Part 1: Seven Hours in ORD
Part 2: Cathay Pacific – First Class (CLE > ORD > HKG)
Part 3: Cathay Pacific – Business Class (HKG > BKK)
Part 4: Suvarnabhumi Airport Hotel and Bangkok Airways Economy (BKK > USM)
Part 5: Conrad Koh Samui
Part 6: Thai Business Class (USM > BKK) & Singapore Business Class (BKK > SIN)
Part 7: Singapore & The Marina Bay Sands Casino & Hotel
Part 8: Bali: Anika Tailor & Grand Hyatt
Our trip to Bali was similar to our trip to Singapore, good but not terribly memorable:
Business Class Seats & Old-School Projector
Fresh Fruit Snack
The Elusive TV Screen
Breakfast & Coffee
Short-Rib Lunch
Tiger Beer
Bali!
As we were touching down in Bali, it finally sank in that this was one of our final stops on the trip. Bali had started out as just a “new place that made sense to visit” given the other stops on our itinerary; however, the more we read about it, the more excited we became.
Customs was quick, took only about ten minutes total, including grabbing our bags. At the arrivals we were met by Anika Tailor – who provided free transportation to their store to buy custom-made clothing (something set up in advance):
Suit Fitting
Fabric Selection
NSPfiance Dress Fitting
After about an hour of measurements, looking through all of the fabrics, negotiating pricing, and settling on four custom-made suits, three custom-made button-down shirts and a dress for NSPfiance, Anika Tailor provided transportation to the Grand Hyatt in Nusa Dua. The Hyatt Bali was closed for renovations, and we chose the Grand Hyatt because it is a Category 4 hotel, allowing us to utilize our annual free night certificates from the Chase Hyatt Visa (really $75 as that is the annual fee on the card, but a Grand Hyatt for $75? Yes Please.).
I love Hyatt hotels. The Park Hyatt in Buenos Aires was one of the nighest hotels I’ve stayed in, and after coming on the heels of the Conrad Koh Samui and the Marina Bay Sands, expectations were admittedly high. The outdoor lobby was quite nice:
Grand Hyatt Lobby
Grand Hyatt Lobby
Grand Hyatt Lobby
So imagine my surprise when we check-in and are told that they are completely full, so they can put is in the room “the farthest away” or we can pay for a cash upgrade to an “ocean view room.” While I don’t have Diamond Status with Hyatt, the Platinum Status that comes with the Chase Hyatt card usually allows us some form of limited upgrade. Instead, in addition to the “ocean view room” they presented an upgrade option to a club room, but we wanted to eat outside of the resort so we weren’t interested in the free food the club room provided. We ultimately decided to go for the Ocean View Room:
Ocean??
That’s right. There is no view, at least, not of the ocean. I generally would not have cared, but given the hard-sale at the front desk, this seemed very disingenuous. The room was nice:
“Ocean View” Room
“Ocean View” Room
Needing food, we stopped by the front desk to exchange money. Again, I was shocked at the exchange rates. Having been in multiple countries over the previous week, exchange rate numbers sometimes get confusing, so I exchanged only $20 in case I was right that it was not a good deal. We then walked across the street to an outside tourist mall. Nusa Dua is a strange place. It requires getting past armed security guards who check all cars coming in to the areas 10+ high-end resorts and is purely a high-class tourist destination. It is not, culturally, Balinese. While the tourist areas are usually not our scene, we were starving and this was the closest place to find a number of options for food/massages/beach gear, and oh look – money exchanges that were offering immensely better rates than the hotel!
After lunch we headed back to the Hyatt and relaxed in the pool with some poolside drinks, headed to the room to plan out the next few days in Bali and get a little rest. The hotel was massive, and the grounds were nice:
Grand Hyatt Bali
Grand Hyatt Bali
Grand Hyatt Bali
Grand Hyatt Bali
“Crowded” Restaurant due to “High” Occupancy Rates
Grand Hyatt Bali
We decided to eat at the Hyatt and just relax that evening. When we checked out all of the restaurants, I began to think that Bali must be similar to Spain, where people eat extremely late, as it was around 7:30pm and there were no more than 6 people throughout the hotel’s restaurants. Talking to our server about it, he said that the next few nights were expected to be slow since the hotel was very empty. What?! That added some serious insult to the hard-sale at check-in.
The next day we explored some markets, got massages and then went to Kuta to take surfing lessons. While the surf didn’t look very big from the beach, it certainly felt large when we were out there!
Again we had a nice dinner and went to bed early, since we were planning a full-day excursion with Wayan the following day. I heard about Wayan from The Points Guy. Wayan was a local driver for hire who would take you wherever you wanted to go or give suggestions on places to see and visit, full day for $55.
This was our last night at the Hyatt, as we moved to The Laguna, a Starwood property for our last night. I would not recommend this Hyatt and would not stay here again if we return to Bali. We were excited to move hotels and were delighted with our decision to stay at The Laguna.
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