At the Conrad right now. Booked the Garden room and got an upgrade to ocean front. Went into the room and it smelled badly. Apparently it's a smoking room. Waited for an hour for the room change. Not apology or any other comments about this incident.
Asked if resort suite was available. Got the reply that all was fully booked although on the website it's still available for booking. They told me to call them tomorrow and ask if someone cancels tomorrow.
Conrad suite was upgradable for USD 120 per night.
Quiet disappointed as a Diamond.

Suite Upgrade for 120 USD is to much. Which room type have you booked originally?

We paid 60 USD from Ocean Front to Conrad Suites. This was okay however at Conrad Suites you only have a larger room and no view to the ocean. I would not do it again.

I cannot understand why there are no more free upgrades for diamonds. Conrad has 54 suites and in the beginning of November when I was there only a very few were booked. I think an upgrade to a suite doesn't cost a lot for the hotel. Am I wrong?

We have enjoyed staying in suites past May as a free upgrade. However, the constant noise from villa construction was very disturbing. Location of Conrad is not particularly good and the beach is rather pathetic. Even without knowing the change in policy we were arguing whether we want to come back next year...

Staying at the Conrad Bali currently (leaving for Ubud today). Shortly - we love this property.

Booked - Ocean view king, for 51k points/night. At check-in (late evening) we got the alternative of that (on the 2nd floor) or the lagune ocean view. Initially we opted for the ocean view - however there was a strong mouldy smell in the room so we switched pronto to the lagune room - the excellent Russian lady (Ms A) at the reception blocked another room for us to check out the next day. The lagune room has its pros and cons - both of which is the fact that you step into the pool from your terrace, the latter being a certain lack of privacy. Both rooms were in the South Wing.

We spent the first day in the lagune room - it really is great fun to step into the pool from your deck! In the afternoon we got a call that the new room is ready if we want to check it out - we did, and it was exactly what we wanted. Ocean view on the 3rd floor of the North Wing - no pool view (=peaceful) but great beach/ocean view.

Until the 19/Dec only the Suites Wing club is open, with b/f at the RIN restaurant. Breakfast is good, afternoon tea as well and there's the happy hour after 5:30 pm. When asked about access, the answer was "of course, as a Diamond, you have access"

About the Suites Wing - anywhere else I'd fall for it, but not here. I mean it's beautiful and the suites look great, but could be anywhere, no ocean view (obviously it's important for us :))

The grounds are amazing, they had some top-notch garden designer and the upkeep is also top notch.

The staff is extremely friendly, and the only problem we initially had with the rooms was very effectively handled by Ms A at the front desk and we got a petits fours plate with the compliments of the management with a we are sorry note.

It seems that they really don't upgrade to suites, at least not on points nights - as a matter of fact, I'm not too bothered about it. The resort suite could have been nice (the corner suites of the resort wings) but I was in absolutely no mood to initiate any discussion about if/how/why/why not.

Currently it's still low season, so no crowds at all - love it, too. The occasional shower just freshens the air.

I am glad to hear that you enjoyed the stay in Conrad. It is also reassuring to hear that breakfast and afternoon tea is still provided to Diamonds in RIN. I assume that the Happy Hour is in the club upstairs. We were told that we can also take breakfast at the main restaurant and a happy hour at the bar on the terrace on the same level as reception. We did and also enjoyed the ocean view.
When staying in suites, we did also have access to the private pool and cabanas - that was nice with an exception of construction noise I mentioned earlier.

However, regarding the hotel location, I would rather stay in Intercontinental.

Just stayed
 

Just stayed and it was great. Used my Diamond status to leverage an upgrade to a suite by the pool. Breakfast in the main location was great. Enjoyed the free drinks at the lounge as well at night. I was a bit worried about being stuck there for food, but there were plenty of local places across the street.

Dear Bamboola,
thank you very much for your post, however, let me clarify once again that the policy has not changed and the Conrad Suites are not part of the upgrade programme (they never have).
It remains that Suites with ocean views in the main resort are indeed upgrade options. Likewise, upgrade to Conrad Suites are available to HH members at a discounted rate.
Looking forward to your return!
Best regards, Frederic

based on many guest responses, it seems they've been upgraded to conrad suites quite a few times.

This is exactly what I though when I saw the previous post :confused:, actually I was surprised when I stayed at this property with Mrs m4l and we did not get a suite but, as it was only for 2 nights, I did not bother.

Welcome to Flyertalk!

Cher Frederic -
Bonne année à toute la famille. Bisous aux petites et a bientôt. I am sorry that so many of us have abused the hotel's policy for years. :)

What exactly does this mean?
 

Hi All,

I hope this make sense/clarity to all (when I typed this, it made sense to me :p).

I'm surfing the HHonors website building my future location "wish-list," when I came across this yellow high-lighted banner for the Conrad Bali:

"Our rates are displayed in USD; however, during stay, guests are charged in Indonesian Rupiah using the prevailing exchange rate (middle rate from our National Bank)."

Is this just an over complicated statement? I mean, normally when I travel internationally, I charge my stay to my Citi Reserve card that comes with no ForEx fess. So if the room is Rp 2,500,000 local currency (all-in), shouldn't my check-out receipt say the same? Then it would be up to Citibank to use their current exchange rate, then posting USD charges on my statement. Or is this some convoluted way for the property to add on another government bank charge (which is akin to a DCC scam), and then forward for processing by Citibank; two banks now touching the final charges?

I'm not sure why Conrad Bali would feel the need to post this statement as I don't recall seeing it for other Conrad properties. I just returned last week from Conrad Centennial and Bangkok, and as usual, charged promised rate in local currencies, then paid USD as converted by Citibank.

So am I over-thinking this?

The problem is, Indonesia passed a law that payments in the country needed to be in IDR. So, some hotels take full advantage and price in USD, and then convert at a rate that is 2-3% worse for you.

I think you are misunderstanding the banner. You will receive a bill in Rupiah just like you describe, and your bank will convert to US just like you say. The point the banner is making is that when you look at the room rates on the Hilton booking site you will see US dollar rates. You will however be charged in Rupiah for an amount "more or less" equivalent to that rate.

Okay, that makes sense, haven't seen this for other properties, but perhaps Conrad Bali has a reason for doing this. Glad to hear it's not a DCC scheme ^