devastor

Just got back from Amankila and did the private beach dinner and afternoon snorkeling cruise. Both amazing experiences, however the afternoon snorkeling cruise to me was the best value for your money at 1,000,000 a person. They even let us leave an hour earlier to fit our schedule due to the kids!
You will enjoy any tour you do through them. As already mentioned if you want to tweak the tour a little simply ask.

FlyingDoctorwu

we loved our private beach dinner. Shane sat down and talked about what we wanted and really hit it out of the park.

the snorkeling cruise is greaf. We were able to get ours without any other guests!

fdw

CanuckFlyHigh

Wanted to thank you for this suggestion. We have decided to go with this, except we chose The Katamama Suite, with has a rooftop jacuzzi and is 320 sq meters. (http://www.katamama.com/en/rooms/the-katamama-suite) We really like the sounds of this place. It seems right up our alley. Legion and Oberoi seemed a little "quiet" for what we are looking for on our first three nights, which is a great lively atmosphere in a great neighborhood. W appears to be on the opposite end, and seems a little too big/busy, and seems to be trying too hard to be cool.

We have also decided to hire a driver, rather than scooter. ^

farbster

We stayed at the Legian in 2014 and walked over to the Oberoi. I gotta say, I was so unimpressed by the Oberoi. It didn't seem that you could see the ocean from the pool area. Blah.

Cityflyer10

Enjoy and do update on how the stay is! While I have not personally stayed yet but heard it recommended by people whose taste I trust so don't shoot the messenger

G-CIVC

My brother and I are heading to Bali for Thanksgiving. We are college students in our early 20s but what we want is probably anything but what you expect would be. (i.e. we hate parties, clubbing, binge drinking and crowds etc...)

We just want some quality R&R escaping from school (my brother, in particular, sleeps like 12 hours a day) so I think the resort itself will matter more than the surroundings. We'll probably at most spare half a day if we even want to head out, let's say 'exploring Bali' or 'local culture' is not of primary importance. Good hotel food is also important in that sense. Beach - would appreciate but probably would only enjoy views etc (ie not swim or really 'go' to one extensively). As for service, I don't know what 'service' we can expect/have, I myself have little experience at luxury hotels (well, I stayed at the Pen BKK before and was underwhelmed); if anything we probably are the 'prefer CX over SQ' type so O-T-T service may not be that necessary. If the room is bling (but not overly so/ME3 style - not that I'm aware there's anything like that so far) that'd be great too.

Given that, would StR actually be a good fit for us? I see so much negativity here throughout my research. The Amans are actually only a bit more expensive (10-20% ish) - presumably there's no cheaper place to try an Aman experience? but I'm not sure if they are a good fit with what we want, and we don't want to be disappointed. (Whenever I get a glimpse of hotel reviews on TA, I tend to only read the 1/5 ones and see whether it's generally actual service failure, or just some DYKWIA/miscommunications gone wrong. For Amans most 1/5 reviews seemed to be the former while that wasn't the case for other resorts. But perhaps expectations were different to start with.)

Of similar price point/attractiveness as StR I came over FS Jimbaran Bay, Mandapa and Legian and Bulgari. Not sure if any are significantly better.

A bit below the price point of StR (that'll be great if it makes sense but not absolutely necessary) I saw (and well, liked) RC, Viceroy, W Retreat and Conrad Suites. Are these considered luxury hotels still?

Another idea (just like Conrad suites) is to get a high tier room at a less luxurious resort, I looked at IC, GH and Sofitel. But presumably that's not a good idea......

I have AMEX FHR and mid tier status at the four major hotel chains as u can see but I also assume the latter wouldn't very much if we were going for the luxury hotels. No idea about Virtuoso, my travel pattern is infrequent/unpredictable so I think I won't be a client of consideration for the Virtuoso TAs here?

Sorry for the rambling...so in short I think these are the most important things for us:
1) The room and resort - probably would prefer style over substance
2) On site dining (breakfast particularly important that's why I'm very attracted to StR...or am I fooled by the bloggers? )
3) Don't really care about going to 'Bali proper' that much.

Thanks for the help!!!

PS as for 'why Bali', it's sort of set in stone due to some mileage run/flight related scheduling.

scented

I am not a StR person, though there are many here who will gladly chime in and can help you better. Some thoughts: I found FS Jimbaran underwhelming and you may feel the same. Stay away from Bulgari as it is a better R-C. Have you ever considered The Chedi Club Tanah Gajah? Probably some of the best value in that region and from what I read you might enjoy the property to a great deal!

Cityflyer10

+1 on Chedi Club.

also, if you are willing to do the groundwork and just need an agent to book for virtuoso benefits, I believe that many of the agents who post here would be happy to help.

FlyerEC

+1

Can also try Amankila & Nusa , seriously good food

MikeFromTokyo

Absolutely avoid StR Bali, unless perhaps if you can take one of their beachfront villas. Even then, I think Amanusa is the only good option in that area.

I think the Legian would be an excellent choice. Depending on your personal preferences for style/atmosphere you might also look at the Oberoi or the W in Seminyak.

If there are good Aman rates through Amex FHR, you might consider any of the three bali properties for all or part of the trip.

G-CIVC

Thank you for the responses!! Chedi Club looks amazing and affordable, I'll look into that!

What's so 'wrong' about StR...is it not even as good as W Seminyak? I can't seem to find any better breakfast than the one at StR (let me know if there are!!) And admittedly I have some irrational obsession with SPG properties...

The cheapest rate I could find for Aman (Amanusa looks good too for us) on their website is actually super attractive but I don't know why FHR doesn't offer it and it doesn't include any excursions for that matter...

chinmoylad

W Seminyak is dreadful (unless you like that sort of thing). St Regis Nusa Dua isn't 'bad' (except by the definition of this forum), it's just very bland. Looks like a decent option for families with small kids though.

FHR has 4th night free at Amankila at least which works out just a wee bit cheaper than the USD 500/night Aman's Undiscovered Indonesia offers, and also comes with excursions I think - maybe look into that. Not sure if that's available across the Amans in Bali/Indonesia.

MikeFromTokyo

I think they're both potentially dreadful unless that is your thing. If considering StR, make sure to take a beachfront villa.

If Amans are within budget, that is definitely the way to go.

SanDiego1K

I did not stay there but I did have breakfast. It was one of the most diverse that I have had anywhere. Different treats kept coming from the kitchen and were brought around to tables for you to choose whatever you want. It was truly exceptional. I've no fan of the manicured perfection of Nusa Dua, however. You can read extensively about the property here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starw...er-thread.html

Kagehitokiri

st regis owner owns FS jakarta
rajawalipropertygroup.com/ourportfolio.html
(if no FS bali/langkawi they may have done FS)

a while ago BENLEE was very positive re W on same trip as amankila

id think amex travel can book aman Exclusives/Packages
could also negotiate directly with aman, or via agent
if 2 rooms, could ask amanusa about villas at checkin