I just completed a two night stay at this new Starwood property and wanted to write my impressions.

The hotel is located about 15 minutes outside of Ubud on main roadway that goes into downtown Ubud. I took Uber from the airport. The ride was about an hour in moderate traffic and ran 150k IDR. Once you are at the hotel, they have regular shuttle service into Ubud that is convenient for shopping or heading to the town for dinner. I believe the last shuttle from Ubud to the hotel leaves at 7:30PM so you’ll need to take a taxi if you stay later than that. The area is mostly residential – a small village, school, and rice fields. It’s fun to walk the narrow residential streets for an hour or join the morning foot tour given by the hotel twice per week. There are a few art stores selling paintings across the street and a coffee “plantation” up the road but no local restaurants.

The hotel itself is a multi-story long rectangular building. The lobby is at the center. Half the rooms extend towards the main road and the other half of the rooms extend toward the river in the back of the property. There are two pools, one in each half, and all rooms overlook a pool. I believe the Platinum upgrade rooms are the ones in the back (quieter) half of the hotel. It’s the location of the room, not the features of the room that define the upgrade; that was my feeling but not confirmed. There are only 20 upgradable rooms so holidays may find some competition but the hotel manager is very aware of who is arriving and does his best to accommodate everyone.

The welcome amenity is a choice of a carved wooden sign that says “Welcome”, a heavy stone carving about the size of a forearm, or breakfast. I’d guess everyone would choose breakfast. They hand write your check out date on a breakfast permit. You’ll need to show the permit each time you eat and they made a point of taking the paper away from me on the last day I stayed in the hotel. They seem overly protective of giving away breakfasts but … that’s the system.

Rooms at the hotel were, what I’d consider, slightly smaller than normal. The bed was comfortable, shower was great (nice water pressure), television with plenty of cable channels, and balcony overlooking the pool. There is no bathtub, just a shower.

The hotel has various free activities that rotate throughout the week. At 7:00 AM they alternate between yoga, a walk to a nearby village, and one other activity (water aerobics?). They can also arrange local tours. I used them to book a tour to climb Mount Batur and the price (350k IDR) was less expensive than anything I found online.

Overall I was happy with my stay but there are a few things I wanted to note. If you are using Starwood points, you’re finally able to stay in Ubud and get better access to the temples, rice fields, and volcanoes that make central Bali unique. In my opinion, Nusa Dua is a beach vacation that can be replicated in hundreds of beaches around the world. Bali’s charm is inland.
What I found a bit lacking at this hotel was a sense of place. I’ve paid for stays in other Ubud resorts that evoked the Balinese culture in the building design, footpaths, trees, plants, and lighting. This property is a white modern mid-rise hotel, a building you might find in any American suburb. You’ll need to remind yourself that you are indeed in Bali. Open the patio door in the morning and you’ll hear roosters from the village across the river but if you leave it closed you could be anywhere.