Thursday 26 September 2013

W Retreat & Spa Bali - Seminyak - 塞米亚克 W 水疗度假酒店 September 2013 - Part 3

Welcome to Part 3 of my review on W Bali! This part will be on food restaurants!

Please do read Parts 1 and 2 as well!

There are 2 main restaurants (Starfish Bloo and Fire) and several places for drinks (W Lounge, Woo Bar, ICE).

There are also places for private dining (1 Below and Cellar).

W Lounge

 The lounge is located right at the lobby, and it glows in different colours at night.





One can also choose to sit facing the pool and beach either inside the lobby or just outside.






The Woo Bar


This is located in the pool with a sky deck.





We saw fireworks at night from the WooBar during our stay and it was magnificent!

Fire


We did not eat here but the centerpiece does look nice.

Breakfast for the guests in rooms is provided here.

Within Fire
Fire at night

Starfish Bloo and ICE

They are essentially the same place, but given different names as one is for food and the other for drinks.

We had dinner here once and the food is really good. The hot stone allows you to cook the fresh salmon (as tataki) and beef, but it cools rapidly so you have to ask for a change after a while.

Do have a look at the Kid's menu for alternatives. We ordered the fish and chips from it.

Prices are also reasonable by hotel standards.

Starfish Bloo from the pool

Entrance




Hot stone


Do have dinner or drinks here in the evening for the beautiful sunset!



Breakfast for the guests in villas and suites will be at Starfish Bloo.
The spread is really good, and includes sashimi too!












You may also order dishes off a menu which includes foie gras and steak.




With that, I would like to thank you again for reading and would like to show you my favourite photo of the resort.



In conclusion, W Bali is an excellent hotel to stay at, perhaps the downside is the relatively expensive rooms and that the beach is not suitable for swimming. As previously mentioned in part 1, the waves can be rather loud and may affect the light sleepers.

W Retreat & Spa Bali - you must absolutely experience it!


Hope you have enjoyed reading my review and may your visit be just as great or even better!




W Retreat & Spa Bali - Seminyak - 塞米亚克 W 水疗度假酒店 September 2013 - Part 2

Thank you for reading Part 2 of W Bali.

As mention in the previous post, Part 2 will be on service, the beach and pool, gym and the Away Spa while Part 1 was about the main hotel and rooms and Part 3 on food and restaurants.

The Service 

On entering the hotel, we were greeted warmly by the staff and asked if we were checking in to the villa or the rooms.

This is necessary as the front desks are located a small distance apart.

At the check-in, we were offered a welcome drink and towels soaked in 1 of 3 scented solutions (right upper corner of the photograph).


 We were pleasantly surprised the Director of Rooms came to welcome us at the front desk

A very special Thank You to Mr Akhmad Fadholi!

As previously mentioned, we were asked to rest in a
Spectacular Ocean Facing Retreat while our Marvelous Suite was under housekeeping.

Another staff at the front desk brought us up to the room and showed us around.
A welcome gift was already in the room consisting of 4 large slabs of honeycomb chocolate in a rather special decoration.

Welcome gift

 Meanwhile, the staff also asked us if we were interested in watching any movies which is supplied free of charge.



Throughout the stay, the staff at the hotel were very warm and often initiate verbal contact, offering help readily.

In fact, one of the staff attempted to speak to us in Mandarin although awkwardly.

Well, it also shows how persuasive the Chinese Market is to hotels, although we are not from China.

Getting transport out of the hotel was also very easy from the Wheels counter at the lobby.


The Beach And Pool

The pool is a terrace reminiscent of a padi field with trees and also houses the Woo Bar.





 There are also a great number of daybeds to enjoy the sun and the breeze.







The big W near the beach is a popular spot for photographs.




 The beach itself is rather clean, but the waves are really strong and one is advised against swimming there.





 The Gym (Sweat)


The gym is rather small and I feel is rather inadequate for a hotel of this size. One of the side doors links it to the Away Spa. Of course, few people actually use the gym at a resort...

SWEAT

Grab your towels in the honeycomb structure

The (Away) Spa

One of the highlights of W Hotels is the AWAY Spa and this one in Bali is very popular and well-known.

It is located off the lobby and is really quiet compared to the main hotel.

AWAY SPA at night
AWAY Spa in the morning
Waiting area

Product Display

Waiting area inside the spa
Resting area at treatment rooms
There is an oxygen room inside the spa, as well as the warm and cold plunge pools with a steam room.

AWAY SPA website

Be sure to check out the mirror in the changing room at night for the 'Star' feel!

Treatment at the SPA was indeed an experience, and highly recommended if one can spare the money!

---------------------------------------------

Please do read the next and last part which will be on the food and restaurants!

Disclaimer: My reviews are based on my personal experience and the stay is not sponsored or invited by the hotel.

Monday 23 September 2013

W Retreat & Spa Bali - Seminyak - 塞米亚克 W 水疗度假酒店 September 2013 - Part 1

Thank you for reading my blog!

This is my fourth post and I am so glad to have quite a number of readers from all over the world (according to the statistics given by Google) including France and Germany! (I'm planning to visit Europe next year.)

Special thanks to USA for being the biggest group!

Please do leave a comment for encouragement!

Warmest Regards to all,
Fred

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This post will bring us to Singapore's 2nd closest neighbour, Indonesia, and in particular, the famous resort island of Bali.

For the non-Mandarin speakers, Bali (巴厘 or variant 峇里 ) has the same pronunciation as Paris (巴黎), and therefore it may be wise to say 巴厘岛 (Bali Island).

W hotels belong to Starwood Hotels which is currently my favourite hotel chain.

W Bali is a relatively new hotel as it only opened on 1st March 2011 and is utterly beautiful!
Located near the popular Kuta region and about half an hour from the airport, the hotel is only a short ride to many places although I did not really want to leave the gorgeous resort!

There is so much to write about (and photograph) that the review is much better in 3 parts!
Part 1 would cover the main hotel and rooms, part 2 on service, the beach and pool, gym and the Away Spa. Lastly, part 3 would be on food/restaurants.

 The official website is http://www.starwoodhotels.com/whotels/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=3221 and the official Facebook is http://www.starwoodhotels.com/whotels/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=3221

.
View of Hotel from the sea-facing side.

Getting to the hotel

The hotel is located to the northwest of the Ngurah Rai Airport (DPS) and is approximately 15.0 km/9.32 miles with a travel time of 25 minutes as stated at the hotel's website. I do think the time is often an underestimation due to congestion along the roads.

The road from the entrance to the hotel is quite a distance, though beautifully decorated.


The initial path is a narrow covered driveway which turns into a pebble path.
The entrance to the villas is located along the pebble path before one reaches the main hotel.






We took the hotel transport and it came with refreshments and the day's papers.




The Hotel

The pebble path ends at the lobby with houses the W lounge (which glows in different colours at night) and hotel check-in desks.



W Lounge (Day)

W Lounge (Night) in pink
W Lounge (Night) in blue

Hotel Check-in


The lobby extends towards the beach with seats to enjoy the view as well as tea lights for decoration  at night. The W store is located at the end of the side of the lobby through a door.




The other end of the lobby across the W lounge leads to shops and an art piece.



The check-in for the villa is at the other side of the entrance.

Villa Check-in


The concierge (Whatever/Whenever is the alternative name at W Hotels) is located here as well, in an arc consisting of the hotel check-in, the elevators, the concierge and the villa check-in clockwise.




The elevators are well-lit and nice elevators are essential in a luxury hotel in my opinion.

The corridors to the rooms were a slight disappointment due to the plainness, but the sunrise is rather awesome (sans the buildings).


Morning view of the island from the corridor side


The Room(s)


While waiting for the Marvelous Suite to be ready, I was given a Spectacular Ocean Facing Retreat to rest in.

Written to be "You might be chilling in your roomy Spectacular Retreat, but the dazzling Indian Ocean and stunning beach are never far away. Gaze out at incredible views from your spacious balcony, complete with chaise lounge for maximum relaxation.

In a swirl of green tones inspired by the jungle and warmly matched by polished wooden and terrazzo flooring, drape yourself across the plush sleeper sofa when you catch up with winding down."
 
 The room is rather packed with many items of furniture and the huge bathroom.








The bathroom has a skylight which is covered with frost glass to allow light in and prying eyes out!







The toilet has an voyeuristic ornament.
"Please take your time. I enjoy watching"
The wardrobe knobs has lights in them for the 'blind bats'






The view is indeed great from the balcony with a couch to enjoy the scenery!





The Marvelous Suite was a sight to behold. It is simply huge! The description of "Inside, there's so much room to do so much more, in a gorgeous setting of green hues inspired by the jungle and wooden and terrazzo flooring" is totally apt.

Door to the Suite






The balcony is also large and has even better view of the ocean than the previous room as well as 2 couches/daybeds. The lights add a special touch to the night view.

Day View

Night View

View from Marvelous Suite
One point to note is the loud waves crashing onto the beach which may be rather disturbing if one is a light sleeper.
-------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you for reading Part 1 of my review of W Retreat & Spa Bali - Seminyak!