Raffles Bali

Punam G7 months ago

Just left this hotel after a 3 night stay. It is an absolutely beautiful hotel on gorgeous and well maintained grounds. However, what would have been lovely experience was marred by ground works by Raffles on their own property to build more villas, and also very noisy construction on land immediately adjoining Raffles to the North. Whilst Raffles has clearly no control over land they don't possess, they were very much in control of their own, and did not bother to tell us before our visit. Both went on for most of the day, the latter starting at 8.30am on Friday. It was so bad that the floor of our villa was vibrating. To their credit, the hotel immediately offered a free massage treatment and to move us to a 'Hilltop villa' from a 'Panoramic Ocean view' villa, which greatly mitigated the effect. However it did bring us close to their own construction site. Both these things, together with the fact that the land faces the airport meant that there was constant building and aircraft noise. During a brief hiatus, we marvelled at how tranquil the stay could have been. We were told that Raffles expect to carry on building until 15 Dec. |As to the rest of the hotel, everything is walkable, although a buggy is always on hand. Loloan by the beach is a wonderful place to relax, which I found served average food all day, with a remarkable lack of local cuisine offerings. Rumari is the high end restaurant where we enjoyed our meal in a pleasant atmosphere, although the hotel was very quiet when we were there. Breakfast was also in Rumari and was very good, with a small buffet with the emphasis on a la carte. There was plentiful fresh fruit. The staff across the hotel were very friendly and service was lovely, although there can be a language barrier with some staff. You should ensure that any transport requirements are clearly understood, on both sides, when booking. The chef Gaetan was ever present, and very informative and engaging.|The beach is small and not private, despite what they tell you upon arrival. The unfortunate problem with plastic in the sea was clearly visible.|The villas are well appointed, spacious and very clean. Randomly, there was no body lotion to be had, just sun lotion. The fitness room is small and doesn't have any free weights, if that's important. Internet was spotty sometimes, but I think that is to be expected due to the location. The spa treatment we had was excellent.|