Westin Resort Nusa Dua review, Bali: Luxury without the premium price tag

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Westin Resort Nusa Dua review, Bali: Luxury without the premium price tag

By Kylie McLaughlin
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The Place

The Westin Nusa Dua is a five-star, upscale hotel and part of the US-based hotel chain owned by Marriott International, situated a handy 10 kilometres from Denpasar Airport.

The Location

The Westin's huge pool.

The Westin's huge pool.

Nusa Dua occupies a tiny space on the little nubbin that is Bali's southern Bukit Peninsula. It feels a bit like a gated community of hotels for tourists, made up primarily of high-end resorts, tourist shopping and convention centres among well-manicured gardens. It's a good spot to start a holiday in Bali, especially for first-timers - it's also perfect for families or for those looking to hole up in a resort for a few days, with direct access to good beaches.

The Space

Starting with its cavernous lobby and bar, the Westin is a huge resort on sprawling grounds, with 433 guest rooms. Neat gardens filled with tropical plants surround each of the buildings with ponds and fountains around every corner. There's a huge central swimming pool and grotto, with bars and table tennis, and a private sandy beach. You could easily spend a few days here doing nothing but relaxing and soaking up the atmosphere.

The Room

There is no greater feeling after a long (ish) flight than opening the door to a luxurious hotel room, that's cool with air-conditioning and serviced with a huge bowl of tropical fruit. The "premium rooms" are spacious, with a walk-in wardrobe, wide screen TV, lounge, table, desk and a balcony. The bathrooms are almost as big as the bedroom with a free-standing bath and shower, plenty of bench space, fluffy white towels, and a handy clothesline.

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Service

You cannot fault the service at the Westin. Communication with the concierge can be carried out through Bali's favourite means, Whatsapp. The staff were so happy to have Australians back they would have done backflips had we asked. That being said, they were reluctant to arrange scooters as they're perceived to be dangerous, so I set off on foot to the local hire place only to find myself very lost. I contact concierge via the app who immediately pick me up in a car and deliver me to said scooter hire shop, five minutes in the opposite direction. Now that's what I call service - all with a smile.

The Food

There are six restaurants and bars on the site but only one is open during my stay as tourism has just started to return to the island. Despite what seemed to be a lack of guests, the multiple open kitchens at Seasonal Tastes, its main restaurant, do not hold out on breakfast. The massive restaurant overlooking the pool caters for all different types of cuisine and everything is very, very good. Don't settle on a Western breakfast. Guests can sample cuisines ranging from Indonesian to Japanese, featuring little parcels wrapped in banana leaves to tiny okonomiyaki to plates of noodles and rice with seafood. Found a favourite? Too bad, everything is rotated daily. There are also fresh tropical fruits and juices and decent coffee, and the staff are so happy to have us Aussies back it almost brings a tear to the eye as they stop to chat and listen to our stories. Shout out to the Westin for making our group - on the first direct Jetstar flight from Australia - a phenomenal Indonesian-themed dinner, showcasing a wide variety of local cuisine - illustrating the dining possibilities once the hotel's restaurants reopen (at time of writing, five of the six had reopened).

Stepping Out

Once I got rolling on my scooter, I hit the multi-lane main road out towards Ubud which was much easier and less trafficked than trying to get out of Kuta or Seminyak, plus everything is signposted. Locally, there was not much happening in Nusa Dua at the time of my stay. My old favourite Bumbu Bali on Tanjung Benoa was yet to open (I was two days too soon - it reopened on March 19) so you're best bet is to explore the coastline of Uluwatu with its bars, restaurants and shops around 40 minutes away by vehicle. In walking distance is shopping centre Bali Collection (I didn't venture in) plus there are some good hotel restaurants in the vicinity. I tried the Arwana, a beachfront restaurant at the back of the Laguna Hotel next door to the Westin. In the era of COVID, the hospital close by was handy for PCR testing with a quick turnaround.

The Verdict

For reliable luxury and great service, the Westin Nusa Dua is a welcoming start to any Balinese holiday.

Essentials

Rooms start from about $150 per night; www.marriott.com

Highlight

The food and the service come out on equal prize footing here.

Lowlight

If I must complain, the rug next to the bed seemed to slip when I stepped on it, which could potentially be an OH&S issue.

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