Le Meridien Bali Jimbaran is a hotel I’ve long wanted to check out, given its interesting and unique design over others in Bali. But for some reason, I’ve never really made it into staying here; Over the years, I’ve had not just one, but three stays here, ending up being cancelled. Well, that is until this stay.

Location

Le Meridien is located on the white-sanded Jimbaran Beach, famed for its rows of beachside, local grilled fish ‘warung’ eateries. In fact, just behind the hotel lies a row of these grilled fish eateries. Before staying, I’ve heard complaints about the hotel being prone to getting the resulting smoke blown into its property, due to the proximity to the warungs. Thankfully this wasn’t the case during our stay, for all I had breathed in was the fresh sea breeze from the area.

The hotel is also located nearby a few upmarket resorts: Four Seasons, Raffles, Belmond Jimbaran Puri, and the Kayumanis. Frankly, there isn’t much else to do in the direct vicinity of the hotel apart from those seafood eateries (which can be a hit or miss), and Jimbaran Beach isn’t the most beautiful nor most pleasant Bali has to offer.

In addition, do note that the hotel does not have direct beach access; the beach’s entrance requires a 5-minute walk from the hotel.

Arrival and Check-in

Our arrival experience wasn’t entirely pleasant. For whatever reason, the hotel cordoned off its driveway to the porte-cochère by the lobby on Level 3. In place of that, everyone is instead dropped off at a small welcome area on the ground level, accessible after a hasty security check. Upon arrival, the porter there reconfirmed our reservation before offering to take our bags and pointed us the directions to the lobby. Following those instructions, heading to the lobby required a walk down a long, dark hallway, before ascending up using the elevators. What a start!

Once at the eclectically designed lobby on Level 3, we were quickly seated at a desk and a friendly agent checked us in. We arrived at 13.00, before the published check-in time, and that was where the confusion came in. The agent who checked us in informed us that our room was ready… only for her colleague to come up and interject that it was not, citing the 15.00 check-in time. Our agent then retorted that it was indeed ready. Hmmm…

We did end up being issued a single keycard around 20 minutes after that awkward exchange. Handing the keycard, our friendly agent pointed us in the direction of our room. However, that was not before I took a look around the lobby’s eccentric and sometimes creepy artwork… I definitely wouldn’t want to be here alone in the dark at night!

Our Lagoon-view Deluxe Room

During our reservation, we had been booked into an entry-level Classic Room; however, we were unexpectedly upgraded to a Lagoon-view Deluxe Room during check-in by our friendly check-in agent. 

At 62 sqm, the room is especially spacious for a non-suite – and it definitely felt that way! Our room had been designed to look ‘chic’ and ‘trendy’, in line with Le Meridien’s brand profile… and was probably so when it opened. Sadly, as with many trendy designs, I thought the room looked quite outdated at this point. I honestly wasn’t fond of the grey and cool colour palette of the room, which only made the already dim lighting look even darker and less inviting. That, and the fact that nothing about the room looked especially inspired by Bali…

While spacious, I couldn’t but feel that the space is poorly utilised. There were many spartanly furnished areas that made the room look awkwardly spaced. Furthermore, there weren’t a lot of table surfaces and storage areas, despite the size of the room. Sadly, it also looked like the hotel struggled to maintain their rooms. There was significant wear and tear everywhere… For instance, there were multiple electrical socket covers that kept falling off their frame(!) and lots of worn-out items of furniture. The room also felt damp, sadly. Between all of that and the dark lighting, the room simply looked rather rundown and desperately in need of significant refurbishment. Perhaps a full-scale renovation is in order? 

Bathroom

Much like the rest of the room, the bathroom is likewise clad in some beautiful local marble. At first glance, it looked really nice but sadly suffers from the same unmaintained state. The bathtub’s drain knob was displaced and looked as if it were about to fall off; there also was quite a lot of mould in the shower’s silicone sealant. Interestingly (and perhaps unsurprisingly), the toiletries weren’t from Malin+Goetz as one ought to expect from a Le Meridien. Everything else was fine, however.

Balcony

The room opens into a spacious balcony, which I thought was very nice. In retrospect, it was probably the most inviting space in the room. The balcony features two small chairs and a table, along with a ceiling fan, in case it gets very hot. The view of the hotel from the balcony was nice enough. While I wished the chairs were bigger (considering the size of the balcony), I was quite happy to spend my time there.

Amenities and Pool

The hotel has a massive saltwater pool that pretty much covers the entirety of the hotel’s courtyard. There are many loungers surrounding the pool, along with a nice-looking swim-up bar. I also really liked the shape of the pool, and its tile design, which gave the pool water its teal colour. In fact, I think the pool/courtyard area is the most inviting area of the hotel, and I was quite happy to spend time there. The hotel also has a gym, although I didn’t manage to take a picture of it.

Additionally, Le Meridien also has a back entrance at its WaLa restaurant that goes to the beachside seafood eateries. I didn’t eat at any of the hotel’s dining options, so I won’t be commenting on those; if anything, I tried the ice cream from their leScoop ice cream stand, a few years back. Back then, they had many interesting flavours (like charcoal coconut) and really liked it.

Service

We didn’t encounter too many staff members but they mostly seemed well-intentioned and were friendly enough… apart from that awkward misunderstanding at check-in. Service never seemed proactive, but I think that’s to be expected from a hotel of this scale. 

Overall

Overall, I thought that Bali’s Le Meridien is more a case of fashion over function. Even so, the hotel’s interiors seemed to be sadly, largely unkept. The hotel’s relatively eclectic design didn’t seem to have aged very well, and its grey paint scheme only made the place seem rather grim. Whilst the pool does look rather nice, it does feel boxed-in, and the shortcomings with much of the hotel’s other hardware sadly outweigh this positive. I really wanted to like this hotel, but alas, I suppose it was never meant to be.

Unless a major overhaul is underway, I’m afraid Le Meridien Bali Jimbaran is not a hotel I can recommend.

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