I have just spent a further 12 nights in the Club Intercontinental. This was my 6 or 7 visit and I have now been here for more than 60 nights over a long period of time. I love the resort and my stay was great but ........ I have left with a sense of disappointment and some concern for the future of the hotel.

The highlights.

Firstly the staff continue to excel, they are wonderful and make this place what it is. Their training must be fantastic and this combined with the natural Balinese charm makes it a winning combination.

The refurbished rooms are very nice and my duplex has been greatly improved with a downstairs en-suite and storage under the stairs.

Tamin Gita - fabulous for breakfast. The club also has good reports also but it’s too formal for me on when in on holiday. The refurbishment has extended the outdoor area of Tamin Gita significantly.

Checkin was a joy as always and the meet and greet at DPS is brilliant.

The grounds remain outstanding.

I have been coming here since the early 2000’s and I love it however for the first time ever I am not sure I will go back!

Why,

Firstly there is nothing I can pin point precisely as a reason not to return. It was a feeling I got while there and a number of small issues the cumulative effect of which, was to make me reconsider my choices for the future.

Firstly a lot of staff are leaving including the resort manager (who has been in post just over a year) and the F&B manager who doesn’t have a job to go to! Many others are also leaving and there was a distinct sense that all was not well with the staff. Some were more open than others and of course in any organisation not everyone will be happy.

Club benefits have been eroded and “enhanced” away. For example they don’t extend to the Sunset bar now! A separate area for club guests has been created near the club pool overlooking the beach and cocktails are available from 5pm- 7pm.

It does not work. The infrastructure is poor, it’s not comfortable and has all the style of a pop up cafe that was an afterthought. The drinks menu is limited and there is not enough equipment to deliver decent service. I waited 40 minutes one night for 2 drinks! The lights failed more than once!

Drinks are still available at the pool bar but no food.

The period when drinks are available has been reduced by at least an hour and is now from 5pm to 7pm. 5:30pm to 7:30 would have been more reasonable but apparently this change brings things in line with ICs globally. Personally I think it’s just cheap!

The club itself continues to provided an exceptional experience but it too has a very limited drinks menu and the hours are the same.

Afternoon tea is still a feature but in 12 days I had it twice, the first time at checkin.

Ambassador status if worthless on a points stay. My last two nights were using a 241 so I did get an upgrade from club room to club duplex but only because I already had the duplex for 10 nights. The initial offer was 10,000 points as no upgrade was available allegedly.

KO ( Japanese) remains an outstanding experience but is dizzyingly expensive. It starts around £110 for 2 excluding any drinks! Specials are now available on Sunday’s but were poorly advertised. One couple I met spent over 4 million rupiah (£220) on dinner for two.

Jimbaran Garden is poor both in terms of comfort and selection. You will pay 10 times the price of local restaurants for local food. It needs a lot of work to justify the prices charged.

Bella Cuccina had a limited and pricey menu and we didn’t eat there this time.

The discount incentive for eating in the hotel has been enhanced away. Consequently we ate out and noted that there were an increasing number of very good places to eat within 5 minutes walk.

Overall food is very limited in the hotel. Breakfast is exceptional as is the Japanese, but the rest is not what it once was.

The Uluwatu Spa is great but the villa retreat is overpriced for what it is. Facilities just don’t match the prices charged and my treatments were double what I had paid a week earlier at another hotel with far superior facilities.

Massages and reflexology is available across from the hotel at prices that are a tiny fraction of the resort and just as effective.

Price is now a major issue. I had been talking of returning next year and a rate of $385 was available for a club room. This jumped to $415 a day later and with 21% tax and service this makes Club rooms $500 a night. It’s a good hotel but it is not $500 good.

I also met the GM who was worryingly uninspiring! Points guest are an issue for the hotel. Apparently we only spend cash in cities and use the points in resorts. He claimed the value the hotel gets is insufficient which I took to mean a major hike in point rates from January next year.

He also justified the Sunset bar move as being necessary as 150 club guests were drinking complimentary cocktails!!! I did have to point out that they were very far from being complimentary. I also explained that whilst the idea may have been right, it’s execution was a mess.

It was very clear that improving revenues was the number one issue for the hotel. The average stay is just 3.5 days and returning guests account for 22,000 room nights a year. This is not a big number. I was amazed that the GM could not say how many of those were club guests.

In my time there I met 4 separate families who, like me, had been multiple times. We recognised one another from previous stats. One Aussie family have been 90 times but the GM had never spoken to them.

The refurbishment which drags on is nearing an end with buildings 5/6 closed until Christmas. The plan is then to deal with the club pool and villa retreat spa area in the wet season.

My refurbished duplex was, as I said , very nice. My wife didn’t like the bathroom as it’s dark and there is no mirror near a power socket to use a hairdryer. Running a bath takes an age as the water pressure issue was not addressed. Still it’s a good space for families. Being in block 3 however felt like a downgrade and there is just one lift.

Overall I had a great time but on leaving I just didn’t have the urge to go back as I have had before. That might change in the months ahead when a European winter kicks in and I dream of Jimbaran beach and the warm welcoming smiles at the IC Bali.