This St. Regis Bali Review is from our 2018 site inspection stay during our recent Southeast Asian trip.
St. Regis Bali Location and Check-In
The St. Regis Bali is located in Nusa Dua, a resort enclave developed by Bali in the 1970s, although the St. Regis Bali opened in 2008 and is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, in 2018. The resort is less than 9 miles from the Denpasar Nguah Rai Airport (DPS), and if there's no traffic, it's only about a 20 minute drive. That said, there are often huge traffic jams in Bali, so I'd certainly allow at least twice that for getting from the resort to the airport, and ample time to clear security and immigration at the airport.
TravelSort Clients enjoy complimentary roundtrip airport transfers, although as my husband was departing on a different later flight we paid for his later transfer to the airport.
The open air lobby is spacious and beautiful, with fresh flowers and soaring ceilings. That said, we found the actual process very slow–it took over 20 minutes, while we waited on the couch, for our passports to be copied and our keys to be readied. We arrived early evening, after regular check-in time, so I'm not sure what the hold up was. I much preferred the in-room check-in that we had at many of the other hotels on this trip, including the Shangri-La Tokyo, Amanpulo, Amanwana and Mandapa.
We were served a welcome drink that was a nice gesture, although not nearly as good as the ones at Mandapa and Amanpulo.
TravelSort Clients enjoy Virtuoso Benefits:
- Upgrade on arrival, subject to availability
- Daily Buffet breakfast, for up to two in room guests, served in Boneka Restaurant
- Complimentary round-trip private airport transfers
- One time Classic Afternoon tea for two at King Cole Bar, once per stay
- A 60 minute Aqua Vitale pool treatment for up to 2 persons, once per stay
- Early check-in/late check-out, subject to availability
- Complimentary Wi-Fi
Here's my St. Regis Bali YouTube Video Review:
St. Regis Bali Ocean View Suite
There are only a few Ocean View Suites at the St. Regis Bali, so if an ocean view is important to you, I recommend reserving it outright. Here's the furnished balcony, and our view from it:
Our suite was on the 6th floor at the end of the hall, and was very quiet; we never heard our neighbors from the other side or from the floor below, if we had any.
The suite is 990 square feet, although suite is a bit of a misnomer since there is no door between the bedroom and living area; just a curtain that partially separates the area. It's essentially an open plan junior suite.
Given the living room furniture, which would have made it very cramped to add a rollaway, we asked our butler to have Housekeeping make up the sofa as an extra bed for our son during turndown service. Unfortunately he didn't follow through and the sofa was exactly the same as we'd left it when we came back from dinner. He was apologetic, but it was annoying that it took several calls to get Housekeeping to the room, and significant time to get the sofa made up as a bed, pushing our son's bedtime later and awkwardly having Housekeeping staff in our room while we were trying to wind down for the night.
Already in our room on arrival was a fresh fruit welcome amenity (always appreciated) and box of four chocolates (mediocre).
In the foyer, there were sunhats and a beach bag, and unlike Mandapa, we were welcome to keep the bag, which I appreciated.
The bathroom, which can be seen in more detail in the above video, was well appointed, with double sinks and vanities, a soaking tub with TV screen so you could watch movies while having a bath, a separate toilet chamber, and a walk-in rain shower, with a retractable laundry line for hanging up wet swimsuits.
St. Regis Bali Beach and Saltwater Pool
We liked the wide sloping white sand beach in front of the hotel, and while in the past some clients have complained about being heckled by vendors, at least during our visit the vendors just sat in one place and didn't seem to be aggressively disturbing anyone, so the resort seems to have gotten that problem under control.
There was scarcely anyone actually in the ocean, perhaps because the small waves made it a better choice for body surfing than swimming (see above video).
Most guests instead chose to swim in the saltwater lagoon, which is shallow but extensive.
St. Regis Bali Restaurants and Dining
The resort has three main restaurants:
- Boneka Restaurant is where the daily breakfast buffet is served 7-11am, and also offers dinner nightly 6-11pm, as well as Sunday brunch 12noon-3pm.
- Kayuputi, right by the beach, is the resort's fine dining restaurant, open daily for lunch 12noon-5pm and dinner 6:30-11pm.
- Dulang Restaurant serves Indonesian fare nightly 7-10pm
There's also the beachside Vista Bar that serves light fare 11am-5pm and the King Cole Bar just off the lobby, which serves afternoon tea 3-5:30pm.
For breakfast at Boneka, we were welcomed and seated at a table by the window, a great spot.
We were welcome to help ourselves to the buffet, which in addition to fresh fruit, yogurt, cereal and pastries also had dim sum and sushi.
There was also a surprisingly extensive a la carte menu for fresh squeezed juices, smoothies, egg dishes and other breakfast dishes.
The River Lobster Omelet with Lobster Bisque was interesting, although didn't seem to have much in the way of actual lobster chunks in it.
Sushi was fine, but not memorable.
The Croissant French Toast, which sounded intriguing on paper, was rich and buttery but looked better than it tasted. It was no match for the croissant waffle we'd had at the Ritz-Carlton Tokyo Club Lounge.
Overall, the juices, yogurt and cappuccino were the best part of our breakfast.
Our dinner a Kayuputi was something I'd really looked forward to, given positive reviews. The restaurant was nearly empty when we arrived just after 6:30pm for our early dinner.
A hand towel was brought, a nice touch, while we perused the menu (see more menu pages in the video).
The fresh baked bread rolls were a good beginning, although the provided dips were lackluster, especially the one that tasted like ketchup.
The amuse bouche of carrot puree and a thin scallop was also not too impressive.
We were grateful that the kitchen was fast in preparing our son's dinner, of chicken, rice and vegetables, as he was quite hungry.
The Ricotta Cheese and Spinach Tortellini with Basil Oil was surprisingly good, better than I was expecting for this classic dish.
The Signature Dish of Wagyu Beef was disappointing. It was indeed tender, but lacked flavor and was a very small portion. The only part I liked was the very small lobster tail tempura.
Since we were told it would take 20 minutes to prepare the Passion Fruit Souffle (it would have been nice if our server had asked us either while ordering or when delivering our dinner if we might want a souffle, as is the case in other fine dining restaurants I've been to that offer souffles) we took a walk, played some pool, and returned.
Honestly, the Passion Fruit Souffle wasn't worth waiting for; if you've ever made one at home you've probably made one that tastes just as good, if perhaps not as picture perfect. The best part was the passion fruit sorbet it came with.
The Verdict
We enjoyed our stay at the St. Regis Bali, as a relaxing way to wrap up our time in Indonesia at a white sand beach resort before the long journey back to the U.S. The view from the Ocean View Suite is nice, although the ocean is quite distant compared to the up close views we had at Amanpulo and Amanwana. The Ocean View Suite is of course not quite as fresh as Mandapa, but maintained very well, and we had no complaints with the suite, apart from the bed being too firm for our preference.
We also liked the wide white sand beach, and my husband and son loved body surfing in the waves. There was next to no one else in the ocean, so they had it to themselves. The salt water lagoon was also enjoyable to swim in, although quite shallow.
We were of two mind about the food; on the one hand, there was enormous variety on offer with the breakfast buffet and extensive a la carte menu as well, and the juices, smoothies, yogurt, and cappuccinos were all good. There could have been better fresh fruit and waffles/pancakes/french toast, however, and the pastries were quite mediocre.
Similarly, our splurge meal at Kayuputi was largely disappointing. The ricotta and spinach tortellini ended up being the highlight, while the ostensible signature dish, the Wagyu beef, was a very small portion and while tender, quite tasteless. Dessert, the passion fruit souffle, was certainly not worth the 20 minute wait; I make better souffles at home.
Service was also inconsistent. Check-in took 20 minutes, too long for a luxury hotel, and while our butler was very friendly, he dropped the ball with our request to have housekeeping make up the sofa as a bed for our son during turndown. We came back to our suite after dinner and found that no bed had been set up for him, frustrating when you have a tired kid. On the other hand, our server at Boneka for breakfast was helpful and friendly, and our driver to the airport was also very helpful, and brought back something I'd meant to give my husband, since he was departing Bali on a later flight.
If you've stayed at the St. Regis Bali recently, what was your experience?
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Good video! Last year while staying at Amanusa I visited the St Regis to see if it would be a place that I would want to stay at on our next annual trip to Bali. I was given a personal tour of the property by the staff. Unfortunately I was not impressed because the place felt like something you would get in Florida or Cabo San Lucas. The hotel did not feel “Balinese” enough for me. What’s the point of going all the way to Bali if the place you are staying at does not feel Balinese? Your comments about… Read more »
Thanks for your comment Jay. To be fair, the Nusa Dua area was purposefully developed for tourism in the 1970s, so most resorts simply won’t have as authentic a vibe as you’d get in the Ubud or more local areas of Bali. And our experience was overall good, given the relaxing and extensive saltwater lagoon, great views, and several helpful and friendly staff. It’s just that at this price point, I expected more attention to detail with service, and better quality food, not just extensive food options.
Try the Ritz Carlton down the road instead. It is definitely more Balinese and lush.
Hilary, did you notice any spiritual existence at the St Regis? With the brutal murder there many years ago, a lot of people tell me there is a strong haunted experience at the St Regis.
I can’t say I noticed anything, but I’ve never felt a ghostly or spiritual presence at other supposedly haunted properties either, such as the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego.