We were driven from the St. Regis Bali to the airport at around 1:30PM. Ford was flying to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific at 4PM, while I was flying to Doha on Qatar Airways at 5:30PM.
St. Regis Bali driveway
The transfer to the airport is included in the rate at the St. Regis, and due to car availability we were even “upgraded” to a Mercedes, which was quite nice.
St. Regis Bali Mercedes airport transfer
St. Regis Bali Mercedes airport transfer
The improvement of infrastructure in Bali since I last visited a couple of years ago is nothing short of impressive. There’s now a direct bridge between Nusa Dua and Denpasar, which makes the drive to the airport much quicker, given the condition of roads otherwise.
Not only was the bridge impressive, but I was amazed as we pulled up to the airport. Up until a couple of years ago Denpasar Airport was pretty terrible. It was small and outdated. Well, they did an amazing job expanding the airport, and it’s now actually a pleasant one.
Upon arrival we bid farewell to our driver from the St. Regis and walked down the air conditioned hallway to the departures hall.
Bali Denpasar Airport entrance
I was speechless as we entered the terminal. Ford couldn’t fully appreciate my amazement given that he never saw the previous airport, but I was amazed to the point that I was mumbling expletives. The terminal was gorgeous.
Bali Denpasar Airport departures hall
Bali Denpasar Airport departures hall
Before entering the check-in hall we had to go through an initial security screening. This is presumably just to look for weapons, drugs, etc., since both your checked bags and carry-ons are screened.
Denpasar Airport initial security checkpoint
We first headed to Cathay Pacific check-in, given that Ford’s flight was earlier. After that we headed to Qatar Airways check-in, which just opened at 2PM.
Bali Airport Qatar Airways check-in
Bali Airport Qatar Airways check-in
We were there as it opened, and I was number two in the business class line. The guy being helped in the business class line seemed to have some issues with his ticket, so I had to wait for nearly 10 minutes while his check-in was being processed. Once I was helped, the friendly associate had my boarding pass printed within a minute, and also gave me a lounge invitation.
Bali Airport Qatar Airways business class check-in
After that we had to queue for immigration, where the lines were very short — we were through in a matter of minutes. Then we just had to go through security, where lines were once again nice and short.
Bali Airport immigration
We then proceeded through the duty free shop into the terminal (I love how some airports literally force you to walk through a duty free store to leave the country — I hope the retailer is paying super-high rent).
Bali Airport duty free shopping
Bali Airport duty free shopping
The terminal had quite a bit high-end retail, ranging from Gucci to Montblanc.
Bali Airport duty free shopping
The terminal even had a pretty cool looking faux-temple.
Bali Airport terminal
I quickly spotted the Premier Lounge, which was located a level up from the main concourse. It looked like a huge improvement over the old lounge at the airport.
Bali Airport Premier Lounge view
There were a couple of other lounges up there, including another contract lounge as well as the Garuda Indonesia lounge. You could take either a tiny elevator or the stairs up a level, which didn’t seem quite sufficient for the quantity of passengers presumably moving between levels (an escalator seems like it would have been much more practical).
Bali Airport stairs & elevator to lounges
The Premier Lounge was located at the far end of the hallway.
Walkway to Premier Lounge Bali Airport
There was signage indicating all the airlines which use this lounge for their passengers. As you can see, just about all airlines except Garuda Indonesia do. If you wouldn’t otherwise have access, this could be a great time for a credit card with lounge access to come in handy.
Eligible airlines for Premier Lounge Bali Airport
At the entrance we presented our lounge invitations and were promptly admitted. The lounge was packed-as-could-be when we first arrived, as there was barely an empty seat. The lounge emptied out at around 3:30PM, as all the people on the 4PM bank of flights departed. So the below pictures are partly taken before and after the rush.
The lounge consists of one large room with fairly modern furniture, at least compared to the old lounge. The furniture did feel a bit mis-matched, as if they bought what was on sale and then tried to make it look presentable.
Premier Lounge Bali Airport seating
There were wooden beams between the floor and ceiling, which also had a pretty cool wooden roof display.
Premier Lounge Bali Airport seating
The types of seating were varied, from moon-shaped couches to individual chairs.
Premier Lounge Bali Airport seating
Premier Lounge Bali Airport seating
Premier Lounge Bali Airport seating
While still part of the same room, towards the back of the lounge were some slightly more partitioned off seats, which I preferred for the privacy.
Premier Lounge Bali Airport seating
There were more private seats in the back left of the lounge as well.
Premier Lounge Bali Airport seating
In addition to the “indoor” seating, there was also a terrace overlooking the rest of the terminal.
Premier Lounge Bali Airport outdoor seating
There was a small room for kids, as well as a rather basic looking business center.
Premier Lounge Bali Airport kids room
Premier Lounge Bali Airport entertainment center
The buffet was the centerpiece of the lounge, and started close to the entrance. While the setup itself looked quite nice, the food spread was a bit underwhelming.
Bali Airport Lounge food spread
Bali Airport Lounge food spread
The spread consisted of all kinds of seemingly random things, from cereal to fruit to muffins to salad to soup.
Bali Airport Lounge food spread
Bali Airport Lounge food spread
Bali Airport Lounge food spread
Bali Airport Lounge food spread
Bali Airport Lounge food spread
There were also several hot dishes, though they mostly didn’t look good to me.
Bali Airport Lounge food spread
On top of that there was an espresso machine, hot water with several types of teabags, as well as a fridge with soft drinks and beer.
Bali Airport Lounge espresso machine
Bali Airport Lounge fridge with drinks
Bali Airport Lounge tea selection
There was a bar which indicated that there was a “special of the day,” which was spaghetti carbonara.
Bali Airport Lounge bar
The restrooms in the lounge weren’t properly cleaned and smelled terrible.
Bali Airport Lounge bathroom
Bali Airport Lounge restrooms
At around 3:30PM I brought Ford to his departure gate, where he shortly boarded. After that I headed back to the lounge.
Cathay Pacific 777 Denpasar Airport
I got caught up on some work, and at 4:30PM decided to head to my departure gate, for the supposed 4:45PM boarding and 5:30PM departure time. I was departing from gate 9, which was quite a haul from the lounge. It really impresses me how much this airport has expanded, as previously you could walk from the lounge to any gate within a couple of minutes.
The walk in the new terminal is especially long, given that the gates are along a single, long corridor. It’s not like there are planes on both sides, a train system, or anything — you simply walk the length of the wingspan of however many planes away your gate is.
Denpasar Airport terminal
Denpasar Airport terminal
After a bit of a haul I finally made it to gate 9, where my Qatar Airways 777 was parked next to an Air Asia A330.
Denpasar Airport planes
The gate area was packed. I’m used to rather chaotic boarding processes, though I don’t think I can properly sum up just how chaotic this one was. It wasn’t the quantity of people, but rather how they acted. When you combine a super hot terminal with 370+ of the pushiest people I’ve ever interacted with, it made for quite a boarding process.
Also, maybe I’m in the wrong here, but I’m not sure I understand people who “fan” themselves in a hot gate area. It’s one thing if you actually have a proper fan, but for those who are literally taking a single, flimsy boarding pass and “fanning” themselves with it, I imagine they’re heating themselves up rather than cooling themselves off.
Denpasar Airport terminal
I tried to board pretty quickly because I wanted to grab pictures of the cabin, or else I would have just stood back and watched everyone board.
Qatar Airways 777 taking me to Doha
Sure enough at around 4:50PM boarding was called, and both business and economy were boarded at the same time through separate lanes.
Qatar Airways 777 boarding Denpasar Airport
Qatar Airways 777 boarding Denpasar Airport
Qatar Airways 777 boarding Doha Airport
After the boarding experience I was ready for a glass of bubbly!
Denpasar Airport Lounge bottom line
The improvements at Denpasar Airport over the past couple of years really caught me off guard. The airport is now actually quite nice, while previously it was a bit of a dump. Is the Premier Lounge one I’d make an effort to spend any time in? Nope, but it’s certainly better than nothing, and also better than the old lounge.
So overall I was impressed by was the new airport, rather than the new lounge.
Anyone else as impressed by the new Denpasar Airport as I am?
Membership is free and takes no more information than commenting as a guest. Earn status points for good contributions, and see fewer ads as your status grows.