Bali Rani Hotel

“ANOTHER EXCELLENT STAY AT THE BALI RANI”

This was our third stay at the Bali Rani and we really enjoyed our time spent at the hotel last month. It is a lovely small hotel that is remarkably quiet considering it is right on Jalan Kartika Plaza. The hotel has a beautiful lobby with some fantastic Kamasan style paintings on the walls. The… more

This was our third stay at the Bali Rani and we really enjoyed our time spent at the hotel last month. It is a lovely small hotel that is remarkably quiet considering it is right on Jalan Kartika Plaza. The hotel has a beautiful lobby with some fantastic Kamasan style paintings on the walls. The lobby leads into the first courtyard of the hotel where you find the wonderful Bale Kambang surrounded by a superb lotus pond- it is definitely one of the most stunning aspects of the hotel. Our room (#102) overlooked the Bale Kambang and it was great having such a beautiful view. The second courtyard is where you find the lovely pool at the Bali Rani, surrounded by lush vegetation that is looked after so well by the Bali Rani's most iconic and well-loved employee, Gusti, who is everyone's friend and who is always happy to pass on any hints or tips about what to see and do in the area. The Superior rooms are all located in the first Bale Kambang courtyard and the Deluxe rooms are in the pool courtyard. We have stayed in both types of room and we actually prefer the Superior rooms that are smaller but more beautifully finished and furnished with their Scandinavian light wood decor. The beds are very comfortable, and the air-conditioning works wonderfully well. The bathroom is small but has everything you need, and the closets and shelves are adequate for storing clothes. The small fridge is fine for storing cold drinks and the supplies of tea and coffee are replenished every day by housekeeping. The desk area is fine and perfect for using a laptop, except there really needs to be more outlets for devices- we had to unplug the laptop every time we needed to charge our phones. Nowadays most people have several devices while on holiday, so perhaps this is an area that the management needs to address in the future. The hotel has a new General Manager, Cita Cempaka, who has only been in the hotel for a month. She was quite visible every morning, checking the buffet breakfast in the restaurant, but she did not use the occasion to chat to any guests about how they were enjoying their stay at the hotel. Hopefully she will become more pro-active about interacting with hotel guests in the future as, in my opinion, this is one of the most important aspects of a GM's job. I have been fairly critical about the Bali Rani's buffet breakfast in the past. Because of my reviews over the last two years, the previous GM introduced a proper selection of breads, which is very welcome, and they have improved the presentation of the butter which was quite unhygienic before. The two things that are still outstandingly bad are the jams on offer and the cheese board. The 3 types of jam really are dreadful, not at all the consistency that jam should be. It is such a pity in somewhere like Bali where there are so many wonderful tropical fruits on offer and locally made jams on sale everywhere. The cheese situation has not improved at all. I have complained for 2 years about the dreadful display of American processed cheese slices that are laughingly labelled as 'Cheddar'. They are still in their plastic wrapper but artistically cut in half diagonally to be displayed for guests. I have overheard other guests complaining about these two things, so hopefully the new GM will address this problem in the future. It would also be nice to have a proper coffee machine that guests could access for their cappuccinos and espressos rather than the old-fashioned pots of coffee and tea currently on display. The rest of the breakfast buffet is quite good but sometimes with some rather weird breakfast choices on offer. It might be nice to have a few more international dishes such as sushi or Chinese dumplings/dim sum, both of which I'm sure would be very popular. In spite of these criticisms, we really enjoyed our stay at the Bali Rani once again- it has become one of our favorite hotels in Bali and we hope to spend part of our holiday there next year once again. We love the fact that the hotel is so compact, making it is very easy to get around. The hotel has been very pro-active in making everywhere user-friendly for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) as they have installed ramps everywhere- something that is much appreciated. The pool also has steps at both ends of the pool with a sturdy railing to help guest get in and out safely. On the whole the staff are friendly and efficient- we had a long chat with a lovely young lady called Indah who is i/c Guest Relations, who struck us as being very pro-active and concerned that guests are enjoying their stay at the Bali Rani. It is a pity that the hotel does not offer any kind of 'welcome drink' when guests check in- it is a small gesture, but one that definitely creates a very positive first impression. Hopefully the jam and cheese situation will have been sorted out by next July!

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“A wonderful place to visit!”

I absolutely love coming here! We’ve been here a few times and every visit is great. We are made to feel like a king and queen with all the attention and kindness of the entire staff. The pool is wonderful, the bed is very comfy, and breakfast is delicious!