Check In

Driver for HGI's airport shuttle was waiting with a sign at arrivals. Walked us to the van, took bags, short (7 minute) ride to hotel. Provided bottled water. Curteous, punctual.

Everyone's bags go through metal detector at the carport. Not sure if this is just for show, but it was quick, non-invasive, and cursory.

I had checked in online (Diamond upgraded almost as soon as I made reservation), but went to front desk for keys and to leave a small credit card deposit for incidentals. Everyone at Front Desk spoke good English, and was helpful.

(Lobby, from second floor looking down. Metal detector/Security on left.)

Room

We were upgraded to a suite. There are only a few suites per floor, all at the farthest end of the hallway, I believe. I would not bother with paying extra for "pool view" as the non-pool side of the hotel was quiet, with bushes between the quiet parking lot and the room. The pool view rooms all have bushes between the pool deck and the room, so you can't just walk out to the pool. All rooms go down the same hallway to exit out to the pool. I guess a 2nd or 3rd floor room looks down on the pool, if you walk up to your window, but... not much difference in room view types.

A suite is composed of:

A king bedroom with nightstands, small dresser, and an armorie with a small safe, and it's own large bathroom;

and

A separate sitting area/foyer with a dresser, half-bath, a sitting area with a small round table with chairs, a desk, TV, a separate coffee table, small fridge (no freezer), and a couch. (don't believe the couch folds out to become a bed, but one child could sleep on the couch.)

(Sitting room, desk, couch, tv).

(Sitting room, photo taken opposite direction showing half-bath and small table.)

(King bed in separate room. Full, larger bathroom is to the left of this photo.)

(Opposite view taken from bed, showing Armoire, small dresser, tv, and the sitting room outside door.)

(Rain type shower, also had handheld sprayer.)

(Usual Verbena soaps and such. Extras like shave, dental, and vanity kits loofa, and mouthwash.)

(Tub was sizeable. Toilet had spray as well as TP. Hairdryer fine. Water in tub was a tad yellowish, but didn't smell rusty or sulfuric.)

(Downside - no USB or universal plugs near bed. Had to unplug phone or lamp and use adapter, or charge phones on the one universal plug out in the sitting room. TV's USBs only charged phones when the TV was powered on.)

(Upside down view of the sitting room couch, because I'm too impatient to flip the image. :)

Service

Front Desk / Lobby: Everyone at front desk was helpful in getting directions, hours, etc.

In the lobby there is a tour desk run by a private company (didn't use) and a money exchange desk run by a private company. I exchanged a $100 bill the first night, not really knowing if the rate was going to be favorable, but I had an early morning pick up that I needed change for. Turns out, that was probably the best rate I saw the whole week. I went back and exchanged another $100 later in the week. Fair, no scams, was able to count it all out back and forth unlike what you might encounter trying to do same at a kiosk in Kuta, etc.

Pool: Towels and chaises were all kept well.

Laundry Room: got a token at front desk on the last day to do my laundry. I think it was $5-6 US, which is high for the area, but, whatever. Laundry room is impeccible and easy to learn. Had TV to watch while killing time, or it's next to gym and sitting rooms. Ironing boards, soap and softener, very well done.

Dining

Each day, I took the complimentary Diamond breakfast. Impressive for any HGI at any price -- a large buffet with everything from fresh juices, made to order eggs and such, asian lunch items, desserts, coffee and espresso machine. Diamond recognition one of the days, randomly, with a cupcake! I don't usually eat cupcakes for breakfast, but brought it back to the room fridge for later. Culturally, I find baked goods aren't made very sweet in many Asia Pacific countries, and this was no exception, but... nice touch anyway. Hey - add some sugar into the pastries for the sweet-toothed Americanskis and Frenchies, HGI!  :)

Dinner: While there's so much great chow all over Bali, this IS an airport hotel, so a little away from main strips of restaurants and shopping. So we ended up getting dinner twice at the hotel. There was a sampler platter of local tastes for 150,000 IDR, which is a great deal. Tasty enough, and big enough for light to moderate couple of eaters.

Torn: The service, excellent and the food/value not bad at all. However, one night we got sick immediately after eating the platter. Hadn't eaten anything the same prior to this, so this meal was definitely the culprit. Didn't get queasy the other night, so whatever happened was an outlier, but... ick. There were ants on the bananas on morning on the buffet, so, while this could have happened anywhere, it didn't reflect well on the dining. Which is a shame, because the attitudes of the restaurant reception desk woman and waiters were excellent and the overall feel very good for any HGI, and excellent for an airport/value hotel!

Location

First time trip to Bali. I was looking at Conrad and Hilton - both nice looking properties, but at 4-6x the price, pointwise.

I also kept mapping all the activities I had planned out, and both of those properties were significantly farther, adding hours a day in cab rides.

Quick & Cheap won out, I said what the heck, and opted for all six nights at HGI (utilizing Amex 5th free night bonus!).

I don't feel bad about this. After motoring around in the severe traffic, I immediately knew that Nusa Dua would have stuck us down south and we wouldn't have been as spontaneous to pop here and there throughout the week.

Yeah, it's kind of by itself, super close to the airport but little else. It is NOT a beach resort. If you want to roll out of bed and have sand and a Bintang, opt for something up in Seminyak, or anywhere north of touristtacky Kuta. Or do Ubud if you want the jungles and monkeys. Or Conrad/Hilton if you don't care about the local culture and just want a generic resort with some sand in front of nice sunsets and overpriced drinks.

Area: We DID walk less than a mile to a spa for a massage (bliss!) prior to our late night flight departure. For that matter, we kept the room an extra day just in case the flight had problems (we were flying standby), and the proximity allowed us to do that easily. (Side note recommendation: De Nyuh Spa Kuta located at the unfortunately-named "grandmas hotel" is literally 1 mile away, and had the best value/nice 4-hand massage of our whole trip. And we had many spa days!)

Hotel has a free shuttle or calls a free driver to take you to Kuta Beachwalk or Square area (it varied) at 1030am and 430pm (approx). One way, just a drop off, but it was nice to get a jump on things to that area when later doing a Grab or cab up to Canggu or Seminyak, etc.

It is not a resort location, but it is sort of a mini-resort property, with the nice buffet and large pool. No beach, nothing to see immediately around it. Some food places and local shops within walking distance. That's it.

Noise from planes was not a problem. We remarked a number of times throughout our visit how quiet it was for its location.

Overall

Everyone's going to talk about the value, because the points redemption is very agreeable. But price aside, it's a nice property on all counts, and makes a great base to work out of on a Bali vacation or work.

We went to Ubud, Canggu, Nusa Penida (don't do it! :) and a few other places during our week here, and never felt bad about our choice. 10/10 would stay again.

Oh yeah - wifi speed in room: