The Patra Bali Resort & Villas — Hotel in Kuta

“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you.” – Anthony Bourdain

The Patra in Kuta, Bali, has been a recurring character in our family’s story for over 15 years—a once-beloved haunt where the sunsets painted the sky in fiery hues and the ocean whispered promises of escape. But on our most recent visit, the script flipped. What was once a familiar embrace felt more like a weary handshake from an old friend who’s let themselves go. The Patra, it seems, has lost its soul, and I’m not sure it’s coming back.

Let’s start with the lowlight, the kind of moment that makes your blood run cold in a way that no tropical heat can thaw. Our kids—6 and 9, full of the reckless joy that only a hotel pool can ignite—were tossing a ball, laughing, living their best Bali life. Enter a group of grown adults, who, in a display of staggering immaturity, demanded the kids hand over the ball or face a beating. Yes, you read that right. Grown men threatening children over a pool toy. In a Western city, this would’ve been a police report faster than you can say “child endangerment.” We marched straight to management, hearts pounding, expecting swift action. Instead, we got shrugs. Silence. The offenders carried on, unbothered, while the hotel’s moral compass spun like a broken weathervane. You don’t get to call yourself a family-friendly resort if you let this slide, Patra. Safety isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a promise, and you broke it.

The room—oh, the room. We shelled out for one of the pricier ones, expecting a touch of luxury, or at least basic upkeep. What we got was a museum of neglect. Every door handle groaned like a haunted house prop, every door squealed in protest when opened, as if begging for WD-40. Lights flickered or flat-out refused to work, casting the room in a gloom that felt more like a cave than a tropical retreat. Stains on the curtains whispered of better days, and the shower? A temperamental beast that couldn’t decide if it wanted to scald or freeze us. It’s as if maintenance checked out years ago and left a Post-it note saying, “Good luck.”

The property itself is a crumbling relic. Bricks are missing from walkways, scattered like the ruins of some ancient civilization that forgot how to care. The gazebo’s decking is a minefield of loose timber and protruding nails—our tetanus shots were up to date, thankfully, or we’d have been playing a dangerous game of “guess the infection.” It’s not just neglect; it’s a hazard, plain and simple. The Patra seems to be sleepwalking through its own existence, cobbling together half-baked ideas to recapture its former glory. Spoiler: it’s not working.

Then there’s the evening entertainment, or what passes for it. A live DJ by the main pool, pumping out tunes laced with profanity and odes to strippers, while kids—kids—are still splashing nearby. Look, I’m no prude, but there’s a time and place for adult anthems, and a family-friendly pool at 7 p.m. isn’t it. The Patra seems to have an identity crisis, unsure if it wants to be a hedonistic nightclub or a kid-friendly resort. Pick a lane, folks. But it’s not all doom and gloom.

Yet, even Bali’s magic can’t redeem a place that fails its guests on the fundamentals. The security, for instance, is theater at best. Guards “check” cars with mirrors but barely glance down, performing a pantomime of safety that feels as hollow as the hotel’s response to our complaint. A hotel that doesn’t take violence seriously doesn’t deserve your trust. It’s a gut-punch realization, one that lingers like the aftertaste of a bad meal.

Would I return? Probably not. The Patra feels like a place that’s given up, coasting on its prime location while the cracks—literal and figurative—grow wider.

For us, the scales tip heavily toward...

In may 2025 me and my wife, for the second time, spent three weeks at the Patra Bali Resort & Villas. Overall the experience was very good, so good that we already booked again.||The hotel is located perfectly. Close to the airport without being disturbed by it. Also central with respect to connections for excursions to all the other parts of Bali, like Sanur, Semyniak, Nusa Dua, Ubud and beyond. Kuta center is on walking distance (very nice along the beach walk or main road), but also easy and cheap reachable by cab, there is even a free shuttle service provided by the hotel.||Although it is a big hotel, it does not feel crowded at all, the premises are wide spread with a luscious and well maintained garden. There are three swimming pools, with the most beautiful one the huge lagune pool with a sunken pool-bar. There are enough beach chairs available and also the restaurants are near this pool. Big plus is the public beach two steps from the hotel, it gives en open feeling from the resort to the sea and especially in the late afternoon a lot of (local) activity. Service of the staff at the pool is very good. Also in the evening many special dinner- and show events are organised and almost every evening there is live music with the best musicians.||We stayed in a Deluxe Suite after being upgraded from a Deluxe Room. The accommodations are furnished in Balinese style, a little bit outdated but everything is being kept in good working condition and we had no complaints. The airconditioning system was working very good and silent. Also the room cleaning service is excellent and with special surprises like towel creations and extra pastry delights.||The service of the front desk (at the imposing main entrance) is also very good and the staff (checkin, transport, guards) is very friendly and helpful. Problems are being resolved in short time (we had a door lock battery problem, which was fixed in 5 minutes). ||The breakfast buffet was very extensive. Food from all sorts and regions are being offered. Ranging from western food to Indonesian, cold and warm dishes. A special egg-bar, Indonesian corner, salad and fruits-bar, bread and pastry, Indian, waffle/pancake, juices, health drinks and coffee-bar and more. Especially worth mentioning is the again friendliness, helpfulness and swift service of the staff.||For lunch or evening there are three restaurants of which we only used two, the Italian and general one, both located next to the pool and outdoor seating options. The food is very good, tasty and well presented and stay to their original origin.||Concluding I would like to say that we had a perfect stay at the Resort for a very good price. And although the resort location, facilities and services are very good, I would like to emphasise that a perfect vacation stay is for the most important part determined by the the staff working there! This being said, I would like to thank the many friends I have made among them and give them the recognition they deserve.||Terimah kasih: Anggi, Raka, Arya, Iska, Puspa, Risky, Gangga, Pande, Windua, Pardika and of course all the staff I did not...

This is going to be a mixed review. There are many pros and equally numerable cons. I stayed there with my family in the end of December 2023.

Pros The main pool- Located just by the beach, it is clad with regional decor and a sunken bar to its left. It Is quite big and service in and around the pool is rapid. Everything was clean, systematic and 0 complaints. There’s plenty of space even if it is busy. The Bar by the pool has really fast service and drinks are reasonably priced judging by the quality and swiftness. There is direct access to the Kuta beach through here, but the beach here is not particularly breathtaking. It is advisable to enjoy the pool and only the view of the beach/ocean. This pool has to be one of the key reasons of staying here, Its really beautiful.

Proximity to airport- Given the dire state of traffic conditions in Bali, if you are looking to stay in the nearest decent hotel/beach near to the airport, this is the answer. This is the closest resort to the Denpasar airport. You can literally see planes landing from your resort.

Food quality- In general, quality of regional Balinese food was amazing and reasonably priced by 5 star standards. The breakfast spread was amazing and vast with something from all main cuisines.

Resort grounds- The scale of the resort is quite big and at no time did it feel needlessly vast. The grounds are quite expansive and has a nice tropical vegetation setting. There are 3 pools all parallel to the beach and lounge areas by the beach every 15-20 meters.

Cons Communication- Biggest problem I faced was the half of the staff were trainees and they did not understand proper English at all. And the worse part is, instead of asking me to repeat something, they nodded and smiled at basically everything. It took me 2 days to get used to how to communicate with the waiters/staff here. Every time, I had to search for the senior staff member to make sure my order was correctly placed and there was no miscommunication. Had to speak really slow and even use sign language at times to make sure everything was clear.

Need of renovation in rooms- The condition of rooms from inside are quite good however once you step out in the balcony, you can find the exterior falling apart at places and at some places sheer lack of maintenance. Rusted columns, unclean ponds, destroyed paint on the walls, etc. The drainage in the bathroom was faulty, it kept smelling at random intervals and had nothing to do with our usage.

Slow service- In many cases, it took us 30 minutes to even receive a bucket of ice or a blanket. I am referring to services only related to room service and housekeeping. I dont know if it is because of being understaffed or miscommunication but it was pretty annoying. At one point, I gave up and just ran to the reception to get stuff.

I personally enjoyed my stay here after the 2nd day when I realised what does not work in the hotel. It is a really nice property but definitely needs a renovation in certain places and better staff to cater to guests. 70% of the guests are tourists and speak English, so that is...