Opened in 2017, Mövenpick Bali is the brand’s first and only foray into Indonesia – well, at least until later this year, when Mövenpick Jakarta is scheduled to open in the building that used to be Alila Jakarta. Despite its popular and well-regarded ice cream offering, Mövenpick’s hotels have never really had a strong reputation, particularly before its acquisition by Accor. This reputation is likewise reflected in mediocre past stays I’ve had at other Mövenpick hotels in Thailand, Vietnam, and Switzerland. 

This particular Mövenpick is actually part of a shopping mall complex called Samasta, which is indirectly connected to the resort. Set on an approximately 2-hectare plot and with 297 rooms and suites, the resort isn’t precisely spacious. It is, however, designed by a notable Indonesian architect, the late Hendra Hadiprana, who also owned what was The Chedi Club Tanah Gajah in Ubud.

Location

The resort is located in the southern part of the Jimbaran neighbourhood, famed for its beachside grilled fish restaurants. To be precise, the Mövenpick lies near a roundabout that leads to Uluwatu and Nusa Dua. By design of being set in the Samasta shopping mall complex, there are many high-street restaurants located nearby. Reachable within a 10-minute walk is the popular Ibu Oki warung eatery, and the Jenggala porcelain factory.

Arrival and Check-in

Before we could enter the resort, there was a security check, as commonly found in Western-branded hotels in Bali. This one, however, I found to be especially thorough, involving questions on the details of our stay and all. Once we got past, we were met with a queue of cars going to the porte-cochère. Despite staying on a weekday, the resort was packed with guests, many of whom were families. As such, it took a while to actually get to the lobby and a bit longer for anyone to take our bags. While we ended up lugging them up the lobby’s stairs, someone did eventually offer to take care of them. 

The lobby itself was crowded with families travelling with young children, which I imagine are the main target audience of the resort. As expected, it became rather noisy in the lobby, particularly during the afternoon. I checked in at ~14.20 and was told to wait since the room was not ready. Fair enough, I found this understandable since the resort’s published check-in time is at 15.00. Our check-in agent was very indifferent about the process and just simply went about the registration formalities; he was neither friendly nor unfriendly. 

I sat in the lobby area as I waited for the room to be ready. There were staff members going around offering a fruity-looking welcome drink, although I was never offered any. While I didn’t mind it at all, I thought that was an interesting observation. I eventually got the room keys around an hour later, at 15.20, after asking about it. Although the arrival experience left much to be desired, I did like the look of the lobby which I thought to look quite elegant.

Classic Pool-view Room

With keys in hand, we headed down to the third floor of the building, where our room was located. Upon exiting the lift, I got rather lost, since all I could see were several meeting large rooms. Signage was unfortunately a bit lacking, and it took a good several minutes for me to realise that the rooms were located behind a nondescript door next to a stairway. 

Room

Our Classic Pool-view Room was moderately sized at 34 sqm, which I thought was neither spacious nor tight. True to its pictures, I found the room’s design to be warm, modern, and rather elegant. While compact, I was also happy that the room included a desk, a feature that many newer hotels unfortunately lack.

Bathroom

The bathroom was of adequate size and featured a separate bathtub and shower setup. There is a large window along the bathtub that looked into the bedroom, I suppose in an effort to make the space look more spacious. While I appreciated the daylight coming in, this isn’t something I really like, especially since there are gaps at the edges of the blinds. I did like that the bathroom was clad in sand-coloured terrazzo, which made it look brighter. In the shower, the resort provided some mediocre house-branded bath amenities.

Balcony

The room also features a small balcony that has two small synthetic wicker garden chairs. The chairs were very light and didn’t feel especially sturdy, making them uncomfortable to sit on. As advertised, the room overlooked the resort’s large saltwater pool. While the view was inherently decent, the combination of the room’s proximity to the pool and the room’s poor soundproofing proved to be a poor combination. Throughout the day, the room would be filled with noises from the pool’s children’s water-park-bucket-splash feature, along with the screaming of children. Thankfully, we weren’t in for much of the day and weren’t too bothered as a result.

Overall, I found the room to be rather mediocre. In fact, mediocre seems to be the ongoing theme of this property. However, I would have to say that the bed and its bedding were exceptional. The combination of the room’s excellent air conditioning along with the bed’s firm mattress, thick duvet, and large pillows made the sleep incredible, particularly after a long day. 

Dining

Mövenpick Chocolate Hour

The Mövenpick repeatedly advertises a ‘Chocolate Hour’, which was also briefly mentioned during check-in and in various information channels (on their website, posters, and on the in-room television). This is held daily at the lobby in the afternoon, although we didn’t get a chance to partake in it due to our schedule. Even so, I’m not entirely sure what it involves, since there were virtually no details about it.

Breakfast

We dined at the resort only for breakfast, which was included in our rate. The meal is served at the all-day dining Anarasa Restaurant located by the poolside on the ground floor of the resort. The breakfast is a buffet offering, involving live cooking stations among other buffet-style selections. There was a sizeable choice of both Western, Indonesian, and Asian dishes available at the restaurant.

After being seated, we were offered coffee and tea, which were brought to the table. However, it often took very long for them to be delivered, making me wish the coffee and tea were self-served. While there is a large selection, the food itself tasted mediocre; neither the food nor the beverages felt very fresh, and their juices were more akin to fruit-flavoured drinks, sadly.

While I kind of expected the food to be average, I was honestly disappointed with one thing – their bircher müsli. For a resort that’s proud of its ‘Swiss’ origin (to an extent that a Swiss flag flies outside the resort), the bircher müsli was poorly made; the dish was excessively sweet and watery but the oats themselves were not moist. I also tried an Indonesian bakso meatball soup, which was much nicer.

Resort Grounds and Pool

With just about 2 hectares of land, the resort isn’t especially spacious; it, for instance, does not feature sprawling tropical gardens found at older resorts like the nearby InterContinental. As such, the garden is limited to the plants and greenery surrounding the resort’s two pools. The resort also does not have beach access but does however offer a large saltwater pool, lined with an artificial sandy beach.

The pool area even features a few water park-like slides and interactive water features for children. This feature was expectedly very popular with the many young guests staying at the time. In addition, there is also a supplementary small adult-only pool. While this is thoughtful on the part of the resort, I’d imagine the proximity to the main pool would make no difference in terms of noise. 

Service

Service throughout the hotel was mediocre. While most staff I encountered were neither friendly nor unfriendly, most just looked very disinterested in their jobs. As such, service was never proactive or personal, although that’s to be expected from a large resort like the Mövenpick. 

To note, there was one day during our three-night stay when we came back to our room late in the afternoon to find it not made up, which I found rather disappointing. But we didn’t really think too much of it after we requested several bottles of water and a change of towels.

Overall

All in all, the Mövenpick is expectedly mediocre. I had no complaints nor did I feel any discontent, although I’d probably pay more and stay elsewhere next time. Despite that, I wouldn’t mind staying here for a short overnight given the room’s excellent sleep quality (assuming no noise). As such, I don’t have any qualms about the stay and I’d be happy to recommend the resort solely for the bed.

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