Tummy Prosperity: Experiencing Bali's Luxurious Authenticity at Nusa Dua Beach Hotel and Spa (Part 1)

Finally, the long awaited day has come! Yesss, the day when we were finally on-board, nicely sitting in the flight taking us off from Jakarta to Bali. Some of you might have noticed from my recent blogposts how busy I've been lately, thus, this short sweet escape perhaps could be one of the sweetest I had this year; such a perfect trip to close my 2016 travel list. Another great thing, this time I was going to this paradise island with my bestfriends, who have continuously been my mood and spirit boosters throughout the year <3.

So here we were, in Nusa Dua, where the fascinating trip began. It's a pleasure to finally be back here after the last time I visited this particular touristy spot of Bali last January. However, this time we were staying in different hotel, now it's the turn for Nusa Dua Beach Hotel and Spa, which was actually located right next to the well-known Kayu Manis Private Villa and Spa. Touching-down at Ngurah Rai International Airport, my friends and I were picked-up by the crew to immediately reach the hotel. One funny story to share, we almost went with the wrong crew as there's someone else held my friend's name when we went out of the arrival gate. Luckily, the correct guy was just next to this 'wrong' one LOL.

OK back to the topic, thanks to the awesome Bali Mandara toll road built, we could reach the hotel just in less than 20 minutes from the airport. It was waaaayyy bigger than I expected, having the size of over 9 hectares. Yes, such a jaw-breaker, wasn't it? It has lots of open-spaces with gorgeous gardens where the birds and squirrels were freely playing, a private beach at the back part of the hotel, and gigantic swimming pools at the center; seductive foods for the eyes which brought you back to the nature.

Having welcome tons of most important people in the country and even the world, this five-star hotel and resorts was culturally designed with classic palace architecture, highlighting the authenticity of Bali. Huge temple-alike gates, stone-carvings, the statues, and even the outdoor cultural theater strongly emphasized how they wanted to serve the guests with traditional Bali vibes.

Having the gigantic space, Nusa Dua Beach Hotel and Spa provided several types of rooms which could basically be classified into 5 big groups:

-Deluxe guest room

-Premier room, as the uplifted version of the first one with additional sitting area and bathroom area, providing extra bathub

-Family room, accommodating the needs of family who brought their kids with them, who could then have additional benefits of access to the kids club

-Palace room, the exclusive one providing more privacy and special services to enjoy

-Suites, 2-level room with 2 bedrooms, complemented with living room, pantry, and dining area

Call me lucky, for this staycation, I got the chance to have myself indulged by their palace room. The palace room itself could be further divided into several types; starting from Palace Club Room, Palace Club Suite, and the other two types which were basically the same as the two I've mentioned but with additional lagoon access. So mine here was the first. Coming in 46 sqm size, the room was surely huge for one person. I was pampered with the spacious bathroom with separated shower room and bathtub in it. Moreover, I also had dedicated 'chilling' space in the room with long sofa located next to the glass door, which allowed me to have direct access to the garden. I even had my other relaxing spot straightly outside that sliding door, where I could enjoy the garden view.

As a special privilege for the guests staying in the Palace Room, you would have the Palace Club Lounge, which was basically one-stop point where you could enjoy so many special services which other common guests wouldn't have. Not only that, you could experience some additional benefits as distinctive guests, such as complimentary pressing service for four garment on your arrival day, complimentary shoe shine service upon request, supporting devices such as charger and others in the lounge. As I mentioned in prior, you would be entitled to higher privacy since you would have private check-in and check-out at the lounge, as well as private breakfast at the same spot. Not only private, the breakfast was even served in both the showcased ones as well as ala carte ones, which would be freshly made by your requests. Another supplementary benefits you would get were the daily afternoon tea available at 3 - 5pm, the daily evening cocktail available at 5.30 - 7pm, and complimentary beverages available for 24 hours; all of which were located at the Palace Club Lounge. They were surely essential, especially for food-enthusiast like me ;). Moreover, if you did need extra time before leaving the hotel, your need would be completely answered here as you're allowed to go for late check-out till 3pm.

If you were here to spend your leisure time and you simply wanted to stay at the hotel for the whole day, enjoying most of the facilities provided, you didn't need to worry as well since the hotel provided quite rich selections of activities to be done within the area. They were quite creative in trying to spoil the guests so you could get a delightful holiday without even had to go anywhere else. Some of the activities provided were Beauty Class, Fruit Carving Class, Coconut Leaf Weaving Class, Balinese Dance Class, Introduction to Scuba Diving, Garden Tour, and most importantly which was the one attracting me the most - Culinary Class and Lunch for which you could even grant a certificate. Unfortunately, as I was only staying for one day in this hotel, I haven't had the time to join either of them yet since I utilized my very first stay here to explore the most from their restaurants. In my part 2 review of Nusa Dua Beach Hotel and Spa, I would dig out more about their restaurants where I dined-in, but in this part 1, I would highlight more on the one I enjoyed as Palace Room guest; the private breakfast at Palace Club Lounge.

Allowing the special guests to have more privacy, the hotel provided separated breakfast venue from the common one the other guests had in Wedang Jahe restaurant though these guests were also free to choose if they wanted to go there. It was such an amusing spot to spend your very first meal of the day as you would be seated in a semi open-air space, where you could be satisfied with the panoramic view from the garden and water fountains. It was quite a spacious one with limited number of people in it, letting you to enjoy high-quality private time.

The service provided was unquestionable as the number of waiters/waitresses were quite abundant and they were highly responsive to any requests raised by the guests. This was such a coddler for me as I was quite hungry after having my long morning swim, enjoying the super large main swimming pool.

Starting from the main stations, there were various bread and pastries, fruits and salads, cold cuts and cheese, cereal, and most importantly tropical fruits! YES, I was impressed by their consistency in delivering the Indonesian concept, and it's even there for our breakfast. So the guests could enjoy Indonesian exotic fruits, which perhaps they couldn't find in their origin countries or they even haven't ever seen before in their lifetime; such as snake fruits, tamarillo, mangoosteen, passion fruit, and many more!

Not only that, as I called-out before, for this private breakfast they provided arrays of dishes, which we could order at the spot and would be freshly made right at the same spot. My friends and I luckily could have all of them to be enjoyed with the rest of the foods we took from the stations. Not to mention, we also had our fresh juice that were made by order as well, to complement our breakfast feast.

Fillet Mignon with Poached Egg

Surprised? Not only you, so did I when I firstly heard of it. Well, having fillet mignon for breakie? Perhaps champion also wouldn't have it everyday LOL. Unfortunately, it was a bit too dry and the texture was hard. Thanks to the poached egg, it saved the dish by going perfectly runny as expected.

Eggs Benedict

Another menu with egg was this second one. It was well-seasoned and tasted quite nice, though honestly said it's not to the level that 'WOW-ed' me. Nonetheless, being a part of the huge breakfast like this, it was a good one to come together with the other foods.

Smoked Salmon Croissant

Not only 'vitamin sea', we did need something from the sea to excite our morning. So there it was, the bright-colored fresh salmon slices mixed with goat cheese and veggies on top of the open-faced flaky croissant. Succulent and healthy option to start the day.

Grilled Salmon

The same protein with the previous one, but served in grilled version. This was my most favorite among the four and the one whose size suited me best as well.

OK, the breakfast was actually just part of what I had to satisfy my tummy here. WHY?? Because I did try the indulging foods from two of their five well-known restaurants, offering five different themes of cuisines; ranging from the signature Indonesian - Raja, the international one by the beach - Tamarind, the Asian Bistro - Maguro, the Italian - Sandro's Pizzeria, and the semi open air breakfast spot - Wedang Jahe restaurant. And special for those who fancied chilling while enjoying light bites or thirst-quencher companions, bars were also there to serve. Starting from Chess Bar which was by the beach, Lobby Bar next to the main entrance, Pool Bar to accompany you while swimming, and Spa Cafe serving healthy menus. Answering your curiosity, I'll be reviewing two of these five in the part 2 review for Nusa Dua Beach Hotel and Spa, so stay tune guys! ;)

Overall, I really enjoyed my experience staying at Nusa Dua Beach Hotel and Spa. Those 'vitamin SEA' and green landscape were surely one of the best parts they offered. For those who wanted to experience the strong Balinese culture, it's doubtlessly one of the best choice to opt for.