Sol by Melia Benoa Bali - All Inclusive — Hotel in Kuta Selatan

We had an amazing stay at Sol by Meliá Nusa Dua — genuinely one of our favorite resorts in Bali.

We were upgraded to a suite, which was absolutely beautiful — super spacious, filled with natural light, and very thoughtfully laid out. The room had a cozy living area, a big comfy bed, robes and slippers, and a balcony with a lovely view. The bathroom setup was perfect — serene, spacious, with a walk-in shower and a separate toilet. There was even a second toilet in the living area, which was great.

We had the all-inclusive package and honestly, it was totally worth it. The minibar wasn’t extravagant (a couple of beers, soft drinks, some chips, a tiny pack of Oreos, and a small piece of chocolate), but it was refilled every day and appreciated.

The grounds are stunning — lush, peaceful, and really well maintained. There’s this beautiful touch of legacy here, too: we noticed trees planted with names of past guests, possibly in remembrance — clearly this place has regulars who return often, and we can see why.

The beach was one of the best we experienced in Nusa Dua — clean, swimmable, and right by the resort. The pool area was great too — a big main pool, a separate kiddie pool, and a pool bar that we absolutely loved. The pina coladas were a favorite!

The all-inclusive offering was surprisingly generous. You could eat basically whenever and wherever you wanted — lunch options included a beachside buffet or a garden restaurant, or both if you wanted. No one batted an eye if you grabbed something from one place and then went to the other. We definitely took full advantage!

There’s also a juice and gelato bar on the beach with fresh coconuts, waffles, and all kinds of fruit juices — we stopped by multiple times a day.

The Kitchen (their main restaurant) is truly open 24 hours — we went down at 3AM one night and were served a full starter, main, and dessert by a single (very tired) but very sweet waiter. Just note that alcohol isn’t served after midnight — we heard one guest complain, but personally, we thought that was totally fair.

Activities are planned every day — one day we played volleyball, another day there was a kecak dance and BBQ night. Even when it rained, the staff kept things going and made it an incredible evening.

Speaking of staff — no notes. Truly. Everyone was so warm, helpful, and smiling all the time. The team at the pool bar in particular made our days — they were just so fun.

Check-in was smooth and lovely. We wanted to extend our stay but were told the reservation team was not working until the next day. When we did return the following day, we did receive a bit of attitude from the front desk (we wanted to book the same suite room that we were upgraded to and were willing to pay for it of course, but before we could even say that, they butted in with a strange tone telling us we shouldn’t expect to be given the suite while paying for a regular room again).

Really shocked us after how lovely the whole stay was. We could’ve just booked the suite for two more nights online but we wanted to remain courteous and let them know first. Ended up booking the resort next door.

Extra perks we loved: • A game room with pool, chess, and even a signed Messi shirt (!) and other cool memorabilia. • An Italian restaurant (included in all-inclusive) that requires a reservation but is absolutely worth it. Open 7–10PM. • The design/theme of the hotel is super charming — even the rental bikes match the aesthetic, which made beach rides extra cute.

All in all, it was a relaxing, fun, and memorable stay. We’d 100% recommend the suite if you plan to spend time in your room, but honestly, there’s so much to do and enjoy that even a standard room would be great. The all-inclusive package is totally the way to go.

We can’t wait for...

As soon as we arrived at this Hotel (March 202) we were greeted with a wet towel and a cold drink. Just what we needed after the 2 very long flights to get here from UK. We were shown to our room – the porter brought the cases up to for us, and I was well pleased with everything. Top floor (no: 8189) with a lovely view over garden/pool and the sea too. I asked for more coat hangers and they were brought up straight away, as there was a shortage of draw space I thought. There was a lovely welcoming bunch of flowers and a cake to celebrate my birthday too. We attended the 24hr restaurant for a quick meal before going to bed to recover. The 24hr menu is fantastic and so unique to be able to eat at any time – plenty choice and good quality grub and table service. The buffet breakfast/evening dinner was just as good. I saw no chips served at these times, just on the 24hr menu (which is waiter service) and if there were ever ‘little’ prawns out they went quickly. But the food was so nice and I never went away feeling dissatisfied. The other Restaurant where you have to book into was nice also but the service was very slow – in fact the second time we went we left after the main course as we waited ages for the waitress to come and refill us and take the dirties away or ask what desert we wanted. The pool is lovely, swim up bar amazing with a great cocktail menu (All inc), and it was nice to have pool towels clean every day included. We never had any problem getting a sunbed (on the beach) but this may be because the coronavirus was having an effect and the whole place was really quiet. (Mid-March ‘20). I do think I still managed to burn through the parasols. The whole hotel is immaculate and the staff are amazingly friendly and helpful. The gardens are so well kept but there was some screeching from a bird that lives in the garden that I found annoying most nights/early mornings so I wouldn’t recommend a ground floor room – but hey they live there. The entertainment was very good too, although I found the reception area where this is held to be very dark. I lost my husband on many occasion – LOL. There is a good pool table/ soccer table which we used too when the weather was bad. The juice bar has lovely ice cream (many flavours in a small tub) but I dint think much of the juices. (All inc). The mini bar was so well stocked (and all inc) bottles of Bintang lager which my hubby says was very drinkable, juices, cokes, sprite, mini chocolate bars, crisps and Pot noodles. Amazing. Plugs were duel plugs (UK and 2 pin in one). The Mosquitoes I found were quite bad, I had all sorts of sprays etc on me and I still got bit and 3 months on I still have marks. Shame as I would have loved to sit on that balcony but couldn’t. I didn’t bother with any massages as not my thing but a friend said it was lovely and well worth the cost. There is a market full of stalls right next to the hotel – hubby got a few items, but as soon as you appear you are jumped on by the women there begging to buy off them – I hate that so kept out. We used 2 bikes from the hotel (all inc) and had a ride down the coastal beach path to ‘The Bali Collection’ lots of shops/eateries etc – and saw the sights – this I loved.||For Tours we used ‘The Dogs Bollocks’ a man called Wayan Wena – who you can find by the juice bar area sitting under the tree. He was very nice, funny, friendly, and knowledgeable and had a nice clean car. His rates were very good – just tell him what you want to see and he will arrange it all. +6281 23838523. Highly recommended. There is so much to see and visit in Bali – the place was amazing – I count myself so lucky to have been when I did before all the flights there stopped. I thoroughly recommend this hotel it is amazing – you won’t regret...

Stayed here for just 2 night as hadn’t been to the area before and wanted to see what it was like. Beautiful place and gorgeous room and gardens. Clean and very well maintained. Only issues were minor-  anytime we tried to phone for room service or reception you’d have to call 2-3 times before anyone picked up. I think there were 3 or 4 restaurants on the premises but they pretty much all had the same menu and it was nothing to blow your socks off. I had a late night sweet tooth this trip and was very disappointed with the room service deserts. We had cheesecake with no flavour at all and a very tiny brownie that came with a very small scoop of ice cream that I think was sitting on a small piece of bread. I think it was meant to be sponge cake but it looked and tasted like bread. Also had 3 small old strawberries and a smidge of chocolate sauce that was not very nice. The menu said it came with a maracuya sauce (passion fruit) which it didn’t- there was no mention of the strawberries which could be an issue if anyone had an allergy. I ordered iced lattes which were quite nice but a very small glass for the size. I asked for a bit of ice cream to be added and was charged for a whole serve of icecream which made it about $12AU which was double what I’ve payed anywhere else in Bali. I did mention this to staff who deducted the cost of the ice cream which I appreciated.Any Bali hotel we’ve stayed at, you can pop your dirty cups/dishes outside the door and they will be collected. Ours sat there for 24 hours even when we had staff come to the room to deliver room service. Travelled with a smoker and while you couldn’t smoke at the pool bar you were allowed to smoke on balconies and around the pool. Asked at the pool bar for an ashtray who didn’t have any and told us to go to the towel bar who didn’t have any and didn’t know where you could get one. Was then directed to a different area to ask and they gave us a plate to use. I saw people putting their cigarettes in the garden and spare bottles as there were no ashtrays available. We gave up asking for one for use on our balcony. Beautiful grounds and if smoking is allowed they should provide what’s needed or some people may just throw them on the floor which would be disappointing. If relaxing by the beach you had to walk back to the pool bar to get a drink which was a pain. Our room had very good aircon, was very spacious and beautiful and had comfy beds. Probably the best maintained room I’ve stayed at in Bali. A good amount of PowerPoints and it was the first Bali resort I’ve stayed at that had adequate power points that our plugs didn’t keep slipping out of.I did request twin beds and to be close to the pool which other hotels didn’t even try to accommodate but Sol by Melia provided this immediately.A few families there with small children and while the resort was kid friendly to an extent, it’s maybe not the ideal place for small children. Many people trying to read by the pool and relax with small kids yelling and crying. I didn’t see any obvious play area for kids, nothing significant anyway. There’s one pool with one shallow area for kids but it’s just a little kid pool which meant they were not very entertained and were getting frustrated. If ours were still little we’d probably go somewhere tailored to kids. All in all a good stay but we did get a good deal on the room. $165AU a night with Trip.com which was significantly less than some booking sites and still cheaper than booking direct. It was nice but I wouldn’t pay the regular rate. Would I recommend- yes I think I would. Just the room alone was worth it and we had the most basic room which...