Avani Seminyak Bali Resort — Hotel in Kuta

We were Avani group fans. We visited Avani Hua Hin a few times and were pleased with the facilities and staff. We chose to travel to Bali this time and stay at the Avani Seminyak resort. But it appears that the standard is different in this place.

The room itself was dated; it had a Balinese design, but it was obviously an old building on its interior. There are floor cracks and broken wooden door frames.

Flies may enter the bedroom at any time because the door is not completely sealed. Although they gave out pesticide and mosquito coils, it didn't really help. Counting the number of flies we kill each day is something we do in the room every day.

On our first day of arrival, we called the front desk to ask about the availability of hard pillows, but we received a negative response. It's alright. The following day, we went to the front desk to retry our luck at asking. Interestingly we get it. Well, we struggled the first night with the thin pillow and we questioned the staff's product knowledge.

We light the mosquito coil every day and place it outside the bedroom. We also spray pesticide around the door area. The pesticide can we were given was only 30% full on the first day. There was no replacement during housekeeping after we finished it. Once more, we had to personally request a new can at the front desk. And it's only half full this time. I am completely speechless.

The dinner napkin we left on the patio table the second day was left there for two days because housekeeping forgot to clean it.

The WiFi signal was weak; you could browse Facebook or Instagram, but it lagged, especially at night.

The toilet is a major pain in the neck. The toilet bowl is significantly smaller than the toilet seat and cover. We have to touch the rim of the toilet bowl every time we need to use it, which is somewhat unhygienic. Not to mention how loose the screw is.

As a result of the weak flushing system, it takes at least two cycles to completely remove all the tissues.

Since the bathtub appeared to be nice, we made an effort to enjoy it. However, the bathtub's faucet flows incredibly slowly. The bathtub has to be filled for at least 20 minutes, and the drainage system is even worse. We get so tired while waiting for the water to drain because it moves so slowly.

The shower room's sprinkler was only partially functional. Both the rain bath system and the water pressure were not satisfactory.

During check-in, we were told that the breakfast was a la carte style and it was included in our booking. In order to enjoy breakfast in our room on the second day, we ordered one. We ordered 2 sets of breakfast and asked for extra eggs and bread and it was entertained well by the kitchen staff. Due to the small portion size and our early morning hunger, the other day we would have loved to order 2 mie goreng and 1 nasi goreng. But we were informed that there would be extra charges. Although we don't mind paying, it would be nice to clarify at check-in that each guest can ONLY order 1 main dish in order to set their expectations.

We find one dead cockroach in the outdoor shower area.

One day we found that the housekeeper put the can opener in one of the cups that we use to brush our teeth. It's obvious that we already had a toothbrush and toothpaste inside.

The worst thing is that we put 2 empty boxes on top of the refrigerator. We use that for our wine. We put it there since day 1 and it was fine for the rest of our stay until the last day as we prepare for checkout. We realised that the boxes are being thrown away. It was very upsetting that the housekeeper did not ask or even notice us before taking the box, which we needed to store our wine in our luggage.

After all, the staff here are very friendly, they always say hi and greet us whenever we saw them. But all those little glitches really irritate us. We dislike making comparisons, but the Avani in Hua Hin is unquestionably superior to the one in Bali. Hopefully, there will be an...

Started off promising with pre-arrival email with information, a setup for celebratory occasion, check-in staff's professionalism and friendliness. Generally staff are friendly and greets you along the way.

Breakfast that came with the room was limited in selection and non-buffet style; there was little flexibility to change items to those on ala carte menu, even when some of the given menu's main course (e.g. mie goreng at 70k which had no meat at all) cost more than the other item I want (seafood omelette at 65k). The egg set came with some questionable quantities of select items such as 7 baked beans and one sausage. See picture attached.

Has free shuttle to Seminyak Beach but the timings are really limited and you must book for return trips from Seminyak Beach, else the shuttle will not even go there. I find the choice of timings limited and questionable. Maybe include a return trip for sunset viewing at the beach? Maybe it is a matter of the shuttle getting stuck in the horrible traffic (idk)?

One BR villa was big but feels dated and non-luxurious for a resort under Avani and Anantara group. Covers of shower gel bottle was cracking. The room door has gaps even when fully closed (see picture) which invites mosquitoes (I had issues with this during my stay) throughout the day even though they did provide repellent and insecticide. Bath robe and slippers are really thin. I could rock the toilet bowl seat. Side point - the toilet bowl in the main area beside the pool has its upper seat cover dislodged as well.

Male staff Diska who was on duty at the front desk on 01Jan2024 at about 0200h, was comfortably lounging at the side. When I enquired about late checkout availability, he went on a super long upsell for airport transfer the next day that costs 36 USD (which is grossly overpriced compared to gojek) and totally did not answer my question. I asked again and he could not give me an answer, went to the backroom to get a bigger sized supervisor who was dressed very comfortably without any name tag, who once again kept asking about airport transfer arrangements instead of answering my question. After an excessive 10min for a query of mine which probably takes a fraction of the time to answer, I was told no availability for late checkout (sure, no issue with that). The upselling here was extremely try-hard and annoying to the extent that my concerns and question were totally neglected in the staff's minds. Cmon, upselling me at 2am instead of answering my question? Is management trying too hard to push airport transfers through the staff?

On 01Jan2024 about 0300h-0400h, fireworks were also going off in a villa nearby ours (we looked out and saw), which was disruptive to sleep and dangerous since regulations say fireworks are only allowed at the beach. I did wonder if the staff did anything about it. I must admit I was too tired and lost faith in calling the front desk to engage with Diska or his supervisor by then.

Was also approached during breakfast to buy their timeshare Anantara Vacation Club which comes with a compulsory 90min-120min presentation. The guy who tried to sell this to us was professional and nice though, but our experience during this stay and the uncompetitive timeshare rates made this a no-deal.

Not a deal breaker but FYI the gym is ultra small and ill-equipped. There were also no gym towels to be found.

I would not stay here again for the...

Best Boutique Villa Resort ever! This has to be the best boutique villa resort we have ever stayed..ever!

The location of the resort is pretty near to the Seminyak beach which is only about 10mins away. However, it is very near to the Seminyak shopping and dining venues like Seminyak Square or the Flea Market areas. Location is also very peaceful and quiet within a villa neighbourhood and it gets you away from the bustling nightlife area after a day of shopping and play which was fantastic for us! There is even a golfcart service provided to bring us to the nearby Anantara properties for spa and dining options as well where guests are provided further discounts!

The quiet and cosy resort is very well maintained with beautiful landscape areas nicely manicured by the hardworking gardeners everyday while we stayed there. Check-in process was a breeze with the concierge helping with the luggage once we arrived at the reception. Our 1 bedroom pool villa was fantastic and beautifully decorated with the local flavours of Bali. The private villa pool is a welcoming sight for us as well and we had the 2nd option of the main pool at the side of the restaurant. The deck chairs beside the villa pool allows guests to relax and unwind in private which is great. There is also a small kids club play area and a library room within the main reception building together with the main sitting area which was beautifully renovated during the pandemic.

Our bedroom in the villa was huge for the 2 of us and the bathroom was also nicely laid out. There is even a bottle of bath salt that was refilled daily for your bath tub soak to relax the day away. Another shower head at the outdoor area of the toilet will be nice too. A tote bag and sarong are available in the wardobe for us to use when we go to places of attractions which was very thoughtful. LED TV in the room is also large with clear reception of international satellite channels. However the LED TV at the living room did not have clear reception and thus we only watched the programmes in the bedroom. Kitchenette is also fully equipped and great for small snacks. The only issue we had was that the wall of the bedroom seems to be thin and may need further sound insulation as we can hear the conversations of other guests passing by from within our room.

Breakfast was served daily at the restaurant via ala carte style with nice pool view and I must say the spread was fantastic! We were greeted warmly daily by the F&B teams by name and they really did a commendable job! Especially the young trainee Mr Yoga who really treated us like close friends and not just guests. We tried the local dishes for dinner too and we were not disappointed. Afternoon tea with their mocktails was also something that we are very happy with.

We would like to sincerely thank Pak Made Subrata, the GM whom gave us such warm hospitality during our stay and Pak Ardi and his team who took very good care of us from the day we arrived. Other than recommendations of nearby attractions, he even offered to send us around the vicinity when he is available so that we can get there safely and comfortably. Truely commendable and top notch service from the entire team at Avani Seminyak! We are truely missing Bali and...