They used to have a precondition for booking these rooms but it doesn't seem to be there anymore. I have also seen families with children occupying these rooms, perhaps they have changed the rules since there is a small gate with a latch before one could access the lagoon.

Even with the latch, I would not feel comfortable in these rooms with kids. They could crawl over the railing and gate easily.

However, I was not very impressed by the lagoon access rooms anyway. The old wooden ladders looked like they could hurt one's feet and as I said above, the lagoon seems to be a very old pool. The main hotel pool is much more attractive.

They could also crawl over the railings at the upper floors balconies ...

Sitting at CGK waiting for my flight. SPG showing I'm upgraded to an Exec Suite with an amazing balcony view. Laguna access rooms better than this or stick with this suite?

i would go for the pool access rooms.
i can get suites at any hotels... but lagoon access rooms are only for resorts (and not all resorts). being able to get up from your bed, walk out ino the balcony and plunge right into the pool is what holiday is all about for me.

I am not a fan of the exec suites here, it just feels too bare. The studio rooms are more to my liking, but you can't watch tv from the bed.

As for the deluxe lagoon access rooms, this resort was one of the first in the region with this concept. However, it's no long a novelty with numerous other resorts having similar concept but better with larger balcony and easier access eg Conrad Bali. Do also note that the bathroom in the deluxe rooms are quite small with no separate shower stall.

If you are going to be out most of the time & traveling with family, I would just stick with the exec suites for the additional space. If you are going to laze around and traveling solo or as a couple, the lagoon access rooms can be a good alternative.

We sruck with the executive suite having spent yesterday out of the hotel all day until late. The hotel is fine, but having been to Khao Lak, Siem Reap, Hua Hin and elsewhere, and not being a fan of Phuket (not talking about Patong), I'm not getting the appeal of Bali to so many folks.

So which place appeals to you ? Don't tell me Hua Hin !

I didn't think much of Bali on my first visit, it took me half a dozen visits before I eventually grew to love this island. The culture & atmosphere slowly grows on you ...

Looks like Paris Hilton is more of a culture vulture than you are :D

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/...es-bali/477961

I found the Temples in The north of Thailand and Siem Reap to be more interesting. I find Le Meridien Khao Lak to be a better resort by a bit. The traffic and feeling that basically it is catering to foreigners looking for cheap shopping contributed to simply not being so interesting. May give it another shot sometime.

Tried to use twitter to see if the was anything interesting going on amd saw thatnshe was there. I was a Ku De Ta the night after she was there, thankfully. Note the tweets make no mention of anything that actually places you in Bali rather than Amy place with a spa. :rolleyes:

You should also be thankful you are not staying at the W ;)

Just checked SPG HP and found out they seem to stopp the hotel lounge for Plat and general booking. In the past this was called Royal Beach club.

That means no more complimentory breakfast for Plat?
No high tea?
No more evening drinks?

Quite a downgrade I would say. I also checked the price and it became quite cheap compared to beginn of this year. 150 US$ /night is not that much for Bali. And this after renovation has been done.

Kind of strange to me.

Laguna Stay
 

I stayed at Laguna recently with my family on Points. I booked a Studio Room and got upgraded to a Studio Lagoon Access room. Lame upgrade if you ask me. They said the suites were booked. This was during the peak holiday season. The room was OK. Clean, but really did not have any accessories and was kind of bland with no paintings or artwork around. It really did not have a Balinese theme.

They do not give any preferential treatment for Platinums. The service was hit and miss. The butler did not tell us about the free coffee/tea, ironing some pieces of clothes, or any other services. He was ready to run after he saw me digging for his tip in my pocket. The Breakfast spread was actually pretty good. But it felt like too many people were piling on top of each other.

The thing that shocked me most was the COMPULSORY Dinner for New Year's Eve. OH MY GOD! I checked out on the 30th because I knew this mafia network. I have to believe this is not compulsory. But I see everywhere it being posted as compulsory. How could a hotel force you?

Here is the gimick! Across from the lobby, they set up this counter with a guy, table and chair. The guy had at least 15 bottles of wine, whisky, and other booze in front of him. Together with this he had some brochures and a map of the dining room with seats and highlighted with tables that were booked. I asked him what the charge was. He said something like $300 USD per person. I thought that was ridiculous. But I hear they only serve 30 minutes of champagne and wine in the beginging and rest of it was charged. So why have this big set up? I think this is daylight robbery if you ask me.

I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on this because when I visited Bali in 1998, we stayed at the Intercontinental in Jimbaran. We did the event for $100 USD and they had all you can eat lobster, drink wines, etc. Granted it was a long time ago. But come on!

Cumpulsory dinners are not new in SE Asia. Christmas, New Years, Songkran (Thailand) whatever - these are (IME) clearly noted on the hotels' website and really shouldn't come as a suprise.

No, I don't like them, but it's not hard to book around them. On the other hand, one can spash-out and budget for it (you're not staying in a Holiday Inn, so presumably the cost would not represent a hardship) and enjoy what's on offer.

That aside, I think that the Laguna is a very nice property, and if you want Bali, hop in a cab and go to Ubud.

I didn't feel like I was in Bali at the W (apart from the Indian Ocean view) but the Laguna felt very "Balinese" to me. The gardens, the butlers uniforms and the gamelan music did it for me.