5 Star Hotel??? What a joke!!! After...
5 Star Hotel??? What a joke!!! After confirming our hotel transfers a week before we arrived in Bali we expected the transport to be there... after looking around for 15 minutes in the heat with our bags we decided to get a cab. When we arrived at the hotel we were greeted by an unfriendly lady on the desk who said we never booked transfers. After producing the email confirmation (thats right they didnt believe us, and made me buy an internet card off them so i could show them email) they just went about their business. No apology!!! We were promised a follow up... that never happened. What a joke!!!
So not a great start to our holiday in Bali. From there we were taken to our room. It was on the ground floor and on the main walkway of the resort. This wouldnt be so bad if the rooms werent made completely of glass. So we asked for another room. The manager then argued with us for over 30 minutes saying there was no other rooms etc. Then told us as he ushered us to another one (that wasnt so hard was it???) that they were at 30% capacity (30% capacity?? We saw about 15 different people the whole time in a massive resort for over a week- its a sign). So after not being picked up at the airport then being treated like rubbish at the reception, then being made to feel like we were putting them out asking for a room in a quieter spot.
The rooms are brand new and quite nice. But there is no mini bar, the airconditioners drip water (its above the bed... so water lands on your head), the bathrooms are tiny and flood and the lack of privacy may put some people off staying here. The pool area is tiny (if they are ever at more than 50% occupancy you would struggle to get a lounge or fit in the pool). The breakfast selection is pretty limited but nice, and the service at breakfast was very friendly. We had room service one night and the food was terrible, and ate by the pool one day and the lunch was not much better. Im not sure if this is teething problems with it being a new hotel etc.
Overall i would not stay at the Outrigger ever again. The service (lack thereof) is enough to put you off from the outset. We stayed there for 8 nights then moved to a Villa at Uma Sapna in Seminyak which was amazing. The Outrigger could learn a lot from their service and friendly demeanours. I would recommend staying at Uma Sapna. I have been to Bali 4 times (stayed at the Padma hotel just down the road, if you want a resort experience stay there) and it just goes to show how dissappointing Outrigger was. DO NOT STAY HERE!!!