If you’ve been thinking of going to Bali with kids, but not sure where to go, or planning on heading there soon, this review might help you. We’ve just returned from our first holiday in Bali (and we can’t wait to go back)! After sharing photos, I’ve had many people asking me for details, so I thought I’d share some info here.
To be honest, I had never really considered Bali as a holiday destination in the past. However over the last year it seemed like every second person I spoke to about holidays, mentioned they had just been there; how fabulous their trip was and how cheap it was. Plus it’s so close, with direct flights from Adelaide only 4.5 hours. So, after hours and hours on Trip Advisor, blog reading and gathering recommendations from friends who’ve been, (one of whom is an ex-pat living in Nusa Dua for the past 2 years), I booked a great resort deal and cheap flights for our overseas family getaway.
Accommodation | Grand Hyatt Bali – Nusa Dua
We chose to stay in Nusa Dua with a Luxury Escape deal which included accommodation for a family of 4 (with children under 12 yrs), daily buffet breakfasts, dinners at each of their restaurants, cocktails for 2 each evening and luxurious massages in their gorgeous spa retreat.
The Grand Hyatt Bali is a huge beachfront resort with established grounds set like a tropical botanical garden. There are 5 lagoon style pools that weave around the gardens like a river, plus a 50 metre waterslide which keeps the kids happy for hours.
Our accommodation was an all in one hotel style room, with a king size bed and a large daybed for all four of us to share, a bar fridge, balcony, bathroom and large walk in closet. We played musical beds and generally had 3 people sleeping in the king bed and one person on the daybed or 2 and 2. I thought it might bother me not having separate rooms so that we could stay up later to watch tv, read, or be on the laptop after the kids went to sleep, however it really was fine. On holidays everyone is tired and the kids were going to bed late – most of the time we were happy to go to sleep at the same time. We treated it like glamping!
There is this playground below on the beach and a very new Kids Club (we didn’t use this ourselves but it looked very bright and clean with great toys for younger children). You can play with the giant chess set on the beach and there is a bocce court too. The gym and fitness centre is excellent. The boys played squash here (about $10 AUD for 1 hour court and racquet hire). My daughter used the great aerobics room complete with mirrors and barre to practise her ballet and dance routines. The shower facilities here are great, with complimentary towels and toiletries. This is where you can have a shower and freshen up in the evening if you check out of your room in the afternoon but have a late flight back home.
While we were there, the two restaurants that provided their large buffet breakfast spreads were the Salsa Verde which is the open air restaurant near the pool and beach, and the air-conditioned Garden Cafe near Reception. Plus, because of a large convention taking place at the time, they also had the beautiful Watercourt Restaurant serving breakfast too on some of the days. The food was pretty much the same at each venue but each restaurant has a different atmosphere and design. There is a Chef on hand to cook eggs the way you like; assortment of pastries; pancakes; bacon, sausages and other hot options, as well as cereal, fruit and asian options. My kids would often eat the rice porridge with soy sauce and a bit of chicken which I felt was one of the healthier options, before devouring pastries.
Read about the great Japanese restaurant Nampu, and the Indonesian buffet at the Grand Hyatt in our Places to Eat post here.
The established gardens are a nature paradise. Everywhere you look there are water features and ponds with fish (the ones that look like gigantic goldfish). Squirrels live in the trees and climb up and down, not afraid to get quite close. We also had a huge goanna cross the path and saw geese wandering around. There are wonderful trees to explore and admire while walking from one place to another (the resort is big enough that you can get lost)!
Below was the garden view from the balcony of our room.
What I love about the resort is that while everything is modern, there are Indonesian design features incorporated throughout to give it a cultural Balinese flavour – the beautiful intricate woodwork in the rafters and doors for example. The Watercourt Restaurant below is a stunning example, with so much detail in every part of the dining space, surrounded by peaceful water gardens.
Can you tell this was my favourite building?
While some resorts have been designed in ultra modern fashion, they feel like you could be in a modern hotel anywhere in the world. Here, there is no mistake that you are in Indonesia.
The onsite Kriya Spa Retreat is near the entrance to the resort in the corner of the large grounds (it’s tucked away close to the tennis courts). My daughter was completely wowed by just the grand entrance walkway, surrounded by water ponds and water features on either side, and she didn’t even get to see inside. They have 24 of these spa rooms, each complete with a bathroom, an outdoor bath and retreat area, just to give you an idea of how big this little slice of heaven is. The one hour full body massage and 1/2 hr reflexology foot and leg massage, which was included in our package, was amazing. My advice would be to get there early before the appointment so you have time to have a shower before the massage, as afterwards they encourage you not to take a shower so the essential oils can keep working for a couple of hours.
One afternoon we hired bikes (from the Fitness Centre) to explore around the area. There is a track along the beach which connects to other nearby adjacent resorts. From here it is a short ride along the beach to the blowhole, Pirates Bay and Surf & Turf Club. See our article about Places to Go in Nusa Dua here for more info.
OTHER PLACES WE VISITED IN BALI:
Nusa Dua – Places to Go – Read the Review here.
Waterbom Bali – Waterslide Park – Read the Review here.
Pirates Bay – Nusa Dua – Read the Review here.
Places to Eat – Read the Review here.
PLACES RECOMMENDED TO US:
Here are some suggested places to visit and things to do that have been recommended by friends.
- Finns Beach Club makes a fun day out.
- Uluwatu temple is beautiful on a cliff top and has some cheeky monkeys, (great for the experience if you don’t want to go all the way to Ubud). A friend suggested doing Finns Beach Club and the Uluwatu temple at sunset on the same day.
- Pandawa Beach is beautiful.
- Jimbaran Beach for a sunset dinner on the sand.
- Bali Safari & Marine Park
Check out our Handy Tips & Info here
Click here for all our posts about places to visit, and things to do in Bali.
At Play & Go Adelaide we make every effort to provide accurate information to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. We recommend confirming times, dates and details directly before making any plans as details may be subject to change.
As per all our Play & Go reviews, this is not a sponsored post and our review is done completely independently. All photos are by Play & Go.
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Hi,
I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to write this review. Like you, I have never considered Bali as a family holiday destination before but had so many recommendations that I thought we needed to check it out. And also like you, after weeks of net research I also decided on the Grand Hyatt at Nusa Dua, and also found the fabulous Luxury Escapes family package. So to have you describe the whole trip in such detail — along with tips and suggestions — has really helped us plan a fantastic holiday.
We are setting out in January 2018, and am really looking forward to it, having devoured this and your other blog posts. We feel very well prepared, thanks to you 🙂
Oh I’m thrilled that you have found this helpful. I hope you have a wonderful holiday. It’s such a great deal and a beautiful place to stay. Thanks for taking the time to write and let me know.