AYANA Segara Bali — Hotel in Kuta Selatan

We're staying at Ayana Segara for three nights. It's been a huge disappointment; this resort is incorrectly priced. It's priced as a luxury resort, but the quality is equivalent to a theme resort -- like Disney. I'll share the impressive parts first.

Ayana Segara is a part of three connected resorts -- Ayana, Ayana Segara, and Ayana Rimba. We had a two-hour massage at Ayana. We've been deliberately seeking out good massages worldwide and were very impressed with the skills. Our massagers had a deep knowledge of the muscular system and were familiar with the medical terminology of most muscle groups. The techniques were unique, and when asked, they said their trainer is a Japanese who comes every year to train them.

We were very impressed with the Kampoeng Bali Restaurant at Ayana Rimba. We attended a festival involving a sunset dance, a Kecak dance (monkey chant), and a fire dance. Excellently performed in an outdoor setting, while we had a local buffet.

Now about the disappointments.

Ayana Segara's landscaping, construction, and interior furnishing cheaps out everywhere. The quality is notably theme-resort quality and not that of a luxury resort.

The room is spacious; however, there are barely any shelves for organization. This will make an extended stay frustrating, unless you're still in college and are okay with a room with things randomly lying around. Plenty of spaces to furnish with shelves; but they decided to cut the cost.

The walkways, bricks, and exterior are all made with theme-park-grade material. It's a short walk from Ayana Segara to Ayana; but they've decided not to landscape the path with lights to make it a safer walk during the evening.

Fallen leaves are left on the ground for much longer than usual; again, theme-resort quality.

The lack of consistency across the spaces makes Ayana Segara feel even more like a Bali-themed resort. The lobby is a very Balinese design; the pool is contemporary, and the SCUSA area is a contrastly different Mediterranean design.

The staff's training isn't on par with luxury resorts. We told the staff who checked us in to please have someone deliver some bottled water to us, because the ones in our room were defective. Nothing happened. We had to call again.

The day we checked in, there was a big evening festival and dance at Kampoeng Bali Restaurant, but none of the staff who processed our check-in mentioned this to us. We figured it out ourselves just because we're seasoned travelers.

We reserved the Rock Bar through the front desk; but the staff forgot to mention to us that with the day's weather, our 4pm reservation would be too hot since it's an outdoor bar without any shading. Fortunately, we figured this out ourselves.

Finally, Ayana Segara also feels more like a jam-packed managed apartment. There are so many people and kids it's hard to find quiet time. If you want quietness, peace of mind, and wellness, this resort won't be for you.

Overall, it's a nice resort, but it's incorrectly priced. It's priced in the range of a luxury resort, but it's...

If you are considering staying in Segara, don't hesitate to book your holiday here, you won't regret it.

It's hard to impress us, but Segara exceeded all our expectations. We stayed in various hotels in Bali with price point ranging from AUD 700 to 2,000 per night and nothing beats Segara.

Food: LUNA Bar: Absolutely delicious, we enjoyed every item on the menu in Luna Bar. Beef rendang sliders and bruschetta were our favourite. Thanks to chef Putra, amazing food! Also, cocktails at Luna were fantastic.

Scusa restaurant: no words, just wow! Set menu is a must try and good value. Rum Baba is the best desert I have had in my life, we returned 3 times just to enjoy it. Pasta is house made and exceptionally tasty. Life music creates a romantic vibe. Staff members are so professional and caring. Tonny looked after us and created an unforgettable experience.

Rock Bar: Overrated and overpriced. We ordered some mains from the restaurant and everything was cold and lacked flavour. Then we returned to Bar area the next day and ordered a few tapas: calamari, beef kofta, maki rolls, chicken popcorn, and beef sliders. Everything was awful, below cheap food court quality, waste of money. Cocktails were average. However, the view was great.

Sami Sami: The worst pizza I've ever had, soggy crust, tasteless toppings.

Room: Everything is so modern, clean and has a twist of Balinese traditional style. All the bells and wisttles are there! We had a garden view room on top floor, it was spacious and well designed. A special note and big thanks to housekeeping team, they are so thoughtful and every day our room was spotless. They left lovely notes for us and towel animals, so cute! As for tech aspect, great tools: TV integration with YouTube and Netflix, many international channels and great mobile phone app, so easy to navigate and very helpful. The only problem is that tram schedule in the app is not accurate and in some cases, late by up to 20 minutes.

Facilities: Breathtaking views from Ocean Pool and Kubu Beach. Great adult pool in Rimba. So much to do in this hotel, you won't get bored! I enjoyed bath bomb making class in Jamu & Spice, very interesting experience. The only lowlight was that pool staff allowed guests with small kids to Luna pool area, which is supposed to be adults only pool and bar.

Service: Perfect at all times, the staff went above and beyond! We will definitely return to this...

Massive resort split into 3 distinct sub hotels with Segara being the newest, Ayana the OG, and Rimba technically meant to be most kid friendly. The resort’s location is quite far from most things being south of the airport, with Seminyak about 40 min by car, Canggu about 1.5h by car.

Segara has very modern decor - think Japanese meets Balinese. Beds are comfy, water pressure decent. Overall feels semi-luxury but I wouldn’t put it in the same category as Intercontinental for example (which is the same price range). Service is very warm, but sometimes too “present”. With resorts sometimes you almost want service to be omnipresent rather than in front of you. Also staff could be better trained to actually be helpful for any problems that need solving (quite a common SE Asia resort problem eg in Danang, Hua Hin, Phuket, etc).

Rimba’s facilities looked great, adults and kids pool separate. Breakfast views excellent were to die for. Food quality seems to be better than the other 2 options too.

Ayana is the OG, which means a bit more dated. Breakfast was quite mediocre there. Looked like many people having fun in the infinity pools.

The shops were a nice touch - felt like I was almost in European boutiques. Not cheap though.

Rock Bar was the biggest failure in my opinion. Very hyped up, lots of people lining up to take photos and to visit. Reservations are a must. Prices are sky high (my negroni pictured was about US$19 including tax), a Coca Cola would set you back US$11. Quality of the drink was rather mediocre (if you want to charge NYC Manhattan price for cocktails, at least have a proper, cold large ice cube rather than one from a mould with a hole). Cup was barely at the halfway mark which just doesn’t feel right (you can use a smaller cup if so). I would recommend a singular visit, or just take some photos and move on. Nothing like the “top Asia bar” as advertised.

Overall Ayana is a beautiful resort for those looking at a all-in-one place experience. Plenty of restaurants, facilities, etc, which will keep you busy for at least 3-4 days.

Expect very high international prices, however. A regular/mediocre meal would set you back about US$50-80/person. Which is quite untypical for Bali (even at high end restaurants on the rest of the island). The charm of the resort does grow on you though. It’s quiet and tucked away from the bustle...