I used Marco in Feb2010 and was very pleased. I return to Bali next month and have already booked his services.

Just redeemed by SPG free night from the promo earlier this year for the Laguna in mid September. Looking forward to the free say. ^

Just had a 4 night reward stay at the resort. Upgraded to a really nice suite close to the beach. Staff were all really friendly and well trained.

Location is not great with limited shopping options on the doorstep without hiring a motorbike or something to get out of the 5* hotel complex.

Transport is cheap and available at the front steps of the Hotel.
Some people enjoy the relative tranquility compared to Kuta (30 mins away), others long for the nightclubs and partying of Seminyak.
It all depends on what you are looking for and why you are in Bali...are you with your family or are you a single looking for the party scene? Bali has it all.
Nusa Dua is not for everyone but I find it a quiet retreat from the more arduous places. Bali does indeed has something for everyone.

And did you get free breakfast as a platinum member? Did you ask for it?

Isn't the Bali collection fairly close to the hotel? They have a bunch of restaurants there, plus a small grocery store, a SOGO, and some shops. It's nothing like what you'd see in Kuta, but it's fine to pass the time.

Don't think any of the Bali SPG hotels offer free plat breakfast

At least all the paid rates at St Regis appear to include breakfast. Stayed at the Laguna last week and was really "pushing" the breakfast in a nice way. The lady didn't give in even when I noted that they no longer had L'Occitane products in the bathroom.

Would you recommend .......
 

this property for a stay with kids, who like to swimm at the beach / and pool?
Is the hotel directly on the beach/has beach access?

Its got a couple of lovely pools but I wasn't too impressed with the beach.

The Starwood next door in Nusa Dua, IIRC Westin, seems to be much more kid friendly with playground areas and slides, etc. in a pool.

I prefer the Laguna to the Westin. However the Westin has a pretty decent Kids Club (if your kids are under 10, they would probably enjoy the club). It is free for guests of the Westin, and guests from Laguna may use it as well (though at a cost - not sure the amount but around $40 per day per kid). The main Westin pool is surprisingly very deep -- but there are other pools around. Overall, I prefer the Laguna pools though.

The Westin had recently renovated their rooms. Pre renovation, Plat recognition and benefits were some of the best. Post renovation, Plat benefits during my trip in July were basically nothing.

The beach is nothing too special, but the water is warm and if your kids are young, they will probably enjoy the shallow and usually calm waters.

Thanks all for the reply. A question re beach access: According to the map at the SPG.com the beach seems to be some 700 yards away from the hotel. So, is part of the property at the beach front, or do you have to walk from the hotel to a public beach? Per map, it appears there is a street to cross from the hotel to the beach.

No street to cross to get to the beach. There is basically a footpath that runs along the length of the beach and joins all the hotels together.

The 'lagoons' are awesome. We had one of the lagoon-access rooms; wasted many an hour floating around in those things.

The beach wasn't anything to write home about; not as majestic a view as what you would see on the west side of Bali, not as clean/pretty as what you would find in St. John

Yeah I would recommend paying for a upgrade to a lagoon access room. We were the only one with access to ours as the hotel was quite empty. I wasn't too impressed with the beach especially when the tide was out. It was quite messy.

Remember that the lagoon access rooms cannot be occupied by folks with children as it is a safety issue.

To me, the lagoons were very old swimming pools, not nearly as attractive as the main pool.