It's quite a big thiing to get me to an Intercontinental Hotel. A few years ago I had a big argument with them and despite having stayed over 100 nights that year they showed no interest in trying to resolve my complaint. Anyway, here I was in Bali, staying at the Intercon and expecting good things. It came recommended so I expected something good. Some expectations were met, some disappointments.

Booking
I booked online; when I booked, only a twin room was available while I wanted a double. I booked anyway, requesting an extra bed for our son and an airport pick up as we were arriving late in the evening, and I resolved to call closer to the arrival time to ask for a double bed instead. Of course, I forgot all about it, even a week before our arrival date when I got an email from the concierge, with a simple guide to activities in the hotel and around Bali. I even phoned on the morning of arrival to reconfirm the airport pick up and extra bed but forgot all about the double – possibly because I was quoted a price of US$45 per night for the extra bed, which I protested was daylight robbery but had to accept because of the late evening arrival.

Arrival
The hotel car was there to meet us, at a charge of about US$8 which was very reasonable, and it was a short drive of about fifteen minutes to the hotel. Arriving, we walked up a few steps into a large lobby, open to the air front and back, with the back overlooking the terrace of the breakfast area, then the gardens leading to the swimming pool. To the right was the Reception, with a small shopping arcade behind. In the centre was a large lounge area; to the left, a Concierge desk, entry into a bar with pool table and, beyond that, a travel desk.

The Room
The first impressions were all positive. The room was quite large, laid out somewhat different to most hotel rooms. And the extra bed was already in place and set up – almost everywhere else that I have stayed we have to call to ask and it arrives a quarter of an hour later, during which time the kids are falling asleep on the suitcases or in the bath.

From the door, to the left was a small dressing with a mirror. To the left of that was the bathroom; to the right, the cupboard, which also opened from the other side so was truly walk-through. The bedroom itself contained two queen sized beds, one up against the wall with the foot level with the cupboard. At the far end were wooden sliding shutters, which were partly blocked by the extra bed. These opened onto a balcony with two deck chairs and a table. There was also a two seater sofa, a writing desk with lamp, a coffee table and of course a TV cabinet.

The room was overall very comfortable and well equipped, at first impression. However, over the coming days a few flaws did reveal themselves. I glanced behind the bedside table to check for a spare plug and was stunned to see a hole in the wall, with a plastic box hanging out from which emerged several wires, one going to the light. It looked quite lethal and I made sure to keep the table pushed tight against the wall. The bed, while comfortable, sagged in the middle. In fairness, this was more than made up for by the thick but light bedding, especially the duvet which was remarkably comfortable. What annoyed me more was, with a lack of foresight which seems to afflict most hotels, the writing desk has a desk light and just one plug – located well underneath the desk of course – so it is impossible to plug in both a laptop and the desk light. Added to that, the promised wireless internet did not work in the room so, to use internet, I had to trek all the way to a shop located behind reception and plug in on their balcony.

Facilities
The main thing here of course is the beach, which was beautifully sandy and the water clean, if a bit cold. There was definitely some moments’ hesitation going in when the water reached thigh high, but just one wave and I was through the point of no return. The waves were quite strong while we were there, probably not surfing high but enough to scare small children. Best of all, the beach was private and quite, with no hawkers or sales people, so it was pure relaxation. There are no water sports offered here – these are available a short drive away.

Around the pool, the lawns were littered with sun umbrellas and loungers, and her eis my other big complaint – throughout the day almost all were ‘reserved’ or ‘taken’, with towels or belongings, but usually nobody on them. People would come early, drape a towel or tee-shirt to reserve them, then disappear for hours. One morning we got there at nine and every umbrella was reserved, half of them were still unoccupied at 12 when we left. This is of course not something which happens only here and, in fairness to the hotel, they did discourage it with notices ‘please do not reserve a sun lounger if you are not going to use it; any lounger unoccupied for 1 ½ hours will have belongings carefully and taken to the attendant’s desk’, this notice in English, Japanese, Russian and German. However they did not enforce this at all. As a result, many people burned in the sun while sun umbrellas were unoccupied, a ridiculous state of affairs caused simply by some people’s selfishness.

There is a children’s club, offering a range of activities from face painting to swimming – they have a dedicated pool. There are different activities every morning and evening and the club is staffed by a dedicated group of child minders. The club is open till 10pm and admission is US$5 per hour or US$17 for a half day including a meal.

For those staying in a Club room, the club is located just below reception. We walked through and it looked very welcoming, but we didn’t stop.

Food and Drink
The food was generally good, but somewhat limited in choice.

Taman Gita is in the main building, only open for breakfast. The breakfast selection was good, with a very wide selection of fruits, yoghurts, freshly made juices, eggs and pancakes cooked to order, a few salads, cheeses and pastries, a hot selection and also a Japanese selection. All very good and tasty. The room, however, was noisy – the juicer was loud and grinding, cutlery constantly being laid or cleared, all echoed around and was noisier than I wanted first thing in the morning!

The best and most popular drinks venue was Sunset Bar, to one side of the pool at the top of the beach. As its name suggests, this is the place to gather at sunset, to enjoy the views of the setting sun and the happy hour with 50% off drinks. As it turned out, there are only three cocktails and two beers eligible for this – but luckily their charging was not good as they forgot to charge for the other one I ordered.

Summary
Overall a relaxing and comfortable stay. The room was spacious and comfortable, especially the bed despite the sag. The food was good and the people pleasant. It was however somewhat marred by a feeling that money was being extracted at every opportunity – US$45 per night for an extra bed (which they eventually waived), overpriced food and $5 per hour for the kids’ club, while simple things were overlooked like only having one plug at the desk and an in-room internet which didn’t work, sending me half way across the hotel at 11pm to send emails. Would I recommend it, or return? Possibly, but only barely, I am sure there are other places offering better value.