My wife and I spent four nights at the Spa Village resort in Tembok, Bali in November 2018 (the week of US Thanksgiving). This was our third visit — so obviously, we like going there!
Reservations
We have the Citi Prestige credit card, which gives the fourth night free, and used that to book. You can book via the Citi ThankYou points website, but we used the concierge to book directly with the hotel. It took a couple of days of back-and-forth between the Citi concierge and the hotel’s reservation center. We chose the Blissful Retreat package — room, all three meals, and one 50-minute spa treatment per person per night. An outstanding deal for $200/night (plus tax etc.), we thought. We also booked an airport pickup through them for $75.
Location and arrival
The hotel is on the northeast coast of Bali, about 120 km from the airport — roughly a 3-hour drive. That’s quite a pain after a long flight (we flew straight from San Francisco) and a long immigration line at DPS. We arrived around 8pm, well after sunset, via the coastal road — Google Maps said traffic through Ubud was heavy, and suggested an alternative that would’ve saved 45 minutes, but I didn’t know enough to tell the driver at the time.
As is customary, Spa Village gives a foot, neck and shoulder massage on arrival — supremely welcome — and check-in was smooth and painless. We made it in time for dinner at the restaurant. Knowing the hotel well, my wife asked to be moved to a different wing, closer to the beach. On the second day, they gave us a complimentary upgrade to one of their two Villas. Delighted!
Villa
The Villa is almost beachfront, with its own private plunge pool and cabana.
The Villas are the only accommodation at the resort with TVs — good for us lazy folks. It’s quite spacious, with a nice king-size bed, a voluminous thatched roof, and good Balinese decor.
The bathroom is spacious too, with a separate shower, WC, and a tub (no jets). Note that the regular (Kamar) rooms have a European-style shower-over-tub that spills water everywhere — not an issue in the Villa. Surprisingly for such a large bathroom, there’s only one sink, though the counter is large. Artificial lighting was rather dim (by day you can open the shades).
Grounds
The hotel is small, with well-manicured grounds and charming fish and lily ponds.
The beach is volcanic black sand with lots of pebbles — you’ve gotta wear shoes, and the hotel provides crocs, which work well. It’s eminently swimmable; I didn’t go in this time, but others were swimming and snorkeling. We did go on the (also included) sunset cruise, which was great — many dolphins (others said they saw whales too).
Activities
We went there to relax, and boy did we. The food was good, very well presented, with decent variety (at least for our 4 days — several other guests were there for 1–2 weeks): three-course lunch and dinner, and American, Balinese or continental breakfast. They must have changed chefs, because we noticed a marked improvement over previous visits.
The spa was great as usual. I had the Balinese and Malay massages, a cucumber wrap, and a foot massage; my wife had a facial and more. All delightful.
We did yoga (my first time — my wife said it was more advanced than her classes back in the States) and stargazing (a full moon that night, so perhaps less effective than it might have been). There are many other free activities (wood carving, basket weaving, etc.) — we’d done them on previous visits, so this time we wanted to do nothing. Which we did.
The gym was comprehensively equipped, but the air conditioning was wanting (or not working at all) — I nearly collapsed doing a simple workout and didn’t go back. No internet in the gym either.
One tip: there’s a laundry right across the street from the resort. We paid roughly $3 for about four days of clothes — dropped off around 10am, back by 4:30pm. Quite useful for a longer stay.
Service
Superb throughout. Many staff knew us by name; several recognized us from prior visits. A special shout-out to the manager, Fauzi, who upgraded us and checked on our comfort several times. Anything we asked for (turn-down, iron, etc.) arrived almost instantly.
Internet
Lobby only, and slow — I measured 3.68 Mbps down / 4.2 up, and it felt slower. Bring a hotspot if you need connectivity.
Muslim friendliness
Bali is a fiercely Hindu enclave in predominantly Muslim Indonesia, and the population and attitude reflect that. I saw no staff wearing a hijab, and pork/ham was on the menu. However, we asked for — and easily got — halal food, including beef bacon. There was no qibla direction in the room, no prayer rug, no Quran (or any other religious artifact). But there was a carpeted section at the foot of the bed, which made praying easier on my knees.
The construction isn’t entirely soundproof, which proved useful in two ways: we could hear the waves (nice), and we could hear the adhaan, at least in the quiet mornings (very nice). The traffic noise: less nice. The sink height was okay for wudu.
Overall
We had a great time and would highly recommend this place.
http://www.spavillageresort.com/tembokbali/
Originally posted on the old ReviewSity, December 2018.