Hard Rock Hotel Bali

Before our first stay, we had read several reviews saying that the Hard Rock Hotel Bali is not the place to go if you are looking for something “typically Indonesian”. And yes – that is absolutely true! 😉 If you are looking for a small, traditional Balinese hotel or a quiet resort surrounded by nature, this probably isn’t the right place for you. But that is also exactly why we don’t think the hotel should be criticised for not being something it never intended to be. The Hard Rock Hotel Bali is a modern, international and lively resort with its unmistakable Hard Rock atmosphere – and especially for families with children, it is a fantastic choice. It is also a great base for exploring Bali and taking day trips. We have now stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel Bali three times – over Easter, Pentecost and again at the beginning of August – and each time for more than 9 nights. So by now, we feel that we can genuinely give an honest review based on more than just a short holiday. Unfortunately, we booked our first stay through Expedia. For our following stays, we booked directly with the hotel – and as returning guests, we received some really lovely additional benefits and added value. For us, direct booking was definitely worthwhile. And perhaps this is the biggest compliment we can give: After our very first stay, coming back already felt a little like coming home. ❤️ As we are currently living in Australia for work, our journey to Bali was naturally much shorter than it would have been from Germany. But from the initial electronic reservation, to check-in, throughout our stay, check-out and even the airport shuttle, everything worked perfectly from beginning to end. 🍳 Breakfast – and a special thank you to Ani For breakfast, we would definitely recommend checking out the very back left-hand side of the outdoor terrace. There is actually a second buffet area there. Especially outside peak breakfast hours, it is considerably quieter than the main Starz Restaurant, making it a much more relaxed place to start the day. And a very special thank you goes to Ani! ❤️ She was our absolute favourite at breakfast during every one of our stays. After a while, she knew exactly what we liked – from our coffee and espresso to the extra sparkling water and our two glasses of sparkling wine. 😉🍾 We hardly had to say anything anymore – Ani already knew our preferences. These little personal touches are exactly what make a difference to us and contributed so much to that feeling of being genuinely welcomed and almost like coming home. In the evenings, there are different themed buffet dinners, with one of them included in our package. A very convenient and enjoyable way to finish the day. 🏊‍♀️ The pool area – fun for everyone The pool area is fantastic and perfect for both children and adults. Our girls had an incredible amount of fun and we parents were able to relax as well. One small downside, however, is the area around the children's pool. Because of the way the tiles are arranged, children are almost encouraged to jump from there into the deeper pool area near the whirlpools. In our opinion, this transition is not quite ideal from an architectural point of view, especially as younger children don't always understand where it is safe to jump and where it isn't. Perhaps a different design or clearer separation could improve this. At first, our daughter was not allowed to use the colourful water slides, despite having her swimming certificate, simply because she was too light. 😄 Luckily, Agus, one of the lifeguards, had a simple and very helpful solution: put on a life jacket – and suddenly there was no problem at all! 👍Thank you to Agus for the uncomplicated solution! Our daughter was, of course, delighted that she could finally enjoy the slides. 😄🛝 🫧 Saturday foam party & Aqua Zumba A real highlight for the whole family was the foam party every Saturday! 🫧🎉 And honestly, I think the adults sometimes had even more fun than the children. 😂 The music playlist was surprisingly good – it was almost impossible for parents to just stand at the side of the pool. 🎶🕺💃 Immediately afterwards, there was Aqua Zumba with Jolanda – and what can we say: What an incredibly fit and wonderful woman! 💪😄 Her energy and enthusiasm were absolutely infectious. Even if you only intended to watch, you suddenly felt like joining in. 👧🏼👧🏻 Roxity Kids Club – a little break for parents too One of the things we appreciated most as parents was the Roxity Kids Club. While our girls were having fun, we were able to enjoy some proper time for ourselves and, for example, relax at the Spa. Our package included one full day at the Kids Club per child. For additional days, a full day costs 350,000 IDR per child (approximately €17). And honestly, we think that is absolutely fair. It is also great that you don't have to book the children in for a full day – even just one hour is possible. This makes it very flexible for families. 💆‍♀️💆‍♂️ Spa time for the parents Our package also included vouchers for a 60-minute massage, plus 20% off additional treatments. Of course, we made good use of this and tried several different massages. After a busy day with two children, this was absolute bliss! 🍾 Panji & our little holiday traditions Even though we had not booked the Royalty Level, we were still able to enjoy one of our little holiday traditions at Panji's bar – our obligatory bottle of rosé sparkling wine or alternatively a Gin & Tonic. 🍾🍸 A very special thank you once again to the Manager on Duty for taking such good care of us and always making us feel so welcome. 🍖 Splash Restaurant – our culinary tip Another favourite of ours is the Splash Restaurant right by the pool. Every Saturday there is a buffet, which we really enjoyed. You can go straight from swimming to the restaurant, or let the children continue playing in the water while you enjoy a relaxed meal. And here comes our absolute recommendation: the Tomahawk steak! 🥩However: make sure to ask beforehand whether it is still available! 😂 We went there around four times and unfortunately the Tomahawk was sold out every single time. Understandable – the kitchen obviously only prepares a certain number. But when you have been looking forward to it all day and then hear “sorry, sold out”, it is still a little disappointing. 😉 So: ask first, then order – or better yet, reserve it A very special hello to our two favourite waiters Aram (I hope I got the name right 😉) and G’day! They always looked after us so warmly and attentively. The rest of the Splash team was also fantastic every time. At the pool bar, we were always warmly welcomed by Nite and Adi as well. Our girls were always so happy to see them again – and we were always greeted with the same warmth. These personal encounters are such a big part of what makes the Hard Rock special for us. It isn't just the beautiful rooms, pools or food – it is the people who make a stay truly special. ❤️ 🍝 Jamie Oliver Kitchen The adjoining Jamie Oliver Kitchen is, as you should know, also a franchise restaurant. We had lunch there twice during our stay because we had vouchers. The food was tasty and the service was excellent – absolutely nothing to complain about. However, we have to be honest: the big “Jamie Oliver hype” didn't quite happen for our family. 😄 Perhaps our expectations were simply a little higher because of the name. We would happily eat there again if the opportunity arose, but personally, it wasn't a real highlight of our stay. 🐘🐒🐊🐢 Housekeeping – little surprises that made a big difference We also definitely want to mention the Housekeeping team. The housekeeping service was excellent throughout our stay. We had different members of staff, yet every day there was a new little surprise waiting for our girls. One day it was an elephant, then a monkey, a crocodile, a turtle or another beautifully folded towel animal. 🐘🐒🐊🐢❤️ For us adults, perhaps just a small gesture – for our children, it was a highlight every single day. They could hardly wait to return to the room after an excursion or from the pool to see which animal would be waiting for them this time. 😍 A huge thank you to the entire Housekeeping team! 📸 A very special memory – our photoshoot with Dimas Another wonderful experience we tried during our first stay was the hotel photoshoot with Dimas. My husband is normally someone who absolutely does not enjoy photoshoots. 😂 So we were genuinely surprised by how much fun we all had. Dimas created such a relaxed, friendly and enjoyable atmosphere that even my husband ended up having a great time. 😉 We laughed a lot together and created beautiful, professional family photos that are now very special memories of our time in Bali. ❤️ With two children, I especially appreciate having some professional pictures of all of us together rather than just the usual phone photos. We would definitely recommend the photoshoot – although not for every stay. 😉 Once during a longer Bali holiday is enough for us. But during our first stay, it was a wonderful experience and we are very happy we did it. Thank you, Dimas, for these beautiful memories! 📸🌴❤️ 🎶 Center Stage Bar – the perfect way to end the day The Center Stage Bar was also one of our favourite places to relax at the end of the day. There was live music or a different act every evening, so there was always something happening. The atmosphere was relaxed and enjoyable and, once again, all the staff were incredibly friendly, attentive and helpful. There is also a small snack menu available, which is perfect if you want a little something after dinner or simply want to sit together over a drink. Actually, this applies to the entire hotel: whether at reception, Housekeeping, the restaurants, pool, Kids Club, Spa or bars – we always felt genuinely welcome and well looked after. 🧳 Late check-out – unfortunately a little more complicated this time One small point of criticism, or rather something we found much easier during our previous stays, concerns the late check-out. During our first two stays, we were able to extend our room until 8:00 pm for an additional fee without any problem. Especially when travelling with children and having a later flight, we find this incredibly convenient. It allows you to enjoy your final holiday hours and then get ready for the flight comfortably in your own room instead of having to rely on public showers and changing facilities. For our stay in August, we had initially extended our room only until 6:00 pm. When we then asked about extending it further, reception initially told us that this was not possible at all. After speaking with the manager, we were then told that an extension was actually possible – but only with a room move and an additional charge of 2,000,000 IDR. For us, this was ultimately too expensive and not worth the hassle of moving rooms for just a few additional hours. As I also work in the hotel industry myself, I completely understand that room planning and availability on departure days can be complicated. Nevertheless, we found the procedure in this form a little difficult to understand, especially as we had experienced a much simpler solution during our first two stays. In our opinion, clearer communication at reception and, where availability allows, a similar solution to our previous stays would be desirable. It really is only a small criticism in an otherwise wonderful stay – but precisely because we enjoy coming back so much, we wanted to mention it honestly. 🌴 Our conclusion If you are looking for a quiet, traditional Balinese resort surrounded by nature, then the Hard Rock is probably not the right choice. But if you are looking for a modern, high-quality, family-friendly resort with excellent facilities, a fantastic Kids Club, Spa, various restaurants, a great location and an excellent base for exploring Bali, we can wholeheartedly recommend the Hard Rock Hotel Bali. For us, it has now become much more than just a hotel. After three stays of more than nine nights each, it genuinely feels like a second home in Bali. ❤️ Thank you to the entire Hard Rock Hotel Bali team for the wonderful stays, the great service and for always making us feel so warmly welcomed whenever we return. We will definitely be back! Rock on! 🤘🌴❤️

We stayed 1 night here before catching our return flight home. We booked a family room. We arrived 20 mins before check-in and our room was not ready we were told we would receive an email when it was ready. This never happened. When we finally got the room key we were surprised at the make up of the family room for 4. There was only 1 double bed. I checked at reception and they assured me that it was a room for 4 and that the children would sleep on the seats by the window (these were super hard cushions with no bedding to be found). We asked the hotel staff if they could arrange for someone to make the seats up as beds before we went to dinner. Upon returning from dinner the beds were not made up for the children. We called Reception and someone sorted this immediately. In the morning we realised we only had 2 towels between the 4 of us. We did not sleep well as the rooms were not sound proofed at all and music was playing very loudly from the hotel bar until 12pm. The only good thing about this hotel was the pool and the breakfast. We stayed in less expensive hotels all around Bali but this was a disappointing end to our holiday.

This was our fourth visit to Hard Rock Bali and from the very first moment we arrived we were welcomed back into Rock Royalty like family. We would especially like to thank Daisy, Widya, Rini, Dessy, Novi and Amarda for all the exceptional level of service they provided us over our stay. Nothing is ever too much and you won't find service like this anywhere else! If you are looking at staying at Hard Rock we highly recommend going for the Rock royalty level. The breakfast is like no other, food is absolutely delicious and presented with so much perfection. Afternoon Tea and evening cocktails with canapes really makes your day. The best!! The room service attendants, especially Windiantika, made our room 5 star. The beautiful towel creations and personal messages was a very special touch. We will definitely be visiting again to make more family memories at Hard Rock Bali!

We had the Roxcity suite which had the rock royalty benefits and we felt like royalty. Everyone was so attentive and friendly. It was wonderful. I’d made an incorrect cabana booking and they managed to accommodate us. We were gutted it was only a short stay and even tried to extend our visit whilst onsite. The pool and slides are excellent. The food options great. We had a massage which was wonderful and also the photo shoot which we cannot recommend highly enough. The photos were lovely and it was great to get some family photos that weren’t selfies! It was the highlight of our Bali trip.

Having travelled 48 hours to get to Bali, this was a familiar destination for when we arrived. The pool area with slides were awesome and the bar was great! However, the room was basic and the breakfast buffet was average at best. Glad to have only booked three nights here and move on.