I have been to Bali numerous times over the years (Mini Trip Report: July 2017 and Trip Report: October 2015 and in June 2022 when we stayed at the Mulia Hotel and in April 2023 where we stayed at the Hilton Bali Resort), so this wasn’t my first rodeo! However, I hadn’t stayed in a hotel in Seminyak before. So as usual I booked direct with the hotel rather than through an online travel agent like Expedia. Seminyak is among the areas people recommend for families visiting Bali including Canggu, Legian, Berawa and Umalas.


When you first arrive, as is always the case at hotels in this part of Bali, there is a security check. You have to walk through a metal detector and your luggage goes through an X-ray machine. Unfortunately, the staff appeared inconsistent with who they help lift the luggage onto the machine. If you have a very heavy piece of check in luggage and they don’t help you, it’s a long way up to lift it!

At check in we were offered a juice and this was nice as it was very very humid – as it always seems to be. The lobby area was open air – I don’t think I’ve seen a single hotel in Bali which does it’s check in air conditioning. The lobby does open out onto the internal courtyard which has a lawn and multiple pools.

We had booked a deal direct with the hotel called “Seminyak Super Stay” which included:

• breakfast daily
• 2 course dinner per stay
• 2 cocktails per stay
• 60 min spa treatment per stay
• one-way airport transportation

For our stay it was a good deal and although we only had a city view and not the pool that was good enough for us. This also meant we didn’t have a balcony, which the pool view rooms did. The furniture was well maintained, especially when compared to our experience at the Hilton Bali Resort.

The bathroom was a decent size but I wouldn’t really call it spacious. The bathrooom had a rainfall shower and toiletries and it was big enough so that we could hang out swimsuits out to dry.

We were warned that there was supposed to be construction during our stay and while there were some boards up, we didn’t hear any noise from the works.

It’s easy enough to get around Seminyak on foot, which I recommend doing if you only need to get around the area. The traffic during this trip was appalling. As in, stuck in a car for an hour and not even leaving Seminyak! The roads are so narrow overtaking is almost impossible.

If you want to avoid the traffic scooters are probably the way to go. However, this is a rite of passage I haven’t been brave enough to try. It feels like it would be risk every time I’d get on the road. It also doesn’t help that tourists drive around on scooters like they own the road. They weave in and out of the traffic and rely on all the other drivers to avoid them.

Personally, I hire a driver and always use the same one when I go to Bali. I don’t really recommend him to most people as he only speak broken English and mainly speaks Bahasa Indonesia.

The hotel has a spa called Zanti The Retreat. It’s highly rated but I don’t really think it’s a great spa experience. While the massage itself was good the massage takes place in converted hotel rooms.

Zanti Spa was a bit of a disappointment and not the luxury experience I was hoping for

The beach is around 10 minutes walk away from the hotel. Though there are shops, bars, restaurants and little shops on the side of road so you can pick up whatever you need on the way to the beach. The hotel has a Shuttle which will drop guests for free at two central locations in Seminyak – Seminyak Beach and Seminyak Square. This is so much better than walking to the beach, given how lazy I am!

Food and Beverage

Our Seminyak Super Stay deal also included breakfast which is served in the Seminyak Kitchen and it’s also included for both Gold and Platinum guest.

The problem with these hotel breakfasts now is that they are so impressive that you could eat so much, lunch goes out of the window. There were all the usual suspects of but it’s worth noting that there a bunch of dishes you could order specifically from the kitchen counter – our personal favourite was the hash browns. At most buffets, they are a bit soggy, but here it’s freshly prepared and the crunch is really amazing!! Another highlight was the juicing station where they would make a fresh juice mix of you own desire – sometimes these concoctions were more successful than others!

The restaurant also served food a la carte, which I also sampled throughout the stay. Some of this was from the Seminyak Super Stay but some were just because.

Opposite the driveway to the hotel was a small taco truck that had drinks and tacos which you could eat there or take away.

Now you maybe wondering how they were able to cook these tacos in the small truck? Ok maybe you’re not, but I was wondering. It turns out they don’t actually cook them in the truck. They only serve the drinks from the truck. Behind the bamboo wall at the back seems to be a kitchen where they whip out the food and then serve it from the truck. While I felt it was a bit gimmicky, the food was actually pretty good, so no complaints and being right by the hotel meant the food was still warm when I got back to room.

Next to the reception was the pool was an area with turf and bean bags that guests could lay back on with a cool beverage after a long day in the heat.

The pool or should we say pools were big. There was 3 medium sized pools connected to each other, with one of them having a swim-up bar. Not quite as impressive as the Mulia Resort, but good enough!


I can imagine the area getting very noisy when there are kids around or people getting a bit merry, as the pools are enclosed on all sides by the hotel making it an echo chamber. However, during my stay it was very quiet.

At the far end of the pool and next the kids’ club was the gym which had a bit of a weird set up. It seems it was three rooms that had been knocked together to create the gym space. Nevertheless, it was large and well-equipped with new machines.


The kids club

Finally to be reviewed was the kids club which has been listed best hotel kids club in Bali. The room was bright and had different spaces for different ages. They had a ball pit, reading area, computer games as well as a tv for movie night.

There are two things that made this really great. One was the separate room with cots for the babies to sleep in.


Also they had a special menu just for the kids which had lots of fan favourites (i.e. fried food and pasta).

You can see a video on