binman

I tend not to eat Indonesian food in the hotel. There is a small Warung on the corner about 2 mins to the left of the hotel entrance. Hoping it is still there! Great food at a fraction of the price.

There is also a great place run by a French lady called La Brasserie by Melting Wok. Was there twice in 2019 and the food was outstanding.

I just hope KU reopens, that is a major draw for me.

demue

Many places (warungs and restaurants) in Bali closed down over Covid period, sadly, as reported by our friends (Indonesians). Some of our favorite outside places are just starting up again, others may be gone and hopefully something new and equally good will fill the gaps. So having good Indonesian (authentic) food at the hotel will be nice option as even with Grabfood or Gojek orders you need to test things out again. Of course, levels of spiciness will have to be moderated to not be too much for some. Anyways, YMMV.

Btw, the Japanese Teppanyaki restaurant is called Ko. Not sure why many people seem to recall it as Ku. Anyways, it should be back at some point after renovations.

HadesNL

Thanks for the tips everyone!

in Bali the S/O always like to eat at different luxury hotels to satisfy his curiosity and to see the hotel ambiance / facilities to compare
and then winds up confirming that staying at IC Bali is the still best suited to his needs....
We had meals at:
W: hip and trendy but food bit of an afterthought, he felt we could be in Ibiza, lads loved it though
Kempinski: Coral : expensive with minimum cover charge ! Aquaria is nice but you can see prices need to offset aquaria maintenance.
Amankila : tasty but expensive with minimum cover charge but with such sumptous service, so understand why Brad & Angelina have stayed here

in Jimbaran we always eat 1 night at Cuca,
https://www.cucabali.com
servjce there is attentive and the French Canadian owner/chef always remembers us.
We like that he trains all his staff to international service standards so that they will acquire better skills to have better chances working at international hotels / restaurants in Bali.

Chinese business partners have recommended Chinese restaurant Bali Nikmat ant Jl. Kuta Raya 40

demue

We tried Cuca once before and it wasn't for us. Both of us got actually sick afterwards and it is a definite "no repeat" for us, but then we may just have been unlucky. YMMV.

If one makes a day trip to Ubud, Hujan Locale is open again (since July) and that was an excellent place at least before Covid. Hope they retained their touch. We'll try it out when in Bali in a few weeks.

HadesNL

Sorry to hear you got struck by the BaliBelly/Montezumascurse/paraoh'scurse/buttrumpet at Cuca.
Maybe we just got lucky.... they are good for hot dishes, raw/ceviche is always tricky.

Thanks for the Ubud tip!
Hujan Locale Ubud looks interesting for August,
for afterwards when we are done nature trekking from Ubud's Candi Tebing's 4 shrines:
- Kerobotan
- Kelebutan
- Tambahan
- Tegallinggah

demue

Hujan Locale is Indonesian food with a modern twist without losing the great original flavours and not turning it into "fru fru" tiny bites or such (not molecular gastronomy). Some dishes can be on the spicier side, but quite manageable. Reservations are definitely recommended.

There is also "Room 4 Dessert" in Ubud which is by a US pastry chef (Goldfarb - some may say famous) from NYC. It is 7 courses of desserts only and can be paired with mocktails or cocktails as well. Not cheap, but much cheaper than what it would have cost in US at his previous restaurant.

HadesNL

The lads have heard many great things from their friends about Chow Chow in Canggu
https://www.chowchowbali.com

I am always weary about fusion but we might give it a try....
@demue : great tips about the dessert place, i read their website and i feel myself already expanding ....

HadesNL

For our upcoming holiday at IC Bali, booked the Uluwatu suite and this is the updated version of the welcome mail:



We are now on our last days in Yogjakarta.

The colonial Accor MGallery Phoenix hotel was full of French tourists but we had a good central base to explore the city centre.

The lush verdant green Hyatt Regency is full of Germans in conference but easy access to the northern & eastern hindu/buddhist classical temples/ruins,

Both hotels are older, but recommended for friendly staff and a good pool to keep the young ones happy & cool.

Expect an extensive photo review in both their respective threads on their hotel group forums upcoming week.....

jongesander

Looking forward to your report of the Phoenix Hotel HadesNL !

HadesNL

As we are about to travel back to IC Bali, i received an updated arrival email

Especially for demue : the reference to the airport transfer upon arrival back to the hotel seems to be complimentary
This would confirm that at least when booking their specialty suites / villa collection, one may enjoy at least 1 way complimentary transfer.

[EDIT] all cat above the club duplex suite = special named suites
(club suite / sanctuary suite / bukit suite / uluwatu suite / pecatu suite / balinese suite)

Our departure transfer to the airport will be adapted to include the Joumpa airport VIP service.



Handy instructions for telephoning if you miss the representative

HadesNL

The welcome email has also been updated with a reference in booking via the hotel the Joumpa VIP airport arrival/departure service.

For an insight how it works upon arrival, may i refer to my previous post:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/34424469-post1447.html



Reference

binman

I used the JOUMPA service on Monday booked via the hotel. It was first rate and while I probably didn’t need it to get past the health and visa desk, it did save about 20 minutes in the immigration queues. I was in the car within 30 minutes of doors opening and enjoying cocktails in the lounge within the hour.

I did not get any of these emails, and the transfer from the airport was at my expense. There was no refreshments beyond a bottle of water and no WiFi, a major downgrade from 2019 when there were cold towels, flower leis, drinks and WiFi.

Across the hotel the signs of cut backs are clear especially if you have been a regular club guest. Others may not notice as things are still very good.

The refurbishments are great and range from the entrance to the resort through almost every area. I do miss the billowing white curtains on the club bales though!

I am not complaining, I love it here and writing this at the club pool listening to the waves crash on to shore. For a resort of its size it is quite special mostly because the people are.

nicolas75

LoyaltyLobby is very upset because the suite he received is unacceptable (you can feel the Compensation Clinic coming soon in to get a few more One IHG Rewards points).

The reason: some scratches in the closet (totally unacceptable indeed ).

When I stayed at the hotel 3 years ago, I found the hotel absolutely charming, the staff attentive and the suites very nice.

demue

You are talking about the IC Sanur (your past stay experience) or IC Jimbaran? Seems John from LL is at the IC Sanur (ex-Fairmont) and we have a separate thread for that "newish" IC so folks don't get confused. Maybe mods can help to move the post.

demue

HadesNL hope you had a wonderful trip to Java and enjoy the rest of your vacation at IC Bali (Jimbaran). Much appreciated on the welcome email, right now I'm booked on a paid pick up, but we'll see if I get any email similar to yours.

With regards to Joumpa service, I saw (via email from concierge) that IC is charging 500k IDR per person which is actually a bit cheaper than Joumpa directly (620kish IDR IIRC), interesting as I think offered services match exactly.