Alaya Resort Ubud — Hotel in Pulau Bali

Our stay at Alaya resort Ubud (motel) was horrible. The breakfast had limited variety. The food proportions were also really tiny. The whole so called resort is not at all wheelchair or Pram friendly. With lizards and other insects crawling in the corridors. The swimming pools were also really tiny and dirty. When we asked for 3 towels they tracked us with a record sheet. The hotel lobby was really congested and the kids pool was really tiny and in an awkward location. The spa was also the one of worst.The pillows super unhygienic in the spa and the ginger tea included in the spa package was a sugar bomb.The masseuse was coughing while doing the treatment with her mask down. So unhygienic! The consistency of the massage was not at all good sometimes the pressure was high other times the pressure was low. The DaLa spa is the worst spa in the whole island of Bali. When we asked for an umbrella they had to track each and everything about it so that it doesn’t get stolen. There were only 3 restaurants in the property and the bamboo bar was closed. The bale where they do yoga was also closed. Library only had ten books. The business Centre was not at all spacious and the gym didn’t have an elaborate amount of equipment. The backsides of the hotel were also really muddy. There was also no elevator in wing 1 and 2. The location was also really terrible. Kilometers away from rice fields and the true natural Ubud. Also Ubud palace was not at all walkable. The staff at Cerita Manisan was smoking. In the complimentary photo session they didn’t even give us a print only a digital copy. The room wasn’t the best also. There was no privacy door in the bathroom only a curtain. There were also no body lotions in the bathrooms. They only gave us 1 key for our 2 rooms! Not at all accommodating and they weren’t even interconnected even though we had requested for it to be. The bathrooms were also dirty. The bathroom in the lobby had not been cleaned for days and had a cracked sink. The television was also really small and old looking. There was also no turndown service only upon request. The food portions were also super small.

Upon checkout they asked to pay for the towels and pillow covers as they had baby poop and food stains. Ridiculous behavior from a so called 5 star deluxe MOTEL. We said we will take them with us and when we washed at our home there was not even 1 stain! When we said we wouldn’t pay they called the chief of security for a matter of 20 USD! It’s a natural thing to have baby poop in towels when you change the baby’s diaper! In many other resorts across the world we have stayed but never had this been a problem. They are trying to give us a message that don’t stay with at a hotel with a baby as we can’t tolerate baby poop! The hotel stuff was also comparing themselves to Mandapa a ritz Carlton reserve resort also in Ubud. Against Mandapa this resort is a shack in the street. Disgusting rude behavior of the staff.

Not at all a kid friendly resort! Never visit Alay resort Ubud unless you want to ruin your vacation! Alaya is like a 1 star hotel or a motel doesn’t seem like it’s a 5 star deluxe resort. Terrible horrible resort in Ubud! The worst in Bali.

At the end of our stay the hotel staff was making fun of us, impolite behavior.

Not...

I'm not normally they type of person to leave a bad review, but I definitely wouldn't call this hotel 5* - while staff were friendly there was just nothing 5* about the hotel. Our bed had bed bugs, my partner was eaten alive on our last night, at the time of checkout we didn't know they were bed bugs so didn't inform the hotel as we thought they might have been midget or mosquito bites, it was only when we had to go to the pharmacy they told us it was bed bugs. Every time when we came into the room my partner would say it smells like "muck' and we were then informed that this smell is bed bugs.

We booked a deluxe room, and on arrival were told we were being upgraded for free. The cleaner also said this to my partner, as the next day as our room hadn't been cleaned and the cleaner asked my partner what time we were moving room and explained that's why our room was not cleaned.

The following day as I walked through reception a staff member asked me if I was looking to extend my stay (this was at about 2pm) as we are only booked in for 1 night, I explained we were booked in for 5 nights and showed my booking confirmation, I explained that perhaps she can just see 1 night because we are due to move room, she informed me that we had already been given the upgrade (the room we were already in) which was not true as the room we were in is the room we booked, so there was a communication error somewhere. In the end we were never upgraded.

The room was fine, bed was comfy, but the room is actually relatively small when you pull the curtains over - there isn't a "separate" area as such for the bathroom as bath is in the middle of the floor, but when you pull the curtains it's like a separate area. The internet was really bad, although it was saying full signal it didn't work half the time - I was trying to work on my laptop but had to keep hot spotting from my phone. The air conditioning is really good! The TV was really poor, there were about 6 channels and just 1 was in English and the quality was really bad - like watching TV on an old school television. In the room above us there were kids, because the floor is tiles and not carpet there is no sound proof protection and the kids were up before 8am every morning running up and down, up and down non stop. This was also happening late at night and was creating a ridiculous amount of noise for us. While I appreciate this is not the hotels fault, I think kids should be put on the ground floor to avoid this for other guests, I understand it's exciting for kids, but to save disturbing other guests it would make more sense to have them on the lowest floor. One night we had to call reception and ask them to ring the guests above because it was out of control, which to be fair to the staff they did ring. You will hear chairs and suitcases being dragged around if you have guests staying in the room above you. The pool wasn't very clean, it is surrounded by trees so there is a lot of residue in the pool and for this reason we didn't use the pool. Overall very disappointing...

We would give this property 6 stars if we could! My husband and I went to Bali for our honeymoon, and spent 4 days in Ubud, where we stayed at the Alaya Resort. We were given welcome drinks upon our arrival and although we arrived after afternoon tea was already over, they let us have it anyway. The lattes they make are so delicious, I think I had 2-3 per day during our stay there! With the cute little tea cakes that were different every day, served on a banana leaf in a little basket. Afternoon tea was my favorite part of the day :)

The property is stunning, and our room had a terrace that looked out at the rice terraces and pools and Manisan restaurant. We loved the open air aspect of the hotel. The breakfast options are set (not buffet), but if you eat at one of the two restaurants there are many set options. All the food we had there was so good-- fresh fruits, juice, breads, continental and Indonesian breakfast options. We getting our breakfast delivered to us and set up in the terrace, but there aren't as many options for that. The hotel offers some free classes, although they are on set days, so we could only attend one. The yoga class we attended was held outside, which was so nice and peaceful. The bed was super comfortable (and enormous), the temperature was easy to control and the wifi worked well. They even sent us a honeymoon cake on one of the nights we were there!

The room has an open bathroom, in that the toilet is in a stall with frosted glass and shower is in a stall with clear glass, and there is a bathtub in the middle of the bathroom area, all connected to the rest of the room with no door. However, there is a curtain that can be pulled around the bathroom area if desired.

The only complaint we have is that there are no towel racks/bars inside the room, so we just draped our towels over the edge of the bathtub, and they wouldn't really dry properly. There was a drying rack on the terrace but because of the humidity/rain nothing would really dry properly outside either. Another thing that didn't bother us terribly but was a bit inconvenient was how far our room was from the main entrance. It was at least a 5 minute walk, but since the room was pretty far away it was also fairly quiet where we were staying.

One of the best things about Alaya Resort was their prompt and accommodating service. The best example of this was one night we walked down the street for dinner, and were caught in a torrential downpour. We called the hotel and asked if their shuttle could come pick us up, and literally within one minute the shuttle arrived to rescue us! They do have a shuttle that provides rides to city center, but only when it is available. It cannot be booked for that beforehand.

Overall, we LOVED it here and would definitely stay there again and recommend to anyone...