Grand Hyatt Hotel Nusa Dua, Bali

This post is part of a larger trip report from my 16 day honeymoon in Southwest Asia!

Southeast Asia Trip Reports:

1. Planning a Southeast Asia Honeymoon
2. Park Hyatt Saigon Vietnam Hotel Review
3. Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon Activities
4. Le Méridien Angkor Hotel Review
5. Angkor Wat / Siem Reap Activities
6. Grand Hyatt Bali Hotel Review
7. Bali Beach Town Activities
8. Ubud (Bali) Hotels and Activities

We arrived in Bali in the evening and headed straight to our hotel in Nusa Dua. We grabbed a cab at the airport and it was about a 30 minute ride. Nusa Dua is the very touristy area with guards at every hotel entrance. The hotels here are beautiful, but might not give you the feel that you are in Bali. We stayed at the Grand Hyatt Nusa Dua for 6 nights.

We checked in pretty late in the evening and as a Hyatt Diamond member asked if there were any upgraded rooms available. They told me that there were upgraded rooms available and there would be a charge for this. They stated that complimentary upgrades were not given to Diamond members. She wanted to charge us $100/night for an upgraded room! I declined and although I knew this should not have been the case, it was late, I was tired, and I was not about to state all of the Diamond status rules to a front desk attendant that clearly had no idea. We were there during an off-peak time and the hotel was no more than 70% full. I took the room and figured I’d talk to the manager the next day about this situation.

I spoke to the hotel manager the following day, explained to him my disappointment that they wanted to charge me for an upgraded room. I told the manager while I understood it was based on availability, the women the evening prior had many rooms she could have upgraded me. After about 30 seconds he got the gist that I knew the rules around the Hyatt program! He was extremely nice and felt really bad. He offered me an upgraded suite on the opposite side of the hotel, which I knew my husband would not be pleased about. We were pretty sick from food poisoning from Cambodia and the last thing my husband was going to want to do was pack up the room and move across the resort – he actually did not know that I was even having this conversation with the manager (more to come on this story)! I explained this to him, and out of thin air the presidential suite opened and happened to be the floor right above our current room. That is what I am talking about! This room was amazing! It was probably close to 900 square feet and way more space than any couple needs. It featured 2 bathrooms, 1 in the main part of the suite and the other off of the bedroom. The bathroom off of the bedroom had two side by side showers, and a whirlpool the size of a small pool. Also off the bedroom was a massage room where you could have a masseuse come and take care of you right in your room! The suite had a living area with two full size couches and a large TV. The next room was a dining area followed by an open air kitchenette and bar setup. We had a balcony that expanded the entire length of the suite, likely 25+ feet or so. It had a private cabana looking straight out to the ocean and a private pool. We were living the high life!

We were then very content with our room! Our original room, however, was looking into the parking lot and nothing to write home about. It was a pretty standard room, but was a decent size. There was even a little lounge area tucked off to the side of the room. The bathroom was nice and featured all of the standard amenities you would find at a luxury hotel. There was a small balcony that two people could sit out on and enjoy the tropical air. However, word of caution: If you are planning on staying at this hotel and you have status, make sure to explain the rules to whoever checks you in if they give you a hard time. I would also suggest emailing the hotel ahead of time to try to get a better room. They seem to be pretty stingy with their upgrades. I was using my free nights from the “Faster Free Nights” promotion, so that might have had something to do with it.

Now, back to the resort… This hotel reminded me of the Grand Hyatt in Hawaii. It was a nice resort, however, lacked in the service department. This could also be because everything moves at a much slower pace in Bali. As a Hyatt Diamond member I was given access to the concierge lounge, which was great! This was an outside area with a beautiful atmosphere. We got breakfast every morning and there were hor d’eorves in the evening. This area was actually one of my favorite parts of the hotel. Throughout the day they also offered soft drinks and water.

Aside from the upgraded room, there were some additional issues I had with the resort. At the time I was there, there was no wireless internet in the rooms and the only access we had to email was via our iPhone – this clearly was not going to work with a wired connection. They have an internet room and tried to charge me, but I was able to weasel my way out of that. There is also an activities concierge desk, which was pretty dissapointing. Any questions you asked them reverted back to offerings provided solely by the hotel. They would not really give any additional information that did not involve a heavy price tag to the hotel. Even with restaurant recommendations, they would only explain the restaurants at site.

Most of the resort hotels are primarily all in the same area in Nusa Dua, but the Hyatt had a nicer area of beach (the Conrad Hilton is the only Nusa Dua chain resort not in this same area). On the beach, however, there are many locals trying to offer you back massages and selling you random items. This happened at all the hotels in Nusa Dua, which definitely interfered with trying to relax on the beach. I found this kind of annoying which resulted in not spending much time at the beach.

The pool area was amazing though! When we wanted to relax at the hotel I was very content spending time at one of the multiple pools. There were two massive pools in the main area of the resort along the beach and then a more private pool tucked away from the beach.

Again, I apologize about the lack of pictures at the resort. I still had my camera at this point which was lost (stolen) a few days prior to our trip ending. Of course I was the one taking pictures of the room, pool, concierge lounge, etc. If you’ve been to this resort and have pictures for me to include, feel free to send along!