The Chedi Club Tanah Gajah, Ubud, Bali

100   Recommended
May 9, 2015 by EXPERT

 Map | 2 Reviews | 100% Recommended
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The Chedi Club at Tanah Gajah, Ubud
 Map | 2 Reviews | 100% Recommended

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The Chedi Club Tanah Gajah, Ubud, Bali

Booking:We booked a pool villa through our TA, although there were no affiliation benefits (though Chedi Club is a LHW hotel, so you may get something by booking through Leader’s Club).

However, room rates for for pool and spa villas (and above) include “club benefits,” which are quite generous. The list is below with some of my annotations:

Quote:

  • Welcome drink upon arrival(We got ginger tea with delicious banana fritters).
  • 24-hour Butler service(We were assigned a butler for the duration of our 3-night stay, who was excellent and very responsive...it’s not a reason to book, but it’s a nice perk to have a dedicated housekeeper/concierge/experience manager who you get to know during your stay).
  • Daily laundry service for up to six pieces per person(this has become one of my absolute favorite hotel amenities...we generally don’t check bags, so being able to get our clothes washed is a huge benefit. There was a dedicated hamper where items were picked up each day, and returned washed and folded the following morning. They were also happy to accommodate garments that were hand-wash-only.)
  • Daily American breakfast in your suite, villa or The Restaurant(While we usually take breakfast in our room when it’s offered, the restaurant here is so gorgeous that it simply can’t be missed...photos and more on the food below).
  • Daily seasonal fresh fruits in your suite or villa(A wonderful assortment of tropical fruits).
  • Daily afternoon tea from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm in your suite, villa, The Bird Lounge, The Pool Pavilion or The Club Lounge(Tea service came with a massive tower of cakes and savory snacks...you won’t be hungry for dinner for a while, if at all).
  • Daily cocktails and canap from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm in the suite, villa, The Bird Lounge, The Pool Pavilion or The Club Lounge(We enjoyed having these delivered to our villa before heading to the restaurant for dinner)
  • Daily newspaper
  • All snacks and beverages from the minibar (replenished once daily)(Cold drinks and cookies/crackers)
  • Wi-Fi access in the suite/villa and public areas
  • Unlimited access to the spa, heath club, yoga studio and tennis court
  • Scheduled transport service to/from Ubud Centre with private car equipped with Wi-Fi

As you can see, a ton of value here.

Our booking also included a complimentary airport transfer -- not sure if that’s no longer a listed benefit, or if our TA secured it for us.

I emailed back and forth with the hotel on a few things (dinner reservations, spa bookings and airport pickup), and they were always responsive.

Check-In:While VIP meet-and-greet at DPS is temporarily suspended with the construction of the new terminal, we arrived at around 10AM to an empty airport, and were through customs in less than ten minutes.

This was where one of the few hiccups happened, as we couldn’t find our Chedi Club driver among the crowd of people holding signs. After a few minutes of wandering around, we asked at the information desk, where an employee paged for the driver and he walked up to us shortly.

From there, all went smoothly, as he helped us over to an SUV prepared with cold towels, drinks and WiFi for the drive to the hotel, which took around an hour.

One note that applied to our entire trip through Bali: the roads here are not pleasant...narrow, winding and crowded, which can lead to some pretty aggressive driving. If you get carsick easily -- as my wife does -- you may want to ask to sit up front.

As we drove, the driver pointed out many of the different villages we passed through and what made them special. It was a great, if fast-paced, introduction to Bali.

When we finally pulled into the Chedi driveway, though, things took a turn for the serene.

We were greeted in the main lobby by Alain, the GM (formerly of the Chedi Andermatt), and our butler, who served us cold drinks and warm banana fritters while he completed check-in procedures.

Alain would check in with us daily throughout our stay, often working the room at breakfast and making sure that all of the guests were having a relaxing time.

After showing us around the property in a golf cart (which, as we soon learned, was pretty unnecessary, as the property is pretty small and an absolute pleasure to walk through), our butler took us to our villa and left us to settle in.

Room:

We stayed in Villa #7, a pool villa. We could see the rice paddies right from our pool:



This was both good and bad...it made for a picture-perfect setting, but we did see rice farmers walking by a few times, which certainly impacts the level of privacy you have. Our butler came by to close the back doors every evening though.
The pool had lounge chairs on one side:



A daybed on the other side (where the entrance to the room was):



And a large lounging area with a dining table behind the pool, where we enjoyed drinks and afternoon tea.


The inside of the villa was beautiful as well, with lots of natural light from the floor-to-ceiling windows all around:



Two sinks and vanities, directly opposite from each other:



Separate shower and toilet rooms:



A desk and armoire area:



And a side door that led to a beautiful outdoor tub:





Property:

The rest of the property was also really relaxing, with lots of green (and elephant statues, as there’s an elephant temple nearby):





With only 20 or so rooms, Chedi Club always felt quiet and peaceful, and we only saw a few other couples there for most of our stay.

The property has a main pool, which you might use if you book a spa suite (these don’t have private pools, but come with complimentary daily spa treatments), but we didn’t try it.



The restaurant, to me, felt like the most stunning place in the entire resort, with panoramic views of the property’s rice paddies:



Service:

No complaints at all here. Every staff member we interacted with was warm and helpful, and spoke English well.

Dining:

The food at Chedi Club was excellent.

Breakfast was often more than enough to keep us full until dinner:







The executive chef (“Chef Dean”) is a fixture on property.

One example of him going above and beyond that stands out to me: we had a dinner reservation for the tasting menu at Mozaic, but got so relaxed at the resort that we decided not to make the 30-minute ride to the restaurant. When we shared that with Chef Dean, he offered to create a special five-course menu based on whatever we wanted to eat using local ingredients. It was superb.

Overall:If and when we come back to Bali, we will absolutely make another stop here. We looked at a lot of different properties in Ubud while we planned our trip (including Amandari and FS Sayan), and are thrilled with the choice we made. Highly recommended.

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