I stayed in the Sheraton and visited the Westin during my stay in August 2005. I will come back to the Sheraton in August 2006!
I prefer the Sheraton. I did meet guest from the Westin who fled to the Sheraton since more package tourist are visiting the Westin.
Perhaps my ( extensive) review can help you.

claes059


Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Programs: SPG Gold, KLM Flying Blue, LH Miles&More
Posts: 244 Starwood Indonesia: Pics&review of a Luxurious stay in Starwood hotels Nusa Dua, Bali

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Pics Sheraton Laguna Nusa Dua :
http://www.e-traveller.net/pics/2005...gk-nusadua.php

Pics Westin Resort Nusa Dua:
http://www.e-traveller.net/pics/2005...tinnusadua.php

Pics of stays / visits in other Starwood hotels around the world:
http://www.e-traveller.net/pics/2005...tinnusadua.php
( 37 Starwood hotels / 32 cities / 4 continents )

(Pics: thanks to the help of LH738)


After my stays in the Starwood hotels in Jakarta and Yogyakarta, I was really exited to visit the Awardwinning Sheraton Laguna Nusa Dua in Bali.

After a very early, excellent Garuda morning flight from Yogyakarta, my arranged transfer
( not complimentary this time) to the hotel was made in a nice comfortable classy Mercedes.
Upon arrival I waited in the beautiful open air lobby, received a nice drink, and checking in was comfortable this way. I was escorted to my room, a Studio room.

The studio was spacious, with a couch and chair, coffee table, a king bed, and a nice bathroom. When I stepped out on the smallish balcony I was not happy with the view. The studio’s were build in the corners between two wings. It appeared there was no privacy here at all.
The same for the window in the studio, when I did not shut it down, other guests could look inside from their balconies.
So I asked for another studio / room. If possible, my preference was seaview……………….
Well it appeared to be difficult, since the hotel seemed to be almost fully booked. For a room with sea view the hotel showed me the Sultan Suite since no one of the hotel rooms offered sea view. The suite was very nice indeed, with two terraces, two floors, and a great view of the sea. As a promotion, I had to pay a few hundred dollars extra’s per night, plus, plus…..
I asked for another studio / room with more privacy, but it seemed almost all studios had no privacy. The few ones who did have privacy were occupied.

The lady of the reception was very friendly and told me she would find a solution. I went back again to my room and waited…... To make a rather long story short………., I finally ended up in a very nice suite. I was happy with it, since it was not build in a corner with opposite balconies. I had a very nice and friendly talk with this lady, I was impressed with her professional attitude.
After my arrival I received fruits, chocolates and cookies, which was a pleasant welcome! The butler served me coffee and what more could you wish for!

The suite on the 2e floor, was very spacious and with a comfortable nice interior. The dining area was on a higher level, at the entrance: a large glass tabletop with four large chairs. The lights in the lamp above the table were a little too shiny. They did not fit well in the lamp and it showed not very stylish however.

The spacious livingroom had a large couch, two relaxing chair, a large tv, with dvd and a music centre. With the dvd you could play cd’s via the tv.
From here a sliding door gave entrance to the large balcony.
In the spacious sleepingroom was a very comfortable king bed, television, mini bar, a relaxing chair and a working area. From here it was also possible to enter the balcony via sliding doors.
The marble bathroom was one (short) level higher than the the sleeping room. In the corner was a bathtub with view on the laguna’s, a separate shower was also available.
In the bathroom was a sort of “treasury”: a large beautiful wooden box with bath products!

Still, Privacy appeared to be limited here, since sun beds were placed in front of the suite. When standing / sitting on the balcony it could happen guests were staring from there. There was also an entrance to the building, nearly under the suite, so guests who entered the building could look on the balcony. Though this location was much, much better than the studio, I experienced that the privacy here was still limited.

Since I noticed breakfast in the restaurants were quite hectic, I enjoyed my breakfast on my balcony. The more room service were getting to know my preferences, the more I enjoyed it. F.i. since I like mango fruits, and although it was off season, they managed to serve me fresh mango slices!
Service was fast and……. yep friendly, as always in Indonesia.

I had my dinner in two of the three restaurants. I liked to have dinner at the seaside terrace of the Ocean Terrace restaurant. The terrace could have been larger, only a few tables were placed here. Chairs could be more comfortable, f.i. with some cushions.
Service was very kind here; though it was seafood restaurant ( I do not like seafood) they served me a non-seafood dinner with a smile. Of course I enjoyed the delicious Indonesian cuisine here, and had a refreshing Bintang beer with it. Together with the seaside setting it was great to have dinner here.

Near the restaurant, on the grounds of the hotel, was a show of the famous Indonesian dancing. Quite interesting. Nice colours and graceful movements of the dancers. I enjoyed to watch it.
I have thank a lady of the personnel here, she explained to me the meaning of the dancing, and appeared to be rather involved with the arrangements for the show. She was very friendly and made me feel comfortable standing by myself here. What a difference it makes, such a professional attitude.
I noticed her another evening when the Barong dance was performed. She made great efforts to please all those tourist/guest, and everyone seemed to have a nice time here. She took great care in the arrangements, in putting the flowers on the shirts of the guests when entering, etc. She noticed me and we had a small talk. I do not know her name, but for me she was another of those shining of Star-wood.

The Lagoon restaurant has a different setting. It is much more quiet here, except for breakfast. My first impression was fine, after a small talk with the waiter. She was very friendly and I felt pleased to have my next dinner here.
When I arrived that evening, I was greeted by a waiter. He said to me: “Are you Aloooooooooone sir????, Ohhhhh, a table for ONE Person……” And when I was seated at the table he asked: “You are not waiting for ANOTHER person???????” Though I felt quite embarrassed, I answered smiling: “Well now, alone is alone!” And he finally got the message and smiled.
Service and food was ok. I had a nice view of the lagoon near the restaurant.
Since the next day there was only a Seafood buffet in the Ocean Terrace restaurant, I went to the Lagoon restaurant. I was greeted most friendly and I had a great evening here. Food was excellent and one of the waiters took care of me. Service was very friendly and warm here. Another waitress had the same attitude, and boy does it make you feel at home. When a couple of musicians were playing Western songs, this waiter made a request for me to sing some Indonesian songs. It was quite nice !

The SPA of the hotel was recently renovated. After my relaxing Royal Javanese massage, I was eager to try the Balinese massage.
I guess most 5*star hotels have a SPA in Bali. However this SPA is a wonderful retreat. The SPA is beautiful designed and luxurious and offers spacious treatment rooms. Some rooms have their own private small garden.
Here you can also find the Honeymoon suite, a sort of fairy - tale SPA accommodation, well see for yourself!
Furthermore the SPA boosts the following features: a Chakra shower (!),a sauna, a cold bath, a relaxroom, changing rooms,. Outside in a small beautiful garden a spacious whirlpool, and two large foot basins.
I experienced the Balines massage treatment as quite similar as the Javanese, so yep it was relaxing.

The fitness room with some rather new fitness machines, is a bit smallish here.

In the hotel I noticed many tour groups, although the Westin hotel appeared to have more of them. Many Koreans( I believe ) of tour groups were in the hotel and flocked over the hotel grounds.
When I was sitting in the lobby, a hostess of a German tour operator was giving information to their guests.
I always gives me another, different feeling / experience as a guest.

Concierge was very helpful with arrangements for renting a car with chauffeur. As a guest you can choose from three different companies, each with their own sort of cars/vans and prices.

No ATM is available in the Sheraton or Westin. You are forced to go outside of the hotel if you need some cash. I think the hotels should offer their guest these service.
The hotel has a business center, where you can use the Internet. But watch out, it is quite expensive here!

The hotel has beautiful grounds / gardens with flowers, palm trees, artistic and Indonesian art and even its own temple. It is a great pleasure to walk around on these grounds. You can notice the high standard of maintenance.
Lagoon’s are clean and I enjoyed some nice swimming here. Since the hotel has so many lagoons, there was always a quiet one to have a relaxing swim. Some of the lagoon’s have small beaches with comfortable sun beds. Besides the lagoons, the hotel has a nice swimming pool.
Many guests found also comfort and privacy in several of the almost royal Gazebo’s.

Besides the lagoons and the swimming pool, it is possible to have swim in the sea. One warning for the month of August, it appeared to be yelly fish season! Since I could not resist the sea water, I did have long swim in the sea however. Watching out in the water for the yelly fish….
Next day I heard that the blue jelly fish was in the water, a dangerous one, so I stayed out of the sea.
There are many sun beds and parasols on the beach. The beds were not very nicely arranged however, sometimes it looked somewhat messy.
In the trees on the beach, squirrels are busy with their food. It was funny, when they dropped something on a guest who was lying under the tree. We had a good laugh when she discovered what was happening.

When I was here, it was low tide in the afternoon. So, besides the jelly fish it was not possible to have a swim then. The sun also disappeared behind the trees in the afternoon, so no sunset watching here.
In the afternoons I went by taxi to the Oberoi hotel in the Seminyak area. The Oberoi is a also a very nice hotel with friendly service. They serve fresh mango juice, which tasted wonderful. For lunch I a had a very good Ajam Ketjap with some atjar.
Some rooms of the Oberoi offer partly seaview. Compared to the Sheraton the rooms seemed to be more standard, smaller and not as luxury as the Sheraton.
The beach here is really different, and I liked it more than the Nusa Dua beach. The beach seemed to be much larger, no low tide and plenty of sunshine in the afternoon here. It appeared to be more lively here, without the crowds of the Kuta area. I had a terrific late afternoon and enjoyed the beautiful sunset here.

I did have a short visit to the Westin hotel, located just next to the Sheraton. This hotel has a really different atmosphere. The pool area is nice, but cannot be compared with the lush lagoons and swimming pool of the Sheraton.
Lobby of the Westin is grand, and with air conditioning. Nice modern interior. Rooms here do not have a sea view either, just like in the Sheraton. They are rather smaller in size and are in a more contemporary design than in the Sheraton.

Summary:
In general I was really pleased with the friendliness and perfect service of the personnel / staff. The nice and luxurious suite, the beautiful surroundings with lagoons, gardens, the perfect hotel services, the butler service, the chocolates and cookies, etc. , etc.


However I was disappointed with:
- the Privacy here, especially in the studio’s
- no sea view rooms, only the most expensive suites had sea view
- the low tide and no sun in the afternoon
- the many tour group guests
- the smallish fitness area
- the sort of messy arrangements of the sun beds on the beach
- the rather expensive drinks at the beach
- the very expensive bottles of water, if you needed more than was
complimentary bottles in the room
- terrace of the Ocean Terrace restaurant, it could be larger / more
comfortable


Special thanks to mrs. Janet McNab and Robbie of the front desk for making the arrangements during my stay for me.


Pics Sheraton Laguna Nusa Dua :
http://www.e-traveller.net/pics/2005...gk-nusadua.php

Pics Westin Resort Nusa Dua:
http://www.e-traveller.net/pics/2005...tinnusadua.php

Pics of stays / visits in other Starwood hotels around the world:
http://www.e-traveller.net/pics/2005...tinnusadua.php
( 37 Starwood hotels / 32 cities / 4 continents )

(Pics: thanks to the help of LH738)

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Last edited by claes059 : Sep 20, 05 at 12:57 pm.