Luxury Hotel Review: Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran
April 28, 2016 | By Hao Tang
In March, Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran concluded renovations throughout their premium ocean suites. The remaining rooms and suites will be completed by November. The completion aligned perfectly with my wife, Lura’s, spring break. If you enjoy traveling, marrying a teacher may not be the best idea, but that’s too late for me. Naturally, we took this as a sign for a quick tour across Bali!
Welcome amenities… It’s the small gestures!
We visited Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran, Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan and the famed Amankila. Regarding the two Four Seasons, it is highly recommended to split your time between the Jimbaran and Sayan properties for a fuller Bali experience.
We live on the east coast of the U.S., which is a minimum of 20 hours from Bali. While it’s not ideal to be in a pressurized tube at 40,000 feet for that long, it does present a great opportunity to try out some awesome First Class products from Lufthansa, Thai Airways and Cathay Pacific. I’ll be posting reviews in the near future.
View from our suite’s plunge pool
After 30 plus hours, with plenty of Dom and Caviar, we arrived in Bali. Sunny and 90 degrees, we met our driver from Four Seasons Jimbaran and were so ready to see our suites… mostly, we just wanted to shower. Check in was done in the lobby with cold towels and ginger and coconut based welcome drinks. Fifteen minutes later, we were on our way in a golf cart to our newly renovated Deluxe Ocean Suite.
Outdoor terrace living space
As we entered our suite and passed the courtyard, my mind was immediately blown away at the sight. The past 30 plus hours was definitely worth it! The interior space was just as gorgeous as the exterior, which included a bathtub and outdoor rainfall shower.
The resort was really expansive. Most of the time, we called for carts to chauffeur us around the property. The resort had multiple pools segmented into family friendly and adults only.
Local seafood market and its fisherman
One thing I learned during my stay was that many resorts cannot legally own the beach, which means it’s public property. Each afternoon and evening, tons of locals would flood (pun intended) the beach, walking, playing football (soccer) and other games. We actually really enjoyed this aspect of the resort as it brought some authenticity to the place and we got a slight glimpse of the Balinese culture.
The service was as impeccable as you’d expect from a Four Seasons property in Asia. Our water never went empty, in fact, it never went warm. Every ten minutes or so, someone would come by our lounge chairs to replace ours with refreshed glasses of iced water. My favorite was having my sunglasses cleaned, without asking, while I took a few laps in the pool, nice touch! Each staff member we came across addressed us by name and always smiled, which made us feel like family, or least good neighbors.
It’s cooking time
Lura and I also had the pleasure of taking a Balinese cooking course. The class started with a visit to the local markets, followed by cooking by the beach. It was one of the many highlights of our trip!
Sunrise over the pool
Overall, we had a fantastic stay! We came for the renovated suites but received so much more in return. Though, it was difficult for us to leave, we were excited to go check out the Four Seasons Sayan in Ubud. I’ll leave you all with the sunrise from our first morning! See, there is an upside to jetlag.