Unimpressed.

Le Meridien never occurred to me as a brand with particularly nice hotels. This was my first time at an LM, and having heard of some complaints about the LM Bali didn't give me a lot of confidence. 

The hotel isn't especially large compared to others, at 118 rooms, although it likewise occupies a small piece of land, unlike the massive InterContinental next door. The hotel's design revolves around its pool/courtyard, to which most rooms view.

Le Meridien Bali Jimbaran

Our arrival experience wasn't entirely pleasant. The hotel has cordoned off its porte-cochère by the lobby on Level 3 and instead, everyone is dropped off at a small welcome area on the ground level. As such, heading to the lobby required a walk down a long, dark hallway, before ascending up using the elevators.

Le Meridien Bali Lobby

Le Meridien Bali Lobby View

We were quickly seated at a desk and a friendly agent checked us in. We arrived at 13.00, before check-in time, and that was where the confusion came in. The agent who checked us in informed us that our room was ready, to which another staff member came up and interjected that it was not, citing the 15.00 check-in time. The first agent then retorted that it was indeed ready... Hmmmm...

We did end up being issued one key soon after, and the friendly agent pointed us to the direction of our room. 

We were booked into an entry-level Classic Room but was unexpectedly upgraded to a Lagoon-view Deluxe Room. 

At 62sqm, the room is very spacious for a non-suite, and it definitely felt that way. The room can be said to have been designed to look 'trendy' and was probably so when it opened, sadly the room looked quite outdated at this point. I frankly didn't like the grey and cool colour palette, which only made the already dim room look darker and less inviting; the room's bad lighting didn't help. 

Deluxe Lagoon View Room

Deluxe Lagoon View Room

I thought that the space is poorly utilised. There were many empty areas that made the room look awkwardly spaced. There are few table surfaces and storage areas despite the size of the room. The room just looks rather run-down and there were many items that are falling apart. For instance, there were multiple electrical socket covers that kept falling off their frame and lots of wear and tear on various items of furniture.

As such, the hotel desperately requires significant refurbishment and perhaps a full-scale renovation. 

Deluxe Lagoon View Room

Deluxe Lagoon View Room closet

At first glance, the bathroom does look rather premium but sadly suffers from the same poor state. The bathtub's drain knob is displaced, and there was quite a lot of mold in the shower's silicone sealant, leaving much to be desired. Interestingly (and perhaps unsurprisingly), the toiletries weren't from Malin+Goetz as one ought to expect from a Le Meridien; they were poor. 

Deluxe Lagoon View Room bathroom

Deluxe Lagoon View Room bathroom

The room also features a sizeable balcony, which in retrospect seemed to be the only part of the room that actually felt inviting.

Deluxe Lagoon View Room balcony

View from Balcony

Deluxe Lagoon View Room lighting

We didn't encounter too many staff members but they mostly seemed well-intentioned and were friendly enough, apart from the misunderstanding at check-in. Service never seemed proactive, but I think that's to be expected from a hotel of this scale. 

Le Meridien is located in front of a row of beachside grilled fish restaurants. I'm aware that there had previously been complaints of smoke from these restaurants blowing into the hotel. Thankfully this hadn't been evident during our stay. 

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Le Meridien Bali back entrance

Grilled fish restaurants behind the hotel

The hotel is located next to the much larger InterContinental next door, along with several more upmarket options like the Four Seasons, Raffles, Belmond, and Kayumanis nearby. 

Frankly, there isn't much to do in the direct vicinity of the hotel apart from those seafood restaurants (which can be a hit or miss), although the beach being mostly clean and rather empty in the past two years made it a lot more pleasant than what it had been previously. 

The hotel's saltwater pool is rather large and pretty much covers the entirety of the hotel's courtyard. It is probably the only part of the hotel that I found to be rather inviting. Even so, I never bothered to swim in the pool and never saw anyone else swimming in there either.

Le Meridien Jimbaran Pool Area

Le Meridien Jimbaran Pool Area

​​​​​​​Le Meridien Jimbaran Pool Area

​​​​​​​Le Meridien Jimbaran Lagoon Area

​​​​​​​Le Meridien Jimbaran Pool Area

Overall, I thought that Bali's Le Meridien is more look over function. Even so, the hotel's interiors seemed to be largely unkept. The hotel's relatively eclectic design didn't seem to have aged very well, and its uninspiring paint scheme only made the place look even less inviting.

Whilst the pool does look rather nice, it does feel boxed-in, and the shortcomings with much of the hotel's other hardware sadly outweigh this positive.

Unless a major overhaul is underway, I'm afraid Le Meridien Bali Jimbaran is not a hotel I can recommend.