Bali and Berchtesgaden: InterContinental Bali

Frigidarium?

Your spa question surely looks like a cold plunge pool to me, though without sticking a toe in, I can't be sure 😉 As crazy as it sounds, it feels incredible to go from a hot sauna or tub to an icy bath.

It's a plunge pool. It's really cold, and you cycle dips into it with 10 minutes in the Jacuzzi. Good for circulation.

What kind of camera do you use? I'd love for my vacation pictures to look like this. 🙂

It's a baptismal font for full immersion baptisms.

Can you clarify whether you paid $320 plus $100 for access to the club? Or was it $320 including the club? Just wondering. Thanks.

Very timely review Lucky. I have a trip coming up in october to stay there and was anxiously awaiting this review before I convert my reservation to F&F. What other hotels have a lounge others than the conrad and the ayana that you would recommend?

Well if it wasn't in Bali and you weren't a guy, I'd say Mikvah 🙂

@ Ariana -- Thanks! It's a Canon S95.

@ Despina -- Sorry, I should clarified, that included club access.

@ Ryan -- I've only done the Grand Hyatt. It's a decent hotel though I prefer the InterContinental, especially since the lounge at the Grand Hyatt is outdoors, and it's usually hot in Bali. Have heard good things about the Conrad, though.

At 320 w/o the previous club amenities, it might be worth it just to head up to the Four Seasons Ubud and their mindblowing pool. I see a Stay 2 Get 1 Free promotion now, which comes to 337/night including breakfast in a 1300 sq. ft. suite. The area around Ubud (and really, anywhere north of Denpasar) strikes me as a nicer part of Bali as well, especially if you're not going to the beach.

Who do you usually travel with? One problem I've has is when your traveling with a friend and they upgrade you, it's usually to a suite with one king bed. It's always a dilema of choosing between sharing a bed awkwardly with your friend, not accepting the updgrade or someone sleeping on the pull out. Do you have the same issue or are your friends always in different rooms?

I just stayed at the IC Bali in June and I agree that paying extra for the Club access makes zero sense. I booked the Singaraja Duplex and got to look at the Club Lounge and the amenities, and if you travel with kids (like we do), Club wing makes very little sense unless you are planning on dropping them off at the Explorer Club downstairs virtually all day.

I personally LOVE the IC for all its other attributes, though. Lovely staff, great service, excellent food that is very fairly priced IMO, awesome main pool and fun lunch items and drinks (Arak Kelapa). Jimbaran is amazing, and one is close enough to Ubud etc (which I don't think is true for Nusa Dua.

Overall, I can't believe that taking away dinner items would make you not recommend this hotel, but whatever...maybe if y'all are staying away from the IC Bali, my room will cost less next June (flights already booked).

@ Jon -- Maybe it's just me, but I don't mind sharing a bed with another person I'm not romantically involved with. Put a pillow in the middle and you still have two normal sized beds.

Definitely worth the trade off for the extra space compared to a standard room with two beds, in my opinion.

@ AAExPlat -- Thanks for the thoughts, I probably should have phrased what I said differently. I think the standard rooms can still be a good value, though since I have elite status elsewhere I feel I can get better value. While the standard rooms are nice and resort is beautiful, if I can get club access thrown in at a comparable hotel for the same cost as a standard room, I think it's a better value.

Lucky,

Is it worth purchasing Ambassador status for this hotel? What would it entitle you to?

Stacey

@ stacey -- At a minimum it would get you a one category upgrade and a weekend night certificate. If you can use the weekend night certificate I'd suggest signing up for Ambassador ASAP. Otherwise I'd suggest signing up at the hotel as I believe they get some commission for that, so may provide you with a better upgrade/benefits than an Ambassador would usually get.

lol @u600213, but guys can do mikvah too. Though I doubt the IC in Bali would have one

Definitely a cold plunge pool. If you haven't experienced a turkish bath house. I recommend it for the experience. You go from something hot (steam room, hot tub, or my favorite-a super hot sauna where you are beaten with olive branches covered in olive oil) to the cold plunge pool. It's super intense. Do it a few times, and all you want to do is lay by the pool for a few hours. If you plan on doing something like that, don't make any other plans for later in the day. It's relaxing/cleansing, but also very intense and draining.

@Jon

Relax, sharing a bed with a guy won't make you gay. Americans really get hung up over stuff like this...

The special club accommodations are nice - and as you properly point out, it avoids being nickled and dimmed to death. However, I don't think that the club bonus was EVER intended to be a substitute for patronizing their dining room for a proper dinner. That suit looks wonderful, but it is also overkill by a factor of 3 for two single guys. As some often suggest, "Poor Ben suffers from a lot of First World problems..." Let's remember that its roughly a $300-$350 room, not a $1500 one.

@lucky @stacey

I signed up for Ambassador before we went in June and I would be careful about the signup. Do your homework. The weekend cert is ONLY good for their most basic room.

That means if you have kids, you can't use the cert unless you are planning on booking two adjoining rooms (which is not smart since you can book a duplex, which is their nicest room short of the Club Duplex and the Club Suites).

The upgrade benefit here is also very dubious because no room will upgrade you to the Club Wing, and upgrades from anything but the basic rooms CAN be a downgrade (like Singaraja Duplex to Resort Suite).

It also seemed that the staff put free water in all rooms during our stay, so I am unsure about that benefit...

In short, if you would signup for Ambassador ONLY because of this trip, I might caution against it.

Now, if you plan on staying at IC hotels a bunch elsewhere, then Ambassador is fine. I will be staying at plenty of ICsin the next year (incl a trip back to Bali), so Ambassador worked out OK. But it's clearly not for everyone, unlike the IC phone agents will tell you...

Thanks Lucky. Do you know of any hotels that actually offer suites with two double beds? Or is this generally unheard of?

It does look like a Mikvah..

yes. first thought was... a mikvah?

I just stayed here in July for free with points and a Facebook contest they had and I have to say that I was pretty disappointed with the room. Maybe it's different for standard rooms than suites but my Singaraja Room had mold everywhere -- the curtains, everywhere in the bathroom, shower, toilet... You would think housekeeping would at least notice there is mold taking over the entire balcony curtain!! Of course after having housekeeping come 3 times and I had to literally point out all the mold, it was finally clean. The staff are really friendly, the breakfast buffet at the restaurant was amazing, and the grounds are beautiful, but I was still very disappointed with it all. Especially at check out when they had a bunch of extra charges on my bill that weren't mine, and were quite insistent that I hired a car for the day before I even checked into the hotel.

I've debated emailing them to let them know of the problems during my stay but haven't decided if it's worth it.

So I have to ask, when you and your "friend" are sharing that big king bed...who's the big spoon?