Grand Mirage Resort & Thalasso Bali — Hotel in Kuta Selatan

We had an amazing stay with our 2 and a half year old. It was completely relaxing and stress free. Absolutely beautiful beach out the front, plenty of activities, consistently good food across the resort, nice quiet location, fantastic 5 star service and friendly staff. Very, very toddler friendly resort with plenty of activities and shallow areas in both main pools. Short scenic walk along the beach path between the two buildings. ||Room |New Premier Ocean View - Main Building|Beautiful room. Spacious. Huge Comfy bed (King) and fluffy pillows. Big smart tv. Great shower. Amazing views. Beautiful Balinese decor. |(Noticed a horrible damp smell when we first arrived, possibly from previous water damage but got used to it after a few days)||Dining||Jukung Seafood Grill was our favourite outside on the beach where our toddler could run around. Beautiful modern decor and stunning bamboo architecture. Food was consistently good (highly recommend the tuna tartare and chargrilled octopus, husband had some really good steaks too) tiramisu dessert to die for !||Chopstix Chinese at Family Paradise |We ate here on our last night and the food was incredible ! It was set menu, entree & 3 mains , sides and veggies. We had crab and sweet corn soup for starters and shared noodles and sautéed vegetables, sweet & sour pork and chilli prawns for dinner. So so good. And our fussy little eater devoured a bowl of rice and lemon chicken. ||Breakfast buffet |Ate at the main resort buffet every morning where we were staying. So much selection. (Food pretty good and tasty but some items often not very fresh like waffles or bacon) Coffees were pretty good and the service is amazing, I don’t know how they smash out so many coffees so quickly. The team do a really great job. ||Mahi Mahi (Family Building Pool Side Restaurant)|Great pizzas, tasty chips and calamari! That’s all we had but hit the spot. ||Drinking||Cocktails are very hit and miss so stuck to Pina Coladas which seemed to be pretty consistently good at all bars and restaurants and not overly heavy and creamy. Caipirinhas were nice too (when topped up with soda) Also had a decent espresso cocktail at Jukung too (served on the rocks) but unfortunately most of the cocktails are made with very cheap local spirits and overly sweet liqueurs which I feel would be very disappointing for non all-inclusive guests. I didn’t mind as much being all-inclusive because If I didn’t like it, I’d just order another one.Tiramisu cocktail from the coconut swim up bar was made with coffee, butterscotch liquor and strawberry liquer which was incredibly odd and yes it tasted as bad it sounds. I really feel this is something they could improve on. A new cocktail menu, just 8-10 cocktails made properly with proper cocktail training for staff. The classics like margarita and mai tai should taste like a margarita and a mai tai, not petrol and cough syrup.||Room Service |We used room service quite a bit actually. Came in handy when our little one was napping during the day and for late dinners after being out for the afternoon. Pizzas are really good. Particularly loved the al Funghi pizza and truffle fries. Nasi Goreng was very good (however second time I ordered it, it had a very strong chlorine taste which was weird) chocolate creme brûlée dessert- delicious! ||WhatsApp reception contact for room service items like extra towels, tea bags etc was really handy. Very responsive and very quick to come to your room with anything you need ||Pools |We spent a lot of time at the main building swim up bar. Shallow water all around the seats where our toddler loved the play while we could sip and drink cocktails. Awesome shallow baby pool in one end of the pool too. ||Family side pool was great! Spent a few mornings here. Some nice shady shallow areas. (Our toddler loved the monkeys squirting water and the giant water slide!) ||Mini waterpark was great fun! Great little workout climbing those stairs before a day nap 😉 ||Lazy River|Huge hit for the whole family ! Awesome vibe. DJ pumping tunes in the afternoon. Great service. Super relaxing. New lazy river bar is very cool. A nice clean, modern look with some fresh pastries, sandwiches and desserts. ||Infinity Pool was beautiful. Enjoyed a few sunrise coffees here before the family woke up. ||Beach |Beautiful beach. Very very clean white sand. The staff are always tidying rubbish and using a special device to make the sand flat and pretty looking ! Plenty of day beds and loungers.||Kids Club |Very good actually. My toddler boy loved it! Nursery rhymes on the tv, soft play area, large dolls house and plenty of trucks and dinosaurs for him to play with. I struggled to get him out of there. Door opens onto water park but they lock it for safety and you have to ring a doorbell to get back in. Nice toilets out the back and a large outdoor grassy area with legos to play with. Big baby room with beds, books, teddies, bouncers, walkers etc. the ladies in there were so lovely and friendly too. ||Activities |Turtle release was a fantastic experience! Animal show was awesome. Outdoor playground and trampoline were a big hit too and the two random goats beside the trampoline that you can feed! Movie night with free popcorn was lovely too. Missed the foam party and water sports, mainly because we ran out of time. So much to do ! Husband had a go at the water volley ball one day which seemed really fun and good atmosphere and the aerobics was good too. Our toddler enjoyed the music and tried to join in! I went for a nice bike ride one day which was fun. You can’t really go too far but it’s still a nice ride and you can take a sneak peak at the other resorts next door. ||Spa |The newly renovated Thalasso Spa is fabulous ! We had two vouchers from our Luxury Escapes deal which we used on the last day and what a way to end the week. So luxurious and amazing massage. We were truly pampered. ||Entertainment |We went to the Rama Entertainment on a Monday night after we arrived. The buffet was pretty average to be honest (bbq meat served cold and cold hard shell tacos) and they had a Beatles tribute band which was a bit boring. Our toddler enjoyed the dancing afterwards though and they had painting for kids. The entertainment Wednesday night seemed a lot busier and the band sounded a lot better and more lively and we got a glimpse of the fire dancers when we walked by which looked pretty cool! ||Laundry |I was excited to have laundry included but on the first day they lost my denim shorts and returned two items still stained (coffee and ice-cream stains) so we didn’t use the laundry service again. ||Location|Resort is located in Benoa, outside of the gated Nusa Dua area. Streets are well paved and safe unlike other area in Bali, and there’s a coco mart store directly across the road and a massage, hair braiding and nail spa (Amigos) where the girls are so lovely and friendly ! And only $5 AUD for a 30 minute massage. There’s a sports bar across the road and plenty of restaurants. ||All-Inclusive |An amazing experience that everyone should experience at least once in their lives ! We got a great deal on Luxury Escapes with kids free under 4. Well worth it if you make the most of it, which we did. We enjoyed a 3 course dinner every night and free flowing beers and cocktails throughout the day. The extras were great too like the daily restocked mini bar , massages and free airport transfers. ||Overall a wonderful, fun, relaxing, stress- free stay and would definitely return and...

I have to be honest; I'm surprised by the amount of 5/5 star reviews. I guess we got unlucky! We are easy-going people but were let down by our stay at the Grand Mirage Family Paradise.

The pool and lazy river are fantastic. The kids loved the water slide. The smaller water park is great but definitely more suitable for kids 4 and younger. The marshmallow roasting on the beach was a lot of fun and I recommend introducing that every evening rather than every couple days. The fairy floss stand was a big hit though staff should be mindful of kids queueing as we had young kids wait approx 20 minutes behind us.. only to be told we were the last to be served. The look of devastation on their faces after being turned away after us was so sad.

The towel man near the pool with the big slide was always smiling, quick to hand out towels and always keeping an eye on the kids nearby in the pool to make sure they were ok getting out of the pool after coming down the slide- he deserves recognition.

Breakfast at the Family Paradise side was great, a lot of options and clean. The young man cooking the fresh omelettes and pancakes as you order did an outstanding job. His customer service and quality of food was 5/5. The coffee is better on the Family Paradise side also. The breakfast on the Grand Mirage side of the resort was horrible... unorganized and chaotic, did not feel clean either. They don't ask for a room number when you enter- so anyone could enter off the beach and have breakfast there. The staff seemed overwhelmed, and the food was just not as good as on the Family Paradise side.

The location isn't great. There are plenty of convenience and massage stores around, and Sukun restaurant walking distance was FANTASTIC- but anything else worth eating/seeing seemed to be a taxi ride away.

The rooms are not very clean. Our room smelled like urine. The bathroom was dirty. The toilet door would not close. We all had to use the toilet/shower with the door open. When showering, the whole room would get damp and the floor slippery due to not being able to close the door. Though spacious, and a nice touch having bunk beds- very disapointing for the high cost.

The toilets on the main Mirage side in the lobby are stunning and very clean, with everything being automatic (toilet flushing, soap, and hand wash). The toilets on the Family Paradise side have semi see through doors/large gaps in the door frames. I took my two young daughters in to change clothes and use the bathroom- however there were two males inside cleaning, and even though they could see we were desperately trying to get privacy- they did not leave the bathroom. I feel it's pretty standard practice for male cleaners to leave a female bathroom when females enter- especially given the semi see through doors- but this did not happen.. they lingered, seemingly re-wiping the same spots over and over for no real reason. It was an extremely uncomfortable situation, even enough for my 6- and 7-year-old daughters to comment. I watched him use the floor mop on the toilet seat, and THEN rinse the floor mop in the hand sink! I couldn't believe my eyes.

Lastly, the kids club. We used it once, and we stressed the entire time we were away...there is nothing safe about it. On one side of the kid's club- you have the waterpark. There is no fence between the waterpark and the kids club- so any child could wander into the water park and drown at any point in time. There needs to be a fence here. On the other side, the fence gate does not close properly and was often left open throughout our stay. The staff in the kid's club seem uninterested and our kids could easily walk out any time without anyone noticing. Better spending your money on a babysitter instead. The kids club needs a serious review.

Overall, the rooms are spacious, pool and lazy river were great, and the Family Paradise breakfast was great, but the service, cleanliness, safety, and overall "feel" was a letdown. We won't be back and as a travel agent, I won't be...

We (myself, my partner and our 8mth old daughter) stayed at this hotel for 5 nights in the Ocean View Suite.

The Room The view was wonderful, you could see the volcano in the distance when the clouds cleared and the beach. The location of the balcony was on the corner so it felt really private and was obscured from view by most passers by by the frangipani trees below. My partner thought the room was a bit dated but I personally liked it. It was very spacious and we liked that it had a bathroom and a separate ensuite.

The Facilities The first thing I want to make clear because it wasn’t clear to us is that there are two separate buildings at the resort: the Grand Mirage and the Family Paradise. This is important for those travelling with young children because I read the facilities of the hotel included a Pantry (with filtered water, sterilisers and microwaves useful for bottle feeding). Whilst one staff member said it wasn’t too far, there was no way to get to the other building without walking out of the resort walls on either the beach or the road and into Family Paradise (which I didn’t feel safe doing at night by myself) and then you needed to take an elevator and when we found the microwave (fortunately I brought sterilising bags) it was in a laundromat and not at all like the picture on the website. Fortunately, the staff were really helpful and allowed me to give the sterilised bags with the bottles in them to microwave in the kitchen of the Grand Cafe downstairs for me so I ended up doing that the whole trip. So to be clear ALL of the children facilities are located in Family Paradise. Personally, whilst the Family Paradise building is more modern I think the Grand Mirage had a more 5-star resort feel. The Grand Mirage also has a really cool pool bar, which we enjoyed hanging out around. They do provide free pool towels in case anyone is wondering.

Room Service/Food Quality We were disappointed that the night we arrived and went to order room service as our baby was asleep that drinks could not be ordered to the room. Room service was a big reason we chose to stay in a resort as it gave us some freedom to enjoy ourselves whilst our baby was asleep, have a meal and some drinks on our balcony overlooking the ocean, that sort of thing. Instead, we had to purchase some wine to have with meals from the local convenience store, which was way overpriced and not great quality wine. To be honest though, most of the cocktails we had were disappointing except for the Strawberry Daiquiri and Pina Colada, which were delicious. The food from the Grand Cafe was pretty good. A note on restaurants, Chopstick Chinese is permanently closed and Bumbu Delhi is only open Thursday and Sunday night for dinner. The first day we experienced the buffet breakfast we thought it was huge but came to feel as though half the options were more lunch options i.e. curries or pastas, rather than breakfast options. There was certainly enough to feel satisfied though and the quality was good. We felt the glasses for the juice options were more like shot glasses and would have preferred a more standard size glass.

The Hotel Overall The hotel was incredibly clean and the ground gardens really well maintained. House keeping was amazing! I must give a special mention to the men in their house keeping team who during our stay did an immaculate job compared to one lady we had who missed a couple of things but still did a good job. All the staff were really polite, friendly and are trying to do their best to give you a good experience. The power did go out briefly one night, which woke my baby up. It couldn’t be helped because it was an overall blackout but perhaps some sort of generator might be useful as I’ve stayed in many five star resorts and never experienced that before. It was a decent hotel, we did enjoy quite a few aspects of it but unfortunately due to the disappointing aspects, in particular the room service drink situation really detracted us from feeling like it was a true...