The Ritz-Carlton, Bali

How best to describe my experience? Well, despite getting a late checkout (I have Plat elite Bonvoy status), despite being in a lagoon suite, and despite paying 4 figures USD nightly... I set an alarm early my last day to get up early to escape to my hotel in Ubud. Not the experience you want at a Ritz Carlton. First the good: The two stars are for: the Spa which was truly an amazingly luxurious experience complete with plunge pools etc. and I had it to myself when I was there. The room which had a lagoon which was really cool and the hotel itself is beautiful architecturally. Also the food (especially the exquisite brunch) was awesome as were the cocktails! The bad: After a week spent waking up before dawn to go scuba and on other adventures on Flores I was so looking forward to a super relaxing few days in Bali. This hotel was advertised as family friendly, which I assumed meant there would be families there also enjoying the pool and the kids club. What it apparently meant was "Disneyland on winter break with kids so hyped up you would swear Santa was handing out PS5s". NOW OF COURSE kids and families with kids deserve vacations and to be kids and scream and have fun and splash in the pool. I can't and won't fault the Ritz or the families for that. What I can fault them for is having no adult-only areas or times (not even the Missoni day club). At one point I looked at the pool and of the 40 groups/people in the pool there only 2 that were not kids or families. The average age of the pool had to be close to 10. Also the service. A bit ironic since Josh Hutchinson (sp?) ads play on a loop advertising their above-and-beyond service. I checked in and was told to sit and was going to get a welcome drink. After 15 minutes I went and asked someone what was going on and they assured me it would only be a few minutes. Well, I was eager to get onto the relaxation portion of my vacay and kinda didn't believe them. So I left my stuff with a new friend sitting nearby and found the bar (which was down the cliff so not close), looked at the menu, ordered a truly wonderful Negroni and brought it back up to the lobby... where I preceded to wait for another 10 minutes (my friend informed me no one had come). All this to be told the room wasnt ready yet. Other fun service points, were me not allowed to sit at a certain table that was on the edge of the room at brunch because it might be full so I was directed next to a family with 2 kids... while a couple walked in and sat at the table 2 minutes later(and no it was not reserved). Other minor things like having to flag someone down whenever I wanted a drink at the beach, waiting literally 45 minutes between ordering and getting anything (it can't be that hard to pour a glass of white wine... I do it weekly). Also why are you charging me for a mimosa when I am paying that much for brunch??? Anyway, not the service I would expect from a brand that is supposedly synonymous with it. All to say: if you have a family with young kids and don't mind waiting; if you are going to Bali not to hear the gentle waves of the ocean but a cacophony of screaming; if you think a day at a luxury brand day-club without dodging beach balls is boring. Then this is the place. All others look away.

This hotel absolutely impressed me and went beyond my expectations. In each venue, the teams were making me feel comfortable and were extremely attentive, smiling and very dedicated to their tasks. The rooms were very spacious and beautifully maintained (somewhat hard with the high level of humidity). The Food in all of the restaurants was just fabulous. I had a Suite then a smaller room as I needed to extend my stay for a few more hours. The Breakfast was very generous and displayed a large selection of different items (maybe the Juices station could be improved with Freshly pressed juices instead of boxed ones), but the highlight of my stay was definitely my belated birthday celebration - the reason of my visit to this hotel. The team went above and beyond the entire evening and the foods was nothing shorter than excellent. I would like to give a very special thank you to VELIA who was absolutely fabulous, went above and beyond for any of my concerns and most importantly surprised me with a beautiful Bouquet of Flowers for my birthday and made sure my evening would be unforgettable. Mission accomplished. I'm already planning my next visit to your premises (I come to Bali every year but normally stay in Ubud) - but from now on, I'm convinced that a detour by The Ritz Carlton before to return home is mandatory. Kuddos to your exceptional teams in all the departments but especially for all of your Chefs because the food in all the venues is absolutely DIVINE! Thank you very much again for my wonderful stay in your premises and see you very soon.

Overall, we enjoyed our family stay at The Ritz-Carlton, Bali, and everything was good apart from the air conditioning. It took two days to fix the problem, which affected our comfort and enjoyment of the stay. For a hotel of this standard, we would have expected a much quicker resolution. Once it was fixed, we enjoyed the rest of our visit, but the delay let down an otherwise lovely experience.

Our stay at The Ritz-Carlton, Bali was truly wonderful, and what made it especially memorable was the exceptional service from the entire team. A special thank you to Hadi and the butler team, who went above and beyond throughout our stay. Hadi was incredibly warm, attentive, and thoughtful, always anticipating our needs and taking care of even the smallest details. His genuine care and personalized service made us feel truly valued. The entire team was consistently gracious, professional, and welcoming. While the resort itself is beautiful, it is the people and their genuine hospitality that truly make the experience special. Thank you to Hadi, Darma, Wita and everyone at The Ritz-Carlton, Bali for making our stay so memorable. We look forward to returning! Highly recommended!

We had a relaxing stay here, the high point is the staff, they are just wonderful, warm and helpful and really do make your stay special. The property is kept very clean, and the gardens are exquisite. The rooms are large, comfortable and clean, and well appointed; although would be nice to have been able to have had a Smart TV to access Netflix/Amazon etc.I had a lovely massage in the spa, and the food that we had in the restaurants was of good quality. The breakfast buffet is fabulous. The only disappointment would be that, in terms of a 5 star rating, I would say that this hotel is more of a 4 star and is in desperate need of an upgrade in many areas. It's all of the little details, if you look around you will see that it is in need of redecoration and repair, around the resort and in the rooms. The Sunbeds were rusty, and the cushions flat and uncomfortable. The slippers in my room had been used and the robe felt grubby. So, more attention to detail with things like that; as that's what makes a place worthy of a 5 star grading. It is in a nice location, in a quieter area of the island, on a nice white sandy beach. The other thing to mention is, whatever they are doing to prevent bugs, they are doing a great job! As didn't see anything at all - which is a real bonus to me!