Richard Mounsey

Review of Holiday Inn Resort Baruna Bali

My wife and I stayed for a week in March 2017 and...

My wife and I stayed for a week in March 2017 and although the hotel was new, full of guests (mostly from Korea) and the management were still a having a few teething problems our overall experience was truly exceptional. I am an elite spire IHG member and have over the past couple of years spent most of my nights in hotels around the world. The Hotel Inn Express at Baruna is not the Hilton nor does it cost a fraction of the price. However it is possibly the best value for money hotel I have stayed in ever... From the moment you walk into the reception you know you have come to something special. Yes its new and modern but the glass ceiling and the openness makes it extremely bright, airy and cool. The staff were great. The room was not huge but plenty big enough for the two of us and it had a unique style of bathroom. The place was squeaky clean and the bed & pillow selection was nice. The pool on the roof was great with the views of the outer reef, airport and Kuta about as good as you get. They are building a roof top bar which when finished will also be great. It was a bit of a walk to Kuta Square (about 15 minutes) but you had the option of taking the beach footpath that was scenic and hassle free or going via the shops, malls and mini-marts (a taxi was less than 1 USD). With the big tour group booked in it could have been a nightmare getting breakfast but each night we were given notice as to when the tour group would be likely to fill the breakfast area so we could work around it. Actually there were a couple of hic-cups with all the new gadgets but the staff were so apologetic and compensated us to the point that we were glad all the things didn't work. Anyway overall it was a great value for money stay. I have been to Bali 100s of time since the 1970's and will return again to the Holiday Inn Express Baruna.