JapanFlyerT

We are here now. As part of the soft opening they are feeding us lunch and dinner form a selected menu for free. Excellent so far. Add I the all day kids pass menu for $10/day and all of a sudden it is cheaper than eating at home.

SanDiego1K

Any more stay reports? How are the rooms? the view?

FederalFlyer

I would be interested to know this too. I'm particularly interested to hear about the two story penthouse with pool. I've tried contacting the hotel for more information, to no avail.

yucci18

Any platinum upgrade report? It seems like the hotel has been open for a while...
Their rates on spg website have gone up quite a bit, comparing to previously...

JapanFlyerT

We had a fantastic stay at the end of January.

The free food and free kids' club kept us on the property almost the entire time. We did hit Jimbaran beach, which despite the unattractive access path is a pretty nice beach with good waves and kid-friendly/safe. A real locals beach, unlike Nusa Dua. And much cleaner water than Kuta.

Every dish, save one (the clam dish), was excellent. Breakfast buffet was 5 star as well, and one could easily skip lunch after such a feast.

As a Gold we got a 1st floor room that had laguna access from the balcony. Great pool that was fun for hide&seek, tag etc..We went in about 3 times a day.

Spa wasn't open yet, so they were offering massages in designated room. We got a free 15min one, but given they only cost $7/hr outside the hotel we couldn't bring ourselves to indulge there.

Penthouses weren't open yet from what I could see. Some should have nice views of the ocean/sunset. Our laguna access room though was perfect for the kids, and I would choose that over a penthouse. A family with kids under 6-7 might not want that unless they are strong swimmers, as the depth throughout is around 120cm.

The staff were wonderful, to a fault, as they called to double check every request had been fulfilled.

They prepared a beautiful birthday cake for my wife, as well as a special fish dish and a couple glasses of champagne. Then that night the staff sang happy birthday and put a candle on her desert. They also wrote happy birthday in the foam of her cappucino!

I make a bunch of suggestions regarding the gym and they took notes. Other faults like slippery tiles near the ice cream parlor and the fact the path around the lagoon becomes to hot to walk on by 11am will likely be taken care of.

There are a lot of little finishing errors (tile work, paint etc) that seem to reflect typical Bali construction, however overall I think they are doing better than the Sheraton Kuta.

SanDiego1K

JapanFlyerT, that was a very helpful report. Thank you.

kekurutz

Just finishing up a 3 night stay here now. Will write a detailed report at the conclusion of my trip.

In the meantime, for one more datapoint, platinum upgrade got me an Aquastudio Suite with lagoon access.

yucci18

Great thanks. Will be there in May I have already applied 4SNA for the stay

GraceC

I'm booked to stay there in 2 weeks (unfortunately, on the recently higher point requirement )

[edit: And I've emailed the hotel 2 days ago...still no reply]

A - THIRD PERSON. 2 adults + 1 14-yr-old. Seems like the website says that kid will be charged $60+, not $75+ given by the SPG rep here. Any idea which is right?

B - CLUB. BREKKIE. Would like to pay to upgrade to the Club, if there's one (website doesn't say, but this thread suggests there's one, although thread also seems to suggest "club" may be a temporary opening-period thing?). So, anyone knows how much extra to pay for an award stay, if possible? How much is brekkie if I have to pay ala carte?

C - INTERCONT. Got what I think is a better rate (assume some valuation of SPG points) at the Intercontinental, which is rated higher in Tripadvisor. But I suspect that's only because the Intercont has more reviews. Is this the experience of people who's been to both?

yucci18

I have a look at the spg website. It is interesting they were previously selling their classic rooms, but now that room is available for redemption only... Not an issue for a platinum unless the hotel is sold out... Since that room has limited view from its description... I guess that's not good for others....

kekurutz

Hello,

As promised, I'd like to provide a quick review of this hotel after my recent stay.

First, to address the two points above:

Breakfast/Club - This property has no club. The breakfast is buffet style and to be perfectly honest, probably the best breakfast buffet I've ever had at any hotel. Since my wife was with me, I chose the free breakfast as my plat. benefit. They did not limit you to a continental style breakfast, but allowed access to the entire buffet - great deal! Additionally, the waiters would occasionally bring around various small plates throughout the breakfast that were not available at the buffet. I'm not sure if this will continue to be routine, or if this is just because they've recently opened, but it was great. I apologize as I'm unsure of what the buffet would cost out of pocket.

Intercontinental - My wife and I strolled past this property while walking Jimbaran beach (which can be accessed by walking out the back of the LM, across the street, and through the fish market restaurants). The Intercontinental is direct beach access and it appears they groom their beach pretty well (the Jimbaran beach is otherwise somewhat rocky). We didn't walk through the resort, so I can't comment there. So, the takeaway here - if direct beach access is important, go with Intercontinental.

Continuing on:

Room - I was upgraded to an Aquastudio Suite w/ Lagoon Access as my plat. upgrade. I was not able to apply SNAs to this reservation so that was interesting to see as someone above posted they were able to (maybe reservations further out have the ability?). Anyway I'd highly recommend any room with Lagoon Access. Very cool to be able to walk out of the patio door and straight into the pool. The other important thing is that if the resort is busy, they have very limited seating on the pool deck. Lagoon access rooms have their own seating so it's a nice alternative if the pool deck is occupied. In general, my wife and I thought the Lagoon was a really different, neat, idea. The room itself was very nice. Pretty large, clean and nice furnishings.

Service - One word - fantastic. Everyone we ran across called us by name on consistent basis(perhaps this was only because there was low occupancy while we were there). The staff was overall very attentive and always making sure our stay was going well. I'm hopeful this service will continue and is not just an artifact of the recent opening.

Location - The LM in Jimbaran is definitely not Nusa Dua. If you're looking for a resort type of community, Jimbaran is not the right place. In general, the major resorts we saw in the area were the Intercontinental and Four Seasons. Both of these are beach resorts. As stated above, the LM is not located on Jimbaran beach but is easily accessible by a 1-2 min. walk out the back of the resort. Jimbaran beach was a bit rocky. If you plan on swimming and throwing out a towel, i'd recommend sitting on Intercontinental's beach or the Four Seasons. The water at Jimbaran beach is also not the nice teal colored water you see in Nusa Dua. So, overall, the LM in Jimbaran is a bit more off the beaten path, which is great if you're not a fan of overly crowded tourist locations.

Overall Impression of LM - The LM, while nearly finished, is still very much under construction in some aspects. This was slightly annoying and one of my gripes with the stay - the sound of power tools from time to time as construction finishes up was a bit unwelcome. Additionally, in areas that appear finished, the workmanship is somewhat poor (this is noticed quite a bit with the paint jobs). Additionally, little things such as a shower stall that does not slope towards the drain (causing water pooling), a waterfall feature near the pool bar that is clearly not at the correct level causing water to fall very unevenly around the edge are all little things that were clearly overlooked or done in haste to get the resort open. I'm fairly confident this hotel will be much more inviting once construction is ultimately finished.

Hope that helps. I'm sure I missed something, so will post anything additional if I think of it.

GraceC

Thanks! Also, the hotel responded: breakfast is R 230,000 plus 21% tax, about USD23.7 + 21%

travelswithmyself

OK, since no one has put up any pictures I'm dumping a LARGE number here. Feel free to skip ahead a few pages if these don't interest you.

The reviews by other FTers are spot-on so I'll dispense with that.

First up, map of the hotel (I love the LeM maps):



I forgot to scan the legend, so:
A. entrance and buggy reception. The lobby is on the 3rd floor so the buggy brings you up the 50m or so
B. carpark
C. Lobby and Latitude 8 Bar on 3rd floor, Gym and ?Spa on 2nd, Kids Club/Shop on 1st
D. Pool Area
E. Rooftop wedding hall
F. Pool Bar
G. Restaurant Bamboo Chic 1st floor, Smoquee Lounge and Bar on 2nd & 3rd
H. Wa'la Gelato -> this is where the exit to the beach is



iPhone Panoramic view from the lobby water feature



The main building which houses the Classic and Lagoon View and Lagoon Access Rooms - I think the Avantgarde Suites are at the end of the block but were still being built.



Rooftop view of the Sky Villas & Penthouses



And these 3 blocks house the Aqua Studio Suites - 1st floor ones obviously have lagoon access



The lobby has lots of sofas which double as the bar



They've opted for 3 small tables as the reception



I'm not sure if this is the SPG checkin area or a free PC to use :P







These are views from the rooftop. It was #@!^ hot!

travelswithmyself

The pool here is the main event. Salted. Warmed (by sunlight I believe). Open all day and night. Lighted (though it's a bit haphazard - some areas have lights, some aren't working, some have fancy LED glitter lights, some have empty holes in the floor with electrical cables sticking out! - lots of work to be done).



Another pano view at pool level



View from an Aqua Suite



And from the Lagoon Rooms



There are little benches to sit on...



This is the kid's pool. Should be called the baby pool.

They don't have any floats and toys for kids/adults - I hope they add complimentary noodles, rafts and the like because the pool really is the main thing.



And the poolside stuff... not that many - I wonder if there will be issues when the hotel is full...


Below are pictures of the bars. Smoquee isn't open yet.








Walking out through a glass door at Wa'la leads you to one of the two Jimbaran seafood areas. Coming from a region with plentiful seafood, I didn't bother with eating on the beach, but it really is just a hop and a step away.



Next to LeM is the Intercon...



The sand isn't the fine and powdery sort - it's the slightly muddy sticky sort. No pretty shells to find either. Didn't seem very attractive to me.

travelswithmyself

Room one: A Lagoon View Room on the 2nd Floor. Plenty big.













Here's a part I didn't like - the toilet and shower stall are all glass, so there is no privacy. But the one that really wasn't good was the all glass wall showing the entryway (on the right of the toilet) - so you can't be in there and have them delivering room service to someone else for eg.





Room two: An Aqua Suite Lagoon Access Room on the 1st Floor. Plenty big too.





That's the walk-in closet on the right



They set up a rollaway bed - a pretty good solid one too - not the bouncy springy ones some other places have. As you can see there is still plenty of space left. There is only one TV. And the AV Panel is situated on the wall behind it - so there was a lot of yelling back and forth to see if the devices were connected correctly. Oh yes, and there are no in-room DVD players at present - you have to request for one from a limited supply. Not sure if this is going to change. iPod dock is a very simple radio clock - no Bose surround sound here.

Bar fridge and tea stuff are in pull out drawers under the desk, behind the TV.



Again, a big glass wall allowing full view of the bathroom from the entry alcove. I suppose they will eventually correct this with blinds.



This is what I didn't like. Despite the picture above, the Toilet is in a separate area and not connected to the bathroom - you have to come out and walk to the entry alcove - just like the 1.5 bathrooms you have in standard living room/bedroom suites. The sink is also dangerously close - taller bigger people sitting on the throne have to be very careful where they put their face.

Toilet had a built-in manual bidet though... nice touch. But this is Indonesia after all.