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Review: Conrad Bali – Resort Ocean Suite King
We’d had a wonderful stay at Mandapa up in Ubud, but we couldn’t come all the way to Bali without going to the beach. We’d gone back and forth between Jimbaran Bay and Nusa Dua, and ultimately chose the Conrad Bali because I carry Diamond Status and Hilton had introduced their new loyalty program. This new loyalty program provided us the ability to book a large, one bedroom suite, looking SMACK at the ocean with cash + points. How could you beat that? Let’s take a look at the Conrad Bali and our Resort Ocean Suite King.
The Deets:
- When: April
- Where: Nusa Dua Bali, Indonesia
- Loyalty: Hilton Honors
- Status: Diamond
- Benefits: Club access + free breakfast, wifi.
- Cost: $157 + 60k Hilton Honors
The Resort is open, airy, and you feel like you’ve arrived at paradise the moment you walk into the lobby. Not a bad view 😉
Check -in
Diamond status was acknowledge and funny enough we were told that they couldn’t upgrade us because all the lagoon suites were occupied. I inquired about the Presidential and Penthouse ( which would be crazy upgrades ) and they told us it’d set us back roughly $500 to upgrade. YA RIGHT. Here’s where I wish I’d have had a little bit more perspective on the resort.
The Resort is broken into two sections. The main buildings and the Conrad Section
We were booked into the Main building in an Resort Ocean Suite King with a rollaway. The Suite is just under 1000 sq ft and looked incredible online. I don’t think there is much of a difference in the quality of the Conrad rooms compared to the Main building rooms, but there is a far more intimate feel over in the Conrad section. The also have villas that look pretty cool. I think our perspective was affected by staying at Mandapa which has less than 60 suites and villas compared to the Conrad which is many many times bigger than that.
While the proximity to the buffet breakfast, lobby, shops etc were much better in the main building, I wish I’d have requested us to be put in the Conrad section. The club is there, it has a small private pool, and feels like a hotel within a hotel.
Regardless, our accommodations were incredible.
Our Suite: I mean…look at the view
The suite was a true 1 bedroom Suite with 1 and 1/2 baths. Tons of space and a rollaway easily fit in the living room.
The bedroom also had it’s own balcony which overlooked the swim up pool and ocean. It was truly a fantastic suite.
And they brought my mom a birthday cake!
My parents rested a bit and I ventured out around the hotel before we went to Jimbaran Bay to watch the sunset
The hotel has beautiful walkways and common spaces.
Tennis courts.
Entrance to the Spa.
The gym…which felt ancient and oddly tucked into a dark corner under a staircase. I mean, I know people don’t like to work out on vacay, but there is a huge, big, beautiful beach – why not position the gym to see it? Or at least sunlight?
And then the Conrad area of the hotel…
It’s a solid 10 minute walk from check-in. I would highly suggest using their private check-in or have a golf cart take you if you don’t deal with heat well. It was BOILING hot and I was drenched just walking the short distance.
A villa entrance
Conrad private pool
The Club lounge
A GORGEOUS chapel.
A look back at our section of the hotel. We were 2nd from the top on the far left.
The next morning my dad and I grabbed breakfast in the main building on the bottom floor. It was a fairly decent buffet, but the view was stellar.
Overall:
Would I stay again? Absolutely
This is a wonderful hotel with a great staff. From the moment we arrived they treated us very well and the cake was an excellent touch. I didn’t include pictures of it, but I will add that if you have club access there are multiple places around the resort you can have your afternoon cocktails, and breakfast is available in various places as well. The resort is large. It’s quite a bit smaller than the Grand Hyatt down the beach, but if you’re looking for a smaller more intimate feel either go to the Conrad section or find a different hotel.
The other consideration to make depends on whether you’re a morning or an evening person. This hotel provides a great sunrise, but you need to go across the island to see a great sunset.
You don’t have to stop here. Check out how we paid $5k and took a $125k Surprise trip Around The World to celebrate my Mom’s 75th
Flights:
- Boston to Beijing
- Beijing to Singapore
- Singapore to Bali Roundtrip
- Singapore to Dubai
- Singapore Airlines First Class 777-300ER Singapore to Dubai ($4k)
- Abu Dhabi to Cannes, France
- Etihad Airways First Class Apartment A380 Abu Dhabi to London ($8k)
- Etihad Airways Business Studio A380 Abu Dhabi to London ( $3500-5k)
- British Airways Club Europe A321 London to Nice
- Cannes, France to Dallas
- Lufthansa Business Class A321 Nice to Frankfurt ($10k)
- Lufthansa First Class A330 Frankfurt to Dallas
Hotels:
- Boston
- Beijing
- JW Marriott Beijing, 1 Bedroom Suite ($450 for 5 nights)
- Club King ($250)
- Singapore
- Bali
- Mandapa, Ritz Carlton Reserve 1 Bedroom Rice Paddy View Villa ($600/night)
- Conrad Bali 1 Bedroom Ocean View Suite ($400/night)
- Singapore
- Intercontinental Singapore ($400/night)
- Dubai
- JW Marriott Marquis Dubai, 1 Bedroom Executive Suite ($450)
- Abu Dhabi
- Ritz Carlton Abu Dhabi ($300)
- Cannes, France
- Intercontinental Carlton Cannes, France ($300)
- Dallas
- Grand Hyatt DFW ($150
- JW Marriott Beijing, 1 Bedroom Suite ($450 for 5 nights)
Lounges
- Boston
- Hong Kong
- Beijing
- Singapore
- Bali
- Garuda Indoneisa Business Class Lounge
- Premier Lounge
- Singapore
- Singapore Airlines First Class Check-In
- Singapore Airlines Business Class Lounge SIN
- Singapore Airlines First Class Lounge SIN
- Singapore Airlines Private Room SIN
- Abu Dhabi
- Etihad First Class Lounge
- Etihad Business Class Lounge
- Etihad Shave Experience
- London
- British Airways First Class Lounge LHR Terminal 5
- Nice
- Living Room Azur
- Frankfurt
- Lufthansa First Class Lounge Frankfurt Terminal A
Afternoon Tea
- Peninsula, Beijing
- Raffles, Singapore
- Burj Khalifa, Dubai
- Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi
TIPS:
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.