the same for the alcohol there though. Lets move on...
The Hotel has its own taxi service which is excellent but of course more expensive than taking a local taxi from the street. We usually take a walk to the main road and as you leave the hotel grounds you will be approached by touts offering you transport etc. They are easy to deal with. A simple smile and a firm ' No thank you ' will suffice. Then look out for a Bluebird taxi. Safe, cheap and reliable transport in a well serviced Toyota (and by the way, I dont know why there has been such a media fuss about the Toyota accelerator pedals. Mysteriously, many people in the UK have appeared on television with this problem...quite remarkable as at the time of writing there have been only FOUR instances of sticking pedals....and all of those have been in the States) and the drivers all have photo identification on the dashboards. The bluebird logo is a blue oval on a white background with a darker blue bluebird in the middle. In fact Bluebird have such a good reputation that other companies are trying to make their signs look like Bluebird cars....so do keep your eyes open for that. An example fare to Ubud based on 15000 rupiah to the pound would be 120,000 each way with 30,000 per hour waiting time.
And the Balinese? A truly wonderful happy smiling people. Do not be afraid to share a joke with them. They love to laugh and if you sow just a little seed of laughter you will get back much more than you would ever believe.
I have read a lot of the other reviews on here and the majority are positive. Some are not, and while I respect totally all points of view (wouldn't it be a boring life if we all thought the same?), I do feel the need to give my own point of view on one or two of them.
First off, security. Some people seem to have a slight issue about security at the hotel and getting your bags searched seems to be the biggest bugbear. In an ideal world we would not have to go through this sort of thing, but the fact is...we don't live in an ideal world. Think of the issues at stake if ever there was a problem and the hotel had done nothing to try to enhance safety. Personally I have no issues with security. So they can search both my bags and the bags of Mrs Electric any time they want. And we are grateful that they search every single car every time one enters the hotel grounds. The Hyatt makes me feel safe, and I thank them on this page for every single effort they have made to enhance customer security. Well Done.
Finally.....I have read on these pages that one poor chap was woken at around 0300am to find a rat running over the pillows of his bed. Its a great pity that anyone should have that kind of experience and I am very pleased that he found alternative accomodation in Nusa Dua (I have always found Nusa Dua to be very corporate and sterile but hey...we are all different).
But I will state most categorically that in all of my visits to this hotel I have always found that cleanliness has been first class and the staff and management have always responded to my needs with efficiency, professionalism, and a smile. So although I reiterate my sympathy for the gentleman and his family for having such a stressful stay, my experience would tell me that this is most definately an exception rather than the rule.
Well...time for my milk and cookies now. I hope that this review has been useful to every one who reads it...
A big thanks to all of the management and staff at the Bali Hyatt...and we will see you all again in September.