Good for non golfers too, but no good for beach lovers.
Written: Oct 11 '08 (Updated Oct 11 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Family friendly, variety of pools, good food, not just for golfers.
Cons: Noise in the rooms, children charged for breakfast and other buffets from 3 years old.
The Bottom Line: Not for beach lovers, but also not just for spa or golf lovers. Good for the family.
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| vodkaboy's Full Review: Le Meridien Nirwana Golf & Spa Resort, Bali |
Not knowing many places in Bali, we were looking on the web for somewhere to stay for a few days. Le Meridien Nirwana sounded like a nice place to relax and the prices were significantly better than any other five star or international hotel chain, so we went ahead and booked. Then the evening before we were to arrive, we suddenly had a thought: Is there a beach? By now it was a bit late to check, but I phoned anyway to ask. The good news was, there is a beach; the bad news was that it is stoney and it is too rough and rocky for swimming. In other words, no beach.
We were booked, packed and paid up so cancelling was not really an option. We decided we would maybe cut it short and move on after a couple of days. As it was, we enjoyed our stay and didn't cut it short at all. We had also been a bit concerned that it might be too golf-centric, but the hotel was well suited to the whole family.
Booking:
We had searched several hotel booking sites for international or five star, family friendly hotels and Le Meridien was consistently among the best priced. We got the best price booking direct, which included breakfast. At the time of booking, I requested an extra bed.
Arrival:
The hotel is in quite a remote location, about 45 minutes' drive from the airport or the main towns and there is nowhere to go in the immediate vicinity, other than on the hotel grounds. As well as the hotel, there is of course the golf club and also private villas and timeshare apartments. There is a long driveway from the road which is also signposted to the other properties. Finally we passed the spa on the left and moments later arrived at the hotel lobby.
As seems to be common with many Bali hotels, entry is across a small bridge over a water feature and up steps into a square, wooden roofed, open sided lobby which overlooks the pool area behind. To the right is the Reception desk and opposite is the concierge. The lobby itself is surprisingly small, with just a few chairs and tables at the back.
We were welcomed with cold towels and glasses of fresh juice while we checked in. The reservation details were correct and the process was completed quickly. A lady escorted us to our rooms, which took us through a small shopping arcade, then down a floor as the looby is located on the 4th of five floors. The porter followed a few minutes later with the luggage.
The Room
The room was a little smaller than the couple of other hotels that I have seen in Bali. Entering the room, to one side there was the bathroom; on the other side cupboards and, beyond them, there was a built-in dressing table or writing desk, with mirror, lighting and electricity socket. The floor was light brown tile.
In the room itself was a double bed with wooden headboard and a bedside table on each side. There was a long, narrow wooden table or stand at the foot of the bed. A small coffee table, a sofa and a cabinet with the TV in one side and minibar the other. The balcony over looked the gardens and held two wooden chairs.
The writing desk being built into the side saved some space in the room; although it was a little cramped, having its own lights and plug put it streets ahead of most hotels where you have one plug under the desk accessible only on your hands and knees and you have to choose whether to power your laptop or the light.
The room was comfortable enough and reasonably well equipped. The slightly cramped work area might not suit all business people, but at least the power point and light were accessible. However the main down side to the room was the noise; the door and walls seemed to be paper thin. Probably due to the tiled floors, throughout the day and evening we could hear scraping noises of furniture being moved, above, below or to either side of us. This did get a little irritating in the morning and evening, but not unbearable.
A nice touch was a bowl of apples on the table when we arrived in the room, along with a card explaining that these were Granny Smith apples and giving some history. Granny Smith apples were apparently first grown in Australia in 1868 by a Mrs Maria Smith.
Facilities
The main draw for many people here is of course the golf course and, for non-golfing other halves, the spa.
The Golf Course:
Not being much of a golfer, I can't really pass comment on the course. Apparently it was designed by Arnold Palmer, so I guess it is probably good! I did decide to try a lesson on the driving range, though. The club house is a good ten minutes walk, or a couple of minutes drive, from the hotel entrance. There, I saw a lot of tables laid apparently for diners, so I assume that meals could be had there. There is a shop to one side selling a rang of golf items and it is here that you pay for lessons before going downstairs to take a buggy ride to the driving range. I noticed that the drivers and caddies appeared to be all women, which I would have found odd if I had a bag of clubs; I was always taught that a gentleman helps a lady with her bag, not the other way round!
The driving range was, well, a large patch of grass with numbered boards at 50, 100, 150 and 200 metres from the end. My teacher seemed to be pretty good as he managed to help me stop missing the balls and start hitting them. I hit a few past the 50 yard sign and one past the 100 yard sign, so I felt pretty pleased!
The other big draw is the Spa which is located a couple of minutes walk from the lobby. Again, there is a shop to one side of the entrance where we go to pay. After a cup of ginger tea I was led to the changing room, then from there to the treatment room. There are a range of treatments available, I opted for a simple 45 minute Balinese massage which was pleasant but not exceptional.
So what else is there to do? The beach was, as we had been told, not useable. The hotel is a little above the beach, with a steep drop down. It could be accessed round to one side but was not worth it as the beach appeared very stony, with many rocks and rockpools and swimming would be downright dangerous.
However, the pools more than compensated. There are three main pools, all built on different levels. The top pool is irregularly shaped with rough edges, so it looks like a natural lagoon, spanned by a stone bridge. The water from here cascades into the next pool below which is more square. The lowest pool is larger and shaped a bit like an amoeba, with a waterfall at one end.
To one side of the central pool is a bar, with a few tables; drinks and food are available. To the other side is a larger restaurant, roofed but open sided, with more tables outside. There are sun beds around all the pools and also some placed on islands within the top pool. As well as the beds there are high, canopied day beds to really laze the day away!
The high spot for the kids was discovering the water slides. There are two, one small one in the central pool and a second, larger one, 43 metres long, which dumped the kids at quite high speed into the lower pool near the waterfall.
Other activities included table tennis by the restaurant; badminton; chess; water polo (there were nets in the lower pool); basketball. There were also organised activities every day, some of which were free such as yoga and meditation, flower arranging, jogging and walks to the temple; others were charged such as tennis, squash and bicycle hire.
Food and Drink
The main restaurant, Cendana, is downstairs from the lobby and has quite a good buffet breakfast. They are open for other meals too, with some themed buffets, or a la carte. The breakfasts that we had were quite good with a choice of both western and Asian including fresh made juices and a large piece of dripping honeycomb. However, some of the selections such as breads and fruits were a bit limited. I was also a bit irritated that the main buffet was placed either side of the main doors into and out of the kitchen, so there was a constant procession of waiters squeezing past everyone milling around the buffet.
Nirwana Restaurant is below the lounge bar and offers 'Asian' food. Musicians playing Balinese music greet you as you arrive on the terrace and step into the restaurant. The menu offers a selection that is mainly Balinese and Indonesian but also some dishes from other parts of Asia. We had one dinner here and it was excellent.
We ate a couple of lunches and one dinner at the Pool Grill - light snacks are available at the bar but meals are served a few yards away in a restaurant that is open at the sides. In the day, it is casual but in the evening it is more atmospheric. We enjoyed a 'seafood market' dinner here on evening with fresh snapper, lobster, prawns and squid.
We didn't go to Nautilus Pub but apparently Mediterranean food is offered there. Snacks are also available in the Sunset Lounge, in the main building but with sides also open to the elements. I had a few late night cocktails here, which were excellent, and one evening I watched a frog come under the railing, creep to just a few inches from my foot and make a meal of a procession of ants. This was particularly amazing as we were one floor above the frog's natural habitat.
The Pool bar has a happy hour from 5pm to 6pm each evening, with two drinks for the price of one. This was strictly two of the same drink, we were not allowed to choose two different drinks even of the same price, but they were good enough to allow one strawberry milkshake and one chocolate one.
There are also theme nights most nights at one restaurant or another; one night was Italian, in Cendana, on the night that Nautilus was closed; another night was seafood market at the Pool Grill and our last night was a Night Market around the lower pool with live Balinese music and dancing to accompany a otherwise standard buffet.
My main complaint about the food is that the policy is to charge 50% for children from the age of three for the breakfast and any other buffet. I would challenge anyone to find a three year old who can eat half of what a normal adult eats. I protested this and they did waive the charge for our three year old, which I thought was only fair. Of course, a la carte we paid for whatever we ordered for him.
Location
The hotel is on the south west coast, overlooking an old temple, Tanah Lot. It is about a ten to fifteen minute walk from the hotel and there are accompanied walks to the temple every evening before sunset, though it is just as easy to walk alone, through a part of the golf course and past a row of cafes that have sprung up.
Other than the temple, there is not a lot to do in the immediate area outside the hotel. We took a 15 minute taxi ride to another beach one day, so we could at least have a splash in the surf. However, there is plenty going on in the hotel and, after all, we were there to relax.
Summary
The main disappointment for us was the lack of beach but this was made up for by the great pools. Despite being called a Golf and Spa Resort, there is enough here to keep other halves happy, or indeed to a family of non golfers. The breakfast could be improved, and work is needed to quieten the rooms, but other than that we had a very enjoyable stay.
Recommended:
Yes
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vodkaboy
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