FlyerTalker37

Sofitel Nusa Dua is a great one, juste be aware that during Australian hollidays this place is like hell.

Otherwise, I rather like the private pool room. The pool access may be bothersome depending on people arround your room as they may swim just in front of your room.

lingua101

Ok. On serious note. Nusa Dua is more exclusive resort type. It is inside compound (itdc or something). So it is more ideal for people who looks foe exclusivity. Typically family and couples. Most hotel will have their "private" beach.

Typically older people as they are more loaded also.

Kuta is more happening place and less exclusive. Public beach which will be very crowded during sunset. Many groups on the beach. But you can find more varieties shops and restaurants.

Seminyak probably somewhere in between.

FGunawan

My mantra is a bit different from Goldorak's. Mine goes more like this: avoid Nusa Dua at all costs.

Kuta certainly can be obnoxious. It's where a lot of rowdy Aussies (and rowdy lads of other nationalities) seem to converge. In reality if your plans mostly consist of just staying at your hotel after dark you wouldn't notice much of them though.

Kuta-Legian-Seminyak is just a long stretch of beach (areas) from South to North with very vague borders between Kuta and Legian or between Legian and Seminyak. One can almost always see good sunset anywhere along this stretch. The more to the North you go, the more trendy things generally are, up until around the W Seminyak. I like staying along this stretch because it's convenient.

On the other hand, Nusa Dua is just an area dotted with big resort complexes. Once you're in a resort, you're pretty much stuck in there for the duration of your stay - a luxury prisoner of sorts. Possibly good for honeymooning couple who just want to lock themselves up for a whole week or so. Absolutely not for me - not even when in honeymoon

Much further inland is the Ubud area where artists work. Several resorts have popped up here in recent years and many more to come. I imagine if I'd want somewhere quieter I'd hole up in Ubud vs Nusa Dua.

Even though Accor has many properties on the island, only a few are quite interesting to me. My first recommendation is Pullman Legian Nirwana - outstanding staff and great Infinity Pool to watch sunset from. I also happen to like the new-ish (opened 2015) Mercure Legian, 5 min walk from the Pullman, a good value and they treat (this) Platinum well. The Royal Seminyak seems very nice (certainly very good location), the next Accor hotel I'd want to try in Bali (It was actually *the* Sofitel before the current Sofitel Nusa Dua opened).

Sofitel Nusa Dua surely has very nice facilities. Regretfully my stay there ended very badly. It's not only that though - its location in Nusa Dua is a turnoff for me. Similarly for Amarterra with its Nusa Dua location.

The other Accor options don't really appeal to me. Avoid Mercure Kuta at all cost.

RJ77

I certainly agree with you on this. I don't think I will return to Nusa Dua if I return to Bali. For people who like to spend most of their time in the resorts, I suppose it's fine. But I'm not that enamoured with how built up Sofitel is and how boring Nusa Dua is. And I quite like Kuta's vibes, rowdy Aussies notwithstanding.

Amarterra biggest problem is its location, not only in Nusa Dua but also its actual location is by the motorcycle lane so when we were having spa massage listening to the zen spa music, we were also served with motorcyclists zipping past on the other side of the wall. Otherwise it's an absolutely beautiful property.

Ubud town is crowded, and the whole Eat, Pray, Love and the "I do yoga" crowd I haven't quite put my finger on Ubud. Like you said some stunning resorts.

cowism

Hi folks, has anyone tried the Mgallery Seminyak? happy to hear your valued comments 😁

Kremmen

I stayed in that area last year, but couldn't see any point paying 5 times as much for one of those beach hotels as the Ibis Styles Bali Petitenget. Decent pool/good breakfast/free shuttle to the beach. Really nice place.

Best region I stayed in too. Plenty of restaurants and bars. A really pleasant area, unlike Kuta, which is full of scammers and bogans.

FlyerTalker37

Hi,

Depends on the price but IMO it is a pretty decent hotel.
On the plus side the hotel is very nice, the food was good and you have enough place on all areas.
On the other side rooms are a bit outdated and the beach is not private.

FGunawan

I haven't stayed there per se but from my understanding it used to be Sofitel Bali before the current Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua opened in 2014(?). So perhaps you could imagine a slightly old Sofitel, a bit dated but still having glimpses of a very nice place.

Goldorak

cowism

Thank you all. The only thing that's turning me off is the unbranded amenities and the property looks old-ish. I'll likely go with it still. As with the rumors on free breakfast, see below

By the way, Platinum benefits are below

Welcome drink voucher to be use at our beach front restaurant.

· *Thematic dinner for 2person (minimal stay 2nights only)

· *Early check-in base on availability.

· *Late chek-out till 5PM base on availability.

· *Free upgrade to next level category room base on availability.

· *Free minibar for softdrink only with one time replace/day.

· *Welcome amenities, flower garland, and daily surprice amenities for one week.

· *Free Breakfast start 01/03/2018

gilbertaue

GM is Vincent Wybier who is a very nice hotelier and very approachable. He was GM of the Novotel Mangga Dua several years ago and I met him then. So I would say, considering you are big in getting what you want (like all of us), you will have a very good contact in Vincent if things do go wrong.
If you do go, please send him my regards. He may not remember me, but what matters is that he is a nice guy.

Oh and if you really need the Hermes bottles, let me know. My toilets are overflowing in miniature bottles and you can pick some up next time you're in KL Hahahahaa.
(Actually the branded bottles have a reason in Indonesia - just like they do at the Sofitel. They cost the property a lot in import taxes. So they rather get bottles locally. Of course one could argue that they should then get something really local and authentic instead).

cowism

haha. You cracked me up on the toiletries. Thanks for the offer. I do have quite abit to enjoy at home too. I've decided to stay couple nights at Seminyak and another 2 nights at the Sofitel Nusa Dua

thanks for all the inputs

FGunawan

I've always wanted to stay here but never came around to it. If you could share, I would be very interested in hearing your experiences at MGallery Seminyak, especially regarding the thematic dinner and free breakfast :P