Radisson Blu Resort, Bali Uluwatu — Hotel in Kuta Selatan

How a supposed highlight became an absolute low point

Arriving, I was greeted by a security guard with a grumpy, "Where do you go?". There is really no other place to go taking this driveway, so it’s safe to assume, anyone coming down this driveway is heading to the hotel.

At reception, staff was busy counting money. Rather than stopping that task, he briefly acknowledged my presence and continued counting, to finally attend to me minutes later. When he finally attended to me, rather than offering a welcome drink, he informed, I had to wait another hour, as the room was apparently not ready (I arrived at 2pm) After taking a deposit of $1000, and trying to sell me a hotel membership, we were left to wait until the room was meant to be ready ... - no, you may wait here, would you like a drink or a snack or any sort of hospitality, not even an explanation of the hotel facilities, not to mention a tour of any kind.

The room (a suite with ocean view), while large, was very simple decorated, with little attention to detail or charm. Bali is basically a capital of wood working art, but all you get in this room is a weathered table leg in this place .. (see photo) On the table was, what I assume was meant to be a "welcome snack", but it could just as well have been leftovers from the previous guest. The "free" minibar consisted of (and this is no joke) 2 tiny Sprite cans and some tiny local energy drink. The ocean view was blocked by bushed and trees. The walls of the rooms are paper-thin, allowing to clearly hear neighbouring tenants right and left - but then, listening to the marital act of the occupants next door at night was probably the only entertainment this hotel had to offer ... The shower (and bath tub) did not get any warmer than 38 degrees, which is kind of a luke-warm temperature, making it impossible to take a nice hot shower or bath. The provided toiletries were an absolute joke, the shower gel was hotel branded, the shampoo and other items looked they were bought from an toiletries excess sell-off of tester bottles.

The hotel compound itself, while very quiet, felt utterly subdued, cold, deprived of the characteristic Bali charm, and in general not very inviting, comfortable or pleseant. There were basically no decorations, ornaments or anything creating some appeal. The pool, while large was very shallow and again just didn’t invite for a swim at all. The restaurant food prices were simply of the charts - I have not eaten at any of them. From most parts of the hotel you cannot see the ocean at all, and there is no beach access nearby, you are confined to a triste concrete environment more resembling a prison than a place of leisure ... The general staff felt equally cold ond demotivated to interact with guests.

One thing, I was particularly looking forward was the supposed great breakfast - just another disappointment. The buffet was basic, and of average quality. I skipped the breakfast on the 2nd day ...

Upon checkout, I conveyed my disappointment with my stay to the reception staff, and inquired if they would be able/willing to provide any sort of service recovery. All I received was a blank stare and my credit card being charged with 800 AUD ... they didn’t even provide me with an invoice of my stay, merely a credit card payment slip ... Rather than silently walk away and write a bad review, I believe it is fair to provide the hotel with an option of service recovery. Radisson Blu chose to not take that opportunity ...

All in all, this place in no way justified the price of 400 AUD per night. I have stayed in so much nicer places for a lot less money.

I tried to contact the customer service to convey my disappointment. Rather than taking an active interest, I was offered a 25 AUD voucher via a scripted email ... - thanks, but no thanks!

This concludes my experience with Radisson Blu. It is safe to say, I will never stay again at a Radisson Blu hotel and will advise any friends to stay...

A hard to access hotel with below average service and lots of small imperfections.

ROOM: Spacious, modern looking room with dark wooden walls and comfortable bed. But the wooden floor creaks, sink drain plug is loose, the cove light cover in the shower dropped while showering (Room 325), hair dryer is weak, room was dim with strange lighting arrangement and there is a powersaving feature that switchs off the aircon whenever the bacony door is opened which was annoying. The sofa at balcony was facing other rooms instead of the ocean, not sure if it was deliberate.

AMNEITY & VIBE: Modern decoration with lots of dark wood, concrete, glass and metal. A large pool, two posh looking restaurants and a nice bar. A gym and a spa that looks clean and modern. But we didn't see anyone using these amenities except for the pool. Probably because of the price. The entire hotel doesn't have a homely nor local vibe. Pool, while large, had some oil swirl and towels had stains.

FOOD: We only had breakfast buffet at Artichoke. A decent range of local and international options. Taste was mediocre and some food were unappetising. We didn't bother eating their breakfast on the second day.

LOCATION: It's about 500m walk to the main road with just about 1 streetlamp every 80m. It's dark at night to walk out and not a pleasant walk to the main road as sometimes there were dogs. They didn't provide shuttle service on the two occasions that I asked.

SERVICE: The receptionists, staffs at Artichoke were friendly, greeted us and offered to assist us. But I think the entire hotel is understaffed. There was no welcome drink or anyone to assist us with our bags except for the one receptionist who had to process our check in and bring our bag to the room. At the reception, there was mostly just two staff. Most of the time, they were on the phone, probably answering to room service calls. A system of managing customer's request could be improved too. I made a request for two buckets of ice for our cooler bag to be delivered to my room the next day morning at 6.45am before leaving for the airport. The following morning at 6.40am I called the reception to remind them. No ice came. I went to the reception at 7am, and they called another staff, who took about 10 mins to come with just a bucket of ice. So I had to tell them again for a second bucket. We left the hotel at 7.15am when I wanted to leave at 7am.

RATES: This is a 5-star international chain hotel with a mid range price. They charge 2 to 3 times the standard rates for typical services. Transport from hotel to Airport was 400k IDR (Grab charges 100k IDR but its hard to get due to the Hotel poor location). I wanted to rent a scooter and the fee was 120k IDR for 1 day. And even though fees are high, it is still the standard scoopy bike with the smelly old helmet that you can get just along the streets (We couldn't book one from outside as all were fully booked)

OVERALL: While I empathise with the struggle that this industry is facing, I only think that it is fair to expect a 4,000,000 IDR service if you have paid 4,000,000 IDR for the stay. The fact that we end up choosing to walk out in the dark to find better food, look for scooter rental outside and arrange our own cheaper airport transfer all suggests that what they provide wasn't worth it in our opinion.

We left the island feeling disappointed that we had chosen this resort on our last few days.

Nonetheless, thank you to all the staff who had tried their best to make our...

Let’s start with the good: The architectural aesthetics? Beautiful. Is it picturesque? Beyond! But it stops there… Actually, there is a third best thing about this place: the monkeys — which, unfortunately for us, disappeared after Day 2.

We stayed here for 10 days, and we wanted to leave from Day 2. On our honeymoon!

I’ll preface by saying: the staff is kind and sweet and did what they could. They offered us wine, fruits, and an airport drop-off on our last night to apologize — which was thoughtful — but the hotel is extremely understaffed and poorly maintained, and it shows.

There were times no one picked up the phone at the front desk or room service, or it rang for over a minute. The staff are dedicated, but clearly overwhelmed.

Let me explain: The poolside shack doesn’t open until 11am because the poor staff finish breakfast duty at 10:30. At the pool, no one comes to take your order — you have to go find someone.

Their food is decently priced, but what annoyed us most is — despite having paid in full — they asked for a mandatory “spending deposit.” For what? Where were we going to run away to? That left such a bad taste we didn’t want to spend another IDR.

Now: the hygiene. Appalling. We asked to have our bedsheets changed 4 times. Each time, a worse stain. We finally gave up and settled for a stained pillow (pictured). What 5-star hotel doesn’t toss stained linens?

Housekeeping isn’t trained. They don’t move items or wipe underneath them. They come in, barely touch anything, and leave. Rotten flower petals sat in our room for days. A milk mug stayed untouched for 3 days. Minimal training, clearly.

Yes, we know Bali water smells. But here, it was atrocious. I dreaded showering. A hotel should absolutely filter its water.

The worst part? Housekeeping came in 4 days in a row and didn’t change the sheets — we knew because of a petal stain that stayed until we demanded new linens.

Honestly, this felt like an Airbnb. I’d have been better off in one. We even tried to leave on Day 2 — but were refused.

Other things: This hotel is not beach-facing. There is no sea view. No sunset view. No separate kids pool (or adult pool). For a 5-star place, that’s a big miss.

Also: One night our AC stopped working. When staff came to fix it, they pulled out a disgusting filter — then walked into our shower with shoes on and washed the filter in our shower, leaving the dirt behind.

Our sink was clogged for five days. Despite telling housekeeping, no one came. It was dripping and staining our towels.

The shower floods the floor — it’s a safety hazard stepping out. You need a towel on the floor to avoid slipping, which ends up soaked. The shower door isn’t sealed on the side. It’s just gross and uncomfortable.

10/10 will not return. And for the price?...