The Hyatt Regency Bali boasts tropical splendour and luxurious flair, but an failed New Year’s Eve and unexpected flaws raise questions. Why doesn’t the resort consistently impress, despite its stunning location? Read for yourself!
Review # 49
Conctent
Destination
Hyatt Regency Bali is located in Sanur, virtually in the neighbouring municipality of the island’s capital, Denpasar, in the east of this Indonesian holiday paradise. The district is characterised by large hotels along the sandy beach, all linked by a promenade. Ngurah Rai International Airport is approximately 15 kilometres away.
Getting there
You usually arrive in Bali by plane at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar, the island’s capital. If you are flying in from outside Indonesia, you will also need to go through immigration and pay your tourist tax. The process can take quite a long time, so we recommend that you prepare for both at home. You can complete the visa application and tourist tax online very quickly and easily and will receive confirmation by email within a few minutes, meaning you don’t have to queue and are past all checks much quicker than most other travellers. We arrived at the domestic terminal on a inland flight and didn’t have to show a visa or tax receipt.
Outside the airport, you will be directed through a long queue of shops before you even get to the pick-up point. Bear this in mind when planning your onward journey.
Alternatively, you can land at various ports and take a ferry or one of the privately organised transport services.
How to get to the resort
There is no really any public transport network in Bali, so the car is usually the mode of transport of choice.
So we hopped in a grab at the airport and luckily it only took us 20 minutes for the short 15 kilometres. This is the exception rather than the rule in Bali as there is always total traffic chaos with endless traffic jams on the main roads.
As with most high-priced hotels in Bali, there is a gate by the road where you have to state that you are checking in. Your car and boot will then be checked and only after that will you be allowed through to the actual hotel entrance.
Check-in
As we arrived at the Hyatt Regency Bali, it was already quite busy due to the high season for Christmas and new years eve. Nevertheless, we were greeted warmly and our bags were unloaded and stored for us. After the obligatory welcome gong, we climbed the stairs to the lobby where we were greeted by traditional Balinese music. Once upstairs, we were met in front of the reception, our passports collected and we were asked to sit down to wait our turn.
We were quickly handed a refreshing, cold, non-alcoholic mixed drink as a welcome drink, as well as fragrant, cold refreshing towels. After a few minutes we were called to the check-in desk. The staff had prepared everything and we were able to complete all the formalities quickly. We were then given a great map of the resort (exactly the same as at Andaz Bali), which they used to explain the facilities and buildings, including opening hours. We were then escorted to our room by one of the friendly staff.
Hyatt Regency Bali at a glance
Originally named the Hyatt Bali, it was the first international hotel on the island. Opened in 1973, the property is beautifully landscaped and very spacious. It reopened in 2018, along with the neighbouring Andaz Bali, after an incredible 5-year renovation.
All the paths are winding and often surrounded by dense greenery, so you’ll always feel a bit like you’re in a jungle. The actual buildings are almost never visible, and when they are, they are so beautifully landscaped that they are almost unnoticeable.
Hyatt Regency Bali shares the grounds and some facilities, such as the spa and gym, with its sister hotel, Andaz Bali. The whole complex is exceptionally spacious, considering its location in a densely built-up area right in the centre of the small town of Sanur.
The three interconnecting buildings containing the rooms are located by the side of the Andaz Bali grounds and offer guests a total of 373 rooms, including 39 suites. All rooms have basically the same facilities, although the Deluxe rooms on the lower floors are larger and have an additional small living room off the balcony. The premium rooms sitting on the ground floor also have a small terrace in addition to the living room. Be careful though, as some of the ground floor rooms are very observable from the outside, as some of the accommodations have walkways leading directly past them.
At the rear of the resort is the spa with gym and the adults-only pool. The two restaurants and family pools are located by the beach promenade. Behind the Italian restaurant is the Kid’s Club with a really big playground. By the way, the central lobby is on level 3 – which, at least for me, caused some confusion at first.
By the way, there is an ATM on the ground floor of the lobby, but you can only withdraw money with local cards – which of course doesn’t help most guests at the Hyatt Regency Bali any further. The reception won’t give out cash (which will be added to your bill), and the nearest cash machines are a 15 minutes walk away. Of course, this is generally not a big problem, but for an international 5-star hotel of a large hotel chain, it is extremely poor!
Room
As always, we had booked the cheapest standard room – in this case simply called a 1 King Bed. However, despite our World of Hyatt Explorist status, we were unable to upgrade during our stay due to 100% occupancy. This is perfectly fine, of course – the status advantage only applies if there is availability. But it was still a bit of a shame.
Our 27 square metre room 4205 is located in the middle building complex – Frangipani ❤️ – on the 4th and top floor, and was to be our home for the next three nights.
Welcome
A small welcome gift of fruit and a pre-printed card was waiting in our room when we arrived. We thought this was a bit disappointing as we have the second highest status in the World of Hyatt and we expected a different welcome. I mean, okay – with over 300 rooms, not everyone can be provided with a handwritten card, but something with a little more of a personal touch would have been great. Also, Christmas had just passed and we were checking into the Hyatt Regency Bali to spend New Year’s Eve. Unfortunately, this issue will continuously affect our stay. And please compare the welcome gift to the Andaz Bali – they really are a lot more generous.
Room
When you enter this room, you will find yourself in a narrow corridor with a built-in wardrobe with double doors on the left. Here you can hang your clothes or store them in the three drawers.
Inside the wardrobe you will find slippers with bathrobes, an iron, ironing board and everything you need for dry cleaning.
Living room and bedroom
The small room is dominated by the large and comfy king-size bed, but also has a small table with two chairs, a TV on the wall above and a sideboard in the back corner.
The sideboard contains the chargeable minibar, cups, tea and instant coffee. On to of the small cupboard you find the kettle, two complimentary bottles of water, glasses and the price list for all minibar items.
The large and very comfortable king-size bed has two pillows of the same size for each sleeper, each with a different firmness. There are bedside tables on either side of the bed with ample power sockets and poorly labelled light switches. There is an antique-looking clock on the left table and a telephone with a notepad and pen on the right.
Bathroom
The bathroom is off the sleeping area. There are two washbasins with soap, glasses for brushing your teeth and water, and a single mini-bottle of body lotion, just enough for one person. It somehow felt as if the hotel couldn’t afford to put two small bottles in the bathroom, or was afraid that a large refillable bottle would be stolen.
Below the sink, there is a hairdryer in the drawers on the left and the regular amenities on the right. Across from the sink, you’ll find more cupboards for storing laundry and other items. The safe is also located here.
At the far end of the room is the walk-in rain shower with handheld showerhead and Portico shampoo, conditioner and body wash.
The toilet is in its own small, lockable room at the front of the room, next to the entrance door.
View
Our room overlooked the greenery and the club lounge at the back. The vista is actually quite good, as you’re looking out into the jungle, but you don’t have much of a view.
On the very small and narrow balcony there is a very comfortable chaise longue and a table with a chair (with no room for a second chair!). Unfortunately, the table and chair were rearranged every day, so we couldn’t get out on the balcony without pushing them all the way back against the wall.
In the end, the balcony is just far too crammed and the comfortable seating would have been enough. So in my opinion, the table and chair are completely unnecessary.
Lounge
Hyatt Regency Bali offers the Regency Club Lounge to select guests. You have access if you have booked a room with club access, a suite, have purchased access, are a World of Hyatt Globalist or use a acquired club certificate.
With World of Hyatt, in contrast to Marriott Bonvoy for example, you only get granted lounge access during your stay if you have the highest (Globalist) status, and as we had not (yet) achieved this, we simply booked a room category with lounge access.
During our stay we were therefore able to visit the lounge throughout the day. In particular, we were able to have breakfast there and also enjoy alcoholic (mixed) drinks and snacks in the late afternoon between 5pm and 7pm. In fact, the snacks were really extensive and Hyatt Regency Bali offered a really great small buffet at the lounge. Drinks can be ordered at the table or directly from the bar. The buffet is self-service.
The lounge building itself can only be reached via a narrow footbridge and is completely open located at the back of the hotel grounds. You will be greeted at reception and asked for your room number, after which you can choose your seat. In addition to the main area, there is also an additional space at the back and a terrace which doubles as a smoking area – although no one smoked there during our stay.
Resort activities
Adults only Pool
Located in the spa of Hyatt Regency Bali, next to the gym, this pool is beautifully situated. In keeping with its name and purpose, only guests over the age of 16 are allowed here. You can also order food and drinks from the small bar, but these are prepared centrally and take some time to arrive. In our case for example, it actually took half an hour for the Sprite and tea we ordered to arrive.
There are plenty of sun loungers and the pool is beautifully set in the garden and tropical greenery. Towels are available at the bar, but in the afternoon it gets quite crowded and you may not be able to get a free sunbed. However, bear in mind that at the time of our stay it was extremely busy and we always actually managed to find two sunbeds.
Unlike the others, this pool is open until 9pm. So you can lounge around for longer and even jump into the cool water after a late workout.
Family Pools
The family pool complex consists of three pools and an additional hot tub. The largest of the pools is slightly angled with an island and, in addition to the normal entrances, you can get in and out of the pool through a cave and a monster mouth.
Right next to the promenade is another long, fully shaded pool, which is more suitable for sporting activities.
Adjacent to the two pools is the kids pool, which even has a small slide.
The pools are very well screened from the promenade in most areas, so you can relax by the pool without being ogled by passers-by. Quite the opposite of its sister hotel, Andaz Bali! There are plenty of sun loungers around for everyone and you can get towels at a small box by the pool in exchange for your room number.
There are several signs at all pools warning guests not to reserve sunbeds with towels. Interestingly, however, it works quite well as most guests simply return their towels once they have finished. As a result, you can find free sunbeds all over the place at any time of day.
The pool area is open from 8am to 7pm.
Beach
The beach at Hyatt Regency Bali is fine and relatively wide. The water is a beautiful turquoise, but as everywhere on the island, it is very much dependent on the tides. At low tide, the best you can do is splash around. This is great for children, of course, but adults can walk far out into the shallow lagoon.
The hotel has a surprising number of sun loungers spread across the considerable width of the complex. In fact, most of the guests stayed by the various pools, so there was always a rather large number of sunbeds available by the beach.
Fitness Center
The gym is also used by guests of the neighbouring Andaz Bali hotel, so it was mostly quite busy. However, considering the time of year we were travelling, the number of visitors was actually quite moderate.
I found the gym to be relatively small for the number of rooms and rather rudimentarily equipped, but you can actually find everything you need for a solid workout here. As well as a few cardio machines, there are a handful of weight machines, a free weights area and an open-air area at the back next to the bar, which is probably mainly used for yoga or similar.
Spa
Like the fitness centre, the spa is shared with the neighbouring Andaz Bali. The 10 treatment villas are grouped around a central pond, overlooked by a pavilion where you can relax and enjoy a cup of tea after your treatment.
In the spa area, the Hyatt Regency Bali also has a gender-segregated hot tub with an ice bath. However, the hot tub really lives up to its name and the two pools are more of a Kneipp experience. Both have less to do with relaxation, but are a really good idea in our opinion. Further back in this separate area, there is also a steam room and sauna.
Kids Club
The Hyatt Regency also has a fairly large Kids Club, Camp Hyatt, and a surprisingly large adjacent playground for the little ones.
Special Features
The Hyatt Regency Bali offers its guests free bicycles to explore the beach promenade. However, you are not allowed to ride the bikes on the streets, which is really too dangerous – I experienced this first hand in Ubud. Just don’t do it with the crazy traffic on Bali’s roads – it’s no fun anyway!
If you want to hire a bike, just go to one of the staff by the main pool and they’ll give you one on the spot.
Restaurants
Omang Omang
Hyatt Regency Bali’s all-day dining restaurant is located by the family pool area, close to the promenade and beach. Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, Omang Omang offers typical Indonesian dishes, grilled specialities and a small selection of international dishes. There is an Indonesian night on Mondays with a large buffet and Balinese dance performance with live music, as well as a Surf & Turf buffet night on Saturdays.
Pizzeria
I don’t need to tell you what is served at the pizzeria. The delicious pizzas come fresh from the huge wood-fired oven and the restaurant is right by the beach promenade, extending into the resort and includes the beach bar.
Piano Lounge
This lounge is directly opposite the lobby, and part of the bar doubles as a Globalist check-in lounge during the day. During our stay, however, the eponymous piano was always covered and guests were asked not to play it. What a shame, don’t you think?
New Year’s Eve incident
We chose the Hyatt Regency Bali for our New Year’s Eve because we wanted a hotel that was relaxed, green, not hip and, above all, not new. Initially, we had hoped that everything would be well organised – after all, it is 50 years since the hotel opened and 7 years since the major refurbishment, so it should be well prepared for the Christmas and New Year rush. Unfortunately, we were bitterly disappointed.
We didn’t spend Christmas there, but we can say this about New Year’s Eve: this day only happened as a special day at the thy Hyatt Regency Bali restaurants, which were elaborately prepared and marketed well in advance. We received an enquiry from the hotel several months in advance about which evening event we would like to choose, and were told that there were only a limited number of seats available.
At that point we thought: ‘Wow, they’re really early on and well prepared!” And they were. However, after a long period of indecision, we decided that we didn’t want to go to a fancy, expensive dinner or an event in a fenced-off (!) beach bar with live music, but simply to toast the New Year with a glass of champagne on the beach at midnight.
So far, so good. We were told that all the events were fully booked – really good success for the hotel! Thumbs up. When we asked where we could get a glass of champagne for our toast, we were told that an open bar would be set up by the pool.
However, as is the case in Bali at this time of year, it rained well into the evening – that’s how wather is on the island. You know that if you go to Bali during the rainy season – so that wasn’t a problem for us! The rain stopped around 10pm and we thought: Let’s go and see where they’ve set up the bar and organise a drink.
Unfortunately we couldn’t find the bar and when we asked where it was we were told that it hadn’t even been set up because of the rain! And that made me wonder: When even we, coming from Europe, know that the probability of rain on New Year’s Eve in Bali is rather high, and the local management is surprised that it didn’t stay dry. Who did not do their job?
So the only place we could get a drink was the lobby bar and honestly! It was bleak to the max! Being in a beach resort on the other side of the world on New Year’s Eve and the only place to get a cocktail is in the hotel lobby. You can’t even imagine it how sad that felt! How much can a hotel not use its advantages or only offer them to guests who have already paid a relatively high price for their room due to the high season, for an additional (rather high – 1.2 million IDR) charge!
Okay, so we resigned ourselves and stayed in the room for a while. At about 11.30pm we went to the lobby to get a glass of champagne, so we could go down to the beach for our toasts, only to be told – at about 20 to 12pm – that the bar was already closed!
At this point I had a real tough Karen moment! Luckily, the very friendly receptionist noticed this and immediately – and rightly – called the manager on duty, who listened to everything and apologized, but couldn’t really help us out anyway.
So here is what happened from our perspective: after repeated enquiries, we were told that the ONLY !!!! way to get a glass of sparkling wine to toast at midnight was through the lobby bar. But that was now closed, so we had no choice but to order from room service. At a quarter to twelve. At the reception. The walk to the beach alone takes 5 minutes, not to mention that the champagne would have never been delivered within 5 minutes. So we left it at that, went to the beach without drinks and ended up with nothing to toast the new year with. Pretty sad, in my opinion.
And we are talking about a 5 star hotel! With almost 400 rooms! There was no way to get a drink for guests who weren’t attending the event , except through room service! There was no seating by the beach. Apart from the event, really only the lobby bar was open.
I found this, absolutely unacceptable! Really, really unacceptable! To be so badly organised on such an emotional day. The management really got it wrong, in fact so wrong it’s hard to believe!
We haven’t even mentioned the fact that there wasn’t even a pre-printed New Year’s card in the room. There was no champagne reception in the lounge – after all, these are the most loyal status members and highest paying guests. In other hotels, this would definitely be a management cocktail, similar to our stay at Alila Villas Uluwatu! Throughout the whole of 31 December, there was absolutely no indication that today was a special day! This is a really sad conclusion.
The staff were very friendly throughout and did a good job, but the management really failed on this occasion – for the life of me I can’t think of any other way to put it.
The next day, we were visited by the F&B manager for breakfast who apologised for our experience and offered us lunch as compensation. To be honest, I was really glad that we could simply refuse, as we were leaving anyway. That is no compensation for a night gone that wrong. New Year’s Eve 2024 on the beach in Bali is simply a once in a lifetime experience that was ruined by the management of the Hyatt Regency Bali.
Okay, he came and apologised, but that was a complete flop. When I asked him how he was planning the night for guest not attending the evening, he went silent! Just silent. Didn’t have anything to say. That´s crazy. The whole management simply hadn’t considered this option. For such a long-established, prestigious hotel, this is just disappointing!
Breakfast
Lounge
As guests with lounge access, we were also able to enjoy breakfast in the Regency Club. The Hyatt Regency Bali offers an impressive breakfast buffet with two live cooking stations. You can help yourself to the relatively extensive buffet and have the egg dishes you order at the station brought to your seat.
Fun fact: At the live cooking stations, you are asked what table number you are sitting at – but those are not written anywhere on the table, so the same situation occurs over and over again:
“Sir, which table are you sitting at?”
(Guest is confused because he thinks he should know the table number ) “No idea. Over there.” (Guest points roughly in the direction of the table he is sitting at)
“So table 23?”
(Guest is still confused. He still doesn’t know the table number) “I don’t know. Just that table over there. The one with the guy in the blue shirt.”
“Ah. Table 26 then! Thank you very much! I’ll be right back with your order.”
(Guest is still questioning himself if Table 26 is right and makes note to himself to know the number tomorrow! Still hoping he will get the right food delivered to his table)
This conversation was actually repeated several times every morning! I think the management at Hyatt Regency Bali could find a relatively simple solution – or what do you think? Let us know in the comments!
Overall, the service here was really friendly and the kitchen staff in particular were always in a good mood and super nice!
Check-out
Everything was ready to check out and we were curious to see if anything had changed on our bill due to the difficult New Year’s Eve situation – unfortunately not. Not even the 30 cents (5,000 IDR) for the Sprite from the minibar were taken off. After a lengthy discussion and another conversation with the F&B manager, he was visibly reluctant to accommodate us, but then managed to get over not charging us for dinner on the first night.
At this point I want to emphasise that we are never interested in getting anything for free, but apart from money it is extremely difficult to compensate for a situation like this. At the Hyatt Regency Bali, apart from a verbal apology, that seemed to be really difficult for the management and we already didn’t expect much. But at least some small concessions in advance would have been appropriate, but again, as I said, we were disappointed.
For us, it all led to a departure with an extremely stale aftertaste. Unfortunately, I have to say.
Costs
We paid the princely sum of just under IDR 19 million for three nights in the lowest room category at the Hyatt Regency Bali over New Year’s Eve 2024, which at the time of our stay was equivalent to around EUR 1140. Of course, this was during peak season, but to pay almost 400 euros per night for a 27 square metre room with no view and no special events on the memorable date is quite a statement!
By the way, there was an amount of almost IDR 70,000 for foreign exchange on our bill, which we wanted to have explained by email afterwards. Unfortunately, this request also remained unanswered. Apparently the Hyatt Regency Bali is not very good at answering emails!
Departure and onward journey
From here, we took a grab to our next hotel, The Laguna in Nusa Dua, where, unfortunately, new dismy awaited us. So it remains exciting!
Conclusion
This is a difficult conclusion to reach, and one that leaves me a rather puzzled. Basically, the Hyatt Regency is a great hotel, beautifully set in tropical gardens. Apart from the hotel rooms, almost everything takes place outdoors, which I think is really wonderful. The hotel also makes more use of the beach than the neighbouring Andaz Bali, for example, and protects its guests much better from the prying eyes of passers-by on the beach promenade.
Most of the staff are friendly and helpful, but trapped in the hotel structures. The rooms are really very small and the poor preparation and execution of the New Year’s Eve party left us really shaken – this really does not befit a hotel of this category and reputation.
All in all, our verdict is very mixed. I felt very comfortable here in principle, but also felt that some things were not looked after at all or were very poorly executed.
Ultimately, we had the impression that the management of the Hyatt Regency Bali was simply trying to make as much money as possible, even at the expense of the individual guest.
Recommendation
Well, yes. We can generally recommend the Hyatt Regency Bali. Families, couples and single travellers are certainly well catered for in the various areas. However, the hotel tends to be more family-oriented – if that’s not your thing, I would choose another hotel.
Business travellers can of course stay here, but are certainly not the target group.
Hotel Homepage
Rating
We award the Hyatt Regency Bali a generous 8 out of 10 possible points for this stay.
The product is basically good, but we deduct one point for the situation on and around New Year’s Eve, plus another point for the really not very good value for money.
We debated quite a bit, but place the Hyatt Regency in the midscale segment.
Go there?
Yes and no. Like I said. The hotel is basically good, but there are limitations.
Our small Bali round trip
Are you also interested in other hotels in Bali? Then feel invited to also read our other reviews of Alila Ubud, Alila Villas Uluwatu, Andaz Bali and La Reserve 1785 – we’d be delighted if you´d stay tuned.
YouTube Review
If you want to see moving pictures of the Hyatt Regency in addition to this review, I highly recommend our YouTube review of this hotel!
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