Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua
This is where the hotel may pull rank. Even though the lagoon access has the lounge tagged to it, they don't necessarily need to offer that. The argument is that the room having a direct pool access is in itself an upgrade to a plunge pool. So to get the soft product if you upgrade is not necessarily given.
And as mentioned above by TerRiii, it's not typical (and normally doesn't happen) that hotels upgrade within their top level rooms.
In Amarterra we got the same benefits as you have described - a bottle of Hatten Wines Rose (http://www.hattenwines.com/wine-rose/) and a hope for a late check in.
KATERGOO, indeed Sofitel Nusa Dua is not on the same level as most Sofitels in Europe, or (in my experience) the Sofitel Palm Island Dubai, or Sofitel Moorea (French Polynesia) in terms of service nor Accor loyalty recognition. The latter may be due to lack of training.
Gilbertaue, thanks! I still don't really see what the material difference is between the two rooms (aside from the pure preference to share the same large pool or have a private small/plunge pool - both with the same room size and furnishing/amenities), so for me the upgrade was getting the full services that come with pool access room. With US$35 per day rate difference that made sense to me to be a normal 1 level upgrade. It was not great though to have to deal with mold in the first room and cigarette stubs in the grassy area near the second room's access to the pool, but at least the staff addressed both issues promptly.
I also booked the 1-bedroom villa and didn't get the 1-level upgrade although the 2-bedroom villa was bookable at the time. It's okay, they put an in-room welcome gift and a AUD6.00 sparkling wine as a compensation
On another note, as VladQ has mentioned re: Top Level room upgrade. I guess it depends on the hotel/staff/availability. I managed to get an upgrade from a mid tier room (Garden View Villa) at La Veranda in Phu Quoc, Vietnam, to their Top level villa, think it was 2 level upgrade. I did email the hotel and request an upgrade once the booking was made. They reply with the generic: "subject to availability" so it doesn't hurt to ask/email them prior.
Amarterra is about twice more expensive though ... So it's good that you see the difference.
To be fair club lounge service was excellent though.
As far as I am concerned I did not find service in the lounge very professional. Quite disorganized actually.
After my stay, as I didn't receive any satisfaction survey, I wrote an e-mail to the GM summarizing the strong points and the ones for improvement, but never received any feed-back not even a simple thank you...
After my stay, as I didn't receive any satisfaction survey, I wrote an e-mail to the GM summarizing the strong points and the ones for improvement, but never received any feed-back not even a simple thank you...
Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort
BTDC Lot N5 Nusa Dua, ID 80363
Good Stay After Minor Annoyance (1 Photo)
Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort
A short review of this property. I won't repeat what previous reviewers had mentioned in their reports, but overall it's a pleasant stay; as good as a huge resort gets.
I arrived at Sofitel from Amarterra Villas with the complimentary ride from the latter. From an all-villa (all 39 of them), low density property to a huge 400+-room complex was a huge shock to my system :) even though I was mentally prepared for this. That huge concrete structure that's the Sofitel looming on me as the car drove up the driveway had me dreading the upcoming experience. I even questioned if I should do my stay the other way around.
I asked to be escorted to the Club lounge for check in and was swiftly escorted to the lounge one level down. We were quickly seated, cold towels and cold drinks followed shortly and passports were given out for registration. A lady escorted us to the room, one category upgrade from the basic Luxury room to the same room type but with seaview. As she was showing us around the room and I noticed the dubious looking Sofitel branded bath amenities at the same time she made it known that coffee capsules are chargeable, these definitely annoyed me.
A quick call to the Guest Service had them sending the Hermes toiletries up without question. And the coffee capsule issue was resolved by the lounge staff when I made known to him that I would not pay for those capsules even if I had used them. All went fine. Little lapse of judgment on the hotel’s part.
As it was my honeymoon, I communicated beforehand on arranging something special for the room, they obliged. That didn't happen on arrival, and upon my probing, I was told it would be set up in the evening during the evening canapes session. When we returned it was still not ready and we had to have a short walk to the beach for them to get ready. Now I do appreciate them taking the effort but the element of surprise for my wife was lost. The execution could have been better.
Anyway, it's the usual macarons and cake (which says Happy Annivesary, well...thanks) and flower petals on floor and bath tub. My wife loved it all the same.
We spent two nights there and wifey enjoyed it (especially the lagoon pool).
I will just sum up my experience:
The Good
- Club lounge service was excellent.Staff addressed me by my name whenever they could. One lounge attendant was very obliging in preparing us bowlfuls of tasty mushroom soup as I was not getting enough of them in shot glasses. Another attendant took time to ask for my feedback where I sounded for my displeasure on the chargeable coffee capsules, it's not about the money but what elite members expect of Sofitel. They promised to look into it and later obliged without fuss.
-MyBed. That was more comfortable than Amarterra one. Room was stylishly furnished.
-Breakfast at Kwee Zeen. Exceptional spread and quality quite high with good service.Wife loved it.
-Overall service level was good. They do try hard to please.
The Bad
- Some annoyances which were mentioned previously but were resolved without much fuss. Problems arise from their lack of differentiation between non-club rooms and club-rooms which led to falling short of loyalty members' expectation.
- Layout of the resort could be better. I felt like I was constantly walking in the resort as it's a huge resort.
- Depending on your liking, the huge concrete complex doesn't make for lesiurely feel at a resort for me.
- The main pools feel disjointed with several concrete pillars in the pool that do not make for good swimming and a tad shallow for my liking (it's only 1 metre deep).
Overall service was prompt and kind. Lounge service was excellent and personable. Everyone greeted you with a smile. It was a pleasant enough stay. Beach wasn't the best (lots of dead corals and broken seashells, dead seaweeds at low tide etc). The beach near the Amarterra was a lot more inviting. If you like huge resorts you'll adore this property. It's the newest property along the stretch of beach. There's a dedicated kids club with tons of activities for them so it's a very kids-friendly resort. They will also love the water slides at the kid's pool.
I think all our reviews are consistent : very nice hotel but a cumulation of annoying minor things makes us not 100% satisfied. Quite stupid, as they could easily solve all this at no cost or almost. At least you were lucky to not pay for the espresso capsules...I did
I would return without hesitation but it would be really good that they work on solving those issues. I hope the GM read this forum (paging Amy ).