As soon as you arrive at Belmond Jimbaran Puri in Jimbaran, Bali, you feel like you’ve stepped into a tropical haven. Traditional Balinese architecture, lotus-filled ponds, and lush greenery greet you at every turn. The staff were warm, welcoming and very professional, always greeting us by our names with a smile.
They treat you like a guest, not just a “paying customer”. At check-out, they informed us we were welcome to stay on at the hotel and use their facilities until we depart for the airport. They also kept a room ready for our use in case we want to freshen up or shower before we leave.
There is a butler service to attend to your every need. Most times you don’t even need to call or ask for assistance because they seem to know your every need before you even knew you needed it.
The Rooms: We stayed in Deluxe Pool Villa. We loved that the en-suite bedroom and living room were separated into two pavilions. Bathrooms were extremely spacious, featuring a sunken stone bathtub, indoor and outdoor showers, a large wardrobe and double basins.
We felt so well-taken care of and valued with the little touches that came with our villa — welcome drinks and chocolates, daily fresh fruits, daily afternoon tea served in our villa and more chocolates with the turn down service. The mini-bar also contained some free items that included milk and snacks.
You can jump into the pool right from the garden and even directly from the living room.
The garden was very spacious with ample space to lounge around at — choose from pool lounges, the bale or a shaded swing. The best thing about the pool? At 1.5 meter deep, it’s big and deep enough for a leisurely swim, and a partition between the shallow kids section. We enjoyed having a swim and relaxing while listening to the calming sounds of the ocean.
What to do: If you can tear yourself away from you villa, head to the beach for sunset cocktails. The day beds were the perfect spot to soak in the beautiful sunset views over Jimbaran Bay. Happy Hour is one-for-one for cocktails and complimentary house-pouring drinks extends till 5.30pm. The sun sets between 6 pm to 6.30 pm so you don’t want to go making other plans right about this time.
Although the beach didn’t sport powder white sand, we were happy with it nonetheless. It was clean, the sand was soft, and the sea was calm enough to play in. The ocean was very salty, so we opted not to swim in it.
We had dinner by the beach at Nelayan restaurant. The seafood was fresh and expertly prepared to bring out its fresh flavours.
Lastly, we highly recommend booking a spa session at the outdoor bale. The sound of the ocean waves and the warm, light breeze really made the massage excellent. Treatment prices were a little pricey if you’re comparing it to other spa centres in Bali, but perfectly reasonable if you’re travelling from Australia or Europe. In our opinion, the splurge was worth the experience.
Nomad rating: 4.5/5
Most memorable: The outstanding service. Almost every staff member knew our names when we mentioned our room number. They were extremely friendly to our toddler too! The sunset at Jimbaran Bay while sipping cocktails comes in second.
We’d recommend it for: Couples and families. The 1-bedroom villas make for a romantic retreat, and to our delight, was very family-friendly. The villas weren’t crowded, were intimate and the lush greenery along the paths to the cottages and villas looked amazing.
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