Club Med Bali room types

Okay, let’s start by reiterating what we have said earlier. If you are going to any Club Med thinking you are going to get a luxurious room similar to a 5 star hotel, then you will be bitterly disappointed.

Even if you book a suite (which is just 2 rooms converted into 1 – and you pay double) it will be far short of what a discerning person would call ‘luxury’. Sure, the Suite being the top of the accommodation range in club Med is infinitely better than the standard room but ‘Luxurious” I would say not!

Lets have a look at what optoins you have

• Minibar (non provisioned)
• Branded pack (shampoo, shower gel, cream, …)
• TV Screen
• Umbrella
• Air conditioning / Heating system
• Socket type F : 220 – 240 V
• Socket type C : 200 – 240 V
• Wi-Fi Access

Superior room with balcony

Before you get too excited, this is just the basic superior room with a balcony added.

Yep, there is a sliding door and you can walk out on your balcony, but it’s only one metre wide. It comes with a couple of chairs and a small table and it is handy for drying clothes or if you just want to get some fresh air.

These rooms tend to have slightly better views but you are paying something like an extra $350 – $400 per week for that balcony! If you are taking teenagers they will have to have their own room so you are looking at a substantial amount just to be able to walk outside,

Safe deposit box

THE ROOMS

The rooms in CM Bali were last renovated about 13 years ago (we were there during this process) and there is talk of renovations being commenced in November (a “mock up room” is currently being constructed.) There has been a “mock up room” in Club Med Cherating for over 12 months and still no renovations have commenced so don’t put off booking your holiday to Club Med Bali in the hope you will have a renovated room! Having said that, the existing rooms in Bali are still much better than most of the rooms in Club Med Phuket and infinitely better than nearly all of the rooms in Club Med Cherating, when we last stayed in those resorts (see our reviews).

In Club Med Bali your choice starts with a ‘Club room’. This is a basic room, no balcony and usually found on the upper levels. Next is a superior room on the middle levels. This is the same as a club room but with a very small balcony. Or you can have a terrace room, situated on the ground floor only with lots of shrubbery outside and with a terrace that has an umbrella and two sun loungers. By default, the outside area of these rooms is a mosquito breeding haven. (despite regular spraying of an anti mosquito breeding spray.) Finally if you want to pay twice the price of a club room (and get twice the size) you can have a suite.

Booking tip! If you want a connecting room, specify this first and then ask if the room type you want has interconnecting rooms. One of the most common problems reception has to deal with is people who have requested a particular room type, then on arrival they say they want an interconnecting room, only to be told the particular room type they have requested does not have interconnecting rooms or that all the interconnecting rooms, for the class of room they have booked, have already been allocated. People, if you want an interconnecting room, request one when booking, not at the front desk on arrival!

The air-conditioning in all classes of rooms has often been described by other reviewers as being ‘not cold’. However, what is not cold to you may be freezing to us and vice versa. For the record, I can tell you our room was 24.9 degrees C at night and 25.5 degrees C in the daytime on the coldest setting. (Yes, I did take a digital indoor/outdoor thermometer with me!) The insulation of having a room above us may have helped. It may not be as cold as some would like, but given it was dehumidified air and the outside temp never dropped below 30 degrees during the day, relatively speaking, it felt quite cool enough and we didn’t get colds!

The toilet in the bathroom is not separate but is at least on the opposite side of the bathroom to the shower, with a partial dividing wall.

The shower recess is not big, but it is adequate. The hot water was always hot and the water pressure varied depending on the time of day (just before dinner it was pretty poor). This may have had something to do with us being almost the last room in a long line of rooms. (Our preferred room happens to be first in a line of rooms and hence we have never experienced this problem before). Fresh towels were provided every day if you wished and bed linen was changed every three days. The room was serviced every day by very friendly staff and despite leaving valuables on display (lap top, video camera, loose change etc) nothing was touched.

The blocks of rooms in Club Med Bali are all located in increasing distance from the main restaurant/pool area. The ‘Flores’ is closest to reception and the restaurant followed by ‘Madura’ then ‘Java’ (our favourite) then ‘Lombok and then as far away as you can get from the main area is the ‘Sumba’ block.

The Sumba block is quiet. There is absolutely no noise at night time from the ‘entertainment’ and it is close to the spa, golf course, squash, archery, putting green and the new Zen pool (more about this fantastic new pool later). It is however, a good 10 min walk from your room to the main restaurant, theatre and main pool. Our preference is to be located about the middle of the resort which puts us far enough away from the noise of the night time entertainment in the bar (unless we are part of it!) but just a relatively quick short cut across the grass to get to the restaurants and in the opposite direction, the Zen pool.

THE RESTAURANTS/DINING ROOMS

During our stay, there were two restaurants in Club Med Bali. The main restaurant (Agung) is a buffet style restaurant and it has 3 air-conditioned dining areas. This is where the majority of the guests eat and is by far the better option if you are looking for variety in your dining experience. All the dining rooms were part of the major renovation that took place when the Club was totally closed for 3 months over Xmas 2008. If you have been to Club Med Bali prior to that date and you go back now, you will not recognise any of the old eating areas. They have been completely re designed and all are very effectively air-conditioned, but there is still a large outdoor undercover dining area for those who like to sweat whilst they eat. Click here to see the actual renovations in progress.

For the last eleven years the main restaurant manager was Pratama. He had the onerous responsibility to ensure that (at least when we were there) 850 guests plus up to 100 staff are seated and fed, 3 times a day. He did it very well indeed. Unfortunately, he resigned four weeks before we arrived (we were assured the timing of his resignation had nothing to do with our arrival!). Always friendly, he used to inquire every day as to how we were and actively sought feedback on the previous day’s meals.

His replacement is Zachary and although he has a background in fine dining restaurants in some very prestigious hotels, Zachary will have his work cut out matching Pratama’s effort.

As mentioned earlier, it was Australian school holidays and the Club was full. As you would expect, there were a lot of children….and we mean a LOT of children. Surprisingly, this was a good thing for us adults without children, as most parents chose to eat with their offspring in the two ‘child friendly’ dining areas. This meant that in the specifically designated ’adult only’ dining room we could choose to sit almost anywhere.

Although ‘late lunch’ doesn’t finish until 5.30pm  each day, in a Club Med first the Chef de Village Jean Benot decided to open the main dining room half an hour early at 6.30pm for the duration of the Australian school holiday period so the hungry little cherubs (and their parents) would not be suffering malnutrition by having to wait till 7.00pm. A trick we learned very quickly, is to delay eating your evening meal until about 8.00 by which time most of the children and their parents had gone. Despite the earlier opening time, the restaurants still remained open till 9.15pm as usual.

About 6.45pm every night there are a number of appetisers set up near the bar for those who might want a nibble before going to dinner a little later. In the past, the aforementioned cherubs have descended on this food like a plague of locusts, consuming everything in their path. The earlier opening time of the main restaurant completely solved this problem. Well done Club Med!

The second restaurant is called the ‘Batur’ and is used for late breakfast, morning tea, late lunch, afternoon snacking and dinner. For dinner there is an a la carte menu which is limited to a choice of Meal A or Meal B, each consisting of several courses. Whilst the choice may be limited, the food was excellent (more about the food later). You are served at your table and you get starched white table cloths and linen serviettes.

Ravin was the executive Chef at Club Med Bali at the time we were there and had been for a number of years. He is a softly spoken, gentle man for whom nothing is too much trouble. Last year he invited us and friends who were holidaying with us, to dine in the Batur restaurant as his guests. In addition to the normal menu, he prepared a seafood platter for us which was absolutely delicious. This year he again asked us if he could prepare a special meal and suggested a beef dish cooked anyway we liked it, this being in addition to the normal menu.

We didn’t need convincing and he booked us into the Batur restaurant the next night. We arrived on time only to be shown out the door which was a little confusing. Imagine our surprise when we were shown to a candle lit, private, decorated table under a bure, 2 metres from the beach. Linen table cloth and napkins, table decorations and a private waiter. It doesn’t get much better than that. (Oh…. and the food was simply spectacular and cooked exactly as we requested.)

During our diner we were visited by Ravin himself, the Chef de village and the restaurant manager who were all inquiring if everything was OK. A resounding yes! was the obvious answer.

But let’s have a look at what we ate for the other meals……

THE FOOD

All right I confess, the food is one of the main reasons I go to Club Med and have been doing so since first going to Club Med Noumea in 1988. I was always amazed at the sheer variety and quantity of food available. In the 9 trips we did there, the food was simply fantastic and I was devastated when it closed in December 2001.

Fast forward to 2014 and how things have changed! For the last few years we have been noticing a reduction in the amount of food leading to the impression that perhaps there was not as much variety and quantity. After our bitterly disappointing food and general dining experience in Club Med Phuket in 2013 and by way of a complete turnabout our simply fantastic dining experience in Club Med Cherating in Easter this year, we really had no idea what to expect in Club Med Bali this time.

We once said in a review “If you have never been to a Club Med, then when you first set eyes on the lunch or dinner buffet, trust us, you will be impressed.” (Club Med UK head office even wrote to us and requested copyright permission to use it on their web site.)

We can assure you that like us, after a few Club Med holidays or even as the days go by on your first Club Med holiday you will reach a point by about day five when you start to think “this is the same as yesterday”. There are only so many ways you can present fruit and vegetables and cook, fish, poultry and meat. The buffet theme nights repeat every 7 nights so if you stay longer, yes, you will see the same food.

So why does there appear to be less food? The answer is that Club Med , like every other hospitality provider is trying to reduce their costs and wastage whilst still providing what the client wants. Research has shown that the average Club Med guest is looking for better quality food and is prepared to sacrifice some variety in return.

Looking at the logistics, Ravin, Executive Chef ‘Extraordinaire’, supervises the preparation of the equivalent of nearly 2,850 meals a DAY!) In the week we were there he had fed guests and staff the equivalent of nearly 20,000 meals. Previous visits have proved that Ravin knows his stuff so it is with great regret that we have to say that with the exception of the wonderful private meal we enjoyed, the food and service in the main restaurant this time round was of a considerably lesser standard than we have ever experienced in Club Med Bali (but still not as bad as Club Med Phuket a year earlier).

Some will say we are being a bit harsh, but remember we are in a position to make a comparison having experienced nearly 210 breakfasts, definitely 210 dinners and probably the same number of lunches in our 30 Club Med visits.

Only 11 weeks earlier in Club Med Cherating we had been served over the period of a week, Fresh prawns, Steak, Smoked salmon (every day), Mussels, Scampi, BBQ Octopus….etc.We did not see even one of these items this time in Club Med Bali.

It is established protocol in any Club Med that the daily menu is modified to accommodate the largest nationality present in the village at the time, whilst still catering for the others. During our recent stay, the prominent nationality was Australians (aprox 65%). With the closure of Club Med Noumea in December 2001 and the closing of Club Med Lindeman Island in January 2012, Club Med Bali is now the closest and most inexpensive Club Med for Australians to visit but if the food isn’t up to scratch, we wonder how long will it remain a favourite.

Also gone in recent years are the linen table cloths and serviettes that used to be used in the main restaurant. Environmental pressure from washing and cost savings is the reason. However, as a result of this action Club Med Bali has received a Green Globe Certification for Sustainable Tourism. It was pointed out to us that the fine dining experience, complete with linen tablecloths, could still be obtained in the a la cate restaurant, but for how much longer we wonder.

BREAKFAST (7.00am – 10.00am) Late breakfast (10.00am – 11.00am)

We have to admit the breakfast was pretty much the same every day. Thankfully though, it was not limited to the European gluten fest that we experienced in Club Med Phuket. With a predominantly western clientele, there were eggs poached, fried, scrambled or made into the omelette of your choice. In addition there were bacon, sausages (chicken & beef), pommes noisettes in lieu of hash browns and lots of tomato sauce (ketchup). In addition, all the usual Asian choices were available together with cereals, yoghurt and a very impressive display of fresh fruit. Immediately obvious was that a trained pastry Chef was on staff because there were between 12 and 15 different types of freshly baked bread, pasties, croissants etc. available every day for breakfast. We have yet to see a ‘gluten free’ section in any Club Med despite pretty standard these days in other hotel breakfasts.

Something we noticed this year (and I accept this probably won’t make or break your holiday) was the total absence of saucers for the cups and about half as many teaspoons as were needed. We asked why and were told the saucers broke and the spoons are either lost of stolen and both are expensive to replace. Club Med Bali opened 27 years ago, you cannot tell me that this problem has only just surfaced? We suspect serious budget issues might be the cause. More about that later.

 LUNCH (12.15pm – 2.15pm)

Well presented, covering all nationalities but no prawns (2 tinned shrimp on a bed of lettuce does not count)  Last year there were some very nice purees in ‘shot’ glasses, one I remember in particular was a beetroot puree with walnuts on top. No where to be seen this year!

If any leftover dishes from the previous evening were served for lunch, they were so altered or cleverly disguised, you could not tell. There was plenty of different desserts and multiple flavours of very nice ice cream.

DINNER (6. 30pm – 9.15pm) – For 3 weeks of Australian School holidays only)

This is where we felt there had been the biggest reduction in variety. Unlike last year, there was no steak, no fresh prawns, no mussels, no smoked salmon and no crab claws. There was however fish, beef wellington, fish, chicken, fish, escargot (snails) which were particularly nice, fish, garlic clams (which were tougher than car tyre retreads) Oh and did I mention there was fish?

The reality was that though there has been (in our opinion) a reduction in the variety, what was presented was certainly delicious and we are not suggesting for one moment that you will go hungry!! The best part of all was it did not matter when you chose to eat, ALL the dishes were still available throughout the entire meal time. Occasionally there might be a few minutes wait (especially before 8.00pm during the children’s ‘feeding frenzy’) whilst a particular item was replenished, but overall it was expertly managed and nothing like the debacle that was Club Med Phuket at Easter in 2013.

DESSERT

As we always say, nobody does dessert like the French and Club Med Bali did not disappoint. This is where you can really stack on the kilos if you are not careful. We will not bore you with details about the extensive selection that was available for lunch and dinner but we can say with confidence, if you have a sweet tooth you will not be disappointed with the desserts in any Club Med .

THE NEW SEAFOOD RESTAURANT and TAPIS BAR.

Scheduled to open in mid August and still not opened by the first week of October is the brand new Seafood restaurant, located where the old mini club was. As you walk in, to the right will be a Tapas bar providing all day snacking and drinks, with the option to purchase premium brands. To the left will be a Seafood restaurant which will replace the existing Batur A la carte restaurant. It consists of an indoor air-conditioned area and an outside area located around a waterfall. It looks absolutely spectacular and we can’t wait to try it on our next visit.

Our concern is, will the bean counters at Club Med provide a large enough food budget to make this restaurant as good as it promises to be? We can only assume the reduction in the upmarket dining options in the main dining room is a budget related issue. Similarly, the failure to replace saucers, tea spoons and even a bar fridge at one of the serving stations that broke down over a year ago and has since been replaced with a plastic bucket and ice, all indicate budget issues. In fairness, Club Med has been the subject of a fierce takeover bid by opposing parties and we can understand a hesitance to commit funding when you don’t know who is ultimately going to own you. However Club Med have a world wide reputation for their food and we would hate to see this suffer because someone got a bit stingy with the food budget.

THE BAR/DRINKS

The main Bar in Club Med Bali is an interesting structure in that it resembles a flying saucer! (Anyone who watched the 1960’s TV series ‘Lost in Space’ will immediately recognise the roof as the Robinson family’s space ship). Under that is a circular bar with completely open sides with 360 degree views across the main pool, uninterrupted views across the lawns, beach and out to sea. A cool sea breeze blows almost constantly. It is a very nice place to spend time!

Children have their own serving area at this bar and even have steps provided for them so they can reach the bar and be at the same level as adults when ordering. A nice touch!

In Club Med Bali you can get unlimited alcoholic drinks from 9.00am until well after midnight. It is worth remembering some of the the brands of spirits and beer used in Club Med are ‘local brands’ and may not have the same alcoholic content that you are used to at home. If the drinks are not as strong as you like, the very obliging bar staff will happily give you ‘doubles’ on request. Problem solved! It was also refreshing to see the brand name ‘Baileys” available as part of the unlimited drinks package. In Club Med Phuket we were served a local substitute which we found was quite undrinkable.

Even though the club was at full capacity, we never had to wait more than a minute at most to be served. The bar staff were very friendly, even remembering our drinks of choice and more often than not, our names. They also insisted on bringing our drinks to wherever we were sitting in the bar area. Their service was impeccable.

If you like your coffee, then we suggest having an espresso or short black at the bar. It just seems to taste better than the ones you have to make yourself in the dining room using the automatic coffee machines.

We have, over the years, described the wine served in Club Med at lunch and dinner as ‘similar to paint stripper’. (In Club Med Phuket they were at least trialling some Californian wines which were actually quite nice). However, whilst the table wines in Club Med Bali are definitely still an ‘acquired taste’, once your palette has adjusted, you can usually find one or two that will be drinkable during your stay. As well as offering the traditional, Red, Rose and White wines, this year you could choose between local or French versions of each, making a total of 6 choices. We went for the local versions but that is a matter of taste (or lack of!). There are also premium imported wines that you may purchase at ridiculous prices if you feel the need to.

There is a beach Bar open from 10.00am – 6.00pm, a very nice spot to sit in the late afternoon, overlooking the beach and ocean. We note the space and chairs around this bar has been expanded since our last visit thus confirming the popularity of the bar’s location.

It is worth noting that despite the almost constant availability of alcohol, in all the years we have been going to Club Med, we have never seen anyone so intoxicated that they had to be asked to leave the Bar or Restaurant area.

PHONE & INTERNET

Free Wi-Fi is available in all rooms and in the bar area. The speed of the connection throughout the village has been improved considerably since our last visit and was fast enough for me to conduct video calls on my Galaxy 10.5 tablet with almost television quality. For those of you who are geeks, I measured it at 1.89mbs. Not blistering speed by any standard but just over twice the speed of last year and certainly fast enough to check your emails, check Face book, upload the odd photo and to make Skype video calls. At one point we had two phones, my Galaxy tablet, a laptop and an ipad all connected at once and all they all still worked so if you have teenagers there should be no problem with everybody being able to update everything.

Mobile phones work well throughout the resort. We had 5 bar signal strength even in the room. There is a new tower (badly disguised as a very tall palm tree) just outside the fence near the beach and there are several carriers to choose from. Just remember to turn off ‘mobile data’ as you get on the plane or you will be faced with an incredible bill when you get home. Instead, use the room Wi Fi for all updates.

THE NEW ADULT ZEN POOL

A new feature of Club Med’s in the Asia pacific region is the “adult Zen pool”. This is an exclusive pool area that is reserved for adults only (ie over 18 yo’s). Great for sleeping, reading or just getting away from the hustle and bustle of Club Med life around the main pool. In Club Med Phuket, next to the Zen pool, they have also built an ‘adults only’ speciality restaurant.(This is the restaurant that gets booked out 5 mins after reservations open at 8.00am).

The brand new Zen pool in Club Med Bali is quite simply the best piece of capital infrastructure that has been built since the major restaurant and bar renovations of Xmas 2008. Without a doubt, this space is the closest that I (and possibly many others) will ever get to heaven. Words can’t do it justice, you just have to try it! This pool is about as far removed from the main pool area as is possible. It is located at the far end of the resort where the old soccer fields used to be, close to the putting green, spa, steam rooms and sauna’s.

It is worth noting the main pool has been reduced to a depth where it only comes up to the chest of a normal adult so it is now basically a children’s pool and half of it has been covered by sun shade cloth.  On 5 out of the 7 days of our stay “a number 2” alert was sounded which resulted in the main pool having to be cleared of people for a couple of hours and having to be chemically treated.

Accordingly, you can appreciate why we liked the idea of an adults only Zen pool and because, when we were there, the club was so full of parents with their children, the Zen pool was underutilised and we had an excellent choice of sun loungers. To top it off there are full time pool attendants who serve cold water and non alcoholic drinks all day. Make sure you check out this area.

WATER SPORTS

There is a snorkelling boat that goes twice daily (weather permitting). There is also windsurfing and kayaking and because CM has direct access to the beach, there are also beachside BBQ’s and beach volley ball at 4.00pm.

HYGEINE AND HEALTH

Getting gastroenteritis in Bali (colloquially known as Bali Belly) is not unusual, especially if you eat out side of hotel restaurants. Whilst we accept this can happen, one of the main causes of upset tummies in Club Med is ‘over eating’. If your stomach is used to a certain diet and then all of a sudden it is digesting food from numerous other countries, sometimes several different cuisines in the one meal, you have to expect your stomach at some point to say ‘enough is enough’ and start to rebel. Similarly, if you stick to your normal cuisine but have that second entree and perhaps 2 helpings of the ‘special of the day’ followed by perhaps 3 different desserts, again, you have to expect that what goes in must eventually come out, sometimes when you least want it to!

Despite reassurances, we still have an issue with the same plastic place mats being used 3 times a day, 7 days a week. When most people finish one course, they place their food covered knife and fork on the place mat and go and get another helping. On specific questioning about this, we were assured every mat is regularly submerged in a bath of antiseptic /disinfectant. However prior to that happening, the possibility of micro-organisms breeding, especially in 30 degree heat, must surely be a worry. We always put our eating utensils on a serviette. This protects us from whatever might be lurking on the placemat and also keeps the mat clean for whomever uses it after us.

Not-withstanding the above, when your children complain of sore tummies and have diarrhea, before you blame food poisoning, you might like to ask them how many helpings of hamburgers, cokes, fries and ice-cream they had at kids club that day? Children’s eyes are often bigger than their stomachs!

The almost compulsory squirt of hand gel sanitiser given to everybody entering the main restaurant is an indication of how seriously Club Med Bali take their hygiene standards and is to be applauded.

The water in all Club Med’s is said to be safe to drink but everybody has a different capacity to adapt to the water in a foreign country. To address this, all Club Med’s provide unlimited bottled water, both in your room and around the resort. We suggest you use it exclusively and do not drink the water provided in jugs on the tables (even though it is allegedly also from bottles). No matter where we are in the world, we always only drink the bottled water that we have opened ourselves and we even clean our teeth with it.

MEDICAL HELP

Club Med is the largest ‘sports club’ in the world. Despite the extensive precautions taken, with the numerous activities offered, there is always going to be the chance of suffering an injury. Ironically, in our experience, more people suffer minor injuries like falling over, upset tummies and heat exhaustion, rather than injuries from doing the organised and extremely well supervised sports activities. There is an infirmary on site with a nurse, but no doctor. Expert medical help is available from numerous private medical centres/hospitals located throughout Bali. Three minutes drive from Club Med Bali (opposite the Bali Collection Shopping centre) there is a state of the art medical centre/day surgery. As you would expect, these places are not cheap. It is absolutely essential you have travel insurance if you feel you might need these services. Do not rely on the very minimal health insurance that is included with your Club Med membership when you purchase your holiday.

CHILDREN/THE KIDS CLUB

Having been a Dad in a previous life, I know there is nothing worse than being on holidays and having your children constantly asking you to buy them food, drinks and to pay for their entertainment. In any Club Med you will never have to put your hand in your pocket for anything to do with your children (aged 4 and over) because it is all included. In fact as our children became teenagers and had their own rooms, we would just show them where reception was and tell them we would meet them there in 7 days time, for the trip home!

Whilst we didn’t use the Kids Club on this trip (and to be fair, haven’t done so for quite a number of Club Med holidays now), we had a look at what was available. There is a Babies Club (extra charge) Petite Club (extra charge), Mini Club, Kids Club and Teenagers Club. With the kids taken care of for most of the day (and half of the night if you wish), adults can spend quality time together or if preferred, apart, doing activities that they don’t get to do at home.
Watching the Mini Club kids marching around the grounds singing “we are the mini club…better than the kids club”, brought back very fond memories of many years ago when our own children where that young and doing the same thing. Our children still say that their Club Med holidays were the best holidays they have ever had.

One thing that parents need to be aware of when placing their children in any Club Med Mini/Kids clubs are ‘carer ratios’. In Asia. as in Australia, there legally has to be a certain ratio of carers to each child. Because this ratio is higher in Mini club than it is in Kids club. it is illegal for Club Med to allow a Mini club aged child to be placed with their older sibling in the less supervised Kids club.

Previously in club Med Bali the mini club and the kids club have been in separate locations which was a bit inconvenient if you have to drop off and pick up children in each. With the opening of the new Seafood restaurant, the Batur, al la carte restaurant will be closed and transformed into the kids club. This will mean all the child care facilities will be in the one place.

THE SHOWS and the GO’s

Club Med Bali is a big village, accommodating nearly 900 people + staff when full  so there is always going to be  an appreciative audience for the evening shows, especially in School Holidays. As regular Club Med people, we can say that the shows in Bali were no better or worse than in other Club Med’s. If you have never seen them before, you will no doubt, be amused and entertained. If you have children with you who have never seen this type of entertainment, they will go home unable to speak of anything else, (providing that after the full day of activities in the kids club, they could stay awake long enough to watch!) New video technology has been introduced and this helps to provide an ever bigger spectacle.

The White sensation night/show was the week’s standout spectacular. There was the beach party night and a new concept called the ‘foam party’, which was a lot of fun for adults and kids alike.

The GO Team in Bali was up there with the best we have seen. Friendly and dedicated to their jobs, we could not fault them (and we have seen a lot of GO teams in our time!)

We make a point of not commenting on specific GO’s in our reviews primarily because by the time you book and go to Club Med Bali, there is every chance they will have moved on to another village. Those whom we did meet, were very engaging and delightful.

However, there is a group of people who don’t move around the various Club Med villages, they don’t appear in the shows and they certainly don’t share the glamour and adulation that many GO’s receive. These are the GE’s. Local people who work tirelessly (and in some cases for many years) to make your holiday enjoyable. Rosie at the bar (who has an almost photographic memory for faces and can remember your drink order from 12 months ago) has been with Club Med Bali since it opened 27 years ago. Similarly, Supati has been setting and clearing tables in the main dining room for nearly 27 years. She has looked after us for all of our trips to Club Med Bali and you could not ask for a more welcoming, pleasant and friendly person. We have found that by being polite and respecting these people, our holiday experience had been enriched considerably. We recommend you try it!

THE MANAGEMENT

The CEO, MD. or Head Honcho, whatever you like to call ‘The Boss’ of any Club Med Village is referred to as the ‘Chef de Village’. To be ‘Chef de Village’ in the old days you just had to be good at organising parties but how things have changed!

The new breed of Village Chiefs are more likely to have an MBA or at least some form of tertiary management qualification. (but they still have to be good at organising parties!)

Chef de Village Jean-Benolt is one of the new breed. Educated, constantly on the ball as to what is happening almost anywhere in his village and with a sense of humour, he greeted every guest at least once per day at meal times or during his walks through the village. His assistant Rob, an Australian who, as it happens, grew up in the adjoining suburb to us in Sydney, was similarly educated and has the job very much under control.

In doing our research for this review we had cause to spend quite a bit of time with these two and we have to thank them for their patience and in particular, their tolerance of my (sometimes) pedantic questions.

In our experience, the successful running of any Club Med is dependent on the Chef de Village and the way in which he/she motivates their staff. When we were in Club Med Phuket, the Chief was a ‘locum’ and only in caretaking mode until a replacement arrived. In our opinion this was reflected in the attitude of the GO’s and we felt they were nowhere as committed to their jobs as they should have been.

The GO’s in Bali were positive and motivated and as in any organisation, this had to come from the top. Well done JB!

It is worth noting that after a two year term, Jean Benolt will be leaving Bali for Club Med Cherating at the end of November 2014. In additional to taking Executive Chef, Ravin with him, he will also be taking quite a number of the key GO’s. In his time at Club Med Bali JB has overseen the Miniclub being moved to the same building as the kids club, the building of the Zen pool and new Seafood restaurants, the doubling of the internet speed throughout the village and the early stages of the room renovation project which will take over 12 months…… and these are just the things we noticed. Not a bad effort! His first project when he arrives in Club Med Cherating is to replace the chillers that provide air-conditioning to the rooms. Hopefully this will fix our biggest issue with Club Med Cherating and  that is that there is almost no cool air in the rooms.

THE DEPARTURE

Check out time is 11.00am but if your room is not booked for another guest, you can stay in it (for a fee) until your transfer to the airport. Nearly all flights from Bali to Sydney or Melbourne do not depart until around midnight, meaning it is desirable to retain your room until at least the time you go to dinner on the evening of your departure. Due to the almost 100% occupancy of the Club  we  advised reception 48 hours instead of the suggested 24 hours in advance that we required our room until 6.00pm on the evening of our departure.

Even with such notice, we could not remain in our room till 6.00pm but fortunately we were allocated another room from check out at 11.00am till 6.00pm.

With the earlier opening time of 6.30 for the main restaurant, we still had plenty of time to enjoy a last meal before Club Med had us on the transfer bus at 8.00pm for an 11.00pm flight back to Sydney.

SUMMARY

We are often asked which club med is the best. Our simple answer is that there is no one Club Med that is the best. Everybody has a different set of expectations as to what constitutes a great holiday. If you’re travelling from Australia with young children, Club Med Bali is the closest and that may well be the deciding factor. Yet, if you live in Kuala Lumpur, Club Med Cherating is only a 3.5 hour drive away.

We hope that the previous 8,200 words, have given you some insight into what to expect in Club Med Bali. For us, the uninterrupted beach location, proximity to Australia, the OK rooms, the totally rebuilt restaurants, dining areas, bar and ‘zen pool’ make Club Med Bali a favourite of ours. They just need to get the new Seafood restaurant open and fix what we hope was a temporary budget issue in the main restaurant and we will be happy campers.

For the statistically inclined, on Trip Advisor, the percentage of people who think Club Med Bali is ‘Excellent’ or ‘Very good’ at the time of writing, was 89% of all reviews. Those who thought it ‘poor’ or ‘terrible’ were a mere 4.2%

Interestingly, this represents a 1% decrease in the number of people who gave an ‘Excellent or Very Good’ rating since our last visit and an increase of nearly 1% of those who thought it Poor or Terrible. Not a large variation but it does confirm our opinion that there has been a reduction in some aspects of the Club Med Bali experience. In fairness we should point out that the Club Med Bali figures are still considerably better than the same figures for Club Med Cherating and infinitely better than the figures for Club Med Phuket.

WOULD WE GO AGAIN?

Next time we go there will be a new Chef de Village, a new Executive Chef, a new second in charge and at least half of the GO team will be different.(maybe some old GO friends from the past will be back at Bali). Oh…. and the Tapas bar and Seafood restaurant will be up and running. Would we want to miss any of that?

Nope!….. So we have already booked for 7 nights from 25^th September 2016 (taking advantage of the current 40% discount special). Why don’t you join us and come and say hello.

If you can’t make it, make sure to bookmark this site so you don’t miss our up to the minute review of what has changed in Club Med Bali (both good and bad!)