- Introduction: AAround The World Using AAdvantage Miles
- Review: Cathay Pacific Lounge San Francisco Airport
- Review: Cathay Pacific First Class 777 San Francisco To Hong Kong
- Review: Cathay Pacific Arrivals Lounge Hong Kong Airport
- Review: Grand Hyatt Hong Kong Grand Suite
- Review: Cathay Pacific The Pier First Class Lounge Hong Kong Airport
- Review: Cathay Pacific Business Class A330 Hong Kong To Kuala Lumpur
- Review: Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur
- Review: Malaysia Airlines First Class Lounge Kuala Lumpur Airport
- Review: Malaysia Airlines Business Class 737 Kuala Lumpur To Bali
- Review: St. Regis Bali Pool Suite
- Review: St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa
- Review: St. Regis Bali Restaurants & Activities
- Review: Premier Lounge Bali Denpasar Airport
- Review: Qatar Airways Business Class 777 Bali To Doha
- Review: St. Regis Doha
- Review: Qatar Airways Al Safwa First Class Lounge Doha Airport
- Review: Qatar Airways First Class 777 Doha To Abu Dhabi
- Review: Le Meridien Abu Dhabi
- Review: Rosewood Abu Dhabi
- Interlude: 30 Hours In Abu Dhabi
- Review: Etihad US Pre-Clearance Lounge Abu Dhabi Airport
- Review: Etihad First Class A380 Abu Dhabi To New York
- Review: Le Parker Meridien New York
We stayed at the St. Regis Bali for a total of four nights. As I mentioned in the previous post, I had used some Platinum Suite Night Awards to upgrade from a St. Regis Suite to a St. Regis Pool Suite. At check-in the associate proactively asked if we wanted to buy up to a villa for any part of our stay.
She made us a “special” offer — for $200 per night we could upgrade to a lagoon villa, which is the normal upgrade cost for a gardenia villa (usually a lagoon villa is $100 more per night than a gardenia villa). It was a low pressure sales job, and she said that offer was valid for as long as we were at the hotel, so we should just let them know if we wanted to switch. It seemed occupancy was pretty low due to the volcanic activity in Bali, which had canceled many flights to/from Australia.
While we were already paying quite a bit to stay at the St. Regis, I figured it was worth upgrading to a villa for two nights, just to experience it and to be able to review it. So for nights three and four we upgraded to a villa.
The St. Regis has three types of villas — gardenia, lagoon, and then specialty villas. As you might have guessed based on the names:
- The gardenia villas are private and overlook the garden
- The lagoon villas overlook the hotel’s saltwater lagoon, with direct access to it (the lagoon is basically like a huge pool)
- There are a few specialty villas, including two bedroom villas, oceanfront villas, etc.
Since I’m a 12 year old at heart, staying in a room with direct access to a huge pool sounded pretty darn cool to me.
Most of the resort’s villas are lined up along the center of the resort, right as you descend the stairs from the lobby. The hotel consists of the main building, where the suites are, and then as you walk towards the ocean there are villas on both sides, along a long walkway.
Walkway to villas at St. Regis Bali
We were assigned villa 802, which was one of the closer villas to the lobby. The villa featured an exterior door which could be closed, which led to the outdoor entryway.
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa entrance
Then there was the actual door to the villa, where you insert the key.
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa entrance
While I thought the suite was beautiful, the villa was gorgeous. I had high hopes, but it exceeded them. The villa featured a large living room with felt modern, chic, and a bit Balinese.
Near the entrance was a dining table with seating for four.
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa living room
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa living room
Behind that was the living room, which featured a couch along with a chair.
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa living room
The seating faced a flat screen TV, which was in the far corner of the room.
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa living room TV
Across from the dining table was a small desk.
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa living room desk
To the left of the living room was the guest bathroom, which featured a sink and toilet.
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa guest bathroom
Next to that was a counter with bottled water and an ice bucket.
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa coffee machine
Further down the hallway was a kitchen with a huge fridge. It had minibar items in it, though you could also store your own things in it. There was also a Nespresso machine.
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa kitchen
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa fridge/minibar
Next to the kitchen were (what I would assume are) the butler’s/nanny’s quarters. It consisted of what looked like a really uncomfortable bed along with a half bathroom, with a sink and toilet. In terms of luxury it was a stark contrast to the rest of the villa.
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa butler’s quarters
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa butler’s quarters
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa butler’s quarters
On the opposite side of the living room was the bedroom, which was gorgeous as well. Much like the previous suite we were in, it featured a super-plush king size bed. This bed also had “nets” you could extend around the perimeter of the bed.
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa bedroom
In the far corner of the room was a flat screen TV, which was sort of awkwardly placed if your intention was to watch TV from bed. Then again, I’m not sure who goes to Bali to watch TV.
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa bedroom
On the opposite side of the room was the desk, which had a chair as well.
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa bedroom
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa bedroom desk
There was a sliding panel between the bedroom and bathroom, which you could open and close at will.
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa bedroom
The bathroom featured two sinks, a large soaking tub, a walk-in shower, and a toilet in a separate room.
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa bathroom
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa bathroom
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa soaking tub
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa toiletries
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa shower
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa toilet
Then next to the bathroom was a large closet.
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa closet
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa closet
The inside of the villa exceeded my expectations, even having seen pictures before staying in one. But perhaps the highlight of the villa was the outside space. The villa had a large deck with a dining table, two lounge chairs, a decent size pool, and a “hut.”
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa backyard
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa backyard
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa backyard
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa backyard
There was even a snazzy outdoor shower, though perhaps the coolest part was the direct lagoon access.
St. Regis Bali Villa lagoon access
The lagoon was such a cool space, as there was rarely anyone in it. And it’s not every day you can swim from your room to the beach, restaurant, etc.
St. Regis Bali lagoon
The villa also featured a walkway around the side, should you want to go straight to the bathroom/shower from the outside area, rather than potentially running through the living room wet.
St. Regis Bali Lagoon Villa walkway to bathroom
St. Regis Bali villa bottom line
I loved the villa at the St. Regis Bali. It was spacious, gorgeously decorated, and I loved that it was attached to the lagoon. Everyone will have different preferences there, but as someone who is more of a pool person than an ocean person, I’d take this over a villa with direct beach access, personally.
Is the villa worth the upgrade fee, though? My initial instinct is to say yes. Paying $200 additional (~$240 including the 21% tax & service charge) for the villa over a suite seems like a pretty good deal, at least if it’s a special trip and you’re in a position to do so.
At the same time, I’m trying to be objective here and consider the “big picture.” At this point I was spending $400 per night for the original room, I used a Suite Night Award, and then was spending another ~$240 per night for the upgrade. At that point I’m paying ~$650 per night for the room.
While the St. Regis is spectacular, there are other great values to be had in Bali as well. For example, the Four Seasons has villas for significantly less than that, and while I can’t vouch for the quality, I imagine they’re pretty darn good as well.
To sum it up, I loved the St. Regis Bali (I’ll have more on the actual resort in the next installment), and I loved the villa, but it’s also not cheap. One thing I love about Bali in comparison to other destinations (the Maldives, Tahiti, etc.), is that it’s considerably more economical, even when staying at luxury hotels. Once you’re paying $650+ per night for a room, that’s not totally the case anymore.
Would you pay the upgrade fee for a villa at the St. Regis Bali?
Staying a at villa at the Laguna which has its own 40sq meter pool for 8000 pts a night plus $250. While I'm sure the st Regis public spaces are nicer, the Laguna is a much much better value and when you hav your own pool, who cares about the public spaces?
Yeah... this is def not a $650USD room .. esp not in Bali... I think better value could have been gotten for the money.....
For me, not at all impressed. Could be the photos but everything looks rather dull
My husband and I were there in 2013 during APEC and it was awesome...totally empty as all the guests were at the conference all day. My ambassador got us into a lagoon villa (without using SNAs or extra points). The lagoon was basically our second private pool as we saw 3 people in it the entire week. And the chief butler, Carlos, was fantastic...bottle after bottle of champagne kept appearing since it was our honeymoon.
...My husband and I were there in 2013 during APEC and it was awesome...totally empty as all the guests were at the conference all day. My ambassador got us into a lagoon villa (without using SNAs or extra points). The lagoon was basically our second private pool as we saw 3 people in it the entire week. And the chief butler, Carlos, was fantastic...bottle after bottle of champagne kept appearing since it was our honeymoon.
We requested a late check-out and it was granted, but we had to move to a sky suite (I think) in the main building.
I would absolutely pay for the lagoon villa if we were not able to secure it in advance.
Thanks for taking 'one for the team' to get a look at the villas on the property. :) I was struck by how incredibly similar this product was to the one bedroom villas at the Shangri-La Boracay - and would be curious to see you do a comparison! While access to the Lagoon is an awesome feature, I liked the total and complete privacy (and private pool) of the Shang.
@Trevor: Yes, you can. The doors looking out toward the lagoon can be locked and accessed using your room's swipe card.
@Zzap - Thanks! I find that not to be the case at far to many resorts! Thanks for the clarification!
Ben, Not sure if I missed this, but are you able to access your villa from the lagoon side? e.g. can you lock all the access-ways to your villa, and access them via room key without having to walk to the front door? Not to be untrustworthy, but that is always my concern about having a pool/lagoon/beach access suite/villa/room.
And this place tops the Ritz Carlton?
From your previous installment, you said "...Then there was a dining table, two chairs for lounging, and also a beautiful padded 'hut' you could relax on."
Just FYI, the padded hut is a lounging pavilion usually referred to as a "balé."
The lagoon villa does indeed look wonderful, but as others have mentioned, Nusa Dua is not to everyone's taste. We did stay there a few years ago at the Conrad and loved it, but...
From your previous installment, you said "...Then there was a dining table, two chairs for lounging, and also a beautiful padded 'hut' you could relax on."
Just FYI, the padded hut is a lounging pavilion usually referred to as a "balé."
The lagoon villa does indeed look wonderful, but as others have mentioned, Nusa Dua is not to everyone's taste. We did stay there a few years ago at the Conrad and loved it, but this was before the new highway and transport from that area was abysmal.
Back in '88 (don't do any math please) I stayed at the Tanjung Sari in Sanur, and then went down to Nusa Dua for a couple of nights. At the time the Nusa Dua Beach Hotel was the only hotel there (this was at the beginning of the planned Nusa Dua tourist area), and there were literally no restaurants available within walking distance, so one was captive of the hotel's restaurants. I tell this story apropos of nothing, other than memories and living in the past. :)
I LOVE the guest bathroom pic! One of those classic peek-a-boo pictures. Hahaha
Your photos sparked my memory of our time in this villa. In fact, I remembered that my profile photo used here was taken by my wife in that villa (as part of a fun photo shoot). Funny how memory works. My first recollection of the time at the St. Regis wasn't as positive as it has become looking over our photos from there. We had a good time, and it was a beautiful property. Here's...
Your photos sparked my memory of our time in this villa. In fact, I remembered that my profile photo used here was taken by my wife in that villa (as part of a fun photo shoot). Funny how memory works. My first recollection of the time at the St. Regis wasn't as positive as it has become looking over our photos from there. We had a good time, and it was a beautiful property. Here's a link to some of those photos from that 'photo shoot' of my wife and I (also some others of the property, as well as a shot of the live music to be had at a certain restaurant - I can't recall the name - in the Bali Collection mall, just a short walk away). http://1drv.ms/1mIuRkp
Will your last night will be refunded to your Citi Prestige card?
While hotel-relatively it is a "huge" fridge, for those of us that live in homes its quite a normal size;)
Ford's name seems to have been completely dropped after featuring in almost every post for some time...
I LOVE the St Regis Bali. We were there in May and also stayed in suite 802. The extra cost for the lagoon villa is definitely worth it. They are amazing and the resort is one of the best ones I've ever stayed at in my opinion. The people, the food, the scenery was absolutely amazing. I'd go back in a heart beat!
Omg Ben, i absolutely love this property! Might have missed you since I left the day the volcanic activity started. Kayuputi is such an amazing restaurant!
Does the $20 (or $100) trick ever work at these types of hotels? Particularly in areas with lower wages?
Looks like a perfect resort. Thank you for the review!
I would have assumed you don't like swimming anyway?!