Hotel of the Week: Conrad Bali

Close to Bali’s Ngurah Rai airport, where extensions and renovations are being hurried along to meet a deadline of October’s APEC meeting on the island, there is a magnificent new road.

Officially the Benoa-Ngurah Rai-Nusa Dua toll road – built at a cost of US$258 million – it is still awaiting traffic because, locals say, Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono hasn’t yet found time to open it.

When he does, quickly following him down the road to the upmarket tourist hideaway of Nusa Dua will be the APEC delegates, among them US president Barack Obama, Russian president Vladimir Putin and British PM David Cameron.

The good news is that at the end of the road Bali offers the kind of luxury hotels and presidential suites that these world leaders appreciate during their global gallivanting.

Among the resorts is the Conrad Bali in Tanjong Benoa, an area which is taking off with new hotel and restaurant developments.

The Conrad Bali has passed its security checks and will be welcoming some of the dignitaries heading for APEC, although who-stays-where is still something of a well-guarded secret.

Once the APEC talkfest has wrapped up, the Conrad Bali and the nearby hotels will revert to business-as-usual, which means catering to some of the three million-plus annual visitors to Bali.

Conrad Bali is a busy hotel with three wings, a dedicated wedding chapel and a separate enclave of suites and Jiwa spa facilities, including an adults-only swimming pool and Conrad Suites Lounge.

They may be locked out of the adults-only pool, but kids are well catered in the resort, including in the spa where personalised mother and daughter, father and son spa treatments are offered.

The resort also has complimentary breakfast, lunch and dinner for children up to 12 years old from the Kids’ Menu when parents are dining along. And the Kura-Kura Kids’ Club offers educational and other activities daily nine-till-five.

Conrad has also pioneered excursions to connect guests with Bali beyond the main resort areas.

This includes the Rituals, Rice Fields and Rites of Passage experience that includes a purification ritual at the 10th century Tirtha Empul temple followed by Balinese massage and high tea in a tented camp in rice terraces in the west of the island.

Conrad Bali is also offers theme chocolate tours in support of a local group dedicated to working with disadvantaged local farmers to help them produce organic chocolate and give them a good living out of their cocoa trees.

Overall, Conrad Bali appears to offer a good balance between the requirements of families on holiday, and the needs of couples seeking a relaxing and romantic getaway.

It’s a difficult balance to achieve but size helps here. Between its spa facilities, restaurants and bars, spacious foyer and outdoor recreation areas, Conrad Bali manages to find personal space for all its guests.

by Ian Jarrett