The Legian is amongst Seminyak’s most iconic resorts. Opened in 1991, the resort’s stature is only rivalled by the neighbouring Oberoi Bali, which itself opened in 1972 as the Kayu Aya. In fact, the street on which The Legian lies was once called Jalan Oberoi before recently being renamed Jalan Kayu Aya. The Legian was until 2016, a part of GHM’s once impressive portfolio of hotels, which has since sadly faded into oblivion. The resort has since been operated independently, in this case by a management company that’s rather unfortunately called LHM.

Amongst other resorts in Seminyak, The Legian is especially notable for its architecture. Its interior design is a masterpiece of the late Jaya Ibrahim, who also designed many other GHM hotels and Amanresorts, including The Setai, The Datai, and the Chinese Amans. The main building’s exteriors were designed by the late Hendra Hadiprana, who owned The Chedi Club Tanah Gajah in Ubud.

Table of Contents

Location

Despite its name, The Legian is ironically not located in the Legian district north of Kuta. Instead, it is located right in the centre of Seminyak, close to many places that had been trendy in recent years. The streets of the area are lined with high-street shops selling everything from furniture to bikinis. There are also many restaurants and cafés nearby and particularly trendy ones too. Yet, even the most popular places honestly had average-tasting and inauthentic dishes, which were disappointing given what they were charging.

Arrival and Check-in

We drove straight to Seminyak after checking out of the exceptional Alila Villas Uluwatu. Once in the neighbourhood, we circled Jalan Kayu Aya twice, given how easy it was to miss the entrance to The Legian. When we finally made it in, a doorman quickly approached us. Funnily enough, he was quite surprised when we mentioned we were checking in. When we clarified we were staying at their villas, his face lit up with a sigh of relief. We were then ushered to The Club by The Legian across the street. I guess we must have been the only guests to check in that day!

The Club at The Legian

That doorman must have communicated to The Club’s reception, since we were immediately greeted by our assigned butler when we got there. Our luggage was promptly handled and we were brought to The Club’s reception for check-in. As we were signing the registration forms, we were offered drinks and cold towels. Impressively, we could request anything we wanted since there wasn’t a set welcome drink.

At this time, the resort’s manager, Alain, came to personally welcome us and wished us a pleasant stay. This was very thoughtful and reminded me a lot of my past stays at an Aman. Following this, our butler walked us over to our villa whilst explaining the club benefits of the resort (which I’ll expand on later).

Our One Bedroom Pool Villa

As soon as we arrived at the villa, our butler graciously acquainted us with the features of the villa and ensured that we had all we needed. At 450 sqm, the villa compound is very much immense. Whilst there is admittedly a lot of wasted space towards one side of the villa, I imagine that only added to the feeling of its sheer spaciousness.

Pool and outside areas

Over half of the compound is taken by the generous lawn and gardens. Located to the left of the entrance is a sizeable koi pond with fountains that generate a constant sound of flowing water.

Next to this is a small balé pavilion equipped with a dining table and a full minibar with a coffee machine. For reference, The Legian uses BOCA Espresso coffee and TWG Tea. There is also a cute decorative coconut that’s filled with small sweets replenished each day.

Right in front of this pavilion is the villa’s 10-metre-long pool, featuring a pair of sun loungers at one end. Near the sun loungers is a decorative tugu monument which kind of obstructs the view of the pool.

Finally, along the side of the villa are a couple of very comfortable daybeds, that are conveniently equipped with power outlets and lamps. I found the daybeds to be a particularly nice place to lounge and use my laptop on.

Living Room

Next to the daybeds is the main door into the villa. Immediately inside is the gorgeous full living room, featuring a large sofa and two lounge chairs. A television is housed inside the cabinet, which it shares with a second fully-equipped minibar.

For one, I was really impressed by the symmetry of the interior design. Combined with the black terrazzo flooring and dark wooden accents, the interiors exuded a very beautiful and elegant look. To kick it up a notch, the soft lighting even made the place feel intimate and warm. Seriously though, how beautiful is this living room?

Sadly, despite the stunning design, some things weren’t very user-friendly. For instance, I thought that table surfaces are very lacking in the villa, and I found that the three mini tables by the sofa often felt unstable.

Bedroom

Immediately behind the living room is the bedroom area, which comparatively kind of felt small. It is equipped with a four-poster queen bed, complete with a canopy. Right in front of the bed is another television, separate from the one in the living room. Whilst a bit small, I found the bed to be very comfortable to sleep in, being neither too firm nor too soft.

Sadly, the bedroom frustratingly also lacks sufficient table surfaces. Despite the two nightstands, I thought that they were too small and cluttered to meaningfully sustain any purpose. Much like the living room tables, the nightstands are also quite unstable and could fall over very easily. In the end, I placed most of my things on the bed’s headboard which doubles as a small console.

Bathroom

Continuing on, the villa’s bathroom is located just behind the bedroom. In the first area is the washroom, equipped with a pair of sinks placed on each side, with a small corridor leading to the outside bathtub between them. The sinks are each complemented by a laundry hamper. This area also doubles as a walk-in closet that also features a large luggage rack. Like the rest of the villa, I thought that the washroom looks stunning. I also especially liked the live orchids placed atop each sink.

Behind the sinks are the beige terrazzo-clad toilet and indoor shower cubicles. The shower in particular has both rain and handheld showerheads, which I liked. Provided were toiletries in large reusable bottles that were branded ‘Wellness by The Legian’. Whilst they are hotel-branded, the gels and lotions were very nice and high quality. I also really liked that there are towels everywhere, very much akin to my experiences at Amanresorts.

Finally, behind them is the oversized outdoor bathtub, in a setup very similar to the one at Tanah Gajah Ubud. The bathtub is beautifully surrounded by a lotus pond and opens straight into the sun lounger area by the pool. Bath salts are conveniently provided, along with two more towels. A candle is also provisioned to cozy up the mood.

Design observations

Again, like the rest of the villa, I had some gripes about the functionality of the design. Whilst beautiful, I really didn’t the outdoor tub. The water flow from its tap wasn’t strong, meaning that it took a very long time to fill up. When it is finally full, the hot water would, unfortunately, have become cold). Sigh. Furthermore, the shower also had a drainage issue that meant that the drain overwhelmed very easily, making long showers not ideal.

Apart from that, the villa was very comfortable and relaxing.

Club Benefits

As a legacy of its time being a GHM-affiliated resort, generous club amenities are provided to every guest staying at The Club by The Legian. Many of the amenities are similar to that at Tanah Gajah Ubud, which itself was once a GHM property called The Chedi Club. As such, they included breakfast, minibar provisions, afternoon tea, evening cocktails, and laundry, which were all complimentary. What’s most impressive is that the laundry service had no item limit and the minibar is constantly topped up over the day. It’s really quite incredible!

In addition to all of these inclusions, guests at The Club are also offered complimentary private car services within Seminyak and to/from the airport. For this, The Legian has a fleet of silver Mazda CX-5 SUVs, which I found very comfortable.

Club Treats

Upon arrival in the villa, we were met with a signed welcome card from the resort’s General Manager, alongside a fruit plate and a cold bottle of lemongrass-infused water. Also, there was each a bottle of hand sanitiser and a convenient insect repellent. Like the minibar, the fruits were nicely topped up each time the room is refreshed, a lot like a legacy Amanresort.

Also waiting for us was a daily replenished pair of coconut lamingtons, aptly placed inside a decorative coconut. Talking about treats, I really liked the generous minibar, which features fresh cookies and crisps, in addition to many snacks and beverages (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic). They even had bottles of kombucha, which while a bit too sour, was very still very nice!

Finally, when we told our butler about our request for extra bottles of water, he made thoughtfully sure we had an unlimited supply of water. At any given moment during our stay, there had at least been 12 bottles of water waiting for us. Nicely enough, the water came in sealed LHM-branded glass bottles, which are sustainable and looked very elegant. Yet, many of those bottles sadly had dysfunctional seals that don’t break when the cap is twisted. This was quite annoying, but also just me nitpicking.

Turndown service

As expected from a resort of this calibre, turndown service was automatically provided each night. They were even done proactively, since we always came back to find the villa already turned down by our butler. In addition to the refreshing of the linens, any consumed item in the minibar was promptly topped up. I don’t think you could possibly go hungry staying here!

Dining

As mentioned with the club benefits, breakfast and afternoon tea are both included for all guests at The Club. That said, the food was probably the more disappointing aspect of The Legian. Between taste and quality, the food seemed merely mediocre, especially compared to other luxury resorts like Aman Villas Nusa Dua, Alila Villa Uluwatu, or even COMO Uma Ubud.

Afternoon Tea

Afternoon tea is available between 15.00 and 16.30 and can be taken either in the villa, at The Club reception, or by the main pool of the resort. It comes in a three-tier set featuring savoury items like finger sandwiches and desserts, in addition to a choice of drinks. To me, the afternoon tea was the better of the two meals, since I found the food to be higher quality than breakfast.

Breakfast

Breakfast is ordered from an à la carte menu and can be had in the villa, at the Club Reception, or at The Restaurant in the main building. Despite the first option, I would not recommend having it in the villa, as the food more often than not arrives cold.

The Good

Over the duration of my stay, I was able to sample many of their breakfast dishes. To start on a positive note, the Eggs Royale and Nasi Goreng I tried was really quite good. The smoked salmon of the Eggs Royale was, in particular, very nice since it was similar in quality to Scottish smoked salmon. Additionally, both the fruits and juices were very fresh and tasty. Interestingly, the fruit platters came with some sort of yoghurt on the side. It also had mangoes, which I really liked!

The Decent

Continuing on, their bread and pastries were fine but not anything special. Unfortunately, they were neither buttery nor fragrant but tasted good enough, otherwise. The breakfast omelette was also fine, but likewise nothing really special. I did appreciate that it came with spinach and mushrooms.

The not-so-good

What was disappointing, though, were the other options. Whilst probably a matter of personal preference, they sadly just didn’t taste very good. For instance, I tried a tapioca porridge which I found to be overwhelming rich. Despite being served with fruits, it was slightly salty since it was covered in coconut milk and was not at all sweet. 

Next was the charcuterie platter. Whilst the cheese in the platter was rather nice, I couldn’t say the same about the cold cuts. They just tasted mediocre and was similar to the ones you’d get at a supermarket aisle. Perhaps I had been spoilt by the incredible quality at Alila Villas Uluwatu…

Additionally, the Indonesian rice congee, bubur ayam, tasted rather bland and was served lukewarm. Likewise was sadly the case for the Indonesian soto ayam soup. Finally, their Indonesian fried noodles, mie goreng, unfortunately tasted crude and bland. The difference was night and day compared to the incredible mie goreng we had at Tanah Gajah. Sigh…

Despite the mostly mediocre food, the service at The Restaurant was exceptionally good. The restaurant staff were warm and very polished in making sure that each plate was placed correctly facing us. They were also great at making conversation, too.

Resort Grounds and Amenities

Unlike many older resorts in Bali, The Legian does not have expansive gardens of any sort. Yet, the gardens it does have all looked very impressive and elegant. Most of them are located near the beachside behind the main hotel building and often incorporate a large water feature.

Pools

The Legian has a single pool located by the beach, behind the main hotel building. The ocean-viewing main pool is impressively three-tiered, although it didn’t quite look as dramatic as the one at Amankila, for example. There are many daybeds and sun loungers around the pool, which meant it wasn’t difficult to get one.

In addition to the main pool, guests staying at The Club also have access to a smaller club pool behind the reception. It remained mostly quiet during my stay and I didn’t see anyone using it.

Beach

Whilst the pool is really quite nice, Seminyak Beach is a bit of a mixed bag. The sand is an unattractive shade of grey, different from the white sanded beaches in Nusa Dua and the black sanded beaches of eastern Bali. In addition, the beach is quite narrow and is often littered with marine debris. Despite that, The Legian’s beachkeepers tediously ensure that the beachfront by the resort is always neat and free of debris. Note that there aren’t any sun loungers on the beach.

Over everything, the west-facing Seminyak does have the benefit of getting beautiful views of the sunset. The views from the resort’s main pool, in particular, were unfailingly gorgeous.

Fitness Centre

Combined with the Spa is the Fitness Centre, which are both located in the main building. The fitness centre is quite expansive and is equipped with a variety of fitness equipment. Since it was occupied when I was visiting, I didn’t feel comfortable taking a picture of it, so here’s one from their website.

Service

Service at The Legian was overall very good. There was significant attention to detail and felt mostly proactive, whether from our butler or the pool attendants at the main hotel. Most impressively, our butler knew how to find us wherever we went in the resort, and also whenever we are back at our villa. He also made sure to inform our presence to the staff at other sections of the resort, meaning that we never had to mention our villa number.

I would also have to note that the driver who took us around Seminyak and to the Airport very courteous and thoughtful. I was very impressed that he was able to calculate precisely when he needed to pick us up, without us even asking. Kudos to him for his incredible service!

In addition, I also found that the service at the pool to be very impressive, given how proactive it was. Cold towels and water are also offered instantaneously, as soon as we were seated. Additionally, whenever I worked on my laptop by the pool, the pool attendant quickly came up to me to offer a laptop stand. Very nicely done, The Legian!

That said, the service culture did feel like it was rather inflexible, where the attitude were more to-the-book rather than can-do. For instance, the resort’s private car service had to be requested far in advance as opposed to being available last minute. I thought this was quite inconvenient as a result.

Overall

Overall, The Legian is undeniably an incredible resort with an equally stunning design. Despite that, the resort didn’t quite impress me as much as I would hope it would. The villas, service, and location were all great, although the food was specifically the less-nice aspect of our stay. 

Having said that, nothing of it makes The Legian a bad choice—not at all. The resort remains a very decadent option, and even more so between others Seminyak. In fact, it is still my belief that The Legian is the neighbourhood’s best resort and it is likely where I would stay. Having said that, perhaps it is the location in Seminyak that made the stay seem less wonderful than I hoped it would(?)

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