Le Grande Hotel Bali — Hotel in Kuta Selatan

*Stay away from this hotel — recommend it only to your enemies

My girlfriend and I stayed 6 nights. We had read the bad reviews but assumed they were exaggerated — surely it couldn’t be that bad. That was our mistake. It is that bad. In fact, after our stay I struggle to believe the glowing 5-star reviews reflect reality; I honestly can’t imagine they’re genuine.

The big picture This place feels like a property being milked for revenue until the day the bulldozers arrive. Complaints at reception were nonstop, yet the front desk stayed ice-cold and manipulative. When you finally reach a manager, you get the unsettling sense he almost enjoys your misery. Online photos hide the truth; on site, it’s neglect.

What’s wrong (even in a “suite”) • Rooms: tired, patched together, and nothing like the photos. Think duct-tape solutions rather than maintenance. • Balconies: basically unusable — you won’t sit out there to “enjoy the view.” • Shower: cold 4 out of 6 days. • Water: tap and shower water smelled bad. • TV: constant flicker. • Pool: looked like a neglected fish pond — a greasy film on top, bad odor, and bits of debris/insects floating. We skipped swimming. • Location reality: yes, close to beach/town as the crow flies. In real life, not convenient by car, scooter, or on foot. • Atmosphere: several nearby properties are shuttered or mid-demolition, which adds to the “end-of-life” vibe. • Reception: complaints all day long; responses felt scripted and chilly.

What’s (somewhat) right • Restaurant staff: many are kind if you’re kind to them. • Breakfast: yogurt with fruit and fried eggs are okay. Pay extra for proper espresso if you care about coffee. •Happy hour: from ~3 pm, frozen mango margaritas are drinkable — but practice basic hygiene caution; search other reviews re: “Bali belly.” • Golf: marketed on site, but honestly felt like a joke. I didn’t even bother.

Our story (so you know we’re not fussy) We’ve backpacked across Asia and know the difference between “budget basic” and “unhygienic/neglected.” When we saw the standard room we originally booked, we walked out immediately and checked the hotel next door (not pretty either, but at least renovated). We only came back because we’d prepaid, were offered a partial refund and a free upgrade to a “suite.” Looking back, we should have cut our losses and left. Vacation time is precious — this place wasted ours.

If you’re stuck here (fully booked elsewhere), survival tips • Try the Swiss hotel next door for updated furniture and a better view. • Use Grab/Gojek for food & drinks (including alcohol). • Don’t drink tap water. Don’t leave valuables in the room. • Avoid the pool. A fresh coconut a day helped our stomachs. • Safe-ish bites: butter chicken and club sandwich were okay. • Plumbing is weak: don’t flush paper, or if you must, hold the button until it’s gone.

Why 2 stars, not 1 I’m giving 2 stars deliberately so this shows up for travelers who filter out 1-star “rants.” Please don’t make our mistake of dismissing negative reviews as “too emotional.” Here, almost everything is wrong.

If you’ve read this far, please pay it forward and leave your own honest review so others don’t lose their hard-earned...

Do not stay here. I would never stay here again. I highly recommend you look for accommodation else where. The room was dirty, there was hair in the shower drain (when we arrived before my partner or I had even showered) and mould growing in the plug of the bath and all over the shower head, the bathroom smelt very bad of sewerage and the smell came out into the room, it had a very uncomfortable bed and pillows. We have been in Bali for three weeks and both have rashes over our body for the first time after this hotel, of course I can’t know if it was their sheets or shower but we haven’t changed anything else and haven’t had a rash for three weeks until now. My main negative is to take a towel to the beach they charge you a $30 aud (300k R) holding fee, per towel, that must be paid in cash and when we asked they only had one towel. So my partner or I would have had to go without. When i asked what our options are i was told to just rent one at the beach. When we got to the beach there was no where to resent a towel it wasn’t possible. I also didn’t have the cash on me so i was told bad luck in other words. So we went to the beach without towels, this isn’t the end of the world but when paying for accommodation in a place that is close to the beach i do assume some towels would be provided, maybe with a room number taken down instead of a cash payment, then if I towel is not returned it can be charged to the room at the end of stay. I also had an issue with the tv which I need for work purposes and when I asked about being moved to another room they said they were completely booked, after I stressed how important it is they then said there was a suit available at an additional $400 aud a night on top of what we had already paid. After being quite visibly stressed a technician did finally come and after 30 minutes a dodgy fix was made. I’m unbelievably disappointed in this resort, we have only had positive times in Bali except for this accommodation. I spent time each day looking for other accommodation in Uluwatu but due to late notice there was nothing available. We also took care of a young lady who was being treated badly by her partner very loudly outside our room, (very happy to help anyone in need, this didn’t bother us at all and I was happy to stay up late ensuring this persons safety) my partner and I stayed up until 4:30am supporting this young lady and helping her communicate with resort staff members as she did not speak English or Indonesian. Resort staff took our room number down which I assumed was to thank us for the help as they had received multiple complaints about the noise from the couple fighting and we helped calm her down and brought her to a quiet calm space away from Peoples rooms before asking for a room for her to have alone so she was safe, haven’t heard anything from them, I now assume they took down the room number for other reasons. I’m truely unhappy with this stay I think your money would be better used at another hotel, resort, home stay, or Airbnb.

Uluwatu however is amazing. We rented a scooter locally and had a blast riding around. Just do your self a favour and don’t stay here unless you love golf and hate the beach and...

Hello. I was not going to write this review but I did this because the hotel refused to help. I will try to be as objective as possible, disregarding the poor hygiene of this hotel.

I booked my stay from Dec 1-13. Since the first day, I knew this place was average to below average. Regardless, I decided to bare through it.

The toilets are terrible. I found several bugs on the desk in my room. I even had my pizza for takeout and it had a few bugs on my pizza.

Moreover, on Dec. 7, I was laying by the pool in the shade and returned to my room. I spent the entire day at the hotel. I came back to my room and noticed housekeeping visited my room but visibly I can see stains on pillow and blanket.

Anyways, I went about my day. During the evening, I laid on the bed. I started to notice itching on my neck and upper back. The itching spread to the side of my stomach and my hands and forearms. The next morning, I had a large red spot on my upper back and red simples on the side of my stomach, hands and forearms.

After I noticed, I immediately packed my things and booked a new hotel. I went to the hotel front desk and let them know. They refused to help me. I showed them the marks on my body. The manager was not at the desk to help me but was able to make a decision to not help.

They told me they would contact me via phone to resolve the issue. It has been 2 days and I have not any call or message. This hotel needs to reimburse me from Dec. 8-13 as the hygiene and cleanliness does not meet standards.

On another note, do not rent a bike at this hotel. They will overcharge you and to top it off, they will give you just enough gas to get to the gas station so you can fuel the bike. They will give you a nearly empty tank to start off. Absolute joke.

Some of the staff are clowns too. I choose to eat through grab because I encountered bugs in my takeout food as mentioned above. The staff from the restaurant would call me at night asking if I ordered room service, even though I clearly didn’t. They were calling me because they did not like the fact I was not eating at their restaurant.

Do not pay for breakfast as an add-on, it’s terrible. I can mention so many things terrible about this hotel, this review could become an entire short story.

I understand this isn’t a luxury hotel but this isn’t even close to a good budget hotel.

I attached a photo. You will see many red spots on my body. I have clear skin and this is what happened overnight. Nearly my entire torso including back are all red spots. Absolutely...